text-messaging

—>Peter, who wrote in last month to complain about being text-spammed by Payless Shoesource on his phone, wasn't the only customer they annoyed. A man in California has filed a class action lawsuit against the shoe company and Voice & Mobile Broadcast Corporation, which is the marketing company it hired to run the campaign.  More »

—>Peter was pretty frustrated when Payless Shoesource ignored his two opt-out texts and continued to pester him with SMS spam. His complained via email and got taken off their list, but then he decided to see if he could get back the money those texts cost him.  More »

—>No matter how awesome the iPhone is at multimedia, gaming, or taking money out of your wallet and mailing it to AT&T and Apple, it still doesn't let you use multimedia messaging service (MMS)—you know, that thing where you send a photo to a friend over text message. Earlier this year AT&T finally said it would happen by the end of summer, but now a group of customers in Louisiana are tired of waiting.  More »

—>A pair of friends in Pennsylvania decided to pursue the world record for text messaging. After they reached 217,000 texts, they learned that one of their providers, T-Mobile, really had an upper limit to "unlimited" texting, and sending 217,000 texts led to a $26,000 phone bill that cost $27 just to mail.  More »

—>AT&T spammed a "'significant number' of its 75 million customers" yesterday with text messages advertising the premiere of American Idol. AT&T also pissed off a significant number of its 75 million customers in the process, and the company's justification for the blitz isn't exactly making AT&T sound smart when it comes to understanding what qualifies as spam.  More »

—>This story from Jessica is a good reminder that scammers don't care about the technology, they care about about fooling you. That means they'll use whatever method is available—in this case, SMS.  More »

—>Twenty-two dairy companies sent out a text message to millions of Chinese consumers last week to apologize for selling tainted milk products. According to the BBC, it read, "We are deeply sorry for the harm caused to the children and the society. We sincerely apologise for that and we beg your forgiveness."   More »

The similar price increases, coming at similar times, Kohl said, "is hardly consistent with the vigorous price competition we hope to see in a competitive marketplace."  More »

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—> A class-action lawsuit has been filed in California against Verizon and several third-party companies, alleging that they promoted illegal gambling by enticing customers to pay to enter contests in which there was an "infinitesimally" small chance of winning, reports RCRWireless. "The suit centers on 99-cent charges levied on wireless consumers who played contests associated with popular TV shows like 'Deal or No Deal' and 'Sole Survivor.'" The plaintiffs claim that the contests were less promotional sweepstakes than "illegal lotteries designed to generate revenues far in excess of the value of the cash awarded."  More »

—> If you've got a baby and you're concerned about buying unlabeled products that contain Bisphenol A or BPA—which some studies have indicated may lead to adverse health effects in humans—the website Z Recommends has just launched a free text messaging service that lets you query their database of companies while you're standing in the store. They've also got a printable wallet-card you can carry with you, which serves as both a cheat-sheet for the text service and a quick reference source for major companies.  More »