Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Problems with Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage and Rogers 3rd Party Billing

Update 09-17-12: 

Got this update from Joanna with a link to some good news! It appears that everything we all have guessed about (that the carriers are making money off of these 3rd party companies) seems to be true. Hopefully the media focus and cost of the lawsuit will put all  nonsense to an end. Thanks for the link Joanna!

"Joanna has left a new comment on your post "Problems with Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage and ...": 

Hi everyone: Good news! Hoping this will prevent other cell phone user to go thru what we've gone thru! 
http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/03499.html
Also, just a quick update since my last posting on Aug 13. I've got email confirmation from Buongiorno for a full refund BUT I've yet to believe it until I ACTUALLY see it in my account. I choose to believe that we are in a different billing cycle and so it could take couple of months to see the full credit."



Update: I found an article on line that perfectly describes what they are doing, it is called "cramming". They take advantage of a loophole in LEC (Local Exchange Carrier) billing, and need only your phone number to start charging you money. I fail to see what service could be so valuable that this is enabled by default, allowing virtually anyone to charge you if they have your mobile number. Give it a read.


Recently I have spotted an anomaly on my cell phone bill that has gone unchecked for over 3 months.


3rd Party Billing: As it appears on my phone bill. Notice the small print.


Unbeknownst to me, I had purchased a 3rd party service that has a recurring monthly charge of $9.99. The only evidence that I have at all regarding this service are 3 SMS messages (no bill or paper) stating that I am enrolled in this service. I had absolutely no idea how this happened.


Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage SMS Message: The ONLY notification you get that you are subscribed to something. 
So I went on a little adventure to find out how this happened, what I could do about the charges and how to prevent this from happening in the future.

How it happened:

The first thing I did was to check out the website to see what this 'service' is, and the first site I found about this company was a complaint site called 'Gripevine' which completely outranked the business itself on Google, so I knew it wasn't looking good for me.

I decided that I would poke around the Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage site to find out what it was. I wasn't really surprised at what I found, which were basically really low quality games:


Counting Sheep: Even the creators of these games find them so boring they can guarantee you will fall asleep playing them. 

Arcade Pong: Ah yes... the age old game of bouncing a ball on a paddle, only virtualized. Amazing.

Drop Flowers: Dropping flowers has never been so much fun! </sarcasm>  

Fat Girl: Aside from being completely offensive, apparently it is fun to guide something into a ring. 

Pumpkin Land: Doesn't appear to have pumpkins, nor is it a land. You lamely guide your finger up the platforms. Sounds super fun! 

Sheila Dressup: Believe it or not, there are like 5 of these, all the same, different girls possibly different accessories. Ultra lame. 

As you can see from the above pictures that the quality of the games is terrible and remind me of the games you would see when you had to use a WAP browser to get to the internet on phones. Most of the games are fundamentally the same, just with different back grounds and pictures. It does not look like much time was spent at all putting the site up or making the games, as if it is just a place holder. Why on earth would I, my wife, or anyone want to pay $9.99/month for basically the same game with different pictures especially when we are in the smart phone era with tons of high quality $0.99 or free games?

It seems to me that someone needed to make a placeholder/front for their service so that if there were any litigation over it's billing practices that they could say that they had offered them a service.
It is my opinion that this is a 'shady' service that is clearly preying on human behaviour:


  • People don't seriously check their messages: So if you were not paying attention (which is my case), and don't see that slick little SMS message pop in to say that you are subscribed you are raking in $9.99/month/person until they realize they are being scammed. 
  • People never check their bills: Most people don't, or the people I know. And it took us 3 months to find it on ours. So again... they are getting the $9.99/month/person * the amount of months it takes to realize that there is an incorrect charge on their bill. 
If you have no ethics or morals this is a great business model, especially at $9.99/month. Even if they did provide some form of a refund to people that call in to complain, they most likely will not give up 100% of the money that they obtained. So they are essentially printing their own money, and I think they know it.

So now that I know who I am dealing with, I needed to back track to find out how I could have possibly subscribed to it, checking such things as: 
  • Browser History. 
  • SMS History. 
  • Apps that might contain an Ad that my kids could have clicked on. 
But despite spending hours going through all of that, I could not find anything anywhere that would indicate how I provided permission for this unknown company to start charging me $9.99 per month to my cell phone bill.

What I could do about the charges:

If you want to save some time reading here is a summary, not much, but I will go through the thought process that probably everyone goes through when being ripped off.

It starts out by being completely irate, then it proceeds to be a call to Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage as per the SMS message to find out why we are being charged and to demand a refund followed by a call to Rogers to ask how this happened.

Call to Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage:

To my surprise, the Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage customer service didn't seem to be all that terrible, but then how can you be if you are customer service. Though they didn't seem to listen to any of the 'gripes' we had about this service just appearing on our bill (which is probably the only reason they get calls, so routine), they did 'say' that they would refund some of the money, though I have yet to see that.

The only thing that was consistently said on the phone by the customer service representative was that 'we subscribed', though they could not tell us how that happened. They also mentioned that we were notified by SMS and could have cancelled anytime, as if that is a valid excuse for being charged for a service that I did not know or want.

So after some back and forth and on the promise of a refund, we had hung up with them hoping that at some point in the future we would see a credit to the bill, though I am completely skeptical of this happening.

Call to Rogers:

The customer service experience on the call into ROGERS was not all that good. The person that I had on the phone I could barely hear, as if they were in some sort of empty room on a terrible phone, far far away from the microphone.

So after getting through all the security questions, we get into the reason for my call and I explained to the CSR that I found a charge on my bill that I did not agree to and that I want a refund for the charges. After being put on hold for a while, the CSR came back and rather quickly told me that this is a 3rd party charge and I would have to contact the 3rd party to get a refund for the charges.
I then ask the CSR, how is it that they are able to charge my account directly? I went on to explain that I had never received any information on this service and that I had never explicitly authorized another charge on my account. I was again put on hold and then the CSR just came back with the same answer, that I must have signed up for something somehow and that they cannot do anything about the charges.

I then asked a series of other questions, where the CSR had started to put me on hold for gradually increasing amounts of time until I finally asked if I could speak with a supervisor. I was put on hold again only to find that I was subsequently passed into another hold queue, a french language one. Eventually it was picked up again, but it was as if they couldn't hear me and the call was ended.
My wife didn't fair much better when calling in to discuss the same issue, she was just told that they had blocked 3rd party billing.

Neither of us were happy with the customer service we were receiving, especially since all CSRs are implying that:
  • We willfully subscribed to the service. 
  • There is nothing they can do about 3rd party services. 
  • That the disabling of 3rd party services might somehow affect our ability to use our phone. 
How to prevent this from happening in the future:

To make a long story short, the only thing you could do at this point is opt-out of 3rd party billing. This means that you have to actually know what 3rd party billing is, then call into Rogers to have it blocked.

After my miserable experience with the phone based customer support, I did try hitting twitter and found that I got a much faster, and better experience by tweeting @RogersHelps, I would recommend going to them. The gents that helped me were knowledgeable, very helpful, but eventually gave me the same answer as the phone CSRs did. They did provide this useful link which is great for understanding what 3rd party billing is and Rogers stance on it:

http://redboard.rogers.com/2011/rogers-offers-premium-sms-choices-for-customers/

The article describes what happened to me as a 'feature' that is now available to Rogers that they call 'Premium SMS choices'. Here is the descriptive paragraph out of the article:

Premium SMS messages often charge an additional fee above standard text messaging costs. The costs usually range from $1 to $10. You can subscribe to a premium SMS service online by inputting your mobile phone number or by texting a specific short code (usually four or five digits). This could include submitting your mobile number on online contests, to win a tablet for example. Always read the terms and conditions before submitting your mobile number online. Regardless of whether a subscription is initiated online or through a mobile device, there is always a two-step activation process. This includes inputting your number online or through your mobile device and sending a confirmation ‘YES’ text to complete the subscription. Once confirmed, you are then charged for the messages until you ask them to stop.

Sounds good, but this never happened to me, there was no text out to subscribe to anything. Nor was there a confirmation SMS saying 'Yes' please bill me $9.99/month. The above paragraph is exactly what SHOULD happen... I ask for the service and I confirm that I want to be billed for it. Clearly there is a loophole to this that allows people to bill my account without this 2-step process and that is what needs to be addressed. I am not clear on how this company slipped through the cracks, or how many companies like this there are.

What I think Rogers needs to do:

The safeguards described in the article are good, I never got the chance to see if any of them work however. But what I think they need to do to improve customer experience is: 


  1. Refund all accidental 3rd party charges to Rogers customers: This would obviously be within reason, but for people that have 1 or 2 charges on their account, not knowing what the service is, Rogers should go to bat for them. They have the clout (being a huge carrier) to claw back wrongfully taken funds from their customers. I wager that if they looked across many of the accounts they would see these sort of charges occurring and could proactively do something about it. It is much harder for each individual to get their money back than it would be for Rogers to get the money back for them. 3rd Party providers should have proof that we subscribed knowingly, if that ever comes into question.
  2. For any charges above regular phone usage: Anything that Rogers does not provide should be highlighted and very visible to customers. If there is a 3rd party charge, then it should be easy to find, maybe accompanied with a Rogers SMS message or some other form of notification to make the people that don't check their bills or don't see the fine print aware of these extra charges. 
  3. Block 3rd Party charges by default: Take it from 2 steps to 3 steps. Rather than subscribe to something directly, start by SMSing the customer and asking if they would like to 'enable' 3rd party billing. This way they could determine what it is before charges are laid. If they already know what it is and are intent on it, they will respond with a yes. For the ones that no one knows about, there can be no charges until it is enabled, so it can't be done by accident without explicit permission from the subscriber first. 
  4. Proactively scan and resolve 'scams': Periodically look at all the 3rd party charges being applied to Rogers accounts. If there is a higher than normal subscription rate (perhaps like Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage) investigate and determine if subscribers were legitimately subscribed or not. If you blocked 3rd party charges by default it would be less work as the subscribers that enabled 3rd party billing would be susceptible to bad billing practices. 

