Requiring adults to jump through hoops to prove they are adults, after they create an adult account?

[StevenM_1697381]

Just a note, honestly cannot find a good thing to say about Smarty right now, help is a joke.

I am allowed to create an account, I need to be 18, I need to be 18 to create a group, I need a bank to set up my payments, I have a group, I have four payments on that group set up via my bank, and despite problems such as paying for months for one account that has NEVER received data despite SIM activating, I amd also having problems setting up a fith account for another child.

Yet I cannot change restrictions on my account without a credit card, passport, or driving licence, it's 2023 and not every adult has all those things, despite as an adult having three children and creating my account that your happy to take payment from even when providing no service.

Just how does that work? You can take money via direct debits on an account that has restrictions on age, being over 18, but we need as adults top jump through hoops to prove we are over 18 despite you taking money based on us being over 18?

Do you see just how dumb that is?

Tried livechat, useless, so far not one problem I am having is being addressed.

[JodieC]

Hi @StevenM_1697381 

Thank you for sharing your comment. 

SMARTY do not offer contracts which means we do not perform any credit checks to see if you are over the age of 18. To enable adult content we require our customers to enter their credit card details. We understand that not all customers have a credit card which is why we have introduced other ways to verify your age.

SMARTY can accept the following:

• Driving License
• Passport
• Utility Bill
• Proof of Age Card

The ID name, address and DOB must match what we have on our system.

I hope you find this information useful

[StevenM_1697381]

When I apply for a credit card I do not need.

• Driving License
• Passport
• Utility Bill
• Proof of Age Card

Personally I find it rather inconvenient, I dont drive, need to dig a passport out, and scan and upload a photo of it just to prove I am 51 yrs old.

Add to that the insult of calling WEBchat support, I have various issues NOT being resolved, two of the issues I am asking about are documented in these community pages with those users having it resoved via WEBchat, Lavina on my webchat is incapable of resolving any of my multiple issues, from changing my data plan, bonus SIM card not activating as it requires an account, my eldest lad never having had data since we went with SMARTY. Regardless of email or WEBchat, there has been zero help and completely unproffesional clueless responses every time I try to resolve these issues.

[MSF]

@StevenM_1697381  I do take your point and can understand some of the frustration.

When you apply for a credit card, I think that the provider will carry out a credit check with one or more of the credit rating agencies.

If they cannot verify you as an adult with some good enough credit history and an address etc., I think it unlikely that you will get the card issued.

Overall, this reduces the chances of having minors sign up to potentially have inappropriate material delivered by Smarty. (Yes, I realise that they may access it elsewhere, but that is up to the 'adult' in charge)

[Jon2023]

Agree with you as I have been having issues with Smarty's responses and lack of them in some cases. They are by far one of the companies that employ really dumb people who have little to no knowledge to deal with BASIC customer issues.

[MSF]

@Jon2023 I think that this is a sweeping generalisation and fairly harsh towards Smarty's staff.

While it's always unfortunate if someone has problems getting an issue sorted, there are also a large number of customers who don't have problems, so perhaps we need to see it in context.

I agree that outsourcing offshore is not always best for customers; the staff are not necessarily dumb, but perhaps do not have a grasp of vernacular language.