The Fixer: premium-rate text refund

Have you been left out of pocket due to poor service or sharp practice? Do you have a money problem that won't go away?

It can seem impossible to get a fair result when you are battling a financial issue alone. But never fear! The AOL Money Fixer is here to help.

Dear Fixer,
When checking my elderly father's mobile phone bills recently, I noticed that he had been charged about £200 by a premium-rate text service called Zamano Solutions.

The payments were for "TextPlayWin" text messages sent from the number 88770 and costing £4.50 a week.

I asked him about it and he told me he had never knowingly requested the service, which was effectively doubling his mobile bills.

However, when I contacted his network provider Vodafone it said that Zamano provided a "legitimate" service that my father must have signed up for inadvertently.

I have also spoken to the regulator PhonepayPlus about the charges and have written to Zamano requesting a refund as it suggested, but no refund has been sent to us as yet. Can you help?

C MacIntosh, London

Dear Ms MacIntosh,
Following my intervention, PhonepayPlus contacted Zamano about your father's case.

It has since received a refund of the charges made and has sent that out to your father - in fact, he should have already received it.

The money was repaid because the regulator found that the "TextPlayWin" service operated by Zamano and another company called Gresham Mobile was "misleading" in a separate investigation - and ordered that refunds should be offered to all those who claim them.

The Fixer

Whatever your financial problem, write to themoneyfixer@aim.com and The AOL Money Fixer will get on the case.

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