131 comments:

  1. Just found this same charge on our account tonight... Will be calling Rogers in the morning to demand they remove these fraudulent charges from our account.

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    1. Just found it on my account as well. Caught it on the first month. Called Rogers and got them to block third party apps and wan issued a refund. It only took about 15 min.

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    2. Same problem here. Found out about the charges today. Apparently, this is the second time this charge appeared on my Rogers bill. After looking into this scam online, I called Rogers, and the customer service told they can't do anything about the charges. Same story as everybody else's. Will try to contact Buongiorno or whatever they are called tomorrow. But I don't have any hopes for refund because these people are crooks.
      Shame on Rogers. I am sure they are getting percentage from these charges. Otherwise, they would do something about it.
      I wonder how many people have been affected by this scam without even realizing it.

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    3. Hello,

      THis JUST happened to me as well a couple of weeks ago. Luckily I logged in to my rogers bill and noticed this "third party charge." I called Rogers and the operator was very sympathetic to what had happened ( surprising) and though rogers can't do anything for a refund of the $9.99 she said that rogers will put a block and do a premium SMS ( I think it was called) on my account for free. NOW I repeated this twice that this was indeed FREE and she ensured me that it was. I hope she is true to her word as I've had this happen before where they told me soemthign was free and it wasn't. Anyways I had to call that stupid Ifortune company but had to find the number if anyone needs it:

      unsubscribe at anytime from your phone here:
      http://gamifive.mobivillage.ca/#/status

      Our care team is available to assist you seven days a week Contact Us or via our toll-free number: 1-800-986-4614.

      I called. Yes it was a Indian lady? ..very hard to understand her English and obviously reading out from a script. The key to the whole conversation and dealing with her was stay calm and be polite. At first she just kept reading her excuses that I had signed up for it etc...I was stern but polite that I didn't and worried that this subscription was going to continue....hoped she and the company would understand and be sympathetic etc....bs basically...

      Thats what I did and she ended up giving me a refund in the end. She asked for my name and email address. She gave me a confirmation number as well so that made me feel like this was legite. She said that the refund was going towards my rogers account. Here is the email I just got.


      Thank you for your patience. As a token of goodwill, your refund has been approved for $9.99. You should see the reversal of the charge applied within the next 3 to 5 business days, however due to the difference in billing cycles between our service and your carrier, you may not see the credit reflected until your next billing cycle.

      Regards,
      iFortune CA Customer Support.


      Phew! This took about 30 min of my time talking to rogers and then this bogus company but thankfully it worked out. Good luck to everyone that has to deal with this.

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    4. Wow...I just found the exact same charge on my Rogers bill. Called Rogers to complain about it and told me the exact same thing as they're telling all their customers. I will be calling Buongiorno (SCAMMERS) and will have to deal with more BS. I just hope I can resolve this and stop these charges. Cause Rogers tells me they have no control over third party. Does this mean that any (SCAM) company that has my phone number can charge me for something through my Rogers Bill? This is just rediculous. I might have to go without a phone just to avoid these scams.

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  2. Hi Shawn,

    We’re sorry to hear about your experience with your subscription to Gamifive. Here at Buongiorno, we take customer complaints very seriously. In order to further assist you with this matter, and to reconfirm the status of your refund, please contact us directly at: gamifive.ca@buongiorno.com “ATTN: Bridget Smee”. In order to expedite your request, please be sure to include the 10 digit phone number linked to the subscription in your message.

    Regards,
    Buongiorno Customer Support

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    1. I call shenanigans on Gamifive! They signed me up for their service as well, and I've already called Rogers to have third party charges blocked and posted on facebook to warn people about this awful company.

      Pretty slick asking for the phone number all over again here, wouldn't be surprised to see them sign you up all over again. This is why actual customer service centres give you incident report numbers so you're not waving your private information all over the place where it is obviously not safe.

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    2. I also noticed a charge of $9.99 on my Rogers Bill. I called the folks at Buongiorno thinking I just forgot which APP I downloaded. The agent then went into this long 'not our fault, trying to explain how I could have subscribed' script. After speaking to this agent, I knew something was wrong. Obviously, people have been complaining to them and they've put together a rebuttal. The agent then offered to refund my money. They required my First Name, Last Name and e-mail address. Really?..... Do they think people would give this information to get a credit when their tactics of getting a subscription are in question? I told the agent, if you can bill me without that information, they can surely credit me. In the end, I called Rogers they blocked them and also took care of the credit. I'm happy that Rogers went to bat and stepped up in this case.

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    3. I live in Spain..and I too have had the subscription set up to Buongiorno & Holland Performance Telecom, on my Pay as You go for many months. As I do not get a bill it took me a while to notice. Vodafone Spain claimed no responsibility (as usual). I found a forum of 265 other Spanish people dating back 12 months with this same problem. No point changing my provider as all the phone co´s make money off this, allow it, do not help you cancel or refund, and have not reported it as a crime..or blocked it...mobile phone co´s are untouchable as banks these days...so I guess there is nothing we can do..as these 262 Spanish people got nowhere with the police, and Consumer Companies.....annoying but nothing we can do!

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    4. really help full. PHONE companies are pathetic for allowing shit like this to happen to their customers, i would not be surprised if they are involved

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    5. I have 11 unauthorized charges from Bourgiorono (I fortune) dating since May of 2012. They began to duplicate the charge from the previous month on the bill thereby charging me two times for this service. They say they will give me a refund as I have proof I told them to unsubscribe me after getting a message on my iphone back in August yet they continued to charge my rogers account after unsubscribing. However on my rogers hub modem we have 5 charges for the gamifive one and we have no idea how it was subscribed to and they refuse to refund those charges. We have no clue how it got on our modem. Rogers pretty much tells you to deal with the third party yet they continue to put the charge on your bill after u unsubscribed ( I was lucky as I saw the text message and unsubscribed.) So in my opinion Rogers obviously does not verify if you have actually subscribed or not. Is Rogers profiting by doing this

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  3. They got me too! No sign whatsoever of how I "subscribed". I got the same runaround from Rogers.

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  4. They got me as well. Just noticed it on my bill yesterday from rogers, and ironically got an sms today stating that my subscription has been renewed and a link to unsubscribe, which when I try and do, it loads a webpage, and when you lick unsubscribe nothing happens. I am emailing the above address, as well as calling as well as calling rogers.

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  5. Replies
    1. Not a problem. I figure that there are a ton of people out there wondering the same thing. All of us wondering how it vstarted. It is a shame that it has to be that way.

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  6. My sister in law is currently dealing with the same situation. AQfter reading about them here and on Grapevine, we are putting in a formal complaint with the RCMP. I suggest you all should do the same.

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  7. Thanks so much for this information. It is was very useful in dealing with and understand this issue. I am extremely disappointed in our carriers that they are not doing more to protect THEIR customers.

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  8. Just found this on my Rogers bill too. It's been there for a few months now. I don't understand why Rogers keeps allowing this when there is so many out there complaining of this charge.

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  9. Same story as most of you have been posting but with iFortune Mobivillage.

    I had accidentally accessed the ad which was at the bottom of a bus timetable app I was using. And I had replied with "STOP" to 6047 immediately after receiving the welcome text - because there was that option. I did not receive any more texts from the company but did not realise that I had a subscription until I got my bill.

    I didn't catch it the first time but if you carefully read the reply to the "STOP" text it reads, "Your subscription has been cancelled. No more charges will apply and no more messages will be sent". Key words: No more charges. So something has been charged to your account.

    Very underhanded and illegal as they have also, in my case, completely circumvented a clause in their Subscription Agreement (I found it on-line), which was not made available to me so that I could read it before authorizing the subscription. I was never given an option to "press the button "START" on the sign-up page" or "press the "CONFIRM" button and then enter a PIN":

    BECOMING A SUBSCRIBER. To become a iFORTUNE Subscriber, you must first have an active contract with Rogers Wireless, Bell Wireless (or any subsequent wireless carrier we notify you as available) and a compatible and correctly configured and compatible wireless device. To subscribe, you have to press the button “START” on the signup page, or, if your phone number is not automatically detected, you have to enter your phone number, press the “CONFIRM” button and then enter a PIN that will be sent to you via a text message. You must subscribe even if you already registered for another Service provided by us and have gone through the subscription process before for that other Service (http://ifortune.mobivillage.ca/info/)

    I contacted the company and asked them to make sure my account was purged but who knows what is going to happen to the info they have already, illegally collected.

    Apologies for the long reply but wanted to make this info available to you.

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    1. The longer the better, at least everyone can share their stories if nothing else. It is too bad do many people are being hit by this, and if they can get away with it, it is just going to be more common as we move to things like NFC. Guess we just have to keep putting it out there until the carriers are so embarrassed they have to change their policies.

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    2. Hm, good tactic Shawn - embarrass the carriers so that they will think twice about whom they are allowing third party access to their customers. No better way to embarrass a company than negative press. What about getting this story into the mainstream media?

