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Original poster

fooking twunts -08000MUMDAD

28 replies

drlove8 · 18/08/2009 19:33

bwastards!
today i topped up dd2's mobile, ready for school tomorrow......
then she gets a rapid influx of text messages..... all from "08000" dd2 hasnt even looked at them, but tries tophone her friend to arrange how they'll get to school tomorow.... she cant - NO CREDIT !!!!.
Dd2 asks me to look at her phone and see whats wrong with it as she cant understand why she's getting no credit message.
she has four sms from the same number..... so she reads them aloud.
its a reverse charge service that dd2 has never used... its a new phone so she hasnt phoned anyone , usually texts with it.
wtf! so i go to the web site and look. other people can use this and charge your mobile for theyre calls ,so some little teenage git , has phoned alannah and used all her credit .

OP posts:
dailymailIsPerfectAsaPoopScoop · 18/08/2009 19:36

OMG how can this work? someone pretends they want to ring mum and dad then dials the 0800bit then can reverse the call to any number?

TheArmadillo · 18/08/2009 19:37

can you get the number blocked by the network?

Bastards indeed

MamazontheDailyMailtakingadump · 18/08/2009 19:37

this is a terrible idea.
Its one thing to text someone requesting they call the other person back and then charging for the call but it should be outlawed to just be able to charge an unsolicited call like that

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 18/08/2009 19:41

Looks like it's been going on for some time.

Try:

Customer Service:

  • Phone: 08 000 151 455 E-mail: [email protected] 08,000MumDad Ltd c/o 08,000MumDad Limited Suite 35/176 Finchley Road London NW3 6BT United Kingdom

to get the money back.

dailymailIsPerfectAsaPoopScoop · 18/08/2009 19:42

And it is clearly open for a free for all - disguting. Give them what for and demand they re-credit DD account or you will have no choice but to spread it all over the tinternet.

RealityIsDetoxing · 18/08/2009 19:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 18/08/2009 19:45

And reply to a text with the word STOP. It might work.

anyoldDMfucker · 18/08/2009 19:48

nah 'cording to the website she must have accepted a reverse call charge STOP wont work as it aint subscriptionh

Original poster
drlove8 · 18/08/2009 19:50
  • im gona burst a blood vessel ... dd1 has just came home and the same thing with her phone! aaaargh!!!
i cant beleve this is happening!
OP posts:
Original poster
drlove8 · 18/08/2009 19:52

but its a new phone....i know she hasnt had any phone calls, just sms

OP posts:
OldLadyKnowsNothing · 18/08/2009 19:52

I'm just reading the website just now. Since it's a new phone, and since they say you must give permission, did someone in the supply line allow this to happen? They admit they take the money when it's topped up, if the phone has no credit.

However, there is a way to bar the number so at least you can stop it happening again.

I wonder if there were only the four, or if there are more texts in the pipeline when you top up again?

Where did you buy the phone from?

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 18/08/2009 19:53

Did you buy both phones from the same place?

TheChilliMooseTalksNonsense · 18/08/2009 20:09

That is awful. I saw the advert for that service and was appalled. It's a £4,50 minimum charge

Original poster
drlove8 · 18/08/2009 21:11

we did get the phones from same shop, but at different times.... dd1 got hers last month as her original mobile was stolen from her aunts house during a family party... dd2 got hers a few days ago as a replacement to her mobile which keeps cutting out/turning itself off.... both phones have sims from o2.
both girls share same circle of friends, and dd1 sometimes lets her mates use her phone.

OP posts:
OldLadyKnowsNothing · 18/08/2009 22:52

Hmm, I'm wondering if someone in the shop has done this. I seem to recall the numbers of the phones are printed on the outside of the box, so easily available - but then the shop person would have to reseal the box so it looked as if the phone hadn't been touched.. because s/he'd have to switch the phone on to accept the service... but would an excited, young, new phone-owner notice if the packaging had been fiddled with?

Sorry, just musing again.

How many people had DD2's new number?

zipzap · 19/08/2009 16:17

Maybe one to report to local trading standards, the manager of the shop you bought the phone from (mentioning trading standards of course!), Watchdog, Martin Lewis at Money Saving Exert.com and anybody else you can think of like that.

Might even be worth asking at the police station... Can you / the website that did this see who the calls were made to that used your dd's credit - might be a way of tracking down the person who did it by finding out who they rang?

It seems to have happened at one of the few points that you know you haven't used the phone; maybe they were expecting that you would have used it by now and they would be safe doing it.

Has she received any texts at all on the phone - sometimes you get one when you set up a new phone, she might have thought tha tshe was replying to a 'welcome to the network, confirm you are now using your phone' message when actually it was one from this service? Bit of a long shot as it sounds like she knows what she has done on the phone - or maybe thinking about it - she should have had one of those messages and hasn't had it - if the person in the shop did it as he was selling it for example... he would have got it and deleted it so you couldn't see that you had got a phone that had already connected. or he would have got it on a different phone (did they put the sim in the phone for you in the shop?).

If it is a new phone, it sounds like it is a PAYG one - could you cut your losses and get a new sim with a new number and never use the old one again? She would at least still have her nice phone and she shouldn't have too many people to give her new number to.

Good luck - hope you get something sorted!

ObsidianBlackbirdMcNight · 19/08/2009 16:53

So that phone was used before, to receive a reverse charge call, for at least 4 minutes (4 texts).
I would get in touch with 08000mumdad first to complain as it was a new sim to see what they say. (was it brand new?) Then go to the shop as, as long as your DDs swear they have never received a reverse charge call, somebody is messing with the sims before they are being sold. Also let o2 know.
Then I'd get brand new sims for the phones and warn your DDs that they don't let anyone use their phone without being very sure they trust them. I can see how (if they hadn't been new sims) young people could just let their friends 'receive' a call without being aware this might happen. After all, who thinks that receiving a call will cost money?

By the way - the company can't charge you without your permission. Something has clearly gone wrong in this case and I'd point the finger either at the phone shop or at one of their mates.

ObsidianBlackbirdMcNight · 19/08/2009 16:56

uh oh - seems it's not legit after all -

scam

shoshe · 19/08/2009 17:05

I actually saw a Ad on TV for this last night just as I was reading this thread!

LovelyTinOfSpam · 19/08/2009 17:11

I don't understand this...

So people can help themselves to the credit on your phone for no apparent reason?

That is just weird and all wrong.

Original poster
drlove8 · 19/08/2009 20:05

i think i should just get the girls new sims and put this down to bad luck...this id defo a scam of some kind and is theft by stelth imo.... someone must be held accountable .

OP posts:
sazzlelou · 19/08/2009 20:21

Have a look at this

sazzlelou · 19/08/2009 20:22

and this

LovelyTinOfSpam · 19/08/2009 20:34

This sounds totally illegal.

OFT/watchdog???

Original poster
drlove8 · 19/08/2009 22:26

this is making me .... how can they do this ? how do they get the phone numbers in the first place?

OP posts: