However, you have to do something slightly different if you are a 3 customer or on an overseas network – http://www.tfl.gov.uk/termsandconditions/7163.a… :

Overseas and 3 networks can now also access the Cabwise service by texting their location (street name and partial postcode e.g. Victoria St SW1) to the number +44 07797 800 000.

3 Network
The cost of this service will be 35p per enquiry plus your standard text message rate.

However, you have to do something slightly different if you are a 3 customer or on an overseas network – http://www.tfl.gov.uk/termsandconditions/7163.a… :

Overseas and 3 networks can now also access the Cabwise service by texting their location (street name and partial postcode e.g. Victoria St SW1) to the number +44 07797 800 000.

3 Network
The cost of this service will be 35p per enquiry plus your standard text message rate.

However, you have to do something slightly different if you are a 3 customer or on an overseas network – http://www.tfl.gov.uk/termsandconditions/7163.a… :

Overseas and 3 networks can now also access the Cabwise service by texting their location (street name and partial postcode e.g. Victoria St SW1) to the number +44 07797 800 000.

3 Network
The cost of this service will be 35p per enquiry plus your standard text message rate.

Yes, it’s LBS. Hence it’s not available to Three and Virgin.

Steve hon, not all clients do what we tell them over pricing regs, I haven’t had a run of clients _ever_ whom have all played industry ball despite threats to cut them off or stick their campaigns where the sun doesn’t shine. I bet Nick hasn’t either. And I doubt, until ICSTIS or whatever they call themselves today poke you, you have noticed either. It’s the way of the world, and we can tell them how to advertise until we’re blue in the face, but once their publicity is out, it’s out.

I totally agree by the way..

njar – Sorry, I just get veryfrustrated at seeing services where a lack of care has been applied to industry regulations; and it makes me feel why on earth should companies like mine and yours spend so much effort on hand holding clients through regulations when others steam in and ignore it all. Just makes you throw your hands up in despair…hence the frustrated posts!! ;-(

In terms of whether this advert mentions that the handset will be looked up, I was kind of assuming it’d be where the SMS pricing info was. If it isn’t on there at all, then it’s not exactly best practice, but at the same time the LBS Code of Practice is poorly written and open to differing interpretations. In an ideal world they should mention this. Some carriers would care, others wouldn’t.

It’s definitely on the other ads, I remember seeing it in the past few days and thinking 35p was a strange rate to charge. Ok so maybe not strange, but more used to seeing 25p, 50p, £1, etc.

Yep well I would have hoped they’d have the pricing sorted out. At 35p plus network charges it seems like a really good value proposition.

Yeah O2 still not playing ball. A large large shame as their reluctance/inability to launch has held back a raft of innovation and some would-be great mobile value propositions.

Will, Steve, I’m surprised by your comments; as ‘mobile experts’ you should be able to tell that this is a LBS service, and you’ll obviously both be aware that neither Virgin or Three offer LBS as a wholesale offering. A quick check on the Three end user site confirms the code is live on Three and registered to Kizoom, and it’s possible although I’ve not tried it, that they return a message stating you can’t use the service if a user texts in from Three. The code is unlikely to be live on Virgin given the inability to differentiate between Virgin and T-Mobile on an inbound SMS.

If their pricing is not clear, then this should be cut off straight away, If the taxi info is rubbish then fair enough comment, but having just tried the service out (and without calling the cab numbers) it worked really well.

Ewan if you want comments, you could ask Thee and Virgin why they don’t offer LBS. While you’re at it could you ask O2 why they don’t offer Voice and Video codes

I would also ask them to explain why there is no information on that bus-stop poster regarding the premium rate cost of the service or the fact that Virgin/Three users are excluded (and indeed if they try the service at a time of night when they are worried for their safety, that it will appear to them that the service has failed and let them down)?

steve/itagg.com

Will the mobile company providing this please stand up and explain…

steve/itagg.com

This service has been around for a while – and the problem with it a while ago is that it basically didn’t work… no cabs ever responded. Have they overcome this? Has anyone tried it recently?

Will