Would you believe: sceptic stung
Related Articles
AS a consumer advocate and sceptic, Brendan Burgess is the last person you'd expect to get stung for almost €100 for fortune-telling tarot texts.
The owner of popular discussion forum askaboutmoney.com was stunned to find he was clocking up hefty charges for a service he didn't want and denies requesting.
He began receiving tarot texts on his phone last August. He assumed they were marketing spam and always deleted them immediately. Then he noticed his mobile bill had increased by around €20 a month.
Mr Burgess contacted text provider Zamano to complain and it eventually agreed, on Thursday, to refund him the €99 he'd been charged.
Mr Burgess pointed out that, as a member of the Irish Sceptics Society, there wasn't a chance he would ever sign up for tarot texts.
"These services should not be allowed to operate unless they provide you with a written contract,'' he said.
- Aideen Sheehan
Irish Independent
