Premium SMS messages can be really expensive – Customers have to opt-in to receive these and come at a high price, usually they dole out hundreds of dollars a year to receive IQ tests, contests, jokes of the day, sports updates etc to their mobile device. Each one of these range in price between $1 to $10 and Rogers seems to have put a plan in place to streamline the “bill shock” of this double opt-in service.
On their company blog it’s noted they now “provide a $40 monthly subscription cap for premium SMS programs, so when your subscription to a premium SMS program reaches $40 you won’t receive any more texts or charges.” In addition to this news, Rogers says “we have also taken a step to protect our customers from confusing online contests; we are not approving any new third party premium SMS services that run such contests.”
Here’s what Rogers says on the new options:
We’re the only Canadian carrier to offer several other ways to manage premium SMS services:
· The option to block all premium SMS so even if you accidentally submit your mobile number online to receive a ‘joke of the day’ you wouldn’t receive a text from a premium SMS service. This will also block SMS from other companies, like SMS flight updates. Don’t worry; you will still be able to receive texts from your friends and family.
· For premium SMS chat we now send our customers a reminder when they reach $100 for one program, and when they reach $500 we end the program.
· We provide detailed information on third party premium text message services on your bill, including contact information so if you have questions about a charge, you can easily contact the message provider.
More here via Rogers
