Is Carwings text alert considered chargeable messaging?

[Volusiano]

I have T-mobile and in my recent bill, there was an unauthorized charge of $10 showing up. I called Tmobile and asked them and they said it's for some b.s. service that I didn't recognize. So I told them to block all chargeable messages on my phone line going forward.

Well, guess what? I no longer receive Carwings "Charging Complete" text messages that used to come through before.

I tried to send a text "HELP" to the Carwings number 791-61 that I used to receive text alerts from, and I got a message back saying: "Unable to send message - Message Blocking is active".

So I guess that the Carwings alert uses a chargeable messaging system, huh? (even though they don't charge).

Did anybody experience the same issue I did?

P.S. On the other hand, AutoFlugel still works fine for me. I guess they don't use a chargeable messaging setup there...

 

[lpickup]

By chargeable, I assume you mean those "services" that if you allow them to will submit a bill to your phone company that they then pass on to you. Obviously the text messages themselves do incur a fee if your package does not somehow otherwise include free texting. I think the term they use for this is "premium services".

I have no idea how a cell phone company would determine whether a service is "chargeable" beyond the fact that they actually receive a "charge" to pass along to you, and I would say that CARWINGS does not fall into that category. But maybe the phone company maintains some kind of black-list and somehow CARWINGS got on it? Maybe they just take the easy route and block ALL shortened (or whatever they call the 5-digit numbers) numbers?

 

[turbo2ltr]

Most companies charge you for incoming text messages, so I can see why they are being blocked...if you receive one you get charged. I don't think they understood you wanted only to block texts tied to services that were charging above and beyond the normal text fee, and they blocked all your text messages.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Carwings notifications along with any other text you receive from a 5 or 6 digit number is called a PSMS (premium short message service) there are some vendors that bill you a monthly charge for what they provide usually 9.99 (a flat $10.00 charge is usually a one time charge most frequently used by charities for donations, flood relief, Haiti, etc)

the cellular industry loses millions each month from customer disputes of these types of charges. other than that; Carwings text are "standard messaging rates" iow, its per your message plan. keep in mind; PSMS that charge is a charge above and beyond what you pay for text services.

this makes is very important that you read and understand every text message you receive. the FCC requires all PSMS vendors to advise of any charges associated with their services on the first text they send you and you have the option to not be billed as long as you follow their opt out procedure (usually its reply with "stop", "quit" "unsub" etc. most give you 15 minutes to respond to avoid being charged.

as far as authorization; many of the vendors have adds at FB and do a "bait and switch" to get you to provide your cell #. they are required by the FCC to have your acceptance of their terms and conditions before they can communicate with you.

moral of the story; do not provide your cellphone # to any but reliable companies and if you do. read the terms first

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Most companies charge you for incoming text messages, so I can see why they are being blocked...if you receive one you get charged. I don't think they understood you wanted only to block texts tied to services that were charging above and beyond the normal text fee, and they blocked all your text messages.

no that is wrong. you dont get notifications if all text are blocked. only PSMS blocks notify you.

 

[Volusiano]

they blocked all your text messages.

Just to clarify, they didn't block ALL of my text messages. Most of my text messaging to friends and family members and even AutoFlugel works just fine. They only block what apparently seems to be from companies that use PSMS (as described by DaveinOlyWA), regardless of whether those companies actually charge you for the messaging service or not.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

they blocked all your text messages.

Just to clarify, they didn't block ALL of my text messages. Most of my text messaging to friends and family members and even AutoFlugel works just fine. They only block what apparently seems to be from companies that use PSMS (as described by DaveinOlyWA), regardless of whether those companies actually charge you for the messaging service or not.

most PSMS vendors do not charge an additional fee. Carwings, red box. FB, ikea, KZOK radio, Capital one, Amex, are all ones i get that are free.

as far as ones that do charge. i have yet to see one that was anywhere near worth what they charged.

 

[Stanton]

I see there's a lot of confusion, so I thought I would clarify.

1) CarWings is NOT premium text messaging (should be charged like any other text)
2) Those 5-6 digit things are called "common short codes" (CSC's for short) and should NOT incur $9.99 surcharges (unless it's for something like porn).

I used to have T-Mobile, and had this $9.99 "mystery charge" show up several times; usually it's from a phishing/scam/fraud service. My advice is:
1) Have those type of charge-backs BLOCKED
2) Sign-up for unlimited texts if you're going to be using CarWings and AutoFlugel a lot.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I see there's a lot of confusion, so I thought I would clarify.

1) CarWings is NOT premium text messaging (should be charged like any other text)
2) Those 5-6 digit things are called "common short codes" (CSC's for short) and should NOT incur $9.99 surcharges (unless it's for something like porn).

