text-messages
Text Message Donations For Haiti May Be Delayed Up To 3 Months
(Photo: United Nations
Development Programme)
It's quick, easy, and convenient to donate to relief efforts for Haiti earthquake victims by sending a text message, but not such a great idea if you want to be sure that your donations reach people and organizations in need before sometime in April.
Mobile carriers don't actually submit your donation to the charity until after you've paid your bill. Experts agree that the donations will take at least one billing cycle for pledges to reach their destination. More »
New Jersey Wants To Stop Unsolicited Text Message Ads
(Photo: Wowbagger,
the Infinitely Prolonged)
Text Messages Can Make You Save More Money
Could a text message make you save more? More »
Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Payless Shoesource For Text Message Spamming
Peter, who wrote in last month to complain about being text-spammed by Payless Shoesource on his phone, wasn't the only customer they annoyed. A man in California has filed a class action lawsuit against the shoe company and Voice & Mobile Broadcast Corporation, which is the marketing company it hired to run the campaign. More »
JCPenney Tries Out Mobile Coupons In Houston Stores
If you live in the Houston area, you can now use your mobile phone to redeem coupons for JCPenney through a trial-partnership with Cellfire. You have to register with Cellfire in order to receive the promos via SMS or email, and if you register today you'll receive a mysterious "$10 in$tant gift" [sic]. More »
Verizon Customer Says She's Bombarded By Robo-Texts
It's bad enough when friends and acquaintances bombard you with text messages, but at least most humans can be reasoned with. Monica, on the other hand, says she's being hassled by a robot who sends here 20 texts a day, and that Verizon has been slow to jump to her aid. More »
idk y txts r so $$. Consumers Union's Joel Kelsey says what all already knew—text messages are way overpriced—only he got to say it during testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. [Consumer Reports Electronics] More »
8Coupons.com Lets You Send Local Coupons To Your Phone
Online coupons still haven't caught on, really, but 8coupons.com may be worth checking out if you want to give it a try in your own city. Instead of implementing some high-concept location aware thing, they let you browse the site for coupons that interest you. When you find one, you send it to your phone via text message. Obviously, if you hold your phone number dear to your heart, don't bother; if you're the brave type who doesn't mind risking the personal data exposure, you might want to give it a shot. More »
Teenager Tries To Bankrupt Family By Sending $4,756.25 In Text Messages
Here's an idea, don't use your phone to send 300 texts a day at school. Not only will your parents not get a bill for $4,756.25, you won't go from As and Bs to Fs and you also won't get your phone smashed with a hammer. More »
Senators Introduce Bill To Ban Text Message Spam
Senators Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Bill Nelson, D-Florida, have introduced the m-SPAM Act, which would update the CAN-SPAM law to include text message spam. "The m-SPAM Act would explicitly bar marketers from sending text messages to any mobile number in the national Do-Not-Call registry maintained by the FTC," reports InternetNews. More »
Subway Launches Text Message Ordering In NYC
Subway has launched a pilot program called SubwayNow where New York City residents (Manhattan only at the moment, it looks like) can register to place pick-up orders via text message. According to IntoMobile, after registering with your address and providing payment info, which they keep on file, you set up a list of sandwich orders that are saved as a personal menu. When you're ready to use the service, you text "menu" to the Subway shortcode, and Subway sends back your pre-set menu. Then you text back the menu item you want, and Subway responds with a pick-up time. More »
Sprint Clears Up 'Unlimited Messaging' Confusion
We got an email today from a Sprint representative addressing the confusion over just what "unlimited" means in their unlimited messaging package. If you recall, Erica says Sprint told her she would still be billed per message when sending pics or video, which runs contrary to the offer she signed up for. Now Sprint has officially responded that unlimited means no additional charges, and they're investigating the matter. Below is their statement. More »
Sprint's 'Unlimited' Messaging Package Charges You Per Message
Sprint offers an "Everything Messaging Family" package that promises "unlimited nationwide, text, picture and video messaging to anyone on any network." The catch? Unlimited seems to mean "you have the capability to send messages, but you'll still have to pay for each message you send." Erica has called in twice to clear up the mistake, but the CSRs are telling her it's not a mistake. Oh. Well then, is it a lie? More »
AT&T's 'American Idol' Text Message Stunt Backfires
AT&T spammed a "'significant number' of its 75 million customers" yesterday with text messages advertising the premiere of American Idol. AT&T also pissed off a significant number of its 75 million customers in the process, and the company's justification for the blitz isn't exactly making AT&T sound smart when it comes to understanding what qualifies as spam. More »
Reminder: Text Messaging Can Be Used For Scams, Too
This story from Jessica is a good reminder that scammers don't care about the technology, they care about about fooling you. That means they'll use whatever method is available—in this case, SMS. More »
How To Send Text Messages Online, For Free
Wireless Carriers Tell Senate: "Text Messaging Rates Have Dropped, And Your Queries Have Led To Lawsuits Against Us!"
The national wireless carriers have responded to the Senate's request for information on why its text-messaging fees have doubled over the past three years. Their collective response: they haven't gotten more expensive, they've gotten cheaper—and your public suspicion of our business practices has led to lots of class action lawsuits! More »
Timberland Offering Up To $150 To Recipients Of Its Text Message Spam
Under the terms of a preliminary settlement agreement, [Timberland and e-commerce company GSI] will pay $7 million into a cash fund to reimburse those who received the messages, according to KamberEdelson LLC, one of the law firms that helped bring the suit. More »
Sprint Keeps Sending Mysterious Security-Related Text Messages, But Doesn't Know Why
Chelsea wants to know why she keeps receiving these cryptic text messages from 9099. The messages alternate between telling her new phantom services have been added to her account, and sending her an account PIN and security answer. We thought it was someone trying to gain access to her account, but the PIN and security answer aren't hers, and the services never show up on her bill. More »