From The Age :
"Snowballing complaints about "premium" SMS services - paid content such as ringtones, games, news and information sent to your mobile phone - have resulted in new rules for telephone companies and content providers, including the introduction of a universal "STOP" command. Disputed charges for premium SMS were described as the "stand-out issue" in the billing category in the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman's most recent annual report. Complaints in this area jumped from 1708 issues in 2004-05 to 5890 12 months later. Many of the complaints involved consumers disputing SMS charges on the basis they didn't knowingly subscribe to a service or because they'd been unable to stop a service.
The ombudsman's annual report gives the example of one complainant whose son faced a bill for more than $2000 for a premium SMS service he had been unable to stop. In an effort to end the service, the son had contacted the telephone company, who passed on contact details for the content provider.
"However, when he dialled the numbers, they didn't connect successfully and he was unable to stop the messages," the report says."
But there are signs a new industry scheme aimed at preventing such problems is having an effect. Premium services on "19" numbers are regulated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which last year ruled the industry had to come up with a self-regulatory scheme covering such services."
This case study is fairly close to what happened to us; in our case the phone was lost/stolen and whoever had the phone subscribed to the services and we kept getting the bills. We could not terminate the telephone service since it was contracted for two years. And so on.