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    3. Usually that is the thing that gets members of parliament and others to pay attention to issues... so would probably work for a corporation too. Problem is, might not be widespread enough to be interesting to them. One thing I thought of is to submit it to a show like CBC's Marketplace (http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/) and see if they pick it up. :).

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    4. Hi Shawn,

      Just checked back to see what was going on with this issue. Unbelievable! People are still posting - latest one September 2012. This "cramming" has gone on long enough, the carriers need to be held accountable for knowingly allowing their customers to become targets. Any response from Marketplace?

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    5. Oops, just clicked on the link you posted re the competition bureau. At least there seems to be some action against this.

      Thanks Shawn!

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  10. Just called them up. They agreed to reverse the last 2 charges (I only realized 3 months in that they had charged me). I never hit anything, confirmed anything or entered my number anywhere.

    When I called Fido, they said there are absolutely nothing they could do. They could NOT remove me from any third-party charge access, and just told me that I might have people that don't like me and put in my number (really? that's your answer, I'm charged because I have ennemies??!!).

    At least the guy from Gamifive was helpful, but I will believe the refund when I see it in my account.

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    1. It is surprising that they have a half decent demeanor and that you actually can get some money back. They still keep some of the money, so it is still profitable for them and they look better for returning some of the money but it its still wrong. Hopefully this sort of thing doesn't catch on.

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  11. How/Where can I report the ill practice of this company?

    I called Orange UK to ask them escalating the matter. But the representatives said they cannot do anything about this. They only suggest me to contact that company directly.

    I realised that I was the victim this month. I can never recall how I subscribed to them in the first place. All I got is the text said that I was subscribed to them and text STOP to 60113 to unsubscribe. I thought it was a scam so I ignored it. About 2 months after, I noticed the bill went up.

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    1. In Canada, we are told to write something to our telecommunications commission... so I would imagine it would be something like that over in the UK also. Really, what we need to do as well is make this political, so that a bill gets introduced to force telco's to shut this off by default and only enable it on a case-by-case basis. Otherwise we are all subject to this scam.

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    2. Official Response from Mobivillage UK

      Mobivillage is a mobile internet club offering subscriptions to mobile internet applications. For more information and to manage subscriptions please visit uk.mobivillage.com

      A customer must actively opt-in to a promotional campaign in order to join the service. They then have to agree to the terms and conditions and price of the service.

      After joining the user is sent information on costs and how to leave the service. This information is also resent each month.

      Our customer care number if you have any further queries is +44 (0) 208 772 4859.

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    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    4. still posted this regardless of whether or not it is just PR to make it look like they are a caring company. Considering how many of us can't pinpoint how we were charged in the first place and that they wont tell us what we are being charged for, it kind if invalidates their post. The number is there though for those in the UK that need it.

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  12. Thanks for a great post.

    Same story here, with Fido as the provider. Buongiorno is clearly committing fraud -- I never gave them my cell number, nor did I reply to their text message (which is worded in a very ambiguous fashion. It looks more like an invitation than a billing notice. I'm sure many people like me just ignore it.)

    They must realize they don't have a leg to stand on, because when I called Buongiorno (1-800-986-4614) they agreed to refund the charges. Though I'll believe it when I see it.

    I filed a complaint through the Commissioner for Complaints and Telecommunications Services. https://www.ccts-cprst.ca/en/complaints/complaint-form

    Not sure if it will get any action or not, but unethical companies like Buongiorno/Gamifive need to be stopped. And our cellphone providers need to do a better job keeping crooks from accessing our accounts.

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  13. Same thing just happened to me, I just spoken to ''Shawn'' Buongiorno supervisor and I noticed there was something wrong at first as I couldn't hear much in the background and at most customer services your all in a one room answering calls as support staff.

    Any ways like most of you here complaining we are all experiencing the same problems which gives us great evidence for the police as I will be contacting them further to shut this company down for good and hopefully arresting these scammers and getting my money back most importantly for some thing I didn't even subscribe to!

    Links like this page and many other on the internet will be in my evidence given to the police,

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  14. What a great business model indeed! I just saw the 9.99 charge and got the metaphorical shoulder shrug from Rogers too. Called Buongiorno and to his credit, the rep was reasonably helpful although he kept giving me the song and dance about how difficult it would be to accidentally subscribe. Yeah whatever.

    Finally got to the point where the subscription was cancelled, my number blocked and 'as a gesture of goodwill' was given my credit (rolled my eyes so hard, I think I pulled something). Will check my account but got an email confirmation from them so hope this is the end of this foolishnes.

    Seriously, Rogers et al needs to do something about this. My account is an open door to anyone who feels like billing me. Total joke.

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    1. Indeed. I think they are actually going to be forced to do something about it soon, it will be a PR nightmare if they don't (especially if more crooks catch on). Just think of how much more fun we are going to have with near field communication and all the Android malware that is out there or on it's way. :)

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  15. I filed complaints through the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services, http://www.ccts-cprst.ca/, as well as with the Canadian Better Business Bureau. There have already been 24 BBB complaints about Buongiorno/Gamifive (DADA Entertainment) -- and now there will be 25.

    http://www.bbb.org/kitchener/business-reviews/cellular-telephone-service-and-supplies/dada-entertainment-canada-in-north-york-on-1215624

    I've gotten three different explanations about how I allegedly signed up. None of them were accurate, however, and I'm waiting on Buongiorno/Gamifive to provide proof in the way of an IP address or other authorization.

    Fido went to great lengths to explain to me how Buongiorno/Gamifive has a great reputation (though how they missed the 24 BBB complaints I'm not exactly sure). Since the cell phone companies are making money off the fraud, I've little doubt they are just turning a blind eye.

    I stumbled on this petition -- wonder if there's any merit?

    http://www.disnetinc.com/carrierpetition.html

    My money has been refunded, but I feel strongly that the Buongiorno/Gamifive scam needs to be shut down, and fast. It's interesting to see that when you Google the term "Gamifive scam" there's a paid ad from Gamifive that directs people to their customer service page.

    Would an honest, ethical operation have to do that?

    Thanks for providing a great forum for sharing important info, Shawn.

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    Replies
    1. No problem. Glad that we can all talk about it and share experiences. Going to check out the links in a little bit.

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  16. Can anyone confirm if they actually received a refund or partial refund from Buongiorno? I am in the same situation with Fido saying they can't do anything and having Buongiorno finally agreeing to a refund. However, not sure I believe them. Have to decide if I should wait or follow up again with Fido and CPRST.

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    1. I think most of us have, I know I did, but it wasn't the complete amount. We didn't catch it until 3 months, they gave us back 2. Not sure what others experiences have been like.

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    2. Quick followup...I have received a full refund, for three months of "service" from Buongiorno. I suspect the reason that I got this response is that I made it very clear to both Fido and Buongiorno that I was certain this was a scam and I would be filing the appropriate complaints.

      I am still working through the Better Business Bureau complaint, trying to get Buongiorno to produce proof that I actually initiated the subscription. I have also been working with a rep from the office of the president at Fido, who is apparently investigating.

      I highly recommend filing complaints with the BBB and the CCTS. They can apply pressure that we as individuals just can't. Clearly, Fido and Buongiorno will only do the ethical thing if they are forced.

      Delete
  17. Same thing just happened to me, this is my 3rd time. I have already requested delete my phone number three months ago. The company charges again. I made cmplaint to Fido. Fido told me same "This is your responsibility".
    I am very disappointed with Fido and the government.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I just got scammed by the same company. The charge was date to June 24th. I am surprised a scam like this can run for so long.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just noticed the same thing on my July Rogers bill. I sent an email to: info@antifraudcentre.ca. This is the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center and is where the RCMP suggested that the incident be filed.

      I suggest all of you email them and let everyone else know to do the same. Once enough people bring this to light, the RCMP will take over.

      Delete
  19. This company [or another one called Buongiorno] is doing the same thing in the UK. Normal people call this fraud - not cramming.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I posted an entry yesterday by mistake..."similar problems in the UK"...pls do not post this. Instead...

    My son experienced similar issues in UK. He said he was unaware of the company, how they obtained his phone number or why they thought he had subscribed.

    On advice from Orange he a) texted "STOP service number" to the company; b) emailed the company to stop and refund monies taken: ifortuneuk@buongiorno.com and bgamesuk@buongiorno.com

    Their phone numbers in the UK are 02076499636 or 08000126182

    They have responded that they will action as requested - we wait to see if this actually occurs.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks for posting this... it was very helpful. They started charging me in April and I just noticed today. I was furious. They never sent me any SMS messages until one randomly came in about a week ago informing me that my subscription would be renewed. That was the first and only message I received. When they say that the only way you can be signed up for this "service" is to consent via SMS, they are lying. Anyway, since I never subscribed to Gamifive, I ignored it as spam. Couldn't imagine texting STOP... that seemed like an obvious trap.

    After noticing it on my bill today, I called Rogers. They told me I had to speak with Buongiorno. That was ridiculous to me... I have never participated in a dialogue with Buongiorno. Somehow they were able to get around whatever safeguards Rogers believes are in place, and now it's incumbent upon me to call up a bunch of crooks? That's what gets me... I wasn't the one foolish enough to do business with scam artists. Rogers, on the other hand, opened its doors wide. Rogers made the mistake here, so they are the ones who owe me the $45 I'm out. If they want to try and recover that from Buongiorno, I wish them luck. Maybe next time they'll do their homework.

