Sprint will let you block specific numbers from Text Messages. You might contact AT&T and see if they do also, I bet they have to traps already setup.

This is typically how you can argue with your service provider to get out of contracts. When T-Mobile doubled pricing on individual SMSes and when Sprint jacked up their pricing, quite a few people were able to opt out of their yearly contracts without an early termination fee. Think AT&T is the only few that hasn’t done this just yet.

Does anyone know how text messages are bundled with phone plans in Europe, where SMS spam is more prevalent? I pay a monthly fee for my SMS plan, and it’s fairly expensive for simple technology.

Michael, why would you give these spammers even more coverage? Maybe it would have been better to just edit your previous post on them.

On that same note, ever since ‘upgrading’ my cingular service (had to buy a new phone), I’ve been getting a text message spam from them (normally in the middle of the night, thanks jackasses). I wish there was a way through the phone menu to block texts from specific senders.

-mike

Hey Cha Cha. There’s no silver bullet marketing move (this one backfired). Instead hand out premiums and use “second stage premiums”

I told my friends in Asia that here in US we pay for incoming text messages and incoming calls on cell phones.

They laughed at me

…but for a respectable, venture funded company to do this…

Error found.

Unfortunately opt-in standards for text messaging are vague at best. In the carriers eyes, this isn’t spam since you “subscribed” by sending a message to their short code. They are obligated to have some sort of opt-out system in place most likely sending a “Stop” message will do it.

Regardless, just goes to show how effective one-to-one sms marketing is. You’ll never forget about the service if they’re reminding you about it once a week.

Maybe it was sent to you purposely?

Publicity … though constant trashing of company can’t be good or can it?

Put it in the deadpool mike….

#6 Random Guy - Used to be the case in the UK too that you paid for incoming calls but no longer…

Good lookin’ out!

Here in europe, we only pay for sending sms messages - it’s prolly the reason why its use exploded the way it did here.

This feels strange to be able to say this considering I live in the UK and getting ripped off is the price of living here but you guys are getting scammed having to pay twice for the same data

I just dont understand why mobile companies charge for incoming text messages …

hey Michael - can you share the incoming source info for ChaCha? email address or domain? I’d like to preemptively block them from “messaging” me, and sprint doesn’t allow you to block with only a short code.

I’d be surprised if this takes off in the US given the incoming TXT charges. Mind you, in some ways its a blessing, in Australia (like the rest of the world pretty much) we don’t pay to receive, and I regularly get ringtone spam TXT’s.

Short-term thinking: suggests idiocy, desperation or both.

This forum should help you figure out suitable revenge. It should be no trouble at all for you to find their marketing chief’s cell phone number….

having mobile phone in US sucks!!! I wish I could stop using it ..but I cannot! this is exactly what mobile companies know & they take advantage by charging money for every damn incoming thing.

Why incoming is still not free in US?

Chacha is an amazing service, despite this spammish behavior. Squeezing a cogent answer into 160 characters is quite a task. Some of the more remarkable answers received:
-Describe the mormon version of heaven
-Top 5 love making songs
-Cheapest beach-front real estate in southeast asia
-Describe what a waterdragon looks like
-How do you fight off a dragon
-What should I buy for my male friend’s wedding present, gimme five ideas.
-How will chacha sustain itself

Regardless of the recommendation retraction by michael, chacha is the funnest drinking companion around.

I read a post on another site that alluded to the fact that they were trying to game digg last week. Now SMS spam? Ridiculous.

I semi-agree that they shouldn’t be given more coverage, but desperate attempts to get people using their service, especially where spam is involved, should be brought to people’s attention.

who says they are respectable, take a chill pill

…write to shane@chacha.com

My Nokia lets me block certain numbers from texts and phonecalls

put the puppy pictures down and actually try it

Hey Michael, welcome to the world of “pre-existing business relationships.”

But here, it doesn’t cost to receive text messages…

http://gameimpacto.blogspot.com

Incoming calls cost money in the US because someone needs to pay for it. In most other countries the carrier gets a cut of the what the caller pays, in the us that is not true so they are charging the receiver.

Mike — I think you need to relax. One text message after you’ve used this service encouraging you to use it more often doesn’t necessarily constitute spam. Why don’t you wait to decide until the 2nd one comes around?

Maybe you need to take a vacation…

There must be some sort of legal issue with this?

From the FCC site:

The FCC’s ban on sending unwanted e-mail messages to wireless devices applies to all “commercial messages.” The CAN-SPAM Act defines commercial messages as those for which the primary purpose is to advertise or promote a commercial product or service…

—
Boris Revsin
CTO, CampusLIVE Inc

Look at all the press they are getting now on this!

