So, I was going to write a nice, long, detailed blog post about traveling through Taiwan. Kind of like a condensed Lonely Planet guide to the country. I spent almost a year and a half living there and feel that it is definitely under-rated as a travel destination. But, time constraints this week have put the kibosh on that plan. So instead, I'm giving you the reader a preview to next week's blog post. I'm going to do a quick profile of one of the more beautiful spots in the country, Sun Moon Lake.
Sun Moon Lake is a beautiful alpine lake located in the central section of the island. It is surrounded by lush, forest covered mountains on all sides. There is a small touristy village on one side of the lake, that contains the area's hotels and hostels, plus the area's famous pottery workshops.
I found that Sun Moon Lake is a great place to kick back and relax. It's a good retreat away from the hustle and bustle and non-stop activity of the Taiwanese cities. Sun Moon Lake is apparently only really packed with tourists during Taiwanese long weekends, so we had the good fortune of being there during the middle of the week.
A must do, is to take the afternoon-long boat cruise around the lake. The boat takes you around the lake, stopping at the numerous temples and pagodas that dot the hills surrounding its shores. Thankfully, our boat captain made sure that the ship's coolers were well stocked with Taiwan Pijo (the national beer), which made the afternoon even more enjoyable.
It is against the law to swim in Sun Moon Lake, except for the annual "Across the Lake" swim. No one I talked to could give me a reason why this was the case, except for the standard, "because the government says so." It's kind of a strange rule because the annual swim is much more dangerous than swimming on a regular day, as the year I was there four people died during the event. A little bit of stealthiness and this rule is easy to get around.
That's a quick preview of my next post, which will give the travel highlights for the beautiful island of Taiwan.
So, after a month and a half of blogging, which is about a month and a half more than I ever thought I would do, I think it's time to reboot the blog. When I started the blog, it was encouraged to keep our blogs fairly specialized, but I think being more general is the direction I want to take it. I'm still probably going to write about sports a lot, but I think for me, just writing about sports is too narrow of a perspective. I'll probably throw in some posts about travel, politics, music, and other random things that interest me.
Before I do the reboot, I'm going to go back to the well and discuss another Olympic related issue. I'm a little bit behind the times on this one, but I'm still really stoked about it. This being the inclusion of Rugby Sevens, along with golf, in the Summer Olympics.
For those who don't know, Rugby Sevens is a variation of the traditional, 15 man, rugby union game. Instead of 15 men per team, each team consists of seven fast, skilled players. Big bruisers that are necessary for the traditional game are not needed. Games consist of two ten minute halves and are non-stop scoring affairs. End-to-end runs resulting in trys are the norm.
The major competition for Sevens is known as the IRB Sevens World Series. It consists of tournaments in New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Africa, Dubai, Scotland, England, the USA, and Australia. New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Samoa, Fiji, and England are the powerhouse teams. I was lucky enough to attend the 2008 Sevens tournament in Wellington, New Zealand.
I was traveling through New Zealand at the time with some Kiwi friends and we noticed some advertisements for the tournament. I didn't know much about rugby at the time, so my friends decided that this tournament would be a good introduction to the game. Rugby is basically a religion in New Zealand, so I figured this would be quite an event. So, after my friend blew off a job interview in Auckland, much to his wife's dismay, we hopped in a car and made the four hour trek down to Wellington.
All I have to say about my first impression of the tournament was that something like this would never happen in North America. Spectators were encouraged to dress up for the event, so the stadium was full of groups in matching costumes. There were groups of fans dressed up as doctors, Rambo-type soldiers, and even a group of Canadians dressed as hockey players. Between matches, there were drinking competitions on the sidelines hosted by the event emcee. Basically, it was two days of 30,000 people in costumes getting hammered out in the sun and watching some rugby.
The games were extremely entertaining. My national pride was dented early on, as Canada was walloped 48-0 by the host All Blacks. The Cook Islands pulled a massive upset on the first day by defeating England in a nail-biter. Kenya became a fan favorite by playing extremely fast-paced and exciting rugby.
