What’s the deal on 08000mumdad.co.uk?

In Australia they have a 1800Mumand Dad service. (www.1800mumdad.com.au). I am told that they have a voice recording of the person who “accepts” the reverse charge call to their mobile. They then have the charges deducted in a series of Prsms charges (something like $3/min!)

If some-one maintains they did not “accept” a call to their mobile, then will apparently play back the recorded acceptance.

It’s apparently designed for a son or daughter who has no credit on their mobile to make a free 1800 call to this service, they will then dial the designated mobile on their behalf and send out a series of MT charged prsms to the receivers phone (if the accept the charges)

Hello Ewan, thanks for posting this. Update: received an email from spinvox saying that they are going to investigate the matter and will let me know what is going on asap.

If the service in Australia is genuine then is this a scam trying to mimic it ?

I am sick of all these txt I am gettin and then wen a put monye on my phone to txt my friend they take the monye of my phone am not very happy with this servus its apoling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi All,

i got the customer service number from a friend, as below

0800151455

i had the same issue with this company and so i gave them a call for further help. The answering machine said they would call back within 24 hrs! i didn’t believe this statement, until they rang and a friendly customer service officer answered all my desired questions.

It turns out they do simply provide reverse charge calls to mobiles which can be extremely helpfull in times. Their way of billing is via premium SMS to your mobile.

If your having any problems i advise you give them a call just as i did and soon enough you will sort out your enquiries!

Charlie

i had the same problems as well. i was recieveing those stupid txts nearly every day deducting my credit.and didnt understand y. I finally got through to an operator and they were actually to my surprise helpful.They advised me that the service was not a subscription service and that replying stop back to messages wont do anything. They also explained that the reason y i had recieved those txts was to pay for reverse charge calls that i had accepted and simply forgotten about. they also told me about there cheap pranking service which i now use i can make five prank calls with out being cahrged i only get charged on the sixth call. at first i thought this service was a scam and bogus but only to find out its just a service out there for help. It comes in handy when i run out of credit. If anyone else needs to be help out like me just go to the website and get the number off there

i also receiced a call last night to say my child was trying to call me after accepting the call i was no longer connected and was charged 5.00 1 i have tried ringing the number mentioned for customer services which does not exist. i personally think this is a scam

this also has happened to me, but soon accpeted to cop the charges, after all i did accept the call and regardless of weather my friend hung up or not i would be charged, anyway i wanted to communicate with this company as i believe there system to be a bogus scam. I searched there website (www.08000mumdad.co.uk) and found that if you click on the ‘help’ button a drop down drops saying contact us and you can write them an angry email. I wrote them one and they replied with this response

“Dear Ash,

Thanks for your email.

Each PSMS (premium SMS) that you are receiving is charged at £1.50 each for previous accepted 08000mumdad calls. These PSMS are sent in part payments to cover total costs of calls depending on amount of calls and durations, which may vary the price.
In your case we need to send you 6 PSMS to cover the cost of the call accepted on the 28/12/2007. You current still have 2 outstanding sms. Once you receive these it will finalise your account with us and no more sms charges will be sent to your mobile.
I have also put a barr on your number that will prevent any future 08000mumdad calls from being connected on your mobile.
For further assistance do not hesitate to contact us on 08 000 151 455 or reply email.”

I thought this was rather good as they got bac to me in good timing and answered all my enquiries,

my advice would be to contact via email but if not keep trying on the phone. i know longer think this system is a scam after reading about it also it has come in handy for my kids to call me on!

i love this company !”

its so helpfull and really good 1

i also love the poerators voice when i am waiting to be connected!

Delete

2008/8/27 Disqus <>

Yes indeed i have come across this organisation. I work for a charity that houses vulnerable people, last week a 74 year old gentleman asked me to look into why he had no credit on his phone even though he had a successful top up receipt for £30. I contacted Virgin who told me the gentleman had allowed reverse charge calls and then a £3 charge was levied for each text he opened from MBLOX . These people may or may not be directly connected to each other, in any case it didnt take long between them to use £30. Virgin told me to text Stop to prevent any futher waste, but we decided it would be safer to change his number. The irony is this gentleman doesnt even know how to text , he simply wants the phone to keep in touch with his familytouch with his family.

oh dear…

2008/9/8 Disqus <>

he should migrate to Vodafone and their super-cool premium rate text bar!!

