THE HIGH COST OF RINGTONES, MUSIC, MOVIES AND OTHER PREMIUM SERVICES
ON YOUR MOBILE PHONE
Almost everything you use your mobile phone for
incurs charges. The company which provides your service is required to set
out terms and conditions, fees and charges in a contract which you need to
understand before you agree to it.
If you choose to use your mobile phone to:
- subscribe to SMS chat rooms
- request SMS updates
- order ring tones
- download music
- download images
- vote via your phone for surveys like ‘Australian Idol’
- enter competitions
- use 3G to enable access to the internet from a mobile phone to
use email, receive sports results, news stories
It is important to find out
exactly how much it will cost to use the service and, in the case of SMS and
ring tones, how much it will cost to cancel or unsubscribe.
If the call charges
and rates flash past on TV very quickly or appear in small print and confusing
language it is hard to know what you’ll
have to pay and what it is you’re really ordering.
So be aware that lots
of people get caught out with high bills for
- receiving SMS and other things they haven’t ordered
- unsubscribing
- talking or texting in a chat room
- early termination or cancelling a service before the end of the
contract.
If you don’t know the costs and conditions, it’s best
not to use the services offered. A company that isn’t open about their
charges may be trying to mislead you into paying for services you don’t
need or want.
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