My children, ages 9 and 10, have a cell phone they share. I allow them to take it with them while they are outside playing. It is used for emergencies when they are home with a babysitter. They also use it to talk to their friends.
In order to have unlimited text messaging on my phone, I had to have it available on all of my phones. Recently, I discovered the kids' phone was receiving text messages from a "love advice" messager.
Without my knowledge, one of my children sent a text to a number advertised on the TV, and subscribed to this text messaging advice line.
I called my wireless provider, and they said that I am responsible for all costs affliated with this subscription. Whether I gave permission for them to subscribe or not.
I did some research online to determine what to do about this "subscription" and was shocked by what I found. While I can block all premium texting (that's the technical term for these subscriptions), I have to contact the company that issues these texts to dispute the charges. I am fortunate, my charges are not in excess of $20.00. I happened to catch this in time. But I still am disputing the payment.
Here is what else I found out. The company is called CellFish Media. The Girl and her friends got the number off of Cartoon Network. The service "PersonalLoveco" is the same as 21222 and "CellFish Media" They advertise themselves on Cartoon network telling kids that if they text to 21222 they can chat about love relationships, etc. This is directed to children! You can text 21222 with the word "cancel" to cancel the service from your child's phone, but you can expect two final charges, one text plus a reply from them about the cancellation.
I received a telephone number from my wireless provider, allowing me to call and talk to them about the charges. I was unable to reach a live person and instructed to leave a message. The message said to expect a call from a customer service rep within two business days.... We will see...
P.S. I think I will also be writing an email to the Cartoon Network advertising department regarding the content of the advertising they are selling...
