Value added services are those subscriptions (not always activated voluntarily) that quickly drain the remaining credit of our SIM
They are the biggest nightmare of anyone with a SIM card with some remaining credit. Even worse, if possible, for those who have their phone account debited from a credit card or current account. In this case, the risk is that value-added services not only consume the remaining credit, but also inflate the phone bill out of all proportion.
And besides, there are dozens of news about astronomical bills caused by the activation of unsolicited paid services and we all (or almost) have been there at least once in our lives. Fortunately, there is a way to stop the activation of unsolicited paid services in the bud. It’s called barring SMS and it allows you to deactivate services that are already active and prevent new services from being activated without the SIM owner noticing.
What value added services mean
With the name “value added services” or VAS, in the field of mobile telephony, we indicate all those paid services (not always requested by users) such as gossip or horoscope news, downloading images, video games and ringtones and updates on weather forecasts for the city where you live or live. As mentioned, these additional services are not always requested by users: it could happen to be induced to activate them with fraudulent tactics, without the user realizing that he has accepted the terms of the agreement. So the user finds himself to pay exorbitant subscription costs (several euros every week) that inflate in an abnormal way the cost of the bill.
What is the SMS barring
To understand what is the SMS barring and what is its purpose, it’s enough to translate its name from English to Italian. “Barring”, in fact, means “exclude”, “prohibit”. It is, therefore, a free service offered by all mobile operators to block automatic subscription services. The activation of SMS barring is usually quite simple: just call the service center and talk to an operator, asking for the deactivation of all subscription services and their block.
As an alternative, you can use the services that the Italian Communications Authority makes available to consumers. In particular, AGCOM has created the toll-free number 800.44.22.99 that allows you to deactivate the paid services of any operator. La procedura da seguire è molto semplice e, nel caso si abbiano dei dubbi, si potrà essere messi in contatto con l’assistenza clienti del proprio operatore telefonico in maniera diretta e immediata.
Barring SMS TIM
Ti chiedi come disattivare i servizi a pagamento TIM? Nessun problema: hai a tua disposizione diverse strade da seguire, oltre a quella fornita dall’AGCOM. Se hai una SIM TIM e hai ricevuto un messaggio che ti avvissa dell’attivazione di servizi in abbonamento non voluti potrai:
- inviare un SMS gratuito al 119 con il messaggio “disattivazione servizi VAS”
- accedere al proprio profilo personale su web o app e verificare/disattivare i servizi a valore aggiunto
Per attivare il barring SMS, invece, potrai:
- attivare il servizio TIM Ricarica Automatica che, di default, blocca l’attivazione dei servizi in abbonamento
- chiamare il 119 e parlare con un operatore
Barring SMS Vodafone
L’attivazione del barring SMS su SIM Vodafone passa, anche in questo caso, attraverso varie strade. Oltre a quella “universale” fornita dall’Autorità garante, potrai attivare il blocco ai servizi in abbonamento non voluti chiamando il 190 e parlando con un operatore. Nel caso non riesci a metterti in contatto con un operatore in carne e ossa potrai chiedere aiuto a Tobi, l’assistente virtuale a intelligenza artificiale del portale Vodafone.it. Anche grazie a Tobi sarai in grado di contattare un operatore umano e chiedere l’attivazione del barring SMS. Dulcis in fundo, potrai accedere alla tua area privata da web o grazie all’app Vodafone, entrare nella sezione “Servizi e promozioni attive” dell’area fai da te e verificare quale servizi VAS sono attivi. Basterà un tocco sulla voce “Gestisci” in corrispondenza del servizio per disattivarlo.
Barring SMS Wind
Wind permette di disattivare servizi per adulti, servizi con sovrapprezzo e dei servizi in abbonamento seguendo tre strade differenti. Per attivare il blocco ai servizi VAS con Wind dovrai:
- Blocco servizi per adulti. Scaricare il modulo per il blocco dei servizi per adulti, compilarlo e inviarlo insieme a copia di un documento di identità all’indirizzo Wind Tre S.p.A Casella Postale 14155 Ufficio Postale Milano 65 20152 MILANO MI
- Blcocco servizi con sovrapprezzo. Chiamare il 155 o recarsi presso uno dei negozi Wind
- Blocco servizi in abbonamento. Inviare un SMS con scritto “STOP” al numero 48048. In addition, it is advisable to contact Wind customer care at 155
Barring SMS Tre
To activate the barring of SMS 3 you can either get in touch with customer care and talk to an operator, or use the tools in your personal area of the website or My3 app. After logging in with your credentials, all you have to do is access the active services area and manage them as you see fit.
Iliad SMS barring
Enabling Iliad SMS barring is quite simple. You won’t need to call customer support, but you’ll just need to access your personal area from the operator’s website, click on “My options” in the left menu and then Block paid numbers. Here you will be able to check if the option is already active or activate it within a few seconds.
Barring SMS Poste Mobile
To deactivate and block Poste Mobile paid services, simply call customer care and get in touch with an operator.
Barring SMS Ho.Mobile, Tiscali, Kena Mobile, CoopVoce
For these three operators it is not necessary to request deactivation of VAS services. As also confirmed on several occasions by their customer care services, the subscription services for ho.mobile, Tiscali, Kena Mobile and CoopVoce are disabled by default and it is not possible to enable them.