/pimp

Agreed!

2008/9/8 Disqus <>

I recently have had this same problem with my son's mobile phone. He kept receiving these premium text messages that were taking his top-ups everytime. On trying to find out about what was happening, I noticed this comment which directed me towards the 08000mumdad website. I contacted their customer service number and was put onto their voicemail, asking me to leave my details and a return phone call will be delivered within 24 hours. I wasn't prepared to wait that long (if a call-back promise was to be fulfilled) if more charges were going to be sent in that time, but a call was returned and the CSR explained everything in regards to my son's mobile number. It turns out he had accepted a few reverse charge calls from his friend. He denied ever knowing about the service, but when the CSR played the recording of the person who called, he soon remembered. I was impressed with the politeness and helpfulness of the guy I talked to; I asked if there was a way that this could stop from happening again and he placed a bar on the number so no more reverse charge calls could be accepted.

Now that this was sorted out, no pocket money for two weeks helped my son fix up the charges he should have known better than to accept; to have simply hung up the phone to decline the call that obviously wasn't one he needed to accept instead of helping his so-called 'friend' just talk to him would have been the right thing to do. The 08000mumdad CSR explained that this abuse of the service is understandably disliked, and they are there to help with any enquiries relating to this type of situation.

i am annoyed with this 08000mumdad i want to put stop on my fone i am not having my money taking off in the last 3 week u took 20 pound how do i put a stop to it

i have not long found out about this company and i thing its a great idrea you know dont get me wrong i do use it abit but dont you think it costs to much? i got 08000 mumdad to my mobile but my friends and i topped up like i always do at the end of the month and it took £20 credit and im a mum and i dont get much money as it is and to have that much credit taken off in one go is abit of a p**s take dont you think? Numba1Mum

Hi, I accepted 3 , 30 second calls from my daughter on 1 day using this services back in August. Now Every time I top up my £10 is instantly reduced to £1 with in a matter of minutes via 3 txts. It is now somewhere in the region of £40 that have been swiped from my credit. When I tried to phone the number at the bottem of the texts it either rings and no pick up or is engaged. I have now contacted them by e-mail and am waiting for a response. Whilst the idea is a good one I really hope this is not going to turn out to be a company preying on parents vunerabilty when it comes to their children.

this mum and dad service is a scam tey av cherdged me 20 over the last 4 wks. something needs done

i dont like this 08000mumdad calls
every time i top up my fone it take 6 pounds of my credit i have toped up my fone 4 times this month
any they have taken 24 pounds off me this scam has bin taking money of me for the last 5 months
and im sick of it how do i stop it once and for all

I recently have had this same problem with my son's mobile phone. He kept receiving these premium text messages that were taking his top-ups everytime. On trying to find out about what was happening, I noticed this comment which directed me towards the 08000mumdad website. I contacted their customer service number and was put onto their voicemail, asking me to leave my details and a return phone call will be delivered within 24 hours. I wasn't prepared to wait that long (if a call-back promise was to be fulfilled) if more charges were going to be sent in that time, but a call was returned and the CSR explained everything in regards to my son's mobile number. It turns out he had accepted a few reverse charge calls from his friend. He denied ever knowing about the service, but when the CSR played the recording of the person who called, he soon remembered. I was impressed with the politeness and helpfulness of the guy I talked to; I asked if there was a way that this could stop from happening again and he placed a bar on the number so no more reverse charge calls could be accepted.

Now that this was sorted out, no pocket money for two weeks helped my son fix up the charges he should have known better than to accept; to have simply hung up the phone to decline the call that obviously wasn't one he needed to accept instead of helping his so-called 'friend' just talk to him would have been the right thing to do. The 08000mumdad CSR explained that this abuse of the service is understandably disliked, and they are there to help with any enquiries relating to this type of situation.

i am so fed up from your service that send a message to my mobile and it charged my top ups.
please could you solve my problem. This service took my £10 already i dont have enough money to top up for my mobile and make a call.So i am say once again please solve this problem of me. Thank you.

