Paid services and their unwanted charges are often an unpleasant surprise. Here is the guide on how to disable paid services and get a refund.
If you’ve seen yourself charging an amount for apaid servicethat you haven’t activated, don’t be afraid: a paid value added services has probably been activated on your line, but you can disable it.
VAS are nothing more than paid services which are activated on a telephone line and which offer entertainment or information services. They can be purchased individually or by subscription, but it often happens that these services are activated without explicit consent. The holder of the telephone line is still protected because it is possible to disable the paid services permanently and request a refund.
How to disable paid services
Disabling paid servicesis possible in many ways. AGCOM provides consumers, regardless of the mobile operator, with two free ways to disable these services.
The first is thetoll-free number800.44.22.99, always active, which you can call to deactivate the paid service that has been activated on your telephone line. You can call the toll-free number within six hours, which represent the cooling-off period, and obtain the deactivation of the service and the refund.
The second, more immediate, method was introduced by AGCOM starting from 20 January 2020 and consists in sending anSMS, always within six hours, to the number indicated by the service activation message. Also in this case, the deactivation and immediate re-credit of the amount is foreseen. The ways to disable the services, however, do not end here, and also depend on the operator to which they belong.
Since paid services credit the amount on the residual credit of your line, the advice is to activate anautomatic top-upservice and thus avoid two unpleasant situations: the first is to risk running out of credit, while the second is relating to the fact that the main telephone companies, thanks to the automatic top-up service, automatically block paid services, preventing unwanted charges.
To avoid connecting your bank account to your telephone line and suffering excessive and unwanted credits, it is advisable to connect a prepaid card to the line, so that the amount on the card is always under control.
One of the best is definitely Revolut, aprepaid cardthat gives you the possibility of not paying any costs in case of expenses or money transfers abroad. The Revolut welcome kit , aimed atTelefonino.netreaders , provides a 10 euro bonus on the first top-up (at least 10 euro) and with free shipping costs.
Disable Vodafone paid services
Vodafonecustomers can deactivate paid services by calling190, the customer number, and speaking with the call center. You can ask the operator to deactivate the service and refund the amount that has been debited from your credit or account.
Alternatively, paid services can be deactivated through the Vodafone website, by connecting to theDo-it-yourself areathrough the login button located at the top right of the site’s homepage. If you don’t have an account, you can create it using your phone number. Once inside, the item to select isCost Controland, subsequently,Digital Servicesto check which services have been activated on your line.
In theServicesand promotions active section, within the Your offer area, there will be an item called Call related services, within which you can disable paid services that are not welcome. Vodafone also has an information page related to this type of services.
Disable Tim paid services
To deactivate paid services,Timcustomers can turn to119and speak to a call center operator, requesting that services be deactivated and refunded. Alternatively, it is possible to send anSMSto 119 with the words “deactivation of VAS services”, and request reimbursement later, however, through a call to the call center.
Alternatively, you can use theMyTimapp or thesite, click on your line and then go to the Services section to see which paid services are active and, if necessary, disable them. Again, once the service is deactivated, a refund must be requested through the call center.
Disable Wind paid services
To disable paid services,Windcustomers can access their personal area on the operator’s website and select the active services. Alternatively, you can disable paid services through theMyWindapp and access the services section.
At that point, just choose the service to disable and then call the call center at155to request a refund.
Disable Paid Services Three
It is possible to request the deactivation of paid services via theTreline by calling133, talking to an operator and making your request explicit.
Throughthe management app foryour Tre line, you can disable paid services by selecting them from the active ones. This way you can no longer pay for the active paid service and request a refund for the credited amount.
Disable Iliad paid services
In case you have anIliadsim , you can disable paid services by calling the call center at177and selecting the option to speak with an operator.
If you choose to do it through the Iliad app, on the other hand, just log in and go under the item ”My options” in your personal area. At this point select the service and proceed with the deactivation.
Request a refund for paid services: how to do it
You can request arefund for paid services, regardless of which operator you have. To obtain a refund, you can call the toll-free number 800.44.22.99 established by AGCOM and proceed with deactivation and refund. The refund can be requested within six months from the purchase or subscription date, and must be subject to verification, therefore the advice is not to cancel the SMS messages that warn of the activation of the unwanted service.
Alternatively, it is possible to send, within six hours of receiving the activation communication, anSMS to the same number with the word “cancel” to proceed with the deactivation and have a refund.
How to block paid services
To act preventively and avoid unwanted credits on your account or on your residual credit, it is possible toblock the activationof paid services. All operators give their customers the opportunity to deactivate the services and prevent their activation.
Just call your reference call center and ask to speak to an operator. At that point you will have to ask him to block the paid services, so that on your line these services will never be activated.