 
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|||||
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Adv. Search
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in| Grumbletext Homepage |
| Grumbletext general |
| What is Grumbletext? It's a UK consumer complaints and action site - Grumbletext also has a special section, SOS Premium Rate, devoted to fighting premium rate scams, including spam and scam texts on your mobile Grumbletext started as a forum which allows you to post messages about poor goods and services you have received from companies, in particular companies conducting business in the UK. Poor customer service, errors in service and product delivery, flaky marketing promises etc, are very irritating things which we feel we have to live with every day of the week. We don't often bother complaining about them because it takes too much time and energy, and because we think in most cases it is a waste of time since you'll only speak to a call-centre agent or receive a letter in three months time not addressing your problem. In the end, it means we end up footing the bill when companies fail us, because it is often quicker and cheaper than trying to get the company to sort it out.An Office of Fair Trading report in 2000 called the Consumer Detriment Report came to the conclusion that the negative effect of defective goods, substandard service and poor information was roughly �180 per year for every adult in the UK. Given the tiny margins on a lot of products and services in today's frighteningly competitive world, it's not surprising that putting problems right appears to be considered an expensive luxury by many modern companies.Our view is that you can get what you are due from companies if you tackle them in the right way and that usually means being polite but firm, escalating quickly and representing yourself as sufficiently tenacious that even the most cynical company will be happy to put you right if it means you'll pipe down and go away.The main purpose of Grumbletext is to provide a public forum where people can express their views about particular companies as a warning to others and swap information on effectively dealing with particular problems.In addition to offering you the satisfaction of grumbling about these companies in a public place, we also plan to forward your messages (anonymously) in reports to the companies concerned once we get enough on any particular company to attract their attention, and lastly we will be working hard to get as much publicity as we can in the media to further the issues you are talking about. Here's the press to date... The main idea of Grumbletext was that it's a place to warn other consumers about your experiences with companies who do business in the UK (praise is allowed too..). Over the past year or two, we've observed what people have been posting up and were keen to find ways to help you take it further. There are always the normal channels, through regulators etc, but right now we've come up with a couple of exciting new angles for those of your who have grown tired of waiting for the normal channels to work and ended up being disappointed.Firstly, we've offering a new service in partnership with Registered Call Ltd which allows you to record your calls with difficult companies for your use in bringing your issue to a positive outcome.Secondly we've put up a page to guide you in considering using the Small Claims Court, which can be a very effective, quick, easy and cheap route in dispute resolution; you'd be surprised... I've used the Small Claims Court myself in the past and can recommend it based on my personal experience. Ultimately, we - and you - want those companies to listen to what you are saying. You'd be surprised who has their eye on this site - the reason it works is because we work hard to make sure that your messages show up prominently in Google results - which is probably how you found Grumbletext today. People also use Grumbletext to actively share a lot of information with each other that can help get real problems solved as well. Through Grumbletext for example, a whole bunch of scammed consumers managed to get �3,000 each back from a holiday club scam called Cybertravel UK. Sometimes people find an effective channel in dealing with a particular high street company, and share the information here. And very often, Grumbletext helps you avoid a bad buying decision - just consider how many people will have decided not to get windows fitted by Safestyle UK, based on what you all have written about them. And on the SOS Premium Rate side of Grumbletext, people find out whether claiming so-called 'prizes' they have supposedly won are scams designed to fleece them, how to rid themselves of unwanted ringtone subscriptions, and much more.Welcome to Grumbletext! Back to top |
 |
