What is Premium SMS?
Premium SMS is a suite of services offered by third party service providers. You are charged for these services through your 3 account. Premium SMS numbers are also called short codes. They are either 6 digit numbers starting with 191 or 193, or 8 digit numbers starting with 197 or 199.
PSMS services offered include:
- Competitions – such as knowledge or trivia competitions
- Voting services – such as Australian Idol voting
- Horoscopes
- Chat and Dating services
3 does not contact you directly to sign up or subscribe to Premium SMS services. Any concerns you may have regarding a Premium SMS service (including what appears on your 3 Bill) should always be directed to the service provider operating the service in the first instance. You can contact the premium rate service provider directly using the following Premium SMS Lookup tool. Please note that sometimes the service provider is not the actual content provider with whom you have an agreement, so there are times when they may refer you on so that your dispute can be resolved directly.
If you are unable to resolve your dispute with the Premium SMS service provider or the content provider directly please contact 3 Care on 133320.
Premium SMS is a separate service to premium voice services. These services are voice calls where you are charged a higher than usual rate for the call.
Note: Not all Premium SMS services are available on 3 or run indefinitely. If a service is not available and you send a message to it you will receive a response to inform you delivery has failed. You will not be charged for a failed message response.
You can access several Premium SMS services on 3. These may include such services as:
- Television voting lines (for example; who to vote for in Australian Idol)
- Text trivia and knowledge quizzes
- Respond to text and win competitions
- Horoscopes
- Text chat and dating numbers
Premium SMS services such as voting and entering a competition are usually one-off charges.
Subscription services operate by sending you a regular number of Premium SMS messages, as opposed to a one-off charge. The message you receive is usually charged at a premium rate. You should check the terms & conditions before deciding to subscribe.
You are responsible for ensuring you are aware of the nature of the service you are entering into. Charging terms and conditions should be clearly indicated in the advertising material or in the first message you receive from the service provider, along with instructions on how to stop the service and the contact details of the service provider's customer service department. It is important to read and understand all information available before accessing these services.
As a 3 customer you can access many Premium SMS services. Anyone with access to your mobile will be able to access these services.
The responsibility for the security of your mobile handset, and the cost of any usage made from your mobile, rests with the account holder. This includes Premium SMS services used by family and friends, even when made without your consent or knowledge.
If your phone is lost or stolen you must contact 3 Care on 133320 immediately so that we can suspend your service and ensure no further charges occur.
You would also have to contact the Premium SMS provider to avoid any further charges being incurred for Premium SMS on your future bills.
Charges for Premium SMS are not included in your cap or the minimum spend of your rate plan.
The charges for Premium SMS are dependant upon the type of service you access. You need to check the charges of the service you are using to understand how much you are charged to send and receive messages for the service. Where a Premium SMS service is advertised, the corresponding cost of the service should be displayed. When entering into a subscription service, the first message you receive should provide information on the cost of the charges for the messages you receive.
You will see Premium SMS charges appear under the "Premium SMS" section of your invoice. These will be itemised, and broken down as either "sent" or "received" messages along with the name of the third party service provider, a description and a phone number to call for enquiries.
If you have concerns about specific Premium SMS or MMS services, including about charges that appear on your 3 bill, you should contact the premium rate service provider operating the service in the first instance. Their contact details can be found at: http://www.19sms.com.au/. You should be aware that sometimes the service provider is not the actual content provider with whom you have an agreement, and they may refer you to a content provider.
Normally you'll be required to send a keyword to a specific short code. The advertisement for the Premium SMS service will usually tell you what you need to do. It is important you read and understand the pricing information and the terms and conditions of each particular service before you subscribe.
You'll also be made aware if you are opting in to receiving marketing information. If you do not wish to receive such information, you may not be able to use the service. For further information, contact the service provider on their Customer Care number listed on the advertisement.
To opt-out of a specific Premium SMS or MMS service, reply with the word STOP to the service you want cancelled. Stopping a service will not affect any other Premium SMS or MMS services you may be using such as voting in your favourite TV show or entering competitions.
If you are unable to resolve your concern with the service provider or the content provider, please phone 133320/ 131921/ 133103. If we are unable to resolve your concerns you may wish to contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman on 1800 062 058 or http://www.tio.com.au/, or the ACMA http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/HOMEPAGE/PC=HOME.
If you have questions or concerns about Premium SMS or MMS services generally or about the barring of all Premium SMS or MMS services, you can contact us on 133320 (Postpay) or 131921 (Prepay) or the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman or the ACMA using the contact details above.
If you have any problems or enquiries you can contact the service provider directly on their customer care number located in this lookup tool.
You can BAR all Premium SMS and MMS services for free. This means that your mobile account will be barred from sending and receiving Premium SMS and MMS messages and you will not be charged for any of these services. No other services will be affected. We will bar all premium SMS and MMS services from your account within 1 Business Day of receiving your request.
> Phone 133320 (Postpay) or 131921 (Prepay) from your mobile to request to bar or unbar and follow the prompts
If you wish to block access to Premium Voice Calls from your 3 mobile, please call 3 Care on 133320. This will also remove access to international dialling.
Currently we are unable to block access to all Premium SMS services on 3. It is important that you always check the first message received from a Premium SMS number, as this will contain information on how to unsubscribe from their service. You can stop a service any time by sending an SMS with the word "STOP" to the number from which the message was received.
Handy Hints
Here are some handy hints and tips to help you manage your premium rate services usage and to avoid unexpected high charges:
- Always check the cost of the Premium SMS service before you use it
- Read the terms & conditions of any service before using it
- Keep track of how often you access these services, and for how long you access these services (Don't forget you can always check your usage between bills by checking My3 on your handset)
- To stop a Premium SMS service, send an SMS with the word "STOP" to the number from which the message was received at anytime - you should then no longer receive any further charges from that shortcode.
- The service provider should send you FREE reminders when you hit $30 worth of spend on a service and when you have been subscribed for 30 days to a service
- If you've heard about a service from another person and you're not aware of the cost or terms of use, we strongly recommend you do not use the service
- If you've received a message about a service and you're not aware of the cost or terms of use, again we strongly recommend you do not use the service. If you continue to receive messages that you're not aware of, remember to send an SMS with the "STOP" to the number from which the message was received, to stop receiving it.
If you have a dispute regarding Premium SMS (including charges that may appear on your 3 bill), you need to speak with the Premium SMS service provider.
The name of the premium rate service provider appears on your bill along with their contact details. You can search for contact details for a service provider using this lookup tool. Please note that sometimes the premium rate service provider is not the actual content provider of the service, they may need to refer you on so your dispute can be handled directly.
As Premium SMS is an agreement between you and the third party premium service or content provider, 3 may be unable to assist you completely in resolving your dispute.
3 Care is bound by particular privacy legislation, which means;
- third party providers may be unable to share the contents of SMS messages sent to you
- third party providers may be unable to share the contents of SMS messages received from you
We are unable to share your information with the premium rate service provider or end content provider (unless authorised by you)
As the account holder it is your responsibility to ensure that you take the necessary steps to stop receiving any further charges from a Premium SMS service. If you have cancelled your 3 account or been suspended, contact us to request your Premium SMS services to be cancelled.