This is not a support service for this service. If you cannot contact them for help contact PhonePayPlus the industry regulator for help.

i am so fed up from your service that send a message to my mobile and it charged my top ups.
please could you solve my problem. This service took my £10 already i dont have enough money to top up for my mobile and make a call.So i am say once again please solve this problem of me. Thank you.

This is not a support service for this service. If you cannot contact them for help contact PhonePayPlus the industry regulator for help.

my son made a phone call to my mobile twice xmas eve and i have been charged about 5 times now for the reverse charge call,???

you have already taken the money from my balance on my phone,, this is a big scam,, im getting sick of it and will investigate it further,, iv better things to do than try and track down some company thats taken all my talk time.

The o8000mumdad service is a premium rate service, that kids in my area have misunderstood and used to make calls to their mates., which they have thought to be free. We are now in a position where everytime we top up our daughters phone by £5 they take £3 to pay for calls made using 08000mumdad and there appears no way to track how much the bill is that is being paid off!!

The o8000mumdad service is a premium rate service, that kids in my area have misunderstood and used to make calls to their mates., which they have thought to be free. We are now in a position where everytime we top up our daughters phone by £5 they take £3 to pay for calls made using 08000mumdad and there appears no way to track how much the bill is that is being paid off!!

My daughter has not used their service or accepted any calls from them and yet today her balance was reduced from 6.57-1.92 by 2 text messages, i followed the advice of replying with Stop to both texts as they were different numbers and within 15 minutes i received a barrage of phone calls from a witheld number all made ,hung up and redialled in less than 1 min, (coincidence!).
i called my daughters network (o2) who were very helpful and they put a bar on premium rate numbers and advised me to contact http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk, which i did, i did the phone number check for both the uk landline number and the 08000 number for the company and they state they do not regulate those calls it is ofcom who regulate them, so i will be phoning them in the morning.

My daughter has not used their service or accepted any calls from them and yet today her balance was reduced from 6.57-1.92 by 2 text messages, i followed the advice of replying with Stop to both texts as they were different numbers and within 15 minutes i received a barrage of phone calls from a witheld number all made ,hung up and redialled in less than 1 min, (coincidence!).
i called my daughters network (o2) who were very helpful and they put a bar on premium rate numbers and advised me to contact http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk, which i did, i did the phone number check for both the uk landline number and the 08000 number for the company and they state they do not regulate those calls it is ofcom who regulate them, so i will be phoning them in the morning.

you have been taken money my credit accound an ammout of £16 and i have not been using mumdad. I am very angry and making a complaint of this. I expect all my money back and if this doesnt get taken into conideration then i shall be going to the consumers about this.

Just to be clear Sarah, Mobile Industry Review is reporting on the service and not in any way responsible for it.

pls can someone help me get out of this disgusting situation .i v lost over £50 of top up trying to stop this nonsense on my mobile.i m thinking of changing my number. its really bad

I have used this service a couple of times and was expecting a higher cost considering it is reverse charge and to mobiles. However, I start to receive all these PSMS and my credit getting deducted each time. I called the number on the messages which connected me to their helpline. They explained to me, that the amount of charges I received are relating to how long I spent on the call for. I reckon you should call or email them if you have any problems. I am all sorted out now.

I would like to block 08000mumdad from my phone

my son keeps getting theses txts aswell and as he is job hunting and it eats all his credit it is holding him back from employment he dosnt want to change his number as it is on all his c.vs he has given to potential employers this is theft and i am going to report it to the police and other authorities

The 08000mum dad service is not a con-artist or a scam. they heavily advertise what they are and what they charge.

the problem is that the service is aimed at the kids… the kids use it for free to call parents or friends. and it is the parents or friends that get the bill.

the problem with it being advertised or aimed at kids is that kids dont value the price of the pound(£) or care as it is not affecting them personally.

