Posted by Fox on April 20, 2007 at 12:23 PM
Checking through my site stats for www.smstoday.co.uk, I noticed that free SMS text remains popular search term. This got me to checking through the listings I have for sites offering free SMS. I thought I'd check no SMS spam scams had got through my limited vetting procedure.
The conclusion is that when it comes to free SMS, there really is no such thing as a free lunch. All have conditions.
The conditions imposed by some free SMS services are understandable when you consider that every text sent has a cost associated with it. Depending which SMS gateway the site is using and which mobile network the message terminates on, this cost will range from fractions of a penny up to few pennies per text message...
Below I list some of the conditions I came across. I've put them into three lists I'll call The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
The Good : Free SMS conditions that IMHO have acceptable conditions.
- Limiting the number of SMS texts you can send each day.
- Limiting the countries you can send SMS text messages to.
- Limiting the recipients to members only. Both you and the recipient must sign up to the service to enable them to receive your texts. This works really well if you only want to text your friends for free.
The Bad : Free SMS Conditions that simply expect to much for a service that advertises itself as free.
- You get a few free SMS text messages, but only after you sign up and purchase a number of message credits. Each text message you send deducts between 1-5 credits from your account. These just aren't worth the hassle when compared to free SMS Text services that have acceptable conditions of use.
The UGLY : Scams, Spam and Rip Offs
- Your message is sent free, but the recipient must pay to read the message. One provider was charging up to £5 to read a single message. WTF!
- Both you and the recipient will be added to a database, thereafter you and your buddy get spam text messages.
- Free SMS for life, but only after you purchase SMS credits. Then the service simply closes once the owners have made some cash, and then start up under another name.
So on the understanding there's no such thing as a totally Free SMS service, I recommend that you DO TAKE THE TIME to read through the terms and conditions AND the providers privacy policy.
Been hit by a FREE SMS scam? I'd like to know about it. Use the comment form below to share your experience with other readers.
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Free SMS Service with No Registration
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Hey Fox. Im actually on this mobile social network called peekamo.com. my friends and i have been messing around with it and its pretty much a free lunch when it comes to free sms. just type in the number and send the message. kinda like face book or myspace too. whatevs just thought id tell you since its pretty big up here in canada.
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