| What is the special section about fighting premium rate scams - SOS Premium Rate on Grumbletext? SOS Premium Rate on Grumbletext is the name for our special section on Grumbletext which deals exclusively with trying to fight premium rate scams, including spam and scam texts on your mobile. You can go to SOS Premium Rate on Grumbletext: 1) to check if a particular text you have received is junk - I say junk, but in fact most of the things which get reported are out and out scams and anyone who responds to them is likely to be throwing money straight down the drain. 2) to report such a premium rate scam both to us and to the regulator (who has the power to fine these people) in one easy online submission. The point of reporting to us is firstly that other people getting the same scams will Google the contents, find us, and hence will not respond to them, thereby crimping the profits of the - let's say it - fraudsters and secondly, we help you put proper pressure on the regulator, ICSTIS, who nobody's ever heard of, so that they are 'incentivised', shall we say, to pursue these people robustly and whack them with proper fines. As you may have realised, this is quite an involved subject and if you want to know more, we have a whole section of information on SOS Premium Rate on Grumbletext. Back to top |
|
| Who is Grumbletext? Grumbletext has been operated by two people in the UK for several years. In due course it may turn into a commercial venture but for now it is provided as a free service. Back to top |
|
| What are the contact details for Grumbletext? To contact us by email - grumbleteam@grumbletext.co.uk - we welcome feedback and queries but can only have time available to respond to queries where we can be really helpful with information not already readily accessible on the site. Click here for full Grumbletext contact details. Back to top |
|
| How is the Grumbletext site organised? Grumbletext is in fact two distinct forums, which are 'Grumbletext' and 'SOS Premium Rate on Grumbletext'. 'SOS Premium Rate on Grumbletext' is a special forum for reporting premium rate scams received on your mobile phone, on the landline, seen on TV/in the press etc and the main 'Grumbletext' forum is for everything else, ie all other consumer issues. Every message in each of the two forums is listed under a particular subject which is itself listed under two levels of categories (ie a supermarket will be in the Food Shopping category which itself is in the Shopping category). For further information on how to navigate the Grumbletext website, see the entry directly below. For people unfamiliar with what a forum is, it is simply an online message board, designed to allow you to post messages, respond to existing messages etc etc. Back to top |
|
| How do I navigate the Grumbletext website? Many people arrive at the Grumbletext site on our home page, which displays the most recent posts in each of the two forums. There are basically 2 ways to navigate Grumbletext and which you choose will depend on what you want to do. Every post is listed under a subject (typically the name of the company being complained about), which is itself listed under two levels of categories. There are 2 main ways to navigate the site: Firstly, there is the search function, available on every page. It is powerful and flexible; use it for example to find if people have already posted complaints about the company you are complaining about, so that you can add your message to theirs. Secondly, you can browse all the existing subjects/companies which people have grumbled about on the forums navigation page . Simply click on any category which has a '+' to the left of it and that category will expand to reveal which subcategories (1st level) or subjects (2nd level) it contains. If the company/subject you want to write about isn't listed then you can use the 'new subject' button in that section to add a new subject to it automatically. Back to top |
|
| How does Grumbletext make any money? Well.. at the moment it doesn't. However, whilst it would be nice to operate it merely out of a sense of altruism, it is reasonable that we make clear the main way we are considering trying to earn a crust in the future. You will see on the message submission pages (an e.g.) that by posting a message, you agree in principle that we may contact you - only once - in the future with a message from the specific company which you have complained about, or failing that, a vetted competitor of that company. The company concerned will not be given your contact details, and will either be offering you an apology and/or, we hope, a 'win back' proposal of some kind, whether a re-introduction discount, or some other similar benefit. It won't be general marketing rubbish, it will be valuable to you or we won't transmit it to you on their behalf. Obviously, there are a lot of companies too unconcerned about their customers to bother with this, so the chances for the time being are probably pretty low that you will hear from them, via us, in this way - and don't forget if you do, it will only be one message sent once, with the ball fully in your court as to whether you wish to respond or not. NB: This model will of course not be used in the 'SOS Premium Rate on Grumbletext' anti mobile spam forum for obvious reasons - they spammed you in the first place and will not conceivably or credibly be offering you anything of value in the future. We have other crazy, but legitimate, ideas on how to make an economic return from Grumbletext, but they are some way off, and we'll always be completely transparent and public about what we're doing. At the moment, you'll see a donation button the right of almost every page - that's the economic plan for the time being! Back to top |
|
| Regrettably, the posting via SMS to Grumbletext functionality is no longer operational. Back to top |
|
| Login and Registration Issues |
