Three weeks ago while I was surfing for some information an ad for Bid4Prizes, a product of New Motion, appeared on my screen. Normally, I won't respond at all to an unsolicited ad whether it appears as spam or as fluff on a web site. But this one appeared to have a unique method for "winning". It is like an auction with a twist. For each prize being offered, participants can "bid". The lowest unique bid wins. Thus someone can beat you by tying your bid, or bidding less than your bid if there's room to do so. And, as near as I could tell, there is no charge to play the game. As you would expect there are tons of ads on the web site and those ads must pay for the service. In fact, if you "win" the auction you aren't expected to pay anything, including your bid, to actually obtain the prize.
There's also a way to play from your cell phone. Since this is a live auction, you wouldn't want to miss out because you were away from your screen at the wrong moment. The cell phone version has a charge of $9.99 per month presumably because they can't flood your phone with ads. Trouble is, the form you fill out to play the game includes a blank for your cell phone number and if you fill it out you are signed up for the cell phone version of the game. No separate notice alerts you to the fact that you have committed to a monthly charge of $9.99.
Within minutes I got my first text message about the first possible bid and I realized my mistake. I terminated the service by texting STOP to #81000 as pointed out in the signup but it was already too late. Even without using the service once, we got the $9.99 charge on our cell phone bill for the month. Carolyn called customer service and demanded a credit and we think she was successful. But you never know until you see the actual credit.
So the warning is, don't enter your cell phone number on a registration form if you don't know what it will be used for. You can always enter it later.
Y'know, if you're really so bored that you are responding to internet spam, perhaps I should give you a few chickens? They are fairly entertaining, fertilize the lawn, and demand less from an owner than a dog. Plus they give you eggs. I know you love eggs. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. I do like fresh eggs and spam. I do like them, Sam I am. (But I don't know about live chickens.)
ReplyDeleteActually, what caught my eye was the auction method. I'm still curious about how the dynamics of such an auction would work especially since each player has a limited number of bids available.
Did I mention that my chickens lay green eggs? (OK, blue-ish green, but still!)
ReplyDeleteI kind of thought I remembered that. But I still think I'll pass on the live chickens. Thanks, anyway.
ReplyDeletePhotobucket actually subscribes people to this scam automatically when they sign up for an account. What a way to jeopardize your business.
ReplyDeleteyes. I got HAD with this scam as well. Felt like a complete idiot. I called the customer service and told them i demanded them to take it off my bill. They said they could not do it. And i said. well, we are going to have problems becuase I am not paying 10 bucks for this BS. anyways. I talked them into sending me a 10 dollar check.
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing out that it was Photobucket that caused this to show up on my AT&T Wireless Bill. -- Apparently my wife signed up for an account with Photobucket and buried somewhere in the fine print was the fact that she agreed to have this charge billed to her cell phone. I called AT&T and they were happy to remove the charge and cancel the subscription. -- Thanks Photobucket!
ReplyDeleteThanks for pointing out that it was Photobucket that caused this to show up on my AT&T Wireless Bill. -- Apparently my wife signed up for an account with Photobucket and buried somewhere in the fine print was the fact that she agreed to have this charge billed to her cell phone. I called AT&T and they were happy to remove the charge and cancel the subscription. -- Thanks Photobucket!
ReplyDeleteThere is a huge number of people on this website with the same problem. I see a class-action suit coming soon.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.classactionconnect.com/cell_phone_issues/2007/09/11/new-motion-inc-dba-mobile-sidewalk-ringtonechannel-bid4prizes-gatorarcade-25000-45998-65000-81000-44577-31000/
These people are breaking the law by a technique now known as "cramming." The sickest thing I found is an SEC webpage touting how well they are doing financially...duh...they are ripping unsuspecting people off for millions! They got be via a text message...no web site required. AT&T took care of my problem, but apparently other cell providers are not as accomodating. And there IS a class action lawsuit in the making. I hope they go down in flames.
ReplyDeleteMy charge came from Publisher Clearing House's website that sent me to bid4prizes.com. I also realized immediatly the error of my ways and cancelled immediately. AT&T removed the charge and I had a "purchase block" put on all 5 phones on my account. There is now a PIN number that has to be given to AT&T to authorize any purchase. My daughter also got scammed for $19.95 at a bogus ringtone site. AT&T gladly removed both charges and cancelled the subscription for the ringtones.
ReplyDeleteThis is some bull. How did they get my number when I didnt give it. Do they look for my name and whatever number is assigned next to it that is the number they bother?
ReplyDeleteI will deff have some words for the people.
Try this one on for size: never heard of the company, never signed up for any service through any of the sites mentioned above, never received a text message but did get a "dead air" phone call from a mysterious 800 number several times, and lo and behold a $9.99 charge shows up on the cell phone bill, and later I learned it was a subscription charge, so now there are two charges and counting.
ReplyDeleteMy mother was addicted to that site for quite some time, as far as I know she never got charged a dime, she won the $100 prize about 6 times and won the $10,000 prize one time. So I wouldn't call it a scam just not straightfoward.
ReplyDeletei played on bid 4 prizes and never received the $100.00 i won.... i called customer service " what a joke " the girl tried to tell me i didnt win even though i had the confirmation number so i told her i wanted to talk to a supervisor, surprise surprise no supervisor was available.. she then told me that if i gave her my number a supervisor would call me back. it never happened.. they suck !!!!
ReplyDeleteMy story seems pretty much like everyone elses here. I signed up for PhotoBucket about two years ago. After that I have been getting two to three text messages from Bid4Prizes over my phone. I've always deleted them and never responded to anything. Never did I see anything about being charged a fee nor a code to stop the texts so I never worried about being annoyed a few times a month by having to press my delete message button. I had never been charged a single dime until now when I received two $9.99 charges on my last bill. I'm calling AT&T in the morning.
ReplyDelete