I've been getting messages containing a badly animated father christmas along with a message stating that Vodacom complies with the blah this that next thing, and I need to sms "OPTOUT" to 30700 or something to stop getting them. Is this genuine or is it some sort of scam?
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Vodacom spam/scam?
- Thread starter Leitmotif
- Start date
vodacom3g
Vodacom Representative
Have you still got it? Can you forward it to me or PM me the complete text?
Datura
Captain Faptastic
Interesting. I wonder what rate a SMS to that Short Code charges at.
do you have trouble telling?
are you scared that when you sms to 30700 you will be charged R50 for your sms?
did you find this mms in anyway usefull/fun/humourous?
would you rather have not received it at all?
ar you going to bother to forward it on to somebody else?
are you scared that when you sms to 30700 you will be charged R50 for your sms?
did you find this mms in anyway usefull/fun/humourous?
would you rather have not received it at all?
ar you going to bother to forward it on to somebody else?
No, unfortunately I deleted it. I take it this means that the SMS was not kosher... I can supply my VC contract details in PM if it'll help you figure out what the message was, but unfortunately can't do much more than that.
The animation was terribly done, but the message text itself seemed professional.
Yeah, ridiculous charges for the sms are pretty much what I'm worried about. Worst part is, I did send a message off before really thinking about it... was on holiday in the cape at the time, that being 2 days ago.
What gets me is that I got the same message twice. Not really useful or humorous.
I'd rather not have received it, hence why I sms'd the opt-out number.
Hell, I can't even forward it to vc3g...
vodacom3g
Vodacom Representative
I don't know if this was a Vodacom message, will try and find out.
Vodacom messages will have an opt-out message and the SMS to opt-out is free.
Was this a SMS or a MMS?
Vodacom messages will have an opt-out message and the SMS to opt-out is free.
Was this a SMS or a MMS?
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Thanks, vc3g. Incidentally, I was in the Plattekloof area quite a bit over my holiday... my dad lives around there.
Meantime, I'll be off trying not to think of myself as a sucker...
Kronik
Well-Known Member
hey, i also got that mms i still got it if you want me to forward it to you?
vodacom3g
Vodacom Representative
The animation was terribly done, but the message text itself seemed professional.
Yeah, ridiculous charges for the sms are pretty much what I'm worried about. Worst part is, I did send a message off before really thinking about it... was on holiday in the cape at the time, that being 2 days ago.
What gets me is that I got the same message twice. Not really useful or humorous.
I'd rather not have received it, hence why I sms'd the opt-out number.
Hell, I can't even forward it to vc3g...
Confirmed this is one of the Vodacom Happy Holiday MMS's. There are two different ones, both annimations of Santa getting into trouble.
While I did not choose the animations, I'll take credit for the text, thanks! Wrote it!
Here's the full opt-out text:
So, you did not pay for the opt-out SMS.
Can't believe vodacom send this junk themselves. Do not want to hear from you unless it directly relates to the service. Ja, lets turn cellphones into the new spam warzone.
//I mean, what is that? Company trying to be friendly? Oh, vodacom is thinking of me, what?
and Leitmotif expresses the concern perfectly: now what am I supposed to do? Can I trust this source? Who is impacting on my day?!
Vodacom should have more sense. But I am open to suggestions (like anybody else thinks this is a good thing?!)
//I mean, what is that? Company trying to be friendly? Oh, vodacom is thinking of me, what?
and Leitmotif expresses the concern perfectly: now what am I supposed to do? Can I trust this source? Who is impacting on my day?!
Vodacom should have more sense. But I am open to suggestions (like anybody else thinks this is a good thing?!)
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anger786
Active Member
i cannot retrieve it why vodacom3g???????
vodacom3g
Vodacom Representative
No idea. Your phone should retrieve it automatically if the MMS settings are correct.
The notification you receive is actually a SMS, so you could get the notification but can still not retrieve it if your settings (or something else on the handset) is not set up correctly.
vodacom3g
Vodacom Representative
Vodacom decided to launch this campaign to increase the awareness of MMS and its capabilities, including:
- The fact that you can use other media with a MMS; pictures, animations, video clips, audio, lots of text and even in combinations (like the Santa example).
- With the above capabilities you can send much more meaningful messages. The old "a picture says a thousand words" comes to mind. It's pretty easy to send a humorous MMS, not so easy with a SMS. Many handsets comes pre-loaded with birthday wishes, etc. as samples. Or how about a video-clip of everyone shouting Happy Birthday?
- Sending a MMS cost the same as a SMS. This is a very important factor. Over the season we will see gazillions of SMS's, why not make some of those MMS's? Much more fun at the same price.
So we decided to launch a campaign to show people how to use this capability by telling them about it and by giving examples.
- We specifically targeted (as best as we could determine), 'new' MMS users, i.e. SIMs and handsets that have not sent MMS in the past. There are millions of them.
I'm a heavy MMS user and have not received any of these MMS's. Thus I had to go and check when forumites first reported these. So the filtering process is working.
- To ensure you don't get these messages, if you don't want them, we made sure there is an opt-out option. Obviously the idea is to only communicate with those who want to receive it.
- Some suggested using the media to educate. Reality is the target market is not reached via the newspapers and other media. Also by sending an example (like the Santa clip), people get a feel for what can be done. The Santa clip has been forwarded many, many times. So many people do like it.
In summary, the campaign has been (and still is) a huge success. MMS traffic doubled and just the Xmas clips contributed to hundreds of thousands of MMS's being sent.
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So it bothered you - a bit? (Notably you don't say "I enjoyed it.")
I can understand the 'educational aspects' of this (but those are just another word for marketing.)
Unsolicited mail by companies is spam. Intrusions in my mailbox is abuse. Opt-out is too late (well I'll put it back or take it out.) Too late.
Sending spam (no matter how educational) is encouraging spam (well if they can do it why can't I?)
Electronic marketing is the golden elixir: gee, we all want to do it.
Skeptik
Banned
I think we're flogging a dead deaf Meerkat.
Captain Beer
Executive Member
Imagine them sending a Happy Hanukkah mms to a Muslim customer
No, can't say it was that inspiring.
Not sure about prepaid users but I wouldn't be surprised if the contract T&C allow for this.