| Why can't I log in? Have you registered? Seriously, you must register in order to log in. Have you been banned from the board? (A message will be displayed if you have.) If so, you should contact the webmaster or board administrator to find out why. If you have registered and are not banned and you still cannot log in then check and double-check your username and password. Usually this is the problem; if not, contact the board administrator -- they may have incorrect configuration settings for the board. Back to top |
|
| Do I need to register on Grumbletext? No - at present, you do not need to register in order to post messages, but you do need to supply an email address. Registration will give you access to additional features not available to guest users such as: - choosing to be notified by email when people post messages under particular subjects you are interested in - editing your posts (yes, you might want to!) - deleting your posts (yes, you might want to!) - 'private messaging' whereby you can send private emails to other users (using our internal email system) - sending normal emails to fellow Grumbletext users It's very quick to register so it is recommended you do so. - you just make up a username, a password, give your email address - and wait a minute or two to receive an email allowing you to activate your account. We do not and will not sell your email address to anyone - please see our privacy policy for further details. Back to top |
|
| Why do I get logged off automatically? If you do not check the Log me in automatically box when you log in, the board will only keep you logged in for a preset time. This prevents misuse of your account by anyone else. To stay logged in, check the box during login. This is not recommended if you access the board from a shared computer, e.g. library, internet cafe, university cluster, etc. Back to top |
|
| I've lost my password! Don't panic! While your password cannot be retrieved it can be reset. To do this go to the login page and click I've forgotten my password. Follow the instructions and you should be back online in no time. Back to top |
|
| I registered but cannot log in! First check that you are entering the correct username and password. If you are then maybe your account need activating. The Grumbletext board requires all new registrations be activated, by you before you can log on. You should have been sent an email with instructions on what to do; if you did not receive the email then check that your email address is valid. One reason activation is used is to reduce the possibility of rogue users abusing the board anonymously. If you are sure the email address you used is valid then try contacting the board administrator. Back to top |
|
| I registered in the past but cannot log in anymore! The most likely reasons for this are: you entered an incorrect username or password (check the email you were sent when you first registered) or the administrator has deleted your account for some reason. If it is the latter case then perhaps you did not post anything? It is usual for boards to periodically remove users who have not posted anything so as to reduce the size of the database. Try registering again and get involved in discussions. Back to top |
|
| How to post your messages on Grumbletext |
| Help, I can't find the message I just posted! If you aren't sure where your message got posted, simply type a word or two of what you wrote into the search field at the top of every page, and it ought to come up in the list of results. If that doesn't work try the 'Advanced Search' option on the search results page and do an 'Author' search with your own user name in that field. Back to top |
|
| Method of posting - online form You can post on Grumbletext using the online posting forms on the website - regrettably, the posting via SMS to Grumbletext functionality is no longer operational. Back to top |
|
| How to post via online form Whenever you click on icons for posting or replying to messages, you will be presented with the online posting form. You can add a range of formatting to your message using BBCode and/or Emoticons, also known as Smilies - the little faces that help express a mood for example. On the form you can also tick the box at the bottom to follow any replies which other people make to your, or other people's messages in that particular subject. Back to top |
|
| How to post via SMS text message? Regrettably, the posting via SMS to Grumbletext functionality is no longer operational. Back to top |
|
| A quick guide to picking your subject You can use Grumbletext to grumble and complain about any publicly accountable entity or person.�That would include: It would not include private individual members of the public, whether they be your neighbour, your spouse, your in-laws etc etc.� NB. ... we mean publicly accountable in the widest sense of the word: so that would include any companies, public or private, carrying on a trade in goods and services - it doesn't just mean public companies. Back to top |
|
| Once I've chosen my subject, what restrictions are there on what I can say? We want you to be able to express your views frankly - however we reserve the right to discard or edit texts of a racist, sexist, illegal or needlessly abusive nature, should we become aware of them. On swearing, we're going to see how it goes - we think it's cleverer not to swear - you would probably agree that criticism can be most scathing without it - but... if a really well-placed 'fuck' is what you need - please feel free... Back to top |
