I recently checked my Vodafone bill as it seemed very high, and discovered I was being charged 10p a time for news alerts from a service called 41117. I did not order this service, which was originally supplied by Vodafone but now comes from a private company called IMImobile. The Vodafone forum is full of complaints from people who have received these texts but nothing is being done. Vodafone has told me it is not its responsibility. I have had two online chats with the company. The first person told me he would sort it out, but the texts are still coming. They have cost me £82 in total. Can you help? MK, Upper Tadmarton, Oxfordshire
Just under a year ago our Observer colleague Anna Tims reported on a case of an iPad user with a data-only Vodafone sim card who was being charged for these services. At the time the company put it down to the fact that the previous user of the number may have signed up for the service, and the account had not been cleansed when the number was recycled and reallocated. Your letter suggests something odd is still going on, although you have had the same number since 2009, and the texts only started appearing in September.
As you say, there are plenty of other people reporting a similar experience to you, and texting “STOP” to the number does not seem to halt these unwanted texts as it should.
According to PhonepayPlus, the regulator for these paid-for services, the 41117 number is operated by Vodafone, although IMImobile is listed as the contact. We called it this week and were told by IMI staff that it could stop the texts, but refunds were down to Vodafone. A Vodafone spokeswoman told us: “We cannot see any evidence that MK subscribed to this service and on that basis we will refund the cost [£82] of these unwanted text messages. We have checked his account and can confirm that there are no further charges for this service after 28 February.”
If anyone else finds these unwanted texts on their bill, get on to Vodafone and complain heartily. If that fails call PhonepayPlus (0800 500 212, Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm). It seems to us that Vodafone needs to get a grip of this and tell its staff to stop denying that 41117 is anything to do with the company, which is what customers are reporting.
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