Jamster: Stealing Candy From Babies

The first thing after the title,  “Jamster Slammed for Mobile Selling Practices” that caught my attention was the big chunk on the  right 1/3rd of my screen packed with ads offering 100% free ringtones.  Perhaps GoogleAds isn’t the all-powerful Matrix of consumer habit wisdom I thought it was?

Another issue this article raises concerns the legal status of minors who are on a “family plan” (ie, the parents pay the costs and are legally responsible but the phone is in some form in the child’s name).  Is there any technology, company policy, or legal protocol that prohibits minors from entering into a subscription and/or contract, as is the case in other forms of business? (This issue reminds me of when I was about 11 and Columbia House Music was angry with me for taking them up on their 12 CDs for a penny offer, but not purchasing all of the required $16.99 CDs in a timely fashion…What good is the signature of an 11 year old???)

As the author points out, “Mobile operators may get a per-message charge of a few cents but end up alienating confused subscribers”,  I’m surprised the major carriers would risk involvement in what seems to be a very petty scam.  How many parents will simply cut cut off or diminish cell privileges out of frustration and spite when the contract expires?

I’m also not impressed by the wireless carriers’ “decline to comment” stance on this issue.  To me it seems as though they want this story to go away rather than standing behind the product they choose to affiliate with by saying something like, “The vast majority of our customers absolutely love Jamster and this is all just a misunderstanding that we will address etc… etc…”

Putting aside all the major issues, I wonder how much profit the carriers are actually making when you factor in the cost of paying customer service reps to deal with angry/confused customers???

Considering how much money major carriers spend on advertising and brand building with debatable results, do they understand how being linked to this type of practice can substantially damage their “street cred”?

Business ventures like this, along with Video Professor, Cash-For-Gold, and Extenze, have totally obliterated what little trust I held for just about anything advertised on TV.  I wonder if we’ll ever see a mob of quality product-makers go after these type of scammers for undermining the credibility of their communication media?