Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

I think this is a great, great shame. :td:

Argument A: "I couldn't see the subscription disclaimer at the bottom of the screen as it went too fast." - Er, don't sign up to these things if you can't see the small print. Idiot.

Argument B: "It was an under 16 who signed up. How were they to know?" - Er, if they didn't know about these 'complex' things, should they really be in possesion of a mobile phone. No, doufuss.

It's a great shame the ASA have sided with the idiots taken in by the Idiot Tax. Let's hope other forms of non-TV advertising can still mean these poor people can get their (horrid) ringtones, so we all know that they're idiots when they're walking down the street with their phones on.

Give them a wide berth - they might do something stupid! :disturbd:

(Apologies if this has offended you, friend. Jamster will still take your money, if you want them to? That's good - I'm glad you've got money to burn. I'll do a little dance once every week, just for you, if you forward £10 in cash to: [insert my address]. That's right, one little dance, every week - just send £10 in cash to: [insert my address].)

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

Now you have got me confused, where do you get idiot tax from?
Oh and this isnt a dig at you its them flaming ringtone companies :)
It says this has been on watchdog
Its a scam and nothing more :mad:

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

I must say, the 'STOP' thing is a bit bad.

But you've got to be a bit daft to want to buy these in the first place - hence the nickname 'Idiot Tax'. :disturbd:

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

Try telling that to the average 12yr old that needs that ringtone, :rolleyes:

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

Referring to 'Argument B', I'd say once again - if anyone 'needs' a ringtone, I think it's safe to say they shouldn't really be in possession of a mobile phone. :disturbd:

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

Unfortunally if everyone had common sense, such adverts and marketing techniques wouldn't exist and I would be happy

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

I personally think all these Ringtone companies are con artists. The one that sold a "mobile torch" for £3.99 and neglected to mention you can often light up your phone just by pushing a key springs to mind. Especially as they totally failed to mention the fact that for just over £1 you can pick up an actual torch, which will light the area far more efficiently.

I also think that kids and young teenagers should not be allowed to have mobiles (in fact I think the Department of Health recommend against it).

However, I can see that if a thing is seen as being the in thing to have (and a *lot* of people seem to consider them to be a good thing to have), it is very difficult to persuade a 12 year old not to have it. They also may ignore any small print (assuming they understand or even read it).

TBH. the sooner these Ringtone companies go out of business, the better.

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

I think that's very unfair on those that want to use them for the designed purpose - making phone calls, especially in emergencies! Those that waste their money on this trash probably shouldn't.

"Persuade a 12 year old not to have it"? How is a 12 year old going to have their own money, earnt by them? They're not even teenagers!

It's only the consumer's problem if they don't read the small print, and that falls with these people's parents. If you don't understand or can't read small print, I doubt you're mature or bright enough to be in possession of a device such as a mobile phone.

They're just doing business - making money. At the end of the day, 12 year olds aren't legally old enough to earn money - so the only people that get ripped off are their idiot parents.

As for 16/17/18 year olds and older, if they're so daft at that age, they deserve all they get!

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

Some kids get pocket money, and even if the adult agrees there's no guarantee they read the fine print.

When I was a kid I had to justify everything I wanted, so I got trained not to buy on impulse. There was a time I asked for a nintendo for my birthday and when my dad immediately said "OK" I nearly died of shock.

Personally I wouldn't mind the company taking £100 is someone bought that annoying crazy frog song, but unfortunally if the stupid weren't protected the companies would make everything so complicated that noone would have time to read/understand the small print.

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

Whilst people should be more careful in their buying, it is equally beholden to the company doing the selling to make their contracts understandable and legal.

If you are signing up to an ongoing contract, that should be made clear. Also IIRC, legally an under 16 year old *cannot* sign up to a financial contract and this should also be made clear.

This is not an "idiot tax", it is not a "tax" at all, it is more like a scam by a company that doesn't want to stick to the rules.

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

I keep mine on silent.

Crazy frog is lame, anyone wanting that deserves to get scammed ;)

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

Personally i've yet to see a ringtone, crazy frog included, that either I or my friends wanted that we couldnt get or make an "equivalent for free". I hope once the knowledge of how to do this spreads far enough that the dreaded ringtone scams will die a natural death.

No I won't go into methods of getting/making free mp3 quality ringtones, but it's not that hard if you think about it.

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

What shocked me was these 12 y/o kids saying it had cst them between £20-£50 in credit!!! where the heck did that credit come from... If kids have that much credit on there phones a question needs to be asked..