here is some good news to you all.. the problem is actually the solution

the answer is your kids. and here is why

phonepayplus who are the regulators of premium services have a policy which all premium charge service providers have to adhere to. and here is the good bit. 08000mumdad allthough they are a non scam company do not adhere to one of the directives phonepayplus have. and we can all use this as a reason to get EVERY penny back.

ok here is how 08000mumdad works.
jimmy (a child) calls 08000mumdad to call his mum she accepts the call. even if the call was 1 second or 1minute 59 seconds she is charges £4.50 – £1.50 as a connection fee and £3.00 as a 2 minute call, yes even a 1 second call is charged as a 2 minute call.

so by accepting the servicecall costs a minimum of £4.50.. and there is no way that it can be any less then this value. it may appear on phone bills as multiple texts from 50p upwards. but one call is £4.50.

now the guideline, directive, policy….

no service which is aimed for use by, or advertised towards use by a child under the age of 16 CANNOT have a charge of over £3 for a single use, single product.

hmmm got you thinking.. starting to see where im going with this??

yep every single accepted call jimmy makes is breaking the phonepayplus guidelines. meaning you can claim back every single penny.

mydaughter over 8 months got to a total of £360 on my contract bill. i received a cheque within 4 days (they said upto 10 days) for… wait for it …… £360.

heres the reference you can quote
http://www.phonepayplus.org.uk/upload/PhonepayPlus_Code_of_Practice.pdf

quote section 7.5.4 A
this says :
Children’s services must not: generally cost more than £3

well we all know the MINIMUM charge is ALWAYS £4.50.. they can only get away with the £4.50 if there was a way to only be charged under £3 for a single use. or if a more then 50% of calls by kids cost under £3.. which never happens.

hope this helps

i use 08000mumdad often, and have had no problems. it is not a scam but a genuine service and it works, although the caller has to pay back the call charge once credit is on their phone, there are no problems with this service. you get so many tries to a number before you have to wait for that number to put credit on (insufficient credit on their behalf). this is a really good service and i reccomend to all!

i dont think it is ment for long conversations, just quick conversations? i thinks thats why the cost is so high.

i havent heard anything about this also i havent received nor made any reverse charge phonecall either
its a total scam and its not right im very angry.

i havent heard anything about this also i havent received nor made any reverse charge phonecall either
its a total scam and its not right im very angry.

my son rang me once off it today but hung up before it put him threw to me and i got a text saying this sms is for 3 prank calls @ 50p per call. also he has tried to call be before and if it went straight to voicemail because i had no signal it would charge £1.50 connection fee and £1.50 a minute. its out of order. if its there for kids to contact people in emergencys why is it so expensive and why do they charge you for more calls than you have actually received?

I am from Australia and what we have is 1800mumdad and its just the same though with a different rate of course. The service is fast and reliable. It's not just for kids, “mumdad” may be a figure of speech for a parent or main line who gets charged for a reverse call charge.

I have been sent charges taken from me blind via txt 0800mumanddad. I was shocked after complaining that they want to bill me further and I have never agreed nor used this service. I have no need to use this service whatsoever! I complained via email and they emailed me a bill that shows no other number, not even my name and other details on. They charged £3 for a 30 second call, and others seconds call less then 30 seconds long! £3 They taken my credit top up without me knowing about it! I am battling this one with emailing them for my money back. This company has committed fraud, as they still have not come up with more proof on them charging me in a validated way! I will also seek advice from the Police and find an ombudsman to close this damn company down. No company should be allowed to charge a person blind like that! HOW DARE THEY! Never heard of this company. My provider helped me block this company from my mob number now. No company should behave like this! Battle still going with them! I am realising how many people have had problems with this company. So more reason to get them closed down for good!

this service is a total rip off completely , every time I top up 10 pound they leave me with 1 pound , I email them they said ive used the service 6 times last year . they send me an attachment to show these figures but the page was blank . they a re a rip off . they take way more than they should hoping no one will complain to a higher source. what I think we all should do is get pay as you go orange and tmobile sims free from of the internet order loads of free sims , use mum dad services as much as you can with other free sims you will never plan to keep . once you reach the limit on one sim card pop another free one in and do it all over , if thousands of people do this the company will be bankrupted eventually give them a tase of the own medicine