|
| Why are many post subjects from 2003 identical in the 'SOS Premium Rate on Grumbletext' forum? Grumbletext previously used different software to publish the Grumbletext site which did not allow for each message to have a separate subject, so during the migration the overall subject for the page was used in the post subject line. Back to top |
|
| How do I add a new subject? Easy - use the forums navigation page to decide where you want to add your new subject - you can only add a subject within the existing categories. Navigate the choice of categories to decide where your new subject will be most relevant (e.g. if it's a supermarket you want to start a subject on you'll want to go to the 'Shopping' -> 'Food Shopping' subcategory - if the company you want to post a message about is not in the existing list, then click the 'new subject' button at the bottom of that section. Before choosing your new subject, please review the section above entitled A quick guide to picking your subject Back to top |
|
| Why can't I add a new subject in the premium rate scams forum? The important thing about posting in the 'SOS Premium Rate on Grumbletext' forum, which deals with premium rate scams, is making sure you report the scam in the right place, so that all complaints about a particular 'service' get listed together - after all, half the problem is identifying where they come from and hence who the big offenders are who need the spotlight thrown on them. To ensure this as much as possible, Grumbletext automatically analyses your message to see if it relates to one of the services we have already either identified and/or reported on. If it doesn't match one of them, it will be automatically sent to the 'SMS Spam (General)' subject area. We then regularly analyze the messages in that subject looking for patterns in a combination of the response numbers, PO boxes and message phrasing to work out how to tie all the correct messages into an identified service. When we identify a particular service, all your messages which reported it get linked to that service and they appear under it in a new entry in the 'Identified SMS Spammers' list. Back to top |
|
| How do I edit or delete a post? Unless you are the board admin or forum moderator you can only edit or delete your own posts. You can edit a post (sometimes for only a limited time after it was made) by clicking the edit button for the relevant post. If someone has already replied to the post, you will find a small piece of text output below the post when you return to the topic that lists the number of times you edited it. This will only appear if no one has replied; it also will not appear if moderators or administrators edit the post (they should leave a message saying what they altered and why). Please note that normal users cannot delete a post once someone has replied. Back to top |
|
| Why can't I vote in polls? Only registered users can vote in polls so as to prevent spoofing of results. If you have registered and still cannot vote then you probably do not have appropriate access rights. Back to top |
|
| On the message submission page, I'm asked for an email address? You need to supply an email address to post on Grumbletext. At the same time, we auto-create a username and password for you (which you can change if you want to) and we then email them to you. Basically, the email also contains a link which you just click to activate your user account. If you click it you are then registered. You log on to your user account with your username and password. We don't use your email address in any way except as stated in our privacy policy - my telephone number is also listed there if you'd like any reassurance. You don't need to register a username to post messages on Grumbletext - however, doing so has several advantages. You can choose to leave the username and password fields blank - if you do, then the word 'Guest' will appear beside your post. Once you've submitted your post, you can go and register the username you used if you would like to. If you type it in to the registration details request and choose a password then the username becomes yours. Back to top |
|
| How do I fill in the 'Promotion Number' field? Actually, we aren't doing it this way anymore but are trying to work out a new system of classification - please ignore the following for the time being: (1) How to identify the 'Promotion Number'? 