PhonepayPlus received 242 complaints in relation to a subscription service operating on shortcodes 62323 and 80810 which provided hints, tips and ‘cheats’ for video games. The service was promoted via the website gamer-data.co.uk, and subscription was initially charged at £10 per month. From mid-April 2009, this pricing was changed to £2 every four days.
Complainants stated that they had been charged for receiving unsolicited text messages and that the ‘STOP’ command had not worked. PhonepayPlus also noted during the course of its investigation that the service appeared to be of inadequate technical quality, no pricing information appeared to have been given to complainants prior to incurring charges, the promotional website did not provide contact details and that the service had not sent any free initial subscription text message, or reminder text message, as required by the Code.
PhonepayPlus formed the view that the promotions and service contravened the PhonepayPlus Code of Practice (11th Edition Amended April 2008) (‘the Code’), and raised the following potential breaches under the Code:
- Paragraph 3.3.3 – Adequate technical quality
- Paragraph 5.4.1b – Unfair advantage
- Paragraph 5.7.1 – General pricing provisions
- Paragraph 5.8 – Contact information
- Paragraph 7.12.4a-f – Free initial subscription initiation message
- Paragraph 7.12.5 – Subscription reminders
- Paragraph 7.12.6a – Subscription termination
The Tribunal upheld all the breaches raised. The Tribunal considered the case to be serious, issued a Formal Reprimand and imposed a fine of £80,000. The Tribunal imposed a bar for six months on the service and related promotional material commencing 1 October 2009, suspended for one month within which time the Information Provider is to seek and implement compliance advice to the satisfaction of the Executive. If at the end of one month, the Executive is satisfied that the compliance advice that it has given has been implemented by the Information Provider, the bar will be lifted but, if the Executive is not satisfied, the bar is to take effect forthwith and to continue in effect for the remainder of its term. The Tribunal commented that it expected claims for refunds to continue to be paid by the Information Provider for the full amount spent by complainants, except where there is good cause to believe that such claims are not valid.
- Service Provider – Ericsson IPX AB, Sweden
- Information Provider – Cylon Corporation, USA
- Service Name – ‘gamer-data.co.uk’
- Subscription service (provides cheats, hints and tips for video games via mobile text alerts, and access to an online database)
- Breaches upheld against – Cylon Corporation, USA
- Procedure – Standard
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