    I have now registered complaints with the CRTC and the BBB. I will also email the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center when I get a chance. If there's any interest, I'll post my results here.

    Good luck everyone!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just wanted to post an update...

      The complaint I registered with the CRTC was forwarded to the CCTS. When I heard this, I stopped hoping for any kind of resolution on that front as my understanding is that the CCTS is pretty much run by big telecom.

      I had much more success with the BBB. Here's the response they got from GamiFive:

      -----
      Thank you for your patience.

      We have checked our records to track the personal history of the mobile phone number: XXX-XXX-XXXX.

      You, or someone with physical access to your phone, were most likely browsing the internet on your phone and saw an ad for our Gamifive Application. On that page, the terms and cost of the service were displayed explaining that Gamifive is billed as a subscription service at $9.99/month. In order to complete the subscription, you had to click the START button on the page. After clicking START, your phone accessed the homepage of the service and displayed a popup with instructions on how to save the app on your phone. A welcome message was also sent to your phone containing pricing and customer support information. A subscription cannot be completed without this process being followed and can only be done by someone with physical access to the phone.

      Your subscription with Gamifive was canceled on 8/1/12. Our last charge was on 7/28/12. There will be no further charges beyond this billing cycle.

      As a token of goodwill, your refund has been approved for $39.96. Per our Terms of Use, we are not responsible for any taxes, text messaging fees or other fees applied by your carrier. The refund has been applied to your wireless account. You should see the reversal of the charges applied within the next 3 to 5 business days, however due to the difference in billing cycles between our service and your carrier, you may not see the credits reflected until your next billing cycle.

      Regards,
      James Matthews
      GamiFive Customer Care
      -----

      "Token of goodwill"... yeah, it almost brings a tear to my eye.

      Sounds like I may have to contact Rogers to get the tax back, but I expect it should be applied automatically. Hope this info was helpful!

      Delete
  22. Same thing happened to my bf on his June and July Rogers bill. He called, was put on hold on and off for about 20 minutes, and they finally agreed to reverse the charges. The rep said a cheque will be sent to his address. A bit odd, since my bf's friend also noticed the same charges (b/c my bf told him about his own issue) and when the friend called, they reversed them through his bill. This is such a bloody scam.

    ReplyDelete
  23. One more thing - the confirmation email they send you is amazing. "As a token of goodwill, your refund has been approved for $9.99."

    Umm. Thanks for refunding me MY money. Jerks.

    ReplyDelete
  24. In addition to emailing the AntiFraud Center, I also sent torontoweb@citynews.ca an email with a copy of my due diligence and referenced all the links I could find about this scam.

    All of you please email torontoweb@citynews.ca a copy of whatever you send AntiFraud. This way the media will start to realize there are multiple victims out there and hopefully take some action.

    I was in correspondence with someone higher up in Customer Service @ Rogers and he even acknowledged that a large part of the Customer Service staff fell victim to the same scam. They also had to call and try to get their money back just like all of us. I was even more shocked once I found this out because I would think Corporate would take action once their own employees fall victim.

    When I mentioned to him via email that Rogers was inadvertantly participating in the fraud/scam all communications stopped. I guess they dont want anything on record.

    Rogers and the other carriers gets 25-30% in revenue sharing from these 3rd party charges so whether they like it or not, they are profiting from the scam and therefore part of it.

    They are being short-sighted by not shutting this down completely right now before it gets out of hand. If it gets to the media it will be a disaster for their reputations.

    In the meantime, tell everyone you know to check their bills and spread the word through whatever social media access you have.

    I would suggest using the 2 email addresses above for everyone to contact so there is a single point of reference and all the complaints go to the same place. AntiFraud: info@antifraudcentre.ca CityTV: torontoweb@citynews.ca

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If they are getting a cut of the revenue from the scam, then I guess we have our answers as to why it persists, that would be an interesting thing to confirm.

      It does kind of make you scared for the time when our phones become our wallets (with NFC) and Rogers/Telus & Bell become not only our service providers, but banks as well (as all charges would appear on your phone bill).

      Definitely setting a precident for scary times.

      Delete
    2. Scary indeed Shawn. I sort of did get confirmation on the revenue sharing bit.. When I talked to the customer service Manager I made the statement and used 30% revenue sharing as my number (it only made sense to me that they got something and I used a number similar to what Apple & Google charge for the App Stores).. I was close... He corrected me and said its something like 25% as far as he knew so there was my confirmation.

      If you think about it, they would have to charge something because they manage all the billing to the end user so why would they do it for free for the 3rd party?

      Also, he went on to tell me that in the beginning there was NOTHING in place to stop this. But, because of large number of customer complaints, upper management implemented the feature so a customer could call in and request a block on PREMIUM SMS SERVICES. If you made this request you would lose all ability to have any premium SMS on your phone but it would protect you from these unwanted "charges" also. It's an all-or-nothing proposition; you can't block just one 3rd party provider. You have to block the entire feature on your phone.

      This was implemented in the last few months so at least now there is a way to protect yourself. I had this Premium SMS feature removed on all my phones so I dont have to deal with it anymore.

      When I pressed him and asked why there was no way to confirm if the customer actually signed up before billing him, he acknolwedged it was a flaw in the system and it was not designed with this confirmation in place. They basically take the word of the 3rd party that the customer wanted to opt-in.

      I'd like the name of the software engineer that designed that system because I would have a few choice words for him.

      Delete
  25. I just noticed the same charge on my Rogers invoices going back the last 3 months. This is for data services only with the Rogers Rocket Hub. Fortunately, the Rogers customer service agent agreed to reverse the full amount (including tax) without argument.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Just want to say thanks Shawn for starting this post I am calling Roger's tommorrow, my first bill with them for I am a new client...what a great welcome I was charged 3@9.99 all on one bill...stood out. I hope they plan on blocking and refunding...I will also follow up with the complaint process with bbb and such just because of this page.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I also want to say many thanks to Shawn for starting this post just so I can a better understanding of what happened. I noticed the same charge on my Rogers bill going back the last 5 months. I called Rogers last night and of course, they are unable to provide me with any refund. All they did is to cancel my 3rd party billing and I must still contact Buongiorno directly to "unsubscribe" and to request a refund. I shall call Buongiorno tomorrow and see if I can get my full $49.95 back. I've also sent a complaint to CCTS, BBB & RCMP. Also send a copy to CBC market place, hoping more people are aware of this bogus company and pay closer attention to their cell phone bill. Also hoping Rogers(and other providers) will step up and protect their customers better! Funny thing is that when I call Rogers CSR last night, she told me I was "LUCKY" already 'cause I notice it after it was charged ONLY for 5 months....some of the Rogers customers have it go unnoticed for well over 1 year! Oh my Goodness!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No problem Joanna!

      I think the real problem is that Rogers is enabling this and is turning a voluntary blind eye to it, claiming that it is a 3rd party and not them, all the while leaving their customers cell phone bills wide open for the reaping. Do let us know when you call if you get the full 49.95 back, it has been a while since I have dealt with them and I wasn't sure if I got the entire amount back or just 80 - 90% of it.

      I did send a message into Market place to see if they would put it on their show, it would be nice if we could get someone to embarass the carriers into locking this down by default and for those who actually use premium SMS (whatever that is) can opt into this madness. Pretty sad that a Rogers rep was telling you that some people don't notice it for over a year... proves that it is well known and there is nothing being done to stop their customers from being ripped off.

      Good Luck!

      Delete
  28. Thank you for blogging about this issue. Lucky I caught these 9.99 charges on my Rogers bill for only 2 months. Like the others, Rogers was unable to help me. I called Buongiorno and after 30 mins of me questioning their practices, I was only able to get one of my two charges supposely credited back to my carrier. I was too fed up to try to get the remaining one months payment.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I landed on this blog post after noticing the web browser on my phone is opening multiple pages on the gamifive website everything I start it. Kodoo does not provide a way to see what charges are on our bill unless we pay extra for a paper bill ( the online version is not available in our province!). I hope we have not been charged for any services at this point. Is anyone else getting their browser spammed by by gamifive?

    ReplyDelete
  30. Same thing happened to me. Was billed $9.99 twice in Jan 2012, then $9.99 every month until this month when I noticed the extra charges. Scam total of close to $80.

    What I did:

    1. Called the Buingiorno. The guy I spoke to was in Africa, and initially refused to credit me anything b/c he said I 'subscribed' to this service. I asked to speak to a manager, but he said with the time difference he couldn't get me to one. I got really mad at him, said this was fraudulent, and he then said out of good will he's give me a $9.99 credit (b/c at the time I thought I was only dinged for my August 2012 bill), and would also unsubscribe me permanently from Gamifive services.

    After looking back at my Rogers bill for the past year, realized I was dinged since Jan 2012. So I called Buingiorno back and spoke to a lady. She said the amount I'm asking for a credit is too large and she'd have to get the billing department to approve these charges. She asked for my name and phone number and said someone will call me back within 3-5 business days. We'll see if this actually happens.

    2. I called Rogers, spoke to a CSR who refused to offer a credit, sympathized I was dinged but b/c it's a 3rd party he can't do anything. I asked to speak to a manager. The manager said if it was Rogers Svcs he could do something about it, but b/c it's a 3rd party he can't. Out of good will he gave me a $25 credit.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Thank you Shawn for blogging about this topic as everyone's stories really helped me understand the situation I was in too!

