Jean Ashworth charged over £800 for ‘premium’ texts she didn’t sign up for or receive

Jean Ashworth

Former local councillor Jean Ashworth has been charged over £800 after O2 billed her for over a year for ‘premium texts and information services’ she hasn’t received or subscribed to.

The first charge appeared on 15 November 2015 to the number 82288.

Since then, Mrs Ashworth’s bills have increased from £15 per month to £113 a month - enough to pay her usual amount for nearly a year - in addition to her usual bill of just over £11 per month.

A total of £870 has been charged through her O2 account to five numbers: 82288, 66299, 85454, 85011, 87066.

Each message has appeared on Mrs Ashworth’s O2 bill as ‘premium texts and information services’ for £3.75 each time and have been charged as frequently as every other day, despite Mrs Ashworth not receiving them.

She said: “The first one came through and it said ‘if you don’t want messages, text stop’ so I did, straightaway, and then blocked the number and deleted the text. I didn’t get any more from that number but they started coming through from four other numbers. I did the same with them.

“Which? advise to reply ‘stop’ to opt out, so I did, but I’ve been charged even though I said ‘stop’ and even though I’ve not received the messages appearing on my bill.

“They were all for competitions and quizzes, which I’ve never signed up for and never entered.”

Mrs Ashworth said she checks her bank statements to see that the payment for her phone bill has gone out, but admitted she didn’t check the amounts.

“I don’t know what made me do it, but I scrutinised my last statement. I phoned my son and he came up to double check it. It’s left me with sleepless nights and panic attacks,” she said.

In addition to approaching O2, Mrs Ashworth also reported the unauthorised payments to Phone-paid Services Authority (previously PhonepayPlus), the UK regulator for services charged to phone bills.

Mrs Ashworth added: “O2 just don’t want to know and haven’t given me any support except to say they’ll investigate. They’ve said it’s nothing to do with them, yet the money was taken from my O2 account. They didn’t even offer to help me stop these numbers; all they have done is give me the four service numbers and left me to it.

“Phone-paid Services Authority have been very good on the other hand. They’ve said I’ll get a refund of £300 from one number, but they don’t know about the other services yet.”

Mrs Ashworth has cancelled her bank’s direct debit for O2.

An O2 spokesperson said: “Mrs Ashworth contacted us for the first time about these unwanted messages on 22 February 2017. We gave her details of how to stop these messages and we have contacted the providers to try to help get her a refund.

“We are also aware that Mrs Ashworth has contacted the premium rate regulator who is now looking into this matter.”

A spokesperson from the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) said: "Under the PSA's Code of Practice consumers must not be charged for phone-paid services without their consent.

"We have been contacted and are looking into their complaint.

"Consumers who want to complain about a phone-paid service should first contact the service provider. You can check the provider of a service using our online number checker www.psauthority.org.uk/about-us/number-checker or by contacting your network operator.

"If this does not resolve the matter, you can contact the PSA via our website www.psauthority.org.uk or on 0300 30 300 20 (10am – 4pm, Monday – Friday)."

Advice for consumers

• Watch what you click on – know what you are agreeing to before you click on an online promotion.
• Think of your phone as being like a bank card; if you enter your phone number on a website, it can be used to make a charge to your phone bill.
• Look for the price – promotions need to make it clear the costs before subscribing.
• Read the small print before entering a competition as you may be subscribing to a recurring charge.
• Don't ignore a STOP message. By replying STOP to the shortcode provided (5-digit number) you can stop unwanted subscriptions.
• Don't ignore your phone bill. If you see anything unexpected check it with your network or by contacting the service provider.
• You can check the provider of a phone-paid service using our online number check www.psauthority.org.uk/about-us/number-checker