Texting Money To Charity

[iloveglee]

can anyone help me out on here. i have about £10 credit on my mobile phone pay as you go with asda mobile. i have now changed provider and wanted to donate the credit to charity using the texting method. i have tried several ones and the text won't go. after looking on one or two forums, it appears that asda does not allow texts to 5 digit numbers, i.e. the ones you text money to. no idea why. does anyone know of any other way of donating using a mobile phone, other than a text. such a pity to allow the money to go to waste, even though it's not much.

[TheChair]

Lots of providers automatically apply a block on premium numbers. Most will also remove the block on request.

[Old_Geezer]

I'd avoid texting money to charities. When I tried it I got hassled by calls pushing for more regular contributions. Never again.

[TWR]

As O.G. they turn people's attitude against them.

[iloveglee]

Might have to rethink this then. I know what you mean though about being hassled on the phone.

[woofgang]

how can they do anything with an old mobile number? I have texted the tag end of my credit to charity twice now with no problem and no other contact

[Old_Geezer]

Interesting point. Depends on whether you are keeping your number and taking it to the new service provider ?

[woofgang]

As the Op said they had changed provider, I assumed they had already got a new number.

[iloveglee]

what has happened is that i have switched from pay as you go with asda, to a contract. i have not transferred my old asda number i am keeping the number given to me with the contract. so i have the old asda pay as you go still current and useable. i have put the sim into an old handset and can therefore use up the credit any way i like. because my new provider is a contract, and calls are free with the plan, there is nothing to gain for me to use up the credit making calls/texts. this is why i thought a charity could benefit from it. but for some reason, according to posts on another forum, asda does not allow texts to 5 digit numbers, most of the charities you can text to, are to 5 digit numbers. so - no way around it so far as i can see. asda get to have my credit, i cant do anything with it to benefit someone else!! i thought it may have been a t-mobile rule, as that is the platform asda uses. apparently not as someone i know has a t-mobile pay as you go and has texted to charity many times.

[ummmm]

About £10? They also charge a normal fee so if you don't have enough credit to cover that it won't go through. Try donating £5.

[TTG]

I would not send text messages to any charities. You will be hounded forever.

[woofgang]

TTG....its an old number the OP is using...they can’t hound her as she won’t be using the number.

[Quizproquo]

I don't think transferred credit can be used as cash, a bit like the buy £10 and get £20 on gambling sites. It has to be real paid for credit once the free stuff is used up, and to make that difficult for you, they will always use up the cash top up first and the credits last. You would need to top up your phone past the amount of the donation before it can be accepted and even then you may have to phone Asda mobile to get any restrictions lifted.
As for being hounded, if after donating you text the word STOP to the same number, it's usually recognised by the system that you no longer want to receive communication from them. This information is usually displayed in the text asking you for money or on the donation page.

[iloveglee]

I have messaged asda and they tell me, they do not allow texts to go to a 5 digit number (which the charities use), and do not know when (if ever), they will be facilitating this. when texting to a charity, it costs the donation amount plus your usual network text charge. it is not related to the amount i was trying to donate - which was £3 and i have £10 credit, it is solely related to asdas refusal to allow these numbers to donate. i dont know why, they didnt say. maybe it's complicated to set up. although all the other suppliers of mobile phones manage to do it. they wont remove this restriction for me, they just dont allow it full stop. so here i am. £10 credit and cant give it away. i cant transfer it, or buy anything with it, its for making phone calls, and sending texts, which i can now do, with my new contract, for free. you wouldnt have thought it could be so hard to give money away would you. cant even give it my grandchildren, they all have contracts. they did say that as long as i make a call once every 3 months they wont take the number away, so i cant wait it out until they do change their system to allow texts to 5 digit numbers!!