We've Got Mail: Michael Coyne from Inverin in Co Galway contacted us after his father Padraic started receiving anonymous, unsolicited messages containing the words "Wap Push" to his seldom-used mobile phone.

"The entire text in the message was ringtone-related," Coyne writes. The problem was - and it took a week to realise this - that each message was costing €1.50 to receive. When Michael called Vodafone on his father's behalf he was first advised to reply to the message with the word "Stop". This was not possible, he says, because the messages didn't include a reply option. When he contacted Vodafone customer care a second time they were "not particularly helpful", he says.

"We asked them to check into the origin of the message or block them for him but they said they couldn't do so, and advised him to change his number."

Undeterred, Coyne then switched off all options on his father's phone relating to the Wap Push feature but still the messages kept coming. Finally, his mother spotted a newspaper ad for a ringtone provider offering a tone mentioned in one of the SMS messages. The ad supplied cancellation details which worked.

"I doubt Dad's alone in getting spammed like this, but since he took no active steps in signing up we can only assume it occurred by chance. Vodafone won't entertain the idea of refunding any money for the two weeks or thereabouts that he received these messages."

We contacted Vodafone who said Coyne had subscribed, albeit inadvertently, to a third-party service provider offering ringtones. As it wasn't a Vodafone service, the company did not have the legal authority to disconnect him from the service.

A spokeswoman accepted, however, that Vodafone's customer service was not up to scratch in this case. Normally, she said, if someone contacts Vodafone to complain about an unwanted SMS message, customer service staff either provide unsubscribe details or supply the contact details of the third party provider. Callers are also given contact details for RegTel, the independent regulator of premium-rate telecommunications services so they can lodge a complaint. As none of these procedures appears to have been followed this time, Vodafone would be in touch with our reader to discuss the issue and offer compensation, she added.