I used to have T-Mobile, and had this $9.99 "mystery charge" show up several times; usually it's from a phishing/scam/fraud service. My advice is:
1) Have those type of charge-backs BLOCKED
2) Sign-up for unlimited texts if you're going to be using CarWings and AutoFlugel a lot.

call it whatever you want but if you call your cellular service provider and ask that premium messages be blocked, you will not get Carwings alerts

 

[lenny]

Since you're with T-Mobile, and if you don't get charged for individual text messages, can you have the notifications sent to email at [email protected] ? (for example, if your phone number is (800) 555-1212, the email address will be [email protected])

 

[pjoseph]

Another suggestion. Get a Google voice number for $10 (one time fee). For those of you who need a quick intro, it is a call management system with lots of customization not found elsewhere (at the Wireless Carriers). All text messages on this number are at no charge. Have saved some money and minutes (Voicemail) using this service. Autoflugel works fine, but i have not checked CarWings text messaging yet (i use their e-mail, web and app instead).

Works great with an Android/iOS app and/or a Chrome (browser) extension.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Since you're with T-Mobile, and if you don't get charged for individual text messages, can you have the notifications sent to email at [email protected] ? (for example, if your phone number is (800) 555-1212, the email address will be [email protected])

I tried the email option and found it to be lacking. Text alerts come in usually within a few seconds from when I unplug. Emails sometimes took 20 minutes

 

[waitingforaleaf]

Another suggestion. Get a Google voice number for $10 (one time fee). For those of you who need a quick intro, it is a call management system with lots of customization not found elsewhere (at the Wireless Carriers). All text messages on this number are at no charge. Have saved some money and minutes (Voicemail) using this service. Autoflugel works fine, but i have not checked CarWings text messaging yet (i use their e-mail, web and app instead).

Works great with an Android/iOS app and/or a Chrome (browser) extension.

Unless things have recently changed, Carwings text notification system uses shortcodes, which I believe are not currently supported by Google Voice. I just have the e-mails forwarded to my Gmail account, which has push notifications. No noticeable delay on my phone when receiving the e-mail notifications.

 

[Volusiano]

I see there's a lot of confusion, so I thought I would clarify.

1) CarWings is NOT premium text messaging (should be charged like any other text)
2) Those 5-6 digit things are called "common short codes" (CSC's for short) and should NOT incur $9.99 surcharges (unless it's for something like porn).

I used to have T-Mobile, and had this $9.99 "mystery charge" show up several times; usually it's from a phishing/scam/fraud service. My advice is:
1) Have those type of charge-backs BLOCKED
2) Sign-up for unlimited texts if you're going to be using CarWings and AutoFlugel a lot.

call it whatever you want but if you call your cellular service provider and ask that premium messages be blocked, you will not get Carwings alerts

Dave is right, it doesn't matter what you call Carwings service and it doesn't matter that its text messages are free, the moment I asked Tmobile to block all third party vendors that can cause a charge on my Tmobile account, I no longer receive Carwings alerts.

I have had specific types of charge-back blocked before, like web access, etc. But then more other types of charge back popped up next, and so on. So I got fed up having to deal with them every time and asked Tmobile to just block anything and everything that can cause a charge back to my account. If this means no alerts from Carwings, so be it.

I already have unlimited text messaging plan even before I got my Leaf. So that's not the issue and doesn't have anything to do with this.

The main value I see with the Carwings alert is the charging stopped/completed messages. And it's more valuable if I know right away, via a text alert, instead of via email 20 minutes later when I check for email. I know you can get push notification, but then I don't want to get notification for every single email that comes my way because there are way too much spam in emails.

 

[Stanton]

Dave is right, it doesn't matter what you call Carwings service and it doesn't matter that its text messages are free, the moment I asked Tmobile to block all third party vendors that can cause a charge on my Tmobile account, I no longer receive Carwings alerts.

That sucks. Come to think of it, I have never had those sort of $9.99 charges with other mobile carriers, so maybe it's a T-Mobile issue.

The main value I see with the Carwings alert is the charging stopped/completed messages. And it's more valuable if I know right away, via a text alert, instead of via email 20 minutes later when I check for email. I know you can get push notification, but then I don't want to get notification for every single email that comes my way because there are way too much spam in emails.

Totally agree; I've even disabled alerts from things like Blink because the CarWings message is so quick. If I don't see that text message when I get up in the morning, I check via the iPhone app (or look in the garage).

 

[waitingforaleaf]

I know you can get push notification, but then I don't want to get notification for every single email that comes my way because there are way too much spam in emails.

Depending upon which software you're running, you can set up to receive notifications from specific e-mail addresses only. I'd set up a new non-sensible email address and use it exclusively for the push notifications from Carwings. I get very few spam e-mails on such accounts.

