Leo (July 23 — Aug. 22)
The good old days were great, yet a time will come when today won't seem so bad, either. You are caught up in the details of a certain drama. When it finally passes, which won't be long, you will look back and see that you managed very well.
Gemini (May 21 — June 21)
In its current unrefined form, a certain big idea is unlikely to work, but to dismiss it as useless is like giving away a house because you don't like the garden. With a little sensible and constructive imagination, you will make it work.
Scorpio (Oct. 24 — Nov. 22)
The best you can do is to exert a small influence over the outcome of a particular drama. Stop trying to achieve what's clearly impossible. That small influence is all that's needed to bring vast improvement.
Pisces (Feb. 20 — March 20)
Time is passing far too slowly as a particular drama or complex situation continues to take an eternity to resolve itself. The stars have not abandoned you. A marvellous and transformative moment will bring an enlightening breakthrough.
Read Phil Booth at boothstars.com or at thestar.com/horoscope.
I made it go away by taking a chance at winning a fancy cellular telephone. All I had to do was provide my cellphone number, and answer a question that would arrive later via text message. Tap, tap, tap and I was done, able to go on with my search.
What a mistake!
Not until yesterday did I discover this was not a telephone manufacturer teasing consumers to dream about its products. In my haste, I had signed up for what is called a short-code or premium-message service that would sprinkle my money from Vancouver to Amsterdam.
It's possible I noticed there would be a $2 charge to enter the contest. But somehow I missed the part about four questions arriving each week, and the charge applying again and again, whether I answered the questions or not.
I quickly lost interest in the questions after getting the first wrong. Yet others kept arriving like clockwork, without any word about the charges or how to stop them. I just deleted the messages. Not until I opened our phone bill yesterday and saw the $36 charge for 18 calls did I know I should investigate and find out how to halt the messages.
A customer service agent at the phone company provided the website and a toll-free number for the contest, where I was able to cancel the service without a hitch. A call centre in Cobourg gave me the name of the contest provider and an email address where I could forward queries, but no one replied.
I am wondering: who in their right mind would knowingly spend $2 over and over again to win a prize as cheap as a cellphone? Has this contest provider not received complaints about the design of the contest?
The company behind the contest is a small outfit in the Netherlands that boasts it provides "unique and appealing mobile content suitable for all ages" in 18 countries. I won't mention the name until I can contact one of its executives and get copies of the disclosure I would have received before committing to pay a fee.
Marc Choma, a spokesperson for the Canadian Wireless and Telecommunication Association in Ottawa, said various companies have leases to provide about 400 short-code services on Canada's wireless networks.
Short code refers to the few digits needed to send a text message from a cellphone. Various media outlets and providers of other services, including Torstar Corp., owner of the Toronto Star, sell premium messages at 30 cents to $5 a message.
Wireless telephone providers know their customers send about 10 billion text messages a year, but Choma said there is no data on the volume of premium messages.
"All short-code programs are tested to ensure they comply with their lease agreement and the code of conduct" administered by the wireless association, he said. If the association found any elements of a specific program that weren't in compliance, "we would ensure that the issue is resolved."
I would be interested in hearing from readers on whether they have entered a contest such as I did, and whether they thought the disclosure of fees and instructions for stopping the service were adequate.
James Daw, CFP, can be reached at jdaw@thestar.ca by email.
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