99% of the time, the number will begin with either a 5 digit number, e.g. 85252, or a normal long number, beginning with either 090, 070, or 0871. Sometimes the text message will include more than one of these types of number. If it does then you should choose whichever one of the available numbers you can match first in this list: -5 digit response number, e.g. 85252 - 090... number - 070... number - 0871... number Example: If a text includes both 0871123456 and 85252, then put 85252 into the Promotion Number field. (2) Why do we need you to fill in the Promotion Number 'field? The promotion response number identifies the 'service provider' (as the regulator calls them). It is used by ICSTIS, the premium rate regulator, to link a text promotion to the company making it and is therefore also the way we identify the particular services on Grumbletext. If you are making a complaint about a known service provider, we require you to fill in this field in order for your message to be logged against that service. Previously, we would ask you to type out the whole of the text message you received - however, as these services mostly send out the same message to everybody, you will see in the message area that the text message you received has been automatically filled in, but without the full identifying promotion number. Asking you to fill in the promotion number in this field is simply so you don't have to type out the entire message. Why don't we simply fill the number in for you? Firstly, without requiring you to actively do this, services being complained about, and indeed ICSTIS the regulator, could argue that the complaint is not valid as it would be straigthforward for you to submit a complaint whether you had received that particular promotion or not. Secondly, most response numbers are slightly different from each other, only using the same number stem for about 7 digits typically. Your providing the specific number in your text helps establish the range of numbers being used and is an indicator of the scale of potentially improper text marketing being conducted by any particular service. Thirdly, we have previously found that people would occasionally accidentally lodge a complaint about a promotion other than the one they had actually received, and this can create unnecessary problems. NB: If you find that the text message pre-filled in for you is different than the one you received, but you think it is the same service sending it out, then delete the message which has been automatically filled in and type what you have received, together with filling in the 'Promotion Number' field. If it was in fact sent out by a different service, it will automatically be logged against that service, or if it is an unrecognised service, it will be logged in the 'SMS Spam (General)' category for subsequent identification. In either case, you will be notified and forwarded to the correct area for viewing your message. Back to top |
|
| I got a message that my message got posted under a different subject... what does that mean? For further information, see below on the specific message you received... (1.) NB: Your message matches a known SMS promotion in our database and has been allocated to it. You will now automatically be forwarded to the correct page. Explanation: You have received this message because you posted a message in the 'SMS Spam (General) section' about a text spam you received and a telephone or texting number which you included in your message 'Promotion Number' field matched a known text promotion service. Grumbletext makes sure that your post gets allocated to the right service; this ensures all relevant messages about a service are posted in the same place. (2.) NB: You have identified the text you recieved with a service promotion number which matches a different promotion. Your post has been allocated to the correct service and and you will now automatically be forwarded to the correct page. Explanation: You have received this message because you posted a message about a text spam you received and the number which you put into the required 'Promotion Number' field matched a different service. Grumbletext makes sure that your post gets allocated to the right service; this ensures all relevant messages about a service are posted in the same place and it also avoids complaints being attributed against the wrong service, which is clearly undesirable. (3.) NB: Your message does not match an premium rate promotion in our "Identified SMS Spammers" section. It has therefore been posted in the "SMS Spam (General)" section and you will now automatically be forwarded to the correct page. We regularly collate the messages in that section and identify premium rate promotions which have been reported a number of times. Such promotions identified and their related posts are then re-classified as specific services in the "Identified SMS Spammers" section. Explanation: You have received this message because you posted a message about a text spam you received in a subject which was dedicated to a specific identified service and the number which you put into the required 'Promotion Number' field matched neither that nor any other of the specific services we have so far identified. Grumbletext tries to make sure that your post does not get allocated to the wrong service; this ensures all relevant messages about a specific service are posted in the same place and it also avoids complaints being attributed against the wrong service, which is clearly undesirable. Back to top |
|
| Searching for messages |
| How does your search function work? Grumbletext search supports full-phrase searching, and the use of AND, OR, and NOT - searches are case insensitive. Some examples: - many hands will find all messages which contain either many or hands - so will many OR hands - "many hands make light work" will find any messages which contain exactly that phrase - "many hands" AND make light NOT work will find any messages which contain both the phrase "many hands" and the word make, or the word light (ie. if a text matches nothing but the word light it's a match) but don't contain the word work - you can use phrases ("search stuff") in conjunction with OR, AND and NOT Back to top |
