The text message barely registered in Bud Ringer's mind when it arrived on his cellphone late last year.

It was the first one the 61-year-old retired millwright had ever received, and he thought it was from his wireless provider, Virgin Mobile.

“I just deleted it,” he said, and flipped open his cellphone to demonstrate.

What Ringer didn't realize is the text cost him $2 and, as more followed in the ensuing days, he lost money in his pay-as-you-go account he has with the company.

But he took stock of the situation last month after returning from a two-week trip to Costa Rica. Ringer said he had just paid $100 into his account — enough minutes to last him a year. He turned the phone off and left it in a drawer while he was away.

When he and his wife returned, Ringer noticed more text messages had arrived. When he checked his account, he was alarmed to see almost $50 had been bled from it.

“It was turned off and they were still taking the money,” he said.

Ringer showed one of the messages: a multiple-choice question asking him who the creator of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes is. He said there is nothing to show who sent the text message or how to unsubscribe to the service.

When he phoned Virgin, the customer service representative told him the messages are sent by a third-party company and are considered a premium text message, meaning the company — not Virgin Wireless — charges him for every message received, he said.

It took Ringer several phone calls to Virgin to learn how to make the texts stop. All he had to do is reply by texting Stop. He said he did that and hasn't received one since.

What angers Ringer is he is out $50. He doesn't think it's right that he paid Virgin the money and another company was able to take it. He wants the amount back in his account.

“They are taking my money and giving it to a third party,” he said. “Why are you giving my money to a third party without my OK?”

Virgin spokeswoman Erica Faltous said premium text messages, or short codes, are regulated by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) and not the wireless company.

She said a customer has to sign up with a company that creates premium texts in order to receive the messages and cautioned customers about what they subscribe to.

Faltous asked Ringer to contact Virgin and the provider will do what it can to address concerns with his account. Ringer said a Virgin representative promised someone would phone him back about the money. That was two weeks ago and he hasn't received a call.