    Just a note for everyone - you can ask your wireless carrier to put a 3rd party billing block on your phone so that 3rd party companies cannot 'subscribe' you to certain services via SMS messages.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Just had the same charge on my Bell Mobility phone. I called Bell and they cancelled the charge, but told me basically the same thing. Somehow I had "subscribed" to this site. They advised me to immediately unsubscribe, which I did. Surprisingly, I received a text message right away from Gamifive confirming the subscription had been cancelled. I'll wait to see if anything shows up on my next bill. I've also asked Bell to block 3rd party billing on my phone.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thanks Shawn, good thing I Google and found I was not the only one.

    I received my Rogers August bill, and was surprised to see the $9.99 subscription charge from Buingiorno; I'm absolutely sure I did not subscribe it.

    I immediately called Rogers, and basically got the same response as everyone else - I'm amazed at the exactness, which points to a format response. I also vented to Rogers (CSR) that the company is enabling this problem by collecting the charges for them, and that there is nothing I can do about it as long "some" entity out there has my number and continue to charge my account; Rogers does not give a sh**, and claims its not their problem. Thanks to the readers for the tip to request for 3rd party billing block - the CSR did not offer this!!!

    I called the 1-800 number list on my bill and after some discussion, I had to provide my number, name, and email (which made me very un-comfortable), and got the promise for $9.99 refund and a reference number; I'll have see it to believe.

    I'll email to AntiFraud: info@antifraudcentre.ca CityTV: torontoweb@citynews.ca and log my complain. I hope everyone with same experience will also participate.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I have just received my Rogers Bill and find the same charge as well! I found this site upon googling and totally surprise to learn that this scam has been going on for several months but nothing has done from neither the carriers or the anti fraud centre.

    I will call Rogers and mobivillage on Monday. Will keep you guys posted!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hi Guys, wanted to update you regarding my Gamifive charge. I was charged a total of $79.92 (8 x $9.99 from Jan to Aug 2012). I got a $25 goodwill credit from a Rogers Manager, and about 3 weeks later after speaking with Gamifive, they offered only a $39.96 refund and said that was the most they could approve. I said I'd file a complaint with the RCMP, and report them to the BBB. The CSR immediately got scared and said they don't want it going that far, so he'd request a full refund for the remaining charges. I refused to give them my email address (as they said this is the only means that Gamifive billing dept will use to communicate with their customers). But said I'd re-check my Rogers bill in a few weeks to see if they will give me the rest of the money back. To be honest I'm surprised I got any refund at all. So let's hope they will give me the rest back! Good luck to everyone else trying to solve this matter. Thanks Shawn for blogging about it!

    ReplyDelete
  36. Hi everyone: Good news! Hoping this will prevent other cell phone user to go thru what we've gone thru!
    http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/03499.html
    Also, just a quick update since my last posting on Aug 13. I've got email confirmation from Buongiorno for a full refund BUT I've yet to believe it until I ACTUALLY see it in my account. I choose to believe that we are in a different billing cycle and so it could take couple of months to see the full credit.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hi guys - I just came across this blog. Same thing happened to me with Gamifive - I did play the games but didn't realize that I was supposed to pay for them. Anyway, I called the customer service, and although I didn't have much confidence that they would do anything, I just saw on my last Rogers bill that I got a full refund. Lesson learned - I need to be more careful on where I click in future, I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Totally got hit. Bugged Rogers with some common sense for 1 hour before I gave up (yes they blocked third party charges moving forward). Called Buongiorno - pretty scripted response (yes I'm unsubed).
    What a disappointing experience with Rogers... no care for customer retention.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Cellphone companies = Mafia
    They create their own sepatated companies such as Gamifive (fake companies) and will tell they are not linked to them, but those scams are still showing up on THEIR bills ! If you try to put pressure on them, they will threaten you back harder. Those Pyramidal money scams are impossible to avoid for the one who linked his VISA - MASTERCARD or simply, any phone agreement with a smartphone : they could basically invent any purpose to steal your money, but do it carefully (who will look at 10$ per month?). Think about that X millions of customers = billionaires having the power to scam you even more in the upcoming generations !!!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Rogers pockets 40-60% of the profits, so if Gamifive doesn't refund you the full amount, Rogers should cover the rest.

    Check this out:

    OTTAWA, September 14, 2012 — Following a five-month investigation, the Competition Bureau has begun legal proceedings against Bell Canada (Bell), Rogers Communications, Inc. (Rogers), TELUS Corporation (Telus) and the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), requiring them to stop misleading advertising that promotes costly "premium texting services", and to compensate consumers. The Bureau is seeking full customer refunds and administrative monetary penalties — $10 million each from Bell, Rogers and Telus, and $1 million from the CWTA.

    The Bureau's investigation has concluded that Bell, Rogers, Telus and the CWTA, through an integrated business model, gave third parties access to their customers, to promote, sell and charge for the third parties' products, all the while misleading customers to believe the content (such as ringtones) was free. Bell, Rogers and Telus billed their own customers and pocketed a share of the revenues, typically between 27-60 percent.

    A tool known a "common short code" is at the heart of the issue. It is a number assigned by the CWTA's Short Code Council — a group that includes Bell, Rogers and Telus. The CWTA then leases out the number to a third party for the sale and delivery of digital content.

    While text messaging and digital content delivered through common short code can be free to a wireless customer or billed at standard text messaging rates, these codes can also be used to impose charges at higher rates. Premium-rate digital content, including things like trivia questions and ringtones, can cost up to $10 per transaction, and up to $40 for a monthly subscription. The digital content at issue was offered through advertisements in popular free apps on wireless devices, as well as online, and consumers were led to believe that these products were free, when they were not. The key is that users need to understand and knowingly accept these charges. To date, the disclosure has been wholly inadequate, and Bell, Rogers and Telus profited from these charges, at their own customers' expense.

    The Competition Bureau, as an independent law enforcement agency, ensures that Canadian businesses and consumers prosper in a competitive and innovative marketplace.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the article! I will gather some related links, but all of our speculation turned out to be true (and it makes sense). They are not helping their customers because they are getting money from the process... bet the next thing out of the carriers mouths is how they are working to protect their customers by disabling premium texting by default, or getting rid of it all together. At least there is light at the end of the tunnel. :)

      Delete
    2. How does one get on the the list at the Competition Bureau for this complaint? So that if there is a settlement I get my $160 back? Or, is this going to be a settlement that goes to the government instead of the people?

      Delete
  41. Yes!

    Thanks for publishing this post BTW - by doing this, we make it harder and harder for these shady companies to rip us off!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No problem... I am glad that it has brought some awareness at least to the people that are affected by it. :)

      Delete
  42. I went through the same thing everyone went through. Gamifive started charging me 9.99 for a product that I didn't subscribe to for two months. I didn't notice the first month, but I noticed this month. I called them and they agreed to pay me back through my "wireless account" out of "goodwill". But, I thought that seemed suspicious that they can just access my Fido account so I called Fido and a rep told me that Gamifive has to issue refunds via cheques in the mail. I called Gamifive again and they weren't helpful insisting that they've already processed the refund and it will appear in my "wireless account."

    At this point, I got fed up. I called Fido, demanded a refund for the two months and threatened to discontinue my account because they broke my trust in them. I also threatened to report them. The rep kept trying to argue saying that I subscribed to the service, but I remained adamant and said either I get my money back or I take legal action or just not pay.

    Finally, my money was refunded. To prevent this from happening, I blocked all third party charges (which I think should be the default anyway)

    I am happy that the Competition Bureau is taking action and I fully support this forum. As consumers, we have the power and should not have to take the abuse of service providers we trust and the companies that they allow to scam us!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Went throught the same thing with my daughters phone. What i did was call Mobivillage games 18009864614 and have the charges reversed and stopped, took 5 minutes. Then called Rogers, took 45 minutes, grrr, *611, and got a goodwill credit applied. So in the end i recieved double the money back and in affect, scammed the scammers. The real villian here is the Telecom companies for allowing these scams and profiting from it. In Canada btw,good luck

      Delete
    2. I didn't read your post before I commented on how I did the exact same thing, lol. did this work out in the end for you? in other words, rogers didnt say anything to you about doing that?

      Delete
  43. I'm another one to add to the list. 2 'services' for the last 3 months. That's almost $70! I called Mobivillage and the rep said he 'escalated' my refund request to billing. Same as another here, my name and email address in order to receive a refund. And I'm calling Rogers. I sent emails to AntiFraud and torontoweb@citynews.ca even though I'm in Quebec. Fingers crossed.

    ReplyDelete
  44. I got billed for 6 months before finding the charges. I really should check my bill more often lol. I talked on the phone with a manager at rogers and he said they can only go back 3 billing cycles and they can only credit me ten dollars per bill for the next three months, what a joke! so right after that I phoned buongiorno and had them refund my 60 bucks as well. He said they may only be able refund about 75% of the charges, but possibly the whole amount. I'm sure rogers will pick up on this but maybe not, lol. But I wont feel much remorse for getting my money back and maybe then some. I'll let you guys know how this turns out for me.

    ReplyDelete
  45. We had the same problem with Buongiorno ifortune. We noticed that the Rogers' bill went up by $10 dollars each month for 5 months. We asked Rogers the reason for this and no one gave a reasonable answser. Finally a lady at Rogers explained the third party business and insisted that we must have subscribed. We never subsribe to Fortune Telling. We do not even read the horoscope because according to our religious beliefs this is not allowed. They advised us to call Buongiorno who insisted that we must have subscribed to their service which is a big lie. They told us they would refund two months only. We did not accept that and we are asking for full refund which is $9.99 times 5. We are still waiting for an answer.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Same situation to me. Gamifive charged me $9.99 for 6 months and they promised to refund it back to me by sending me a cheque. However, I have been calling every week for update, and they just keep saying the cheque is being on hold by their checking department and will be sending it out next week. What they want to do is just keep telling you lie and keep postponing. I have already report this case to CCTS and to the radio. I hope everyone will alert this company and won’t go into the same case as us again.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Call in Canada 1-800-361-2613 and unsubscribe there. You will have to give the mobile phone number but you will get a msg from them saying you have unsubscribed from GamiFive service. I got this info from Bell Canada Mobility!