The tournament culminated on the next day, after over thirty exciting matches. The All Blacks sent the crowd into a frenzy by scoring an end-to-end try on the last play, to defeat Samoa in the final. They then proceeded to do their world-famous hakka (Maori war dance), while the booze-fueled crowd went insane.
I hope that the excitement and free-spirited nature of Rugby Sevens tournaments translates over to the Olympics. It's quite the spectacle.
When our Buyer Beware group got together, we tossed around several ideas for what we should examine. None of the suggestions seemed right until Emmanuel suggested that we look into something that he had come across at his previous employer, MTS. He mentioned that when he was dealing with customer billing, the topic of text short code charges was a constant issue.
What are text short codes?
Text short codes are a by-product of the text message segment of the wireless industry. Short codes are numbers that consumers can send a text message to in order to participate in an automated application. These can include promotions, contests, products such as ringtones and wallpaper, and "jokes of the day". Consumers send a text message to the short code and are charged an initial fee for sending and receiving messages. They are then enrolled in a subscription through the short code. The short code number continues to send the consumer text messages, while charging them a subscription fee through their wireless carrier. To opt-out of the subscription, the consumer must send a text with the word "STOP" to the short code. They can also receive customer service by texting the word "HELP".
The Issue
The issue with short codes is that in advertisements, short code companies are not clear with how one can opt-out of the subscription or that there is even a subscription and associated charges involved. They usually include this information in small text that appears only briefly at the bottom of the advertisements. Short code advertisements often target the 12-15 year old age market, a group that are hardly savvy consumers and who often do not read legal fine print.
The goal for our Buyer Beware project was to examine if short code companies are misleading consumers by not properly disclosing subscription fees and other charges. We went about our research from several angles. We looked at the regulations behind the short code industry and the legality of subscription fees. We then took a look at short code scams. Our third angle was actually subscribing to a short code and seeing how the subscription works. Finally, we surveyed 50 high school students (the target market) to uncover their knowledge of short codes and fees.
This research led us to one final conclusion to present to you, the consumer:
AVOID TEXT SHORT CODES!
Regulations
The one thing that became clear through our research was that while text short codes follow industry regulations, they are often misleading and often vague about subscriptions and the charges that are involved. As a savvy consumer, it is best to avoid short codes because there is a good chance that you will receive a startling wireless bill at the end of the month. If you are intent on using a text short code, make sure that you read the fine print and are aware of subscription fees and how to opt-out of the subscription.
As I mentioned earlier, we came to this conclusion by looking at the issue from several different angles, starting with the regulatory side of short codes. They are regulated by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) and are required to disclose subscription fees and an opt-out method. Marc Choma, the Director of Communications for the CWTA had this to say about short code regulations:
"All short code subscriptions are strictly permission based by the consumer. As far as advertising, all prices for short code programs must be present in any call-to-action advertising, as well as in the short code message itself.”
The CRTC decided that CWTA regulations were sufficient for the short code industry when it shot down a petition from L'Union des consommateurs of Quebec, that called for the CRTC to regulate the industry.
The research indicated that short code regulations are fairly strong in this country. They are not consumer friendly however, because they do not regulate the size or length of the fine print in advertisments. This can cause consumers the most hassles.
Scams
We then took a look at short code scams. Short code scams do exist in other countries, but in Canada, CWTA regulations make them a non-issue for wireless consumers, as unsolicited texts are against regulations. The issue is that people do get scammed by not reading the fine print in advertisements. They then are charged fees through their wireless carrier and feel they have been scammed when they see large fees that they don't understand. As always, the moral here is to always read the fine print.
Short Code Enrolment
Emmanuel enrolled in several short codes to see exactly how short code subscriptions work. First, he subscribed to a "Celebrity Soulmate Calculator". The website advertising was clear in identifying that the cost of a text was $1.25. After discovering that his celebrity soulmate was Natalie Portman, Emmanuel soon found out that he had been enrolled in a subscription that sent him a daily horoscope at the cost of $1.25 per text. This was not mentioned at all on the website. Emmanuel used the "STOP" function to opt-out because he was aware that was how to get out. This function was only mentioned briefly in the first text that he received from the short code. This short code obviously targets teenagers and if they did not catch that information, they would not know how to opt-out at a later time.
