SMS Premium Services Theiving Bastards Update

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a phone call from SMS Premium Services yesterday. The lady who called said that she understood I had a query relating to the service on my mobile. I soon put her straight that it was my wife's mobile phone that had the problem.

I explained that Miky had been charged for the "Download sexy babes to your mobile service" at the rate of $4.95 per received SMS and that I wanted the money refunded that had been taken. Reema, the customer service officer, assured me that the service would be stopped and that no more SMSs would be received and no more charges would be forthcoming. "No," I said, "I want a refund. I want the credit taken from us."
"Maybe I didn't make that clear for you," she said. "You won't receive or be charged for any more messages."

I went on to explain that we did not sign up for the service in the first place so a full refund was warranted. I was told that we must have signed up online or on the mobile phone otherwise the service couldn't have been initiated. Well, I know that Miky is close to being a technophobe, so there is no way that she signed up online or on her mobile. So I informed Reema that this hadn't happened. "Somebody at your house must have signed up. It is not possible to receive the service otherwise." Reema was then informed that our house has a six year-old and the two parents, none of whom signed up, therefore I wanted a full refund.

She spoke to her manager. A short while later she returned and offered me a 50% refund on the credit. I had been thinking that about $27 had been stolen. "I'm not interested in receiving 50% credit for a service that I never asked for." Then I asked how many messages had been sent. In a seven day period they sent "More than 10." Don't forget these bastards charged us $4.95 per SMS received. Nearly two a day! Theiving bastards. After going over this point a couple of times I then instructed her that I wanted to speak to her manager. She put me on hold for about five seconds only and then informed me that a 100% credit would be issued. Let's face it, the service would have cost them 5-10 cents per SMS so it's not as if it's going to bankrupt them.

I have to get an itemised account of the phone to show the SMSs received and fax it to this company. Then a cheque will be sent to me and it will be finalised within 10-12 days. "We send out cheques every week," Reema informed me. I very nearly said something about that being an admission of guilt on her company's behalf for a service that was "impossible" to receive without having signed up for. But I held my tongue.

Not far to go now. But "the cheque's in the mail" doesn't fill me with a great deal of confidence.