    ReplyDelete
  48. Call or email there to cancel this scam! Dunno how they do it, but its a big scam. And Rogers should take some responsability for that! So easy to pass to the neighbor.

    http://www.buongiorno.com/customer-care-canada

    ReplyDelete
  49. Called GamiFive to have this stopped and to ask for my money back - As soon as i gave her my cell number, there was a 30 second pause and the lady hung up on me. There goes $10 - rogers wouldn't reverse it.
    Good luck to those wanting a refund from buongorno!

    ReplyDelete
  50. Add me to the list of scam victims. Gamifive and Playplanet. $9.99/mnth for 3 months. I doubt I'll ever get my money back. I just got off the phone with Rogers after having my account blocked from 3rd party billing

    ReplyDelete
  51. I just found out ive been charged for 5 months of $9.99. Called rogers and they credited me $25.00. But said there is nothing else they could do besides block any new 3rd party charges. I asked if they had complaints regarding this situation and how easy is it to get subscribed. Rogers said all they need is your number. find it difficult to believe with all the tech that is available that all a company needs is your number to start charging you, unless rogers is getting a cut and dont care about their customers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello, I have the same problem on 3 out of 12 of my employes phones...since August...But here's the catch, MY NUMBER is also being billed 9.99 a month!! I contacted bell many times and they said it is my responsabilty to contact Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage to cancel subscription....I did on December 10..They said no more charges will appear on my bill. Yeah right...January bill same thing 39.96$ charged.Today I recieved a call from the higher end of customer service at Bell and they will refund all charges but can not stop third party billing?? I was told. So I told the rep. you will here from me every month for the credit. If I do not get a credit I will cancel all 12 lines....(bluff) Since I have 2-3 year contracts I will wait till they end and then change service provider....what a PAIN IN THE!@#$ We should be protected from these scams!!!

      Delete
  52. I just got a message today saying I'm subscribed to ifortune for $10/ month and how to unsubscribe. I unsubscribed within minutes and called telus to make sure I didn't get billed. The telus rep named the company before I could even spit it out, and the charge hadn't even shown up yet he just knew. Told me to call the company and even gave me the number. I called this mobivillage company and the rep their immediately explained to me " how I signed up", pre-rehearsed bullshit. He said I've already been charged but out of "good will" they will send me full refund via cheque to my billing address, which he then had to get from me, as well as my full name and phone #. I sent an email to this company calling them out on their shifty business and copied in my service provider, maybe if enough people do that the service providers will take notice. Just a thought.

    ReplyDelete
  53. I also received on my bill, i phoned Fido they r going to refund this time but CSR told me they can't stop these kind or charges and showed Fido term and condition third party charges at the end of your bill. Fido also blocked this services on my phone. i phone this BS company to unsubscribe my number and i don't want to see again on my bill.

    ReplyDelete
  54. What a crock of crap! Same story as everyone else (ifortune is my beef) I even got a call from my carrier fido (or claiming to be, who knows anymore!) and I was told I was being charged $9.99 then given a number to call and cancel. I didn't have a pen as I was driving called fido a few days later to get the number because I was not paying $10 for crap all. They said, I see no $10 charge. What?!?! Of course they make money off of this too! You think they put it $9.99 on my bill for free and send $9.99 to fortune. Anyway called the number east Indian sounding lady says sorry updating our system call back in 2 hours??!?!? What the F? I'm pissed $10 for a monthly scam is a joke! First CSR at fido was nice but said not much they can do just be careful where I click on websites etc. Then I call back After reading this and say I Want to block 3rd party billing, bam done. But no refund I have to go after fortune and hard. What?!?! Take care of your loyal, sign up for crazy expensive plans and make you(fido etc.) rich, for 3 years customers! And both CSR's said, full well knowing and in agreement that they see and hear about this fortune a LOT! Scam artist all of them!

    ReplyDelete
  55. Just scammed by ifortune.mobivillage.ca as well for $9.96 - called Rogers and they said they cannot block third party billing on Pay as you go plans.

    ReplyDelete
  56. I was charged by the same company, and I never heard about it. it's not possible for me to click Ads or reply sms, because I have a software block all Ads and all SMS are backuped online automatically right away, I can clearly tell I never contact this company by sms.

    This is fraud, Google it, Telus/Rogrs/Bell/Fido/Koodo know it, CRTC knows it, bu nobody step in.

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  57. I am so angry right now - this $9.99 charge showed up on my daughter's cell phone bill and all Rogers said was that there was nothing they could do about this charge. The only thing they did was to block 3rd party charges - effective this date. The girl suggested I contact the 3rd party company to get a refund and I have been on hold with Buongiorno Gamifive Mobivillage for the past 1/2 hour with no results. I think this needs to be spread by social media and Rogers' name put out there that they do not protect their customers. It should not be a 3rd party charge default but an option that someone has to opt for. Too bad we are held hostage by only having three phone providers in Canada.

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  58. Same thing happened to me, with rogers and some kind of crook company called iFortune. Charge was for 9.99 without my consent, and when I phoned rogers I got the same kind of run around the rest of you did. Is there any potential for a class action lawsuit here? Would anybody be interested?

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  59. Got my first invoice for my new phone through Bell. Less than three hours into owning this phone I "subscribed" to something from Buonigiomo Gamifive. No record of subscribing to anything however. Tomorrow going to block 3rd party billing. Wish I'd known about this risk when I got the phone so I could've blocked 3rd party billing from minute one.

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  60. I managed to "subscribe" less than 3 hours after picking up my new phone from Bell. Will be calling to block 3rd party billing tomorrow. Wish I'd known this at the time so I could've block that on sign-up.

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  61. I think I've been victim too gamifive. I only realize it after two days of checking my mms and abra cadabra I got charge $9.99 for services i have never use and is very useless. I immediately call there customer support (blah...blah..blah) lots of BS.. He said they are base in NY and will send me a cheque but he asked my add and name. I was hesitant at first. Did I made the right decision to give my info? I will be calling telus tomorrow to ask if they could block all third party billing.. What a shady way of ripping people off.

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  62. I can't believe this is still going on...I have just fell victim to them as well. As soon as I changed to my iPhone I received a text. Sent back STOP and assume it was done. But now I have been charged $10 for 2 months and Telus is directing me to iFortune to talk to them and try to get a refund.
    I never signed up for this, have never even heard of or seen this site. How can they just be putting in numbers and processing payments. Do the phone carriers not have any check to make sure these are legit, especially since they are away of the huge problems they have caused.
    I have iFortune number as 1-800-986-4614.

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  63. how can rogers allow others to charge anyone else on their private network ? is rogers giving numbers away ? is there any privacy at all ? we should all submit a lawsuit and sue rogers for this, not the 3rd party, rogers is responsible for allowing such practice, and should pay for that. not only they rip people of on usage, because there is no way one can control it, its word against word, but they even allow such practice, like they dont have enough. funny thing is that since i signed an unlimited plan with unlimited LD and almost everything unlimited, my bill every month is larger and larger, but still i have unlimited service, how is that possible ?

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  64. TELUS did this to my 13 year old daughter after she got an iPhone.

    The real problem is that TELUS is the third-party, not mobivillage.ca. The alleged contract of service is between mobivillage and the cell-phone user. The carrier is the third party. Therefore, the law needs to be changed to ensure that there is no interference by TELUS or the other carriers with these contracts. Further, in order for the contract to be valid, it must be in writing. That means mobivillage would have to mail you a paper contract which you must sign and return to them, in order for the contract to be enforceable. Then, if mobivillage wants to attempt to defraud my 13 year old daughter to the tune of $10 per month, they can mail me a paper contract to my residential address, and we'll see what happens. If these fraudsters were forced to mail you paper contracts, they'd all go out of business because only the most dull-witted would fall prey to their B.S. Let the free market decide just how viable these businesses are . . .

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  65. Rogers told me to contact the 3rd party directly. After a phone call they said they will stop the $9.99 charges. I had to ask for them to reverse $9.99 on my rogers bill. They said they will. This was their recent email:

    Thank you for your patience.

    As a token of goodwill, your refund has been approved for $9.99. You should see the reversal of the charge applied within the next 3 to 5 business days, however due to the difference in billing cycles between our service and your carrier, you may not see the credit reflected until your next billing cycle.


    Regards,

    Ronnie Becken
    Gamifive Customer Support

    ReplyDelete
  66. Wow, these comments have certainly been enlightening. Please allow me to share with you a few gems from my experiences (yes plural because it has happened twice so far).

    I am 100% certain I have never subscribed to iFortune. I am, however, guilty of tossing my phone to my kids so they can play with it, and I used to do that with confidence thinking they could never download or charge anything without a password or apple id. So I blame my iFortune mishaps on them, but really, should they be able to subscribe to something like iFortune when none of them can even read yet, and they don't know my phone number. So when I read someone's post above about the various ways to "subscribe" and how you have to jump through certain hoops (according to the website) and agree to terms, etc., I say malarkey! My toddler is not capable of that, but somehow he managed to charge my phone bill $10.