I have had a TON of fun with ChaCha! It is a fantastic service and I use it constantly now.

Its unfortunate that it appears that you received spam text from them. I have never received anything like it.

I hope TechCrunch will actually look into what this company is doing and do a positive report eventually.

Have you noticed in twitter that it has started to send some txt with “useful” info for you?Is this spam also?

what does their TOS state? You signed up, used there service, and then they send you a text message, and you flip out!!!

Most spam complaints are from people that actually sign up for a service, not expecting to receive “communications” from that service, then forget they agreed to get notifications.

The complaint I would have, is where is the unsubscribe button so that you do not get any more. If you unsubscribe and continue to receive message, then there is a spam problem.

matt - I’m not sure how to agree to any terms via a text message query.

I read about ChaCha’s mobile version on TechCrunch, which encouraged me to try the service. Today, I received the spam message and it not only caused me monetary loss, it has also caused great emotional distress.

I plan on brining a class action against ChaCha and will name TechCrunch and Mr. Arrington as co-defendants

will answer for michael - #33

no, that is not spam, for I am a twitter (digg, mac) fanboy

Lighten up Michael, You are getting to uptight over a single message.

Did you actually read the entire EULA? I bet you didnt. In your haste to try it you may have actually given them the right to do just this.

But whether or not you did or they did have the right to - your still acting like an uptight asshole.

Its one message. Someone needs a liquidity event or a girlfriend…

Michael, you sure you didn’t fall for one of those banners that say,

“Enter your name, birth-date and phone number and we will find you perfect lover”?

Then you get charged $9.95 a month and get stupid horoscopes and other information sent to your phone?

@18: “Why incoming is still not free in US?”

Because Americans have no way out of it and because they can afford to pay whatever the wireless companies charge them.
That’s the way it is…

I hate calling people on their cell phones cause I feel like I’m pulling money out of their pockets. Life in Europe spoiled me and it’s tough to adjust here.

Us Brits are used to a bit of text spam, but you usually get the option of sending “STOP” in reply to ensure no more messages arrive. I guess your regulations need to catch up and put that kind of measure in place if text spam is going to become more commonplace.

Michael,

You should have known better than to enter your phone number on any website that requests it!

They don’t even have an opt-out feature, so if I really wanted piss off an old girlfriend, I could get her on the spam list!

I’ve used the service and love it, the basic concept is a great one and I hope this service continues to be offered.

I’m sure their venture capital guys are unaware of it - just the marketing schlep and a guy in engineering cooked it up…sure…

Respectable? Ha, that’s funny. Come on, they’re called ChaCha. They use guides, who are nothing but hilarious. Their whole system is a joke. What compelled you to use them?

Just contact your carrier. If you have ever setup a short code service you have to sign a pretty detailed contract which makes this sort of thing off limits. The carriers can pull out of participating and block future requests.

That is pretty bad. Sending unwanted text messages shouldn’t be done by anyone, especially not a company that values its reputation.

On the other hand, in the big picture, is this really a large tragedy? And did it really cost you money, or do you have an unlimited sms plan?

Mike - not sure exactly what message you got on your device, but from what you have written this company is in direct violation of a number of rules and regs. If you really wanted to sink them you report them to your carrier, then to the MMA. Their shortcode could be shut down as a result of this type of behaviour. An sms-based company will live and die by their compliance to these regs in the US market.

Furthermore, this type of message flow would never have passed certification by their aggregator - so they appear to be treading in dangerous territory especially given the coverage they will get from this article.

It is irresponsible behaviour like this that makes the certification process harder for legit companies in this space!

A beautiful swan dive into the deadpool.

I certainly don’t think ChaCha will go to the dead pool.

I’ve told a lot of folks about it, and my read is that the type of people who will benefit most, wont be TechCrunch readers.

wow you REALLY don’t like these guys. I don’t think this was worth a post and an “apology” to your readers. quit showboating.

That makes me mad. I remember those terrible days when I subscribed to a txt plan that only had 1000 in it, and I avoided trying ANYTHING for that reason!

I didnt want to use up my precious txts on spam, and have to pay $0.10 in/out after that thousand! (which I would every few months).

I was thinking about giving ChaCha a try, since I Have unlimited txting now, but if they are going to spam, Im not going to support that.

I don’t get mobile spam. What are they trying to achieve with it? Who is their target audience? Naive Grandmas and teenagers? I can tell you when I receive mobile spam I get really pissed of and would never buy or service advertised in the spam. So it’s a mystery to me why serious advertisers continue to pour money into spam.

@Tim

“A beautiful swan dive into the deadpool.”
Beautiful? I think they where kick’n and screaming

Looks like ChaCha has either a ton of low-class angel investors or they’ve spammed their own employees and searchslaves to post here with anti-Mike comments. Anybody get a reply from the email address posted above?

