I think it’s almost criminal how people are being persuaded over multiple TV ads to sign up for extremely annoying and irritating baby crying or screen smashing ringtones and equally stupid pictures for their phone by simply SMSing (Texting) a number and becoming a member of this service. I wonder how many idiots fail to read the entire screen carefully and not realise that they are actually signing up for a regular subscription service costing them as much as R40* or higher per week. A fool and his money are easily separated.
What also gets to me is how these people are now tugging at the heartstrings of the religious. "Just SMS the word Save to 12345 and receive daily scripture passages guaranteed to change your life". What they fail to emphasize is this happy little miraculously life altering SMS is going to cost you R35 per week.
Then there’s poor little Billy No Mates who is sitting at home alone on a Friday night cos no one loves him. He can simply SMS the word flirt to 54321 and get laid. I guess if that was true then it’s a bargain at R40 per week + R1 per SMS sent.
It is really annoying that there are services such as GloMobi and the likes who are just out to rip people off with ridiculously stupid content. I also question the mental capacity of their target market who keep on paying, certainly enough to keep them advertising and creating opportunity for more of these services to start up! I think my greatest concern is for the the kids though who have no real clue and no real concept of the value of money but who have cell phones topped up by mom and dad for safety reasons so they can make a call if they run into trouble.
One smart bastard getting stinking rich off the idiocracy of the masses. Now that’s what the world considers an entrepreneur.
*R = Rand. 1GBP = R15. 1US$ = R8.
**Values mentioned are not 100% accurate but simply an indication as to amounts charged