    The first time I received the text from iFortune telling me of my subscription, I thought it was spam and ignored it. I never would have signed up for something like that (it didn't occur to me that my kids could have done it!). When I got my bill and there was a $10 charge on it, I immediately called Telus and they agreed to refund the charge without too much rage on my part. I also asked if there was any way Telus could block these kids of charges, but was told no.

    Two months later, I was the harried mother in the grocery store who passes her fussy toddler her phone to distract him for five more minutes so I can finish my shopping. Sure enough, he "subscribes" to iFortune again. This time I unsubscribe immediately (by phone, because the link in the text didn't seem to take me anywhere I could unsubscribe). But I just got my bill last week and there was another charge for $10, even though I had unsubscribed within the hour. I immediately called Telus again and again the CSR agreed to refund my $10 (because she said it looked like the first time I had run into this problem... okay? I wasn't going to volunteer that only two months ago they had reversed the same charge. I did actually feel guilty about that for about ten minutes). But there was no way Telus can block these kinds of charges.

    Well, I would like my kids to be able to use my phone, so I thought I would google iFortune and see if there was any way I could "protect" myself against them and found my way to this blog. After reading the previous posts saying you can ask Rogers to block third-party billing, I thought I would give Telus a call. Maybe I wasn't making it clear enough what it was I wanted before. Using the exact words "block third-billing", I have been told by Telus it is impossible. What!!!? Telus has been kind enough to reverse the charges twice before, but I am certain you won't the next time I call (and I am certain it will happen again).

    There are so many things wrong with this situation, not the least being why iFortune is advertised in apps designed for toddlers or preschoolers. And Telus, that's baloney that you can't block those charges. You have a customer that refuses to pay them. BS! They shouldn't allow charges I didn't authorize. I could go on and on....

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  67. Nice Blog, thanks for sharing the valuable information.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Same happened to me yesterday. My phone account is linked to my husband's and he had been checking the phone bills and found that I was being charged 87p per week since January 2013. That's about £30 now. He called Orange and asked the rep who said it was a charge for a "game". I was so shocked. He confirmed the number which is 02076499636 and I called it. (the rep did ban the number) Didn't get much of an option between "Press 1 to unsubscribe" and "Press 2 to know more about our services". So I looked for the specific number on Google and found so many topics related to it. I was livid, I had never ever agreed to pay charges for any game and I had not subscribed to anything. I started checking my phone again, there was no such app being downloaded but I used to receive a text message once in a while saying that I'm a member of MuchGossip and that I could get celebrity gossip for 99p/week. I never paid much mind to it because I had never subscribed to such a service. We called Orange again, and spoke to another rep. I told him that I did my research regarding this number and found that this is an issue that Orange customers have been facing for a long time and enquired how come nothing had been done about this. We are getting a complete refund from them. You have to be firm with them, otherwise you'll get nowhere.

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  69. I am being charged by Koodo for the last 3 months and I had to call Koodo Customer service every month. The some Reps give me hard time and then I speak to their supervisor and they reverse the charges. This BS is still happening. So annoying that you waste 15 to 30 mins of our time with these stupids.

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  70. I just saw these charges on my account too,

    I called the number 1-855-896-0577 to unsubscribe and get a refund.

    They want first name, last name and email. The agent said it would take 3-5 business days to refund my $19.98 for 2 months of bullsh!t charges.

    We will see if I get that refund on my next bill.

    What a bunch of crooks, If I find the person responsible for this raquet, I will be sure to feed him/her a knuckle sandwich!!

    Good luck to all on this matter!

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  71. Koodo customer scammed by iFortuneJuly 21, 2013 at 7:28 AM

    That's a great article, Shawn, and I agree with your conclusions. It is very enlightening to read all the comments, too. Here is what happened to me.

    Received text message from Telus out of the blue, thanking me for my subscription to iFortune for $10/mth. Needless to say I did not subscribe to this service. The unsubscribe link given in the text didn't work as it lands on a generic page where one needs to create an account before one can unsubscribe. Called Koodo (a Telus company, my mobile phone provider) and disputed the charge. They told me that they cannot reverse the charge and cannot unsubscribe me. I need to talk to the company itself. (The unprofessional customer service I received from Koodo is another story.)

    Called the company at 855-896-0577 (phone number was given in text) and got through to a live agent (there is actually an unsubscribe option one can select in their automated phone system). The agent was courteous and cancelled my subscription (text message was received as confirmation), explained how I "subscribed" (apparently one needs to go click an ad and then say Yes on a confirmation page that explains terms and conditions for the service - I'm positive I didn't do this) and then said that they cannot reverse charges for Telus and Bell customers (they can only do this for Rogers and Fido). My only option is to give my name and mailing address to receive a cheque for $10 in two weeks. I didn't go with that option as I basically have zero trust in this company. If they can charge me without my knowledge and consent, what will they do with my name and mailing address?

    It boggles the mind that my mobile phone provider can use my account as a credit card essentially for the benefit of third parties (and certainly for their own benefit since they receive a cut from all these charges). But even worse than that, I cannot even dispute charges with them, but I need to deal with the third party directly, who can only charge but cannot undo charges. Hmm, what's wrong with this picture?

    I will be talking to a Koodo supervisor about this when they call me back. In the meantime, I am cancelling my data service with Koodo as this is my only protection against such scams. Will use my computer for internet and other data needs, and my mobile phone for calls and texting only.

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  72. Koodo customer scammed by iFortuneJuly 21, 2013 at 2:22 PM

    I have now been able to talk to a Koodo supervisor and she credited the $10 on my phone account (that iFortune was only willing to issue a cheque for). So now this is resolved as far as the financial aspect is concerned ("subscription" was already cancelled). However, she was unable to block third-party charges that might occur in the future (I don't believe any mobile provider can do that), so the phone is still at the mercy of these predatory business practices.

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  73. hi shawn i just when true the same thing and i m really really really really happy u made this blog

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  74. hi shann i m realy really really happy u made this blog cause i refering ur blog as i m talking right now to rogers so they can see and read this

    because i had the exact same problem

    ty shann

    ReplyDelete
  75. I have confirmed through telus that they do indeed have a contract with these people as a 3rd party billing company and do receive monies from them for people that prescribe to these sites. I was told it was from my data that they get the info to charge and went as far to disable all data from my phone.

    After receiving a call from the crtc to explain in detail what the truth was I made sure that this site was unsubscribed and also found out that the way that they get people to sign up is the problem, in that the confirmation page after accidentally clicking a form of pop up and the X on the right side is actually a confirmation which is supposed to take you to a confirmation page???? The company only has a answering service and states that they aren't sure about the signup process and wouldn't comment if this was a concern for unintentional sign ups!!! SO be careful, the only protection we have as consumers is to be diligent in knowing our phones and pc's and never open pop-ups like this until a solution is found......

    ReplyDelete
  76. I have a different twist (at least that I haven't read here before) to this story.

    I had my cell number switched 2 weeks ago. Suddenly the other day I had a charge from Mobivillage show up for $10. I emailed them and at first got the same song and dance about "you must have signed up". I wrote back and said (among other things), I only had this number for two weeks, and that since I did not own an Android, it was impossible that I signed up through that specific link they sent me.

    I did receive a response, and found out whoever had that phone number before was the one who signed up (whether or not they actually did ...).... but the service wasn't cancelled, and therefore the person who was assigned the number next (me) was billed. They claim that if I provide confirmation from Telus that I indeed just received the phone#, they'll refund that money. WE'll see.

    Wendy

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  77. I"m Currently having a issue with rogers pay as go and Lg C195 Charging me for text messages (hundreds a month @ 25 cents each) to a 0000000 number that doesn't show up on my phone or statement and both companies are blaming each other but have yet 4 months later stopped it from happening, so now every month i have to spend hours fighting with rogers, to get all my money back which has been $100.00-$150.00 per month in hidden text charges that only show up on the rogers side. Rogers tells me it's a LG chip on the phones mother board doing it, and LG says its Rogers main Network doing it, because all the funds are going directly to Rogers. Lets say 4 months later and no real solutions in sight, for now i've taken the sim out of my 5 month old LG phone - which has become a paper weight (needless to say i will never ever get another LG phone or product) the phone is under full warranty but it's become personal now and i want real answers to why they feel its ok to steal my money and then try every excuse in the world to make me feel like it's some how my fault.

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  78. The scam still goes on. Why on earth don't the phone networks block this scam outfit!!!!

    Anyway, if you're in the UK, here's how to complain:

    If you too have been charged 99p per week (0.82+VAT) without signing up for anything, chances are you too are one of the many victims of the Buongiorno / B!Games scam.

    All you'll know if it is getting an unsolicited text that starts...
    (FreeMsg) You're a member of B!Games for 99p/week. Get
    unltd games & apps @

    There phone line is fully automated so don't expect any help here although you can unsubscribe
    (even though you never joined!)


    Email : customercareuk@buongiorno.com

    Ph: + 44 0207 649 9636


    You can report Buongiorno here to the regulator PhonePayPlus:



    http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/For-the-Public/Make-a-complaint/Complaint-Form.aspx



    If enough of us do it, they may stop their scam.



    It's also time for someone to let Watchdog know as well.