Then again, this type of thing hasn’t been fatal before, so maybe there’s hope for being the Plaxo of search engines. If they can get enough people to accept lower standards of behavior, why not? It works for Dr. Phil and Hugh Downs.

And just thinking about it, there are shades of Beacon here as well. “We can do whatever we want with whatever information you give to us or that we can acquire about you.” Real charming, guys.

jeez, here in india, many junk sms everyday… i would happily punch ambani or mittal, the big business heroes whose companies interrupt my day, day after day…. they say you can opt out, but it doesn’t work

ur a little baby Michael. Complaining about a text message. Come on.

@john doerr - “behaviour” - I didn’t know John was a Brit…

I don’t think it’s ChaCha’s fault if you pay for the incoming messages.
It’s the first time when i hear such a think can happen. In Europe i don’t think it’s possible.

@57: He’s not and neither am I I’m a little further southeast….

@34: Mike - there are very specific, predefined ways to opt in/out of messaging campaigns here in the US - that’s the whole point - they should have included some specific verbage in the message to you.

So is this how mobile apps and services will be monetized? Will US mobile providers embrace this and encourage it? Scary and disruptive — and not the ‘good’ kind of disruptive.

I believe you can just reply with “Stop” to any such message which keeps you from receiving any further messages.

It is incredible to see how well this service answers questions on anything. Surprising that a single message would spark additional muckraking. But that is how Mike gets his readers so why would anyone be surprised?

Michael when were you in Europe last time? I lived in Denmark and Germany where I had mobile phones for more than 7 years now. Never received one single text msg that I didn’t ask for (not to mention calls, it’s actually illegal to call or txt random people and try to sell them stuff here) - but when I lived in the US, that was a different story! I pay $.1 for outgoing calls, $.04 for txt msg and have free incoming calls and msgs here in Denmark.

You can opt out of this, but, it is kind of complicated and just texting “stop” to a message like that will not do it. In fact, from the information I’m seeing, if you text “stop” to their 2244 or whatever no. it is you’re supposed to text it to, the message just gets sent to one of their sms guides who in no way has any power to stop the service! I’m not even sure there is a way to opt out at this early venture, at least not one that is easy.

Hey Michael Arrington (the author), if you HAVE THE TIME to let text-spam bother you, and actually affect your internal emotional state, then YOU NEED TO GET A LIFE, or at least GET MORE IMPORTANT THINGS IN YOUR LIFE TO WORRY ABOUT. Seriously, why did you waste our time with this article!

“Just text another questions”? What’s up with their bad grammer? Can anyone say Spell Checker?

My company SMobile (www.smobilesystems.com) makes a spam filter for mobile devices. We can block voice, sms, and MMS spam on the device, and it integrates with your contacts database.

I’ve never heard of Michael Arrington until I’ve heard about ChaCha. Nice publicity stunt, Mikey!

You know what all you have to do is text back to the number ’stop’ that’s rough. And it took me less then one minute to discover this because I bothered to go to the ChaCha web site. But since you don’t want to do any searching of answers for yourself perhaps you should keep ChaCha as contact on your phone….just thought.

You guys are complaining about one little text message? wow. If you would of read the site before sending the text, you would see that you just have to simply text STOP or CANCEL to 242242. Need to speak to someone? Well what do you know, there’s a toll free number clearly posted on the site as well. 1-800-820-0827. So before you guys go off of ONE PERSONS opinion, try the service yourself. I think you’ll be surprised.

BTW…Google ChaCha and see how many complaints there are about ChaCha. Oh look. This is the only one and it’s not even legit! Hmmmmm

http://www.chacha.com/textChaCha#/

I’ve had great experience with this service. I am impressed with its accuracy and speed. Don’t know why this guy is so concerned about one message. We can judge this on our own.

sms http://smspoint.googlepages.com/

sebd sms worldwide http://smspoint.googlepages.com/

send sms worldwide http://smspoint.googlepages.com/

This article is garbage. How is ChaCha controversial? I love it, they can find anything. I wouldn’t expect someone who’s fooled by the novelty of an Iphone to appreciate the genius and convenience of such a great service…

If you file a complaint with the FCC, they (ChaCha) have to respond to it and remedy the grievance. It’s quick and easy (I’m told) by heading to their forum:

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html

Hey Michael Arrington, I bet if you read the TOS from ChaCha you accepted getting text ads from them. Read the fine print before you go off in a tangent.

As Old as this is, anyone that stumbles upon this, as a guide working for ChaCha, you simply text the word STOP to 242242, and ChaCha stops all texts.