|
| What is the minimum number of characters I can search on? 3 - unless you put quote marks around it "" in which case the minimum is 2 characters. Back to top |
|
| Formatting and Topic Types |
| What is BBCode? BBCode is a special implementation of HTML. BBCode itself is similar in style to HTML: tags are enclosed in square braces [ and ] rather than < and > and it offers greater control over what and how something is displayed. For more information on BBCode see the guide which can be accessed from the posting page. Back to top |
|
| Can I use HTML? You cannot use HTML in the Grumbletext forums. This is a safety feature to prevent people from abusing the board by using tags which may destroy the layout or cause other problems. BBCode (see above) should hopefully provide you with enough HTML-type functionality for most purposes. Back to top |
|
| What are Smileys? Smileys, or Emoticons, are small graphical images which can be used to express some feeling using a short code, e.g. :) means happy, :( means sad. The full list of emoticons can be seen via the posting form. Try not to overuse smileys, though, as they can quickly render a post unreadable and a moderator may decide to edit them out or remove the post altogether. Back to top |
|
| Private Messaging |
| What is private messaging? Private messaging is a way for you to send emails to other people who have posted messages in the Grumbletext forums - without actually revealing your email address. Back to top |
|
| What are the advantages of private messages over normal email? There are three main advantages: Back to top |
|
| I cannot send private messages! There are three reasons for this; you are not registered and/or not logged on, the board administrator has disabled private messaging for the entire board, or the board administrator has prevented you individually from sending messages. If it is the latter case you should try asking the administrator why. Back to top |
|
| I keep getting unwanted private messages! In the future we will be adding an ignore list to the private messaging system. For now, though, if you keep receiving unwanted private messages from someone, inform the board administrator -- they have the power to prevent a user from sending private messages at all. Back to top |
|
| User Preferences and settings |
| How do I change my settings? All your settings (if you are registered) are stored in the database. To alter them click the Profile link (generally shown at the top of pages but this may not be the case). This will allow you to change all your settings. The Grumbletext forum is a heavily customised version of the incredibly successful phpbb forum software - visitors who have used other phpbb-based forums may wonder why all the other settings often available are not available in the Grumbletext forum - this is because we think that the reduced number of user settings keeps things clear and simple - in the future we may decide to make more of the other settings available. Back to top |
|
| When I click the private messaging link for a user it asks me to log in. Sorry, but only registered users can send private email to people via the built-in email form. This is to prevent malicious use of the email system by anonymous users. Back to top |
|
| phpBB 2 Issues |
| Who wrote this bulletin board? This software (in its unmodified form) is produced, released and is copyrighted phpBB Group. It is made available under the GNU General Public License and may be freely distributed; see link for more details. Back to top |
|
| Why isn't X feature available? This software was written by and licensed through phpBB Group. If you believe a feature needs to be added then please visit the phpbb.com website and see what the phpBB Group has to say. Please do not post feature requests to the board at phpbb.com, as the Group uses sourceforge to handle tasking of new features. Please read through the forums and see what, if any, our position may already be for features and then follow the procedure given there. Back to top |
|
| Whom do I contact about abusive and/or legal matters related to this board? You should contact the administrator of this board. If you cannot find who that is, you should first contact one of the forum moderators and ask them who you should in turn contact. If still get no response you should contact the owner of the domain (do a whois lookup) or, if this is running on a free service (e.g. yahoo, free.fr, f2s.com, etc.), the management or abuse department of that service. Please note that phpBB Group has absolutely no control and cannot in any way be held liable over how, where or by whom this board is used. It is absolutely pointless contacting phpBB Group in relation to any legal (cease and desist, liable, defamatory comment, etc.) matter not directly related to the phpbb.com website or the discrete software of phpBB itself. If you do email phpBB Group about any third party use of this software then you should expect a terse response or no response at all. Back to top |
|
| Grumbletext� is a Registered Trademark of LiveWebs Limited - All rights reserved. | Butt-covering disclaimer |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB 2.9.3 © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
Want to support Grumbletext?
Visit
our store..