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  79. Hi. This was really helpful. This just happened to me in Australia. I received an SMS saying I had subscribed to gamifive and would be billed 12$ a month. The charge was billed to my phone company immediately. My phone company is iinet. They have said they are investigating and will hold the bill till they work out what is going on but it seems in Australia also anyone with your mobile number can charge you and the phone companies allow it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just got stung by this in Australia too. My iiNet phone invoice showed a $12 charge for a premium service call, but the number supposedly called on my invoice was my own mobile number. I rang iiNet and they said the charge related to Buongiorno mobivillage. They even had the number for me to ring Buongiorno in Australia when I said I knew nothing of it.

      Clearly Buongiorno's business model is to work its way around the world until a critical mass of people complain and the local laws get changed or their is enough negative publicity and then it's time for them to pack up and move to the next country.

      I am also concerned that iiNet are facilitating this scam by:
      (a) not disabling the premium service option by default; and
      (b) disguising the charge in their invoices,
      and are benefitting financially by virtue of taking a portion of $12 fee. I have written to iiNet for an explanation of their stance.

      Delete
  80. ....and here in Canada on our last two Rogers phone bills are the $9.99 third party charges from this Buongiorno outfit. Oddly the phone number they were supposedly triggered from was a temporary number given to us by Rogers when we signed up for phone service and it was never attached to a mobile phone so there was no way we could have clicked on a game app provider by mistake. I've called to block future charges and hopefully to get a refund....so we'll see if both things actually work out. I appreciate the original post and all the comments - very helpful in providing guidance in how to proceed - thanks.

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  81. Thanks Shawn for taking the time to bring awareness to this issue. I have fallen victim to their scam as well. Seems like the Telcos would be better off putting in some security measures rather than having to deal with cleaning up the mess of companies such as Gamifive and also dealing with all the complaints.

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  82. I have a data-only SIM card (located in Toronto, Canada) with Rogers on an iPad, both provided by my employer for my job, and was just recently questioned by our accounting personnel as to why I subscribed to some "starsecretsmobiledailygossip" monthly service. I was floored. I had no idea and I couldn't defend myself. I didn't get in trouble but imagine how this may have unfolded at a larger, corporate outfit. Effing Mobivillage. What they're doing is criminal!!! How the eff are they allowed to do this since 2012 and possibly longer? Accounting personnel made three attempts in contacting Rogers and finally on the third call, got a rare, NICE and co-operative rep who gladly refunded the third-party charge on the latest invoice. Why can't hackers go and eff with organizations like Mobivillage?!?

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  83. Yes - we are now proudly seeing Gamifive operate in Australia via Buongiorno on Vodafone and Telstra. The mobile phone cramming scam is alleged to operate once you click on an ad, although I have not to my knowledge done that. Vodafone deny it is relevant to them and avoid responsibility by suggesting the charges are by third parties, however this is patently untrue as it is Vodafone who is doing the invoicing. Unbelievable that our telco's get caught up in this!

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  84. I had a Rogers Rocket Hub up until today. I had issues getting that account cancelled but they did finally get me taken care of along with 2 months of extra charges that were in error (took that long to get the point across and the fact my hub was unplugged for 2 months tipped them off). Anyhow, like most I pay my bill every month and with the very poor rocket hub data plans my bills were usually in the hundreds of dollars/mnth, so I just paid. I live in a rural area with no wired internet service available so when I found the Rocket Hub it was awesome versus dial up.

    So while going through the cancellation process I caught the $9.99, in fact one of the multiple Rogers people I talked to mentioned it, that caught my ear and I started digging in and really looked at my bill and my past bills.......this is 2014 my bills are available back to January 2013 and the $9.99 is on everyone. I called Buongiorno to complain and get money back so we will see what happens, but since Sept 2012 I have been a complete moron. Sept 2012 is when I started splitting up with my now ex wife so who knows.....dirty trick.....maybe.

    I guess what I am saying is I understand I am an idiot for not catching this, but I do look at my bill every once and awhile and never caught this, not an easy read and to find the 9.99 charge online you have to go through a few windows to actually see the exact line on your bill. They have it nicely broken out for you but you have to find it first. If it were on the regular bill like a called number list then it would have stood out to me.

    Worst part is I have a regular land line phone plugged into the Rocket Hub, so there is no possible way to get a text message fortune telling that I signed up for somewhere, somehow!! That would have been the first month tip off that had me cancel it.

    Not impressed!! I have reported to the Better Business Bureau and the CRTC, who knows if they will or can do anything.

    Shawn and I share the same last name but I dont think we are related lol.

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  85. I have filed with every government agency I can find to complain about my issue, naming Rogers and the Mobivillage and asking for a refund or portion of. Talked to Mobibillage and got the dance about how I signed up.....what bunch of crap. I need to learn how to hack as anonymous above says and crash their sites.

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  86. I can't believe this is still going on. I just checked my bill this morning and have this same charge on my Rogers bill. How can this scam be allowed to go on for this long?

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  87. I have had the same reaction from Rogers for two fraudulent billings. This time I elevated it the the Office of The President at Rogers. Supposedly I will get a call in 72 hours Will keep this thread posted if they call. Will also be elevating it to Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services. Link:
    http://www.ccts-cprst.ca/ Everyone who reads this should do the same

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  88. It is still happening! I found out the charges today, that is after three months since they started charging me. Calling Rogers now, the rep was polite, but she said she couldn't do much. after 30 minutes, spoken to a manager. he seemed to know the matter very well. he reversed the charges right away, and blocked all future 3rd party charge for me. I have to say I am pretty happen with the service I got today.

    Just one thing though, Why didn't they block the 3rd party charge by default!

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  89. This just happened to me as well .The comment about not checking monthly bills is totally true. I've been billed since June and I have text messages from them that contradict dates and times. Rogers has washed their hands but I'm fighting this one

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  90. This happened to me today and its true people don't check their bills. I've have text messages that prove they are scamming people. Details to follow

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  91. As with others in this forum, I'm a Buongiorno (B!Games) victim.

    I noticed charges on my mobile account even though I never clicked on anything that said “Sign up for B!Games for a monthly fee”, or anything remotely like that. I might have clicked on something Buongiorno knew about, because they sent me some IP address, times etc, claiming this was 'evidence'. However, this is 100% meaningless, as they have consistently failed to provide any evidence at all of the actual banner or advert I'm supposed to have clicked on, even though this is what I specifically asked for. E.g. for all we know they could be running 'sign up' banners that look like charity adverts or other misleading links.

    This failure to provide basic evidence strongly indicates that Buongiorno are deliberately using deceptive means, for the purpose of obtaining money (i.e. fraud).

    I've complained to (so called) UK regulators PhonePayPlus and OfCom, EE (my mobile operator) and Buongiorno and, eventually, ActionFraud (the arm of the UK police that deal with fraud and cybercrime).

    The regulators are useless. PhonePayPlus say that EE should deal with this kind of racket and OfCom say that PhonePayPlus are responsible. EE tell me to go to Buongiorno and Buongiorno don't give a shit – because they don't need to!They know they are unregulated...

    EE and Buongiorno are patently not the people to go to, as they are complicit in the racket (as they're the ones profiting from taking money from your account). I.e. not much point complaining to your mugger, right?

    And even if your mugger is caught, they shouldn't be off the hook just because they 'refund' you. Yet the mobile operators and Buongiorno seem to think that's just fine!!

    ActionFraud appear to be the only ones taking this seriously, so I would recommend taking complaints (and as much tangible evidence as possible) to them.

    HOWEVER, I would strongly recommend first complaining to your phone company, Buongiorno, regulators, etc, so that you can show that you've at least tried to bring this racket to their attention - one day there will be a judegement made and the incompetence and/or dishonesty of these organisations will be a factor in who gets blamed, fined, fired or, hopefully, closed down.

    Another point worth noting is that, in the UK at least, if the money has been refunded, it cannot be formally recorded as a reported 'crime'. I suspect this is why mobile operators and Buongiorno refund the money so easily. It is still well worth reporting though – ActionFraud use the evidence to build a case, etc.

    Sometimes I think that life is too short for this, after all, I've been refunded my money. Maybe it's the challenge and a sense of injustice...

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  92. I strongly suspect that any unethical company such as Gamifive / Mobivillage / Buongiorno, surely don't just draw the line at treating their 'customers' like crap - it would be interesting to hear what life is like on the inside (e.g. from their staff...how do they feel about working for such a flaky outfit?)

    ReplyDelete
  93. The $9.99 charge fron ifurtune/mobivillage showed up on a new line we added for my daughter. The great thing is we were charged on the 16th of October but we didn't put the sim card in my daughter's phone until the 18th of October. I phoned rogers and of course they say there is nothing they can do, they say they cannot even put a third party block on. I will be calling Mobivillage tomorrow but I don't have high hopes.

    ReplyDelete
  94. I just received a bill from rogers for charges from cellybean for $294.60. I never subscribed to this and I never download ring tunes or wallpapers. I am a single father of 3 kids paying child support, do you think I would spend $300 on ring tunes and wallpapers and games? I don't let my kids play on my phone because of micro transactions in games. I am so mad. I phoned rogers, they said I have to contact cellybean. I phoned cellybean to unsubscribe, but the recording says "we're sorry, we're unable to process your request, please try again later." What am I suppose to do?

    ReplyDelete
  95. I just received call from collections. The 4th one now all for the same issue that took place back in 2012. I owe $1350 and have a r9. $380 was from the exceptional premium texting services which I just love, the rest was from a $600 cancellation. I love paying money for things like this, especially when I NEVER had service at home from rogers. When I would drive up the street......the messages would just pour in. How tall is this building? How tall is that building lol. Like I give a SHT give me my life back.

    ReplyDelete