Dear Consumer's Voice
I received a text message on my phone recently from a loans company advertising their services that even offered me a free umbrella if I took out a loan from them. I don’t know how they got my number as I’ve never had any dealings with the company. I wasn’t interested so I just ignored the message. However in the following 48 hours I received a total of 25 identical messages from them. Some of these messages even arrived in the middle of the night. I called the company and they said other people had also complained but there was nothing they could do about it and didn’t even apologise.
What can I do?
Well, to begin with you can sit back and laugh at how much it must have cost them to send out all those messages. If you got 25 there’s every chance everyone did as well. Yes, it’s irritating but it must have cost them a fortune.
There have been similar cases in other countries where people who were pestered by marketing companies successfully took legal action on the grounds that they had cost the recipient money. Money for the electricity used to receive and display the message. However you can really only take action after you’ve made it clear to the company that their messages are unwelcome.
However you have to ask how they got your number. Did your cellphone company, or your bank or some other company you deal with sell your number?
You should make it clear to the company that their messages are not welcome. Write to them and tell them never to send you messages again. Tell them that if they do you will hold them responsible for the cost of the electricity to charge your phone and the cost of complaining. Tell them that if you receive just one more message their CEO can expect a visit from a reporter and a photographer from The Voice!
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