The second subscription Emmanuel enrolled in was from local radio station, Curve 94.3. They were advertising on a billboard to text if you like the band Pearl Jam or not. At the bottom of the billboard was the fine print, which was so small that it was completely illegible to passing motorists. The fine print states that each text costs $0.50. The ad campaign encourages texters to send up to ten texts a day. That would work out to a lot of money on a monthly wireless billing statement.
Again, the evidence pointed to the fact that consumers must always read the fine print.
Survey and Results
After examining several short code marketing campaigns, we came to the conclusion that they generally target teenagers. So Christa hit the streets to survey teenagers on their knowledge of short codes and fees. 50 surveys were completed by teenagers in the 13-15 age group. Here are the results:
• 35 out of 50 surveyed do not read fine print. • 17 out of 50 said that you must be over 18 years old to use the service. Out of the 17, 10 had used the service anyway. • 20 out of 50 answered “no” when asked if there was a charge for the service. • 7 out of 50 answered correctly on question #3-How many times are you charged? The correct response being, “until you tell the company to stop charging”. • 21 out of 50 have subscribed to the service.
Here are some quotes taken directly from answers to the survey:
“Have you had any experiences, good or bad, with the service?” “Bad because my mom got mad and I got grounded.” “Once, and it was ok but I didn’t know how to stop it.”
“Do you read the fine print on the ad? If so what does it say?” “It’s too small to read.” “Try to-Too small.” “I don’t read fine print.” “Wouldn’t know it’s too fine.” “No, I never have time to.”
This survey indicates that teenagers are major users of text short codes, but have little knowledge of the fees and subscriptions that are involved. Reading the fine print is not a concern for them.
Again, all evidence points to the fact that consumers must always read the fine print.
After conducting this research, we came to an enlightening conclusion, which I'm sure you can figure out as well. Always read the fine print!
We recommend that consumers avoid using text short codes because if you do not read the fine print and are not aware of subscriptions and the associated fee, a large monthly wireless bill is likely to be awaiting you.
UPDATE: Emmanuel discussed the results of our project with supervisors at the MTS call centre. They were extremely impressed with our conclusions as educating consumers on short code avoidance will help to minimize the call volume they receive related to short code disputes.
As well, two supervisors from the Wireless Sales & Service department of MTS Allstream Inc. have informally requested a copy of our project, as the information we gathered would be helpful in understanding short code regulations, not only for their customers, but also for their employees taking calls.
I'm sitting here watching Sportscentre and they just showed a report from Edmonton. To my surprise there is a good coating of snow covering the ground in E-town. It's kind of depressing because that's likely going to be making it's way over here sometime soon. Like most Winnipegger's, I've got a love hate relationship with winter. On one hand I enjoy hitting the outdoor rink and snowboarding on our meager hills. On the other hand, minus 40, enough said.
Yet, all in all, I'm kind of looking forward to this winter. It looks like it will be the first time since 2006 that I'll be heading out west to snowboard. I can't wait to hit the slopes of Lake Louise and Sunshine Village.
But before that happens, two more months of first term CreComm. Anticipation is all I have right now.
This afternoon, the International Olympic Committee will make its big announcement on where the 2016 Summer Olympics will take place. It is the culmination of several years of IOC sanctioned "bribery" and backroom politics. Recently heads of state have been getting in on the action as well. Vladimir Putin was heavily involved in the lobbying that won Sochi, Russia the 2014 Winter Games and Barack Obama traveling to the IOC convention in Copenhagen to support Chicago's 2016 bid. Potential host cities spend almost $100 million dollars in an attempt to make a winning bid. Only one will be chosen, so for four cities, this money is down the drain.
Then the big spending begins. Billions of dollars will be spent by the host city to construct venues, improve infrastructure, and provide security for the games. Much of this money comes from corporate sponsorships, but a large chunk is paid for by municipal governments. After the inevitable cost overruns, the municipal governments and citizens by extension are on the hook for the cost. The Vancouver games are already $45 million overcost on construction, which will come out of the taxpayer's pocket. The citizens of Montreal finally finished paying off the 1976 games, in the late 1990s.
