Telephone

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Deal or No Deal: Surprise Texting Charges

Deal or No Deal smallDeal or No Deal is a big TV hit, but the millions of viewers who play their weekly “Lucky Case Game” may not be aware of all the charges associated it.

Four times during each program viewers are urged to grab their cellphones and text the number of the case (one through six) that has $10,000 or $20,000 hidden in it. One winner will be chosen by the end of the program from all those who guess the correct numbered case, and that person gets the cash prize.

*MOUSE PRINT:

“$.99 per text msg plus standard text messaging charges.Go to nbc.com/DOND to enter for free…”

Most people cannot read that disclosure because of its small size and the limited time it appears on the screen. So wouldn’t an oral disclosure of the price make sense and be fair? This show makes no such oral disclosure of the price in two out of the four times it promotes the sweepstakes.

In addition, there are additional charges that may wind up on your cell bill that are not disclosed during the TV program at all, and are only revealed in the official rules on the NBC website:

*MOUSE PRINT: 

“In addition, a premium text message charge of $.99 will apply to all text messages sent and received in connection with the Promotion. This charge will be billed on your wireless phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. You will receive a “thank you” text message that night including a DEAL OR NO DEAL Insider message. This message provides additional information about the Show, its host and/or products. The following day, you will receive a text message giving you the ability to opt-in to an SMS-based message program keeping you up to date on the latest cool Show information and more. You may stop receiving text messages at any time by responding “end”, “stop” or “quit” to any of the messages.”

So in addition to the 99¢ premium charge, your cell company will bill you for three separate text messages. The latter two are most likely promotional messages related to the show. For those without an unlimited texting plan, sending that one original text message will wind up costing anywhere from $1.14 to $1.44 (plus tax) depending on the price you are charged by your cell provider for text messaging. One can only hope that the 99¢ charge does not apply to each message “sent and received.” 

The public is spending a fortune on TV voting and games promotions. In fact, about $17 million was raked in by NBC on the Deal or No Deal “Lucky Case Game” just in the first three months of 2007. That one game accounts for nearly half the money spent in the US on all such premium texting promotions. [See story.]

But isn’t the Deal or No Deal game and other similar promotions tantamount to gambling?  You are paying a price for the chance of a prize, which is the definition of a “lottery” in most states, and most private companies are not allowed to conduct lotteries. Promotions like this are generally not considered lotteries if they offer a “no purchase necessary” means of playing the game. NBC does that, but in MrConsumer’s view, offering to play the game for free only via the Internet fails as a viable alternate means because one in four households do not have Internet access (and their only way to play is to pay via cellphone).

A similar text messaging promotion is currently being challenged in court in Georgia by a plaintiff who is claiming that the game on NBC’s Apprentice, “Get Rich with Trump” constituted an illegal lottery, even though it had a “no purchase necessary” means of entry. (See previous Mouse Print posting, and this newsletter [pdf].) 

Is it any surprise, then, that NBC now says their Deal or No Deal game is not open to residents of Georgia? 

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Embarq DSL Only $24.95: Your Price Until Pigs Fly*

Embarq 24.95 til pigs fly Isn’t it nice to finally find a company that doesn’t play pricing games with their Internet service?  So many ads offer a low come-on price for a short period, then the price goes up. That’s what one consumer thought who recently wrote to Consumer World.

Embarq, which is the local phone company spinoff from Sprint, is advertising a fixed price of $24.95 for high-speed Internet service, and says that it is “your price until pigs fly.” [website 1/13/07]  They also say “a price that won’t budge” … “for as long as you have the service.” 

The consumer decided to sign up because he could save money by cancelling his existing NetZero dial-up service, and even cancelling his local phone service since he had a cellphone. He could now get high-speed Internet for less than he was currently paying for slower service.

Of course, Mouse Print* would not be looking at this ad unless there was more to it than meets the (pig’s) eye.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Embarq details

pigs fly 2The fine print above indicates that the company can just cancel the service, which, obviously, would immediately extinguish the $24.95 “forever” price. In addition, their standard terms and conditions page has more fine print than a phonebook, yet seems to be currently missing detailed rules about their residential Internet service. In part it reiterates they can discontinue a service with 30 days notice, but makes no mention of the customer’s right to a fixed price for life. Also, since the fixed bargain DSL service price is linked to local phone service,  local phone service prices could easily go up with regulatory approval where required.

Unfortunately, the consumer did not read the fine print, and Embarq did not direct him to it by means of using an asterisk next to the price. He didn’t realize that the $24.95 price is only available as part of a package of telephone services, that he no longer has. He didn’t know they would add a $10 Internet access charge to his bill. And he didn’t realize to get out of this mess he would have to pay a $99 early termination fee.

There is no happy ending to this story, but a moral. You have to read the mouse print, and know that most phone companies do not sell “naked DSL.”  

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Cingular’s Unlimited Text Messaging: Just $5 More*

cingular jillHave you seen the Cingular commercial (“BFF JILL”) where a distraught mother gets a huge cell bill because her daughter is sending text messages to her best friend, Jill, fifty times a day?

The solution, according to Cingular, is to get “unlimited texting, just $5 more a month.”

When our trusty mouse looked on Cingular’s website, there seemed to be no unlimited text messaging plan for only $5 extra beyond the cost of a regular calling plan. How could this be?

*MOUSE PRINT:

cingular $5 more

Those tiny words at the bottom seem to say “with qualified messaging package.” In other words, it appears you not only have to buy a monthly cell calling plan, but also a monthly messaging plan, and then you have the option to pay $5 more to convert that messaging plan into an unlimited plan.

The least expensive plan gives you 200 messages for $4.99, but for $9.99 — $5 more — you get unlimited mobile to mobile text, picture and video messages.

So does that mean you can send all the text messages you want to anyone you want?  One would think so, except for how Cingular defines “mobile to mobile.”

Now Cingular wireless subscribers can exchange unlimited text, picture and video messages! Instant Messages, alerts, off-network, premium messages, and messages to/from non-Cingular customers will be deducted from your Messaging Starter allowance.

Translation: That means you only get unlimited messaging to other Cingular customers. What if you want unlimited messaging to anyone? That costs $19.99.

While many people may have understood the commercial to say that unlimited messaging to anyone was only $5 a month, the truth is, it is actually four times that price.

TCBNT (Thanks Cingular, But No Thanks)

[Your comments on this advertising campaign are welcome below, but those not related to the BFF Jill ad will be deleted as this is not a message forum to bash Cingular.]