But if the text messages are working fine for you, no need to switch I suppose.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

**this post is waaaay more information than you need**

i work for a company that helps other companies. you have heard of off shore customer support (India?) well, a lot of customers HATE that. so a huge movement is afoot to outsource customer support to American companies and that is what i do.

we have 33,000+ clients most are small. bill collections for a thousands of local and state agencies, etc. but every major cellular company in the US is also our clients. we augment their customer service/tech support/database management depts.

these PSMS charges are not specific to t - mobile and dont be thrown by the name. Most of these vendors do not charge anything beyond standard text message rates. if you have unlimited domestic messaging, then you will not see any additional charges for PSMS vendors that do not charge a subscription fee and Carwings is an example of one that does not charge a fee.

but by definition from the FCC; PSMS is a text message from a 5 or 6 digit #. period. For any vendor that wants to bill a service thru your cellular provider for their services, they must register and receive one of these codes.

text messages come in all sorts of forms

internet texts like Facebook wall post notifications are 8 digits.
several cellular providers use 4 digit #s. some of these can be billed, most are used to notify you of a change to your account like ATT or Verizon which allows you to setup text alerts for dozens of things unrelated to your cellular service (most of these are very similiar to PSMS vendors that charge you) . i have Verizon and i get text alerts for National Headline News (useless as they are always a day or so behind) stock prices (nice so i can see how much money i lost that day on my 401K) weather reports, etc.

now; for charges you are not aware of. these vendors are not allowed to notify you unless you have contacted them first. so beware of any text you receive especially after you have entered your cellphone # FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER.

one of the things we do is investigate how these charges come about and determine whether the companies are operating legally.

things i see; banner advertising saving 10% on your car insurance. enter cellphone # and we will send you a free quote. you must accept terms and conditions which requires you to check a box (this is their legal "in" to do what they want!!!) if you read the terms and conditions you will find that you are accepting a billable service usually called "joke of the day" "trivia mania" or some asinine BS you can access all day long for free anywhere. iow, its a bait and switch made legal by you checking that box.

there is a lawsuit running right now concerning a spate of companies (about 40) that appear to be skirting the concept of the FCC regulation that might help

there is also a movement by major cellular providers (most Verizon) to compel the FCC to changes the rules these vendors operate under. "double opt in" is what should be happening.

this works by going somewhere to request services (about half the adds at FB)

receiving text advising the service and the charge requiring you to respond per instructions that you accept the charge. this completely eliminates surprises on your bill


problem is; this is a money maker for both the vendor and your cellular provider who does get a portion of your $9.99 so this has greatly slowed the impetus to create the change we need. but this issue is accelerating and the reason?

the issue has accelerated at nearly the same pace as the age of first time cell users has dropped into the subteen levels.

Finally; PSMS was started for two main reasons. one was to get cool ringtones that your provider refused (or did not have the license) to provide. the other big reason was to be able to donate money.

you saw Katrina, Haiti, Etc... send a text to 90909 (Red Cross) with keyword "Katrina" to donate $10??

funny how good ideas morph into ways for unscrupulous people to take our money isnt it?

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Dave is right, it doesn't matter what you call Carwings service and it doesn't matter that its text messages are free, the moment I asked Tmobile to block all third party vendors that can cause a charge on my Tmobile account, I no longer receive Carwings alerts.

That sucks. Come to think of it, I have never had those sort of $9.99 charges with other mobile carriers, so maybe it's a T-Mobile issue.

The main value I see with the Carwings alert is the charging stopped/completed messages. And it's more valuable if I know right away, via a text alert, instead of via email 20 minutes later when I check for email. I know you can get push notification, but then I don't want to get notification for every single email that comes my way because there are way too much spam in emails.

Totally agree; I've even disabled alerts from things like Blink because the CarWings message is so quick. If I don't see that text message when I get up in the morning, I check via the iPhone app (or look in the garage).

yep text works great for me as well. when i unplug my car (rarely charge to 100%) because i dont want a full charge, the text notification comes in as little as 3-5 seconds later but never more than probably 20-30 seconds later maybe?

the best thing about text is that is requires so little resources to work. i can be in a place where i cannot make or receive calls, but text still work fine

 

[pjoseph]

Unless things have recently changed, Carwings text notification system uses shortcodes, which I believe are not currently supported by Google Voice. I just have the e-mails forwarded to my Gmail account, which has push notifications. No noticeable delay on my phone when receiving the e-mail notifications.

That's correct. Mea Culpa.

Google voice known issues (click under Voicemail and SMS)

 

[madbrain]

Dave is right, it doesn't matter what you call Carwings service and it doesn't matter that its text messages are free, the moment I asked Tmobile to block all third party vendors that can cause a charge on my Tmobile account, I no longer receive Carwings alerts.

Hmm, that would explain why I have yet to receive any Carwings text message on my T-mobile since I got my Leaf, sigh.