Charged for "STOP" SMS - Cell C

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MrG

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I received the following message from Cell C in terms of advertising.

Cell C's RealDeal promo starts! SMS 'DEAL' to 14707! You can win: R10,000 or R20,000 daily. R500,000 or R1,000,000 grand prize! (R1.50/sms) Cell C
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I immediately responded with STOP as I do with all advertising I do not want. They charged me R1.50.

How do I get this sorted out?
 
MrG said:
I received the following message from Cell C in terms of advertising.



I immediately responded with STOP as I do with all advertising I do not want. They charged me R1.50.

How do I get this sorted out?
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Hi MrG, please PM me the number. We will credit the R1.50. *DM*
 
I raised it here also to understand what the correct procedure should be in order to unsubscribe from SMS advertising. I know "STOP" is always designed to be free and I was mainly concerned for the charge on that basis.

Thank you Cell_C for willingness to go ahead and assist me in reversing the charge.
 
Never reply to those SMS if you know you not being billed for it.
Its just a phishing SMS even if you not subscribed, once you reply, you then subscribe.

But why did you reply stop?
 
I read on a few other places here that to get rid of advertising according to law that was the procedure to follow. What other way do I indicate I don't want these messages?
 
MrG said:
I know "STOP" is always designed to be free and I was mainly concerned for the charge on that basis.
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I'm afraid you are very much mistaken. I work quite extensively in the sms marketing industry and it is definitely not common practice to zero rate "STOP" smses. An sms directly from your cellphone provider might be different, but certainly any time you respond with "STOP" to an sms from a third-party marketing company you will be charged the same as for any reply.
 
Alright. I see. I am not sure how I came to be so misinformed. Apologies to Cell C are in order.
 
MrG said:
Alright. I see. I am not sure how I came to be so misinformed. Apologies to Cell C are in order.
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Like I said, it might be different if you are replying "STOP" to an sms directly from your network provider, although I've never actually heard of that either.
 
Rather than asking Cell_C for a refund ask him to remove you from all future marketing.

Then add a spam rule to your sms's that sends all variations of opt_out to you spam folder.
 
The issue here is not why Cell C is charging for a STOP sms but why they are spamming their customers with unsolicited RUBBISH
 
The_Librarian said:
I don't reply "STOP" to anything at all - they might not be keeping to their word...
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Actually believe it or not most marketing companies do actually stick to their word in honouring STOP requests. The fines from WASPA are huge for not honouring them, and companies regularly get fined by WASPA if a consumer takes their complaint far enough.
 
Beachless said:
Rather than asking Cell_C for a refund ask him to remove you from all future marketing.

Then add a spam rule to your sms's that sends all variations of opt_out to you spam folder.
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I like that idea.
 
MrG said:
I read on a few other places here that to get rid of advertising according to law that was the procedure to follow. What other way do I indicate I don't want these messages?
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Without the actual instruction in the SMS that stop is a supported command, how did you expect not to get charged for it?

You responded to a random SMS, regardless of what you replied you should be charged for a normal SMS response.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Without the actual instruction in the SMS that stop is a supported command, how did you expect not to get charged for it?

You responded to a random SMS, regardless of what you replied you should be charged for a normal SMS response.
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I've for a long time been under the false pretense that STOP was a lawfully required option for advertising and that it must be zero rated by the network.
 
deweyzeph said:
I'm afraid you are very much mistaken. I work quite extensively in the sms marketing industry and it is definitely not common practice to zero rate "STOP" smses. An sms directly from your cellphone provider might be different, but certainly any time you respond with "STOP" to an sms from a third-party marketing company you will be charged the same as for any reply.
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Might want to reconsider that in light of section 11(5) of the CPA.

No person may charge a consumer a fee for making a demand in terms of subsection (2) or registering a pre-emptive block as contemplated in subsection (3).
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SauRoNZA said:
Without the actual instruction in the SMS that stop is a supported command, how did you expect not to get charged for it?

You responded to a random SMS, regardless of what you replied you should be charged for a normal SMS response.
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The direct marketer MUST provide that option - s11(4)(a) of the CPA.
 
IzZzy said:
Might want to reconsider that in light of section 11(5) of the CPA.





The direct marketer MUST provide that option - s11(4)(a) of the CPA.
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Yes I understand that they should legally do it.

What I'm saying is you can't hold the network accountable for it if the option isn't even in the original SMS.
 
I personally don't believe a consumer should be paying for something to op-out of something that they didn't themselves ask for.
 
Although I know it won't help me avoid these annoying SMS messages, I never use the "STOP" response, as all you do then is confirm that your number is 'live'. So I always respond with "F*** Off.
I know it will not help, and that my message is probably not even read, but it makes me feel a lot better :o

I also have a policy that I will never do any business with any organisation that sends me a spam message.
 
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