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

I find the attitude of some people here to be very poor & somewhat offensive. My daughters like these, and other ringtones, and have on occasions bought some. As it happens they did not get caught by one of these scams, but to label a 11/12/13 year old girl an "idiot" because see didn't see the small print just shows how small minded some adults are. :afire:

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

I think these ring tone companies should be shutdown. Especially jamster. When I am watching evening adult television, i.e documentaries at 10pm I DO NOT want to be hit with 2 double adverts form the same company in every advertisement break there is.

I would also like to note if they have the right to sell others music, after all MIDI files on the internet were mostly stopped for copyright reasons.

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

I fail to understand why suddenly there has been a huge surge in stupid adverts for stupid ringtones and mobile gimmicks. I think the thing is that they are mainly popular with children and teenagers and therefore clearly aimed at them. Which is why I think these companies are clearly out to con people. I have nearly fallen for it myself (I was NOT buying the crazy frog one), but luckily I did read the small print. But if kids don't, then I don't think they can be blamed - I don't even think I was aware of the importance of small print as a child! Furthermore I definitely dispute the claim that kids shouldn't have mobile phones, I think they are extremely important for safety!

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

Yep blanketadvertising is very tedious, but then if it wern't for adverts half the TV stations couldn't exist.

Things like crazy frog, were specially commissioned by companies like Jamster. As for other pop songs and the like, No doubt there are copyright and licencing fees that the ringtone companies have to pay, otherwise organisations that do so much to antagonise the public regarding downloads would no dobt be having a field day in court.

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

I'd just like to ad my piece and I'll try my best not to make it a attack on you.

Its not always as obvious as it seems to get taken in by these people. I consider myself a IT expert and as such have suffered only 1 virus infection in 5+ years and even that was sorted simply. I donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t get taken in by emails and I am certainly savvy to pop-ups etc.

However when I got my new mobile phone I also got a PAYG sim as a back-up (was right by the till :blush: ) . Reading the bumf for the sim it said I could have 1 free ring tone , 1 free pic etc from o2. When I received a free ring tone message it had a odd icon next to it (which turned out to be a push message which i clicked) It did nothing and I never thought anything about it. I started getting the usual 'get free text message' messages and deleted them all. Received my bill and had been charged £3 for each one.

Balls to this so I emailed them in not too polite a way stating that I would involve ofcom etc. received a reply asking for my postal details and got the full amount refunded.

So 'idiot tax' hmmmm

Please think before you slate 'everyone' in general.

I can assure you that there was no small print included in the one that scamed me at all.
Let me guess your over 50 and uses black and white screen phone on PAYG and make £10 credit last 6 months. You have your phone set to an even more annoying default ringtone or worse a rendition of a old phone.
I have several ringtones on my phone and I use these to identify groups of callers (yes its required because I have a lot of contacts). Fortunatly I can use mp3 directly on my phone so I never have to pay for them.
you remind me of a member on another forum that said I was mad/stupid etc for having 3 computers despite me explaining that each is required and used.

:tu: :tu:

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

The
You won't like that "ASA ordered that a post 9pm restriction be applied to the ads in the future."

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

No after 9pm it should be sensible TV not some stoopid assed frog that irritates the hell out of just about everyone.

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

Confine your viewing to the more popular channels where the likes of Jamster can't afford the airtime. ;)

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

I was being deliberately emotive.

They're annoying and clearly a waste of money. As an 11/12/13 year old boy (it wasn't that long ago, seriously!), I didn't have £1.50 to waste on a poxy ringtone. Even if I did, I wouldn't have - I had more common sense. :rolleyes:

You doth make too many assumptions. I'm 16. :td:

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

You misunderstand the subtle corporate power game that is the 'Nokia Tune', a.k.a. 'Grand Valse' or 'That One Off Trigger Happy TV'. It says, of those men in suits whose phones use it, 'I am far too important and busy to have time to muck about with my phone settings. Hell, I don't even know how to change my ringtone!'. ;)

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

The more popular channel donmt have any decent viewing on anyway. So I'm screwed, might get rid of the TV all together and stop paying the fecking licence.

Re: Idiot Tax suffers a set back
 

Making it more funny when their 14 yr old changes it over the weekend to "thong song" or something suitably corporate.
As an aside to this, big companies corporate brand many of the products their employees use, e.g their desktop PC, perhaps they shoudl extend this to their mobiles, corporate screensaver, wallpaper, theme, ringtone!?