In this article, after a brief overview of the paid services offered (VAS), we will see specifically how to deactivate the services associated with MobilePay, what alternatives the consumer has to cancel the service , how to obtain a refund , how the law protects consumers and who to contact.
Table of Contents
What services does MobilePay offer? 1
What are the advantages of the MobilePay service? 2
How to deactivate MobilePay services. 2
- By connecting to the MobilePay platform. 2
- By directly contacting the service provider that relies on the platform. 2
- By calling your telephone operator’s customer service. 3
How to get a refund for services activated with MobilePay.
What services does MobilePay offer?
When you realize that you have a paid service associated with your smartphone, it means that you have performed some operation on the web aimed at activating a VAS (Value Added Service).
This service requires the user to pay a sum of money on a weekly or monthly basis in exchange for certain types of content. Among the available platforms, one of the most popular is MobilePay.
MobilePay can be described as a platform that allows third-party companies to sell their subscription services . Typically, these services include news, gossip, sports, horoscopes, or games, wallpapers, or courses of any kind .
Costs are around 5 euros per week, and activating multiple services can lead to a rather high expense, which becomes even more unwanted when the service is activated inadvertently.
While browsing the web or social media, in fact, you can access and subscribe to one or more of the aforementioned services, simply by responding to one of the many advertising calls-to-action that appear in the form of banners while browsing.
What are the advantages of the MobilePay service?
The main reason users find MobilePay useful is the ability to purchase digital services using their phone credit, thus avoiding having to enter their bank account, credit card, or prepaid card details.
The speed of purchases is one of the platform’s strong points, but it often leads users to purchase unwanted services. Simply enter your phone number, for example.
To protect consumers, there is a maximum spending limit of 15 euros for each single purchase, and operators have the discretion to set a maximum monthly spending limit.
How to deactivate MobilePay services
As we’ve seen, MobilePay is a platform that manages services provided by other companies connected to the platform. Therefore, there are several ways to deactivate unwanted services:
- By connecting to the MobilePay platform;
- By directly contacting the service provider that relies on the platform;
- By calling your telephone provider’s customer service.
1. By connecting to the MobilePay platform
The most practical method to deactivate the subscription to associated services is to connect to the MobilePay portal ( https://selfcare.mobilepay.it/mpay-fe-selfcare/jsp/insert-msisdn.jsp ).
The main “ Self Care ” screen allows you to manage all your subscribed purchases by entering your telephone number and operator in the dedicated screen.
Once you’ve entered your details, you’ll receive an SMS from MobilePay containing the password to connect to the portal’s services: check your purchases, cancel any subscriptions you’ve purchased, or contact support.
At this point you are inside the control panel, by clicking on “Payments” at the top you can check all the subscriptions active on your phone number and simply click on the subscription you wish to deactivate and click on the “Deactivate” button.
If the operation was successful, the word “Deactivated” will appear next to the deactivated subscription. You will also receive a text message confirming the deactivation on your smartphone.
2. By directly contacting the service provider that relies on the platform
Alternatively, you can contact the service provider directly. The process is more complex, as you’ll need to identify the specific service, find its website, and find its phone number or email address.
This procedure is more difficult to implement because:
- Customer service doesn’t always respond quickly;
- Services may be provided by a foreign company;
- The procedures are not standardized but follow company regulations.
In light of the above points, we recommend deactivating the services by following point 1 or point 3, reported below.
3. By calling your telephone operator’s customer service
If you encounter problems, your last resort, before contacting a consumer protection agency or association, is to contact your telephone company.
Depending on your operator, you can generally request the deactivation of services associated with MobilePay:
- By accessing your online reserved area
In this case, depending on the provider, you may need to log in and then verify that the reserved area allows you to independently deactivate subscriptions to the services you have subscribed to.
- By contacting an operator by telephone
Contacting your telephone operator is probably the best solution, as an expert will check your active services and deactivate them. Upon request, they can also deactivate the possibility of subscribing to new and future subscriptions of this kind.
For completeness, here are the toll-free telephone numbers to call depending on your telephone company:
TIM:
119 (private mobile line),
191 (business mobile line).
Alternatively,
You can call 800.44.22.99. A voice prompt will guide you through deactivating the VAS services active on your phone line. Alternatively, you can send a text message to 119 with the text “VAS services deactivation.”
WIND/INFOSTRADA :
155
1928 (mobile lines and companies)
VODAFONE:
190
800 100 195 (toll-free number, free for calls from landlines and other operators)
800.44.22.99. An automatic voice will guide you through the deactivation procedures.
FASTWEB:
192194 (for both private individuals and companies)
H3G:
133
139 (companies)
POSTEMOBILE:
160
How to get a refund for services activated with MobilePay
While deactivating the service is a fairly simple procedure, obtaining a refund for the charges is less easy.
The official MobilePay website does not have a dedicated refund section, so the only viable option is to contact a consumer protection association or lawyer.
It will be up to the latter to ascertain whether there are grounds for requesting a refund.
It is important to note that the consumer is protected only if the commercial practice is considered unfair.
In particular, Legislative Decree no. 206 of 6 September 2005 ( https ://www.gazzetta ufficio.it/atto/serie_generale/caricaDettaglioAtto/originario?atto.dataPubblicazioneGazzetta=2005-10-08&atto.codiceRedazionale=005G0232 ):
- Article 20 emphasizes the prohibition on companies engaging in unfair commercial practices, that is, when they appreciably distort consumer economic behavior.
- Article 21 defines misleading commercial practices as when a product or service is described in an untruthful manner.
In conclusion , permanently deactivating MobilePay services is possible, and there are three ways to do so. To avoid activating unwanted services, we recommend contacting your mobile phone provider as soon as possible. This is especially important when the phone is being used by young children, who may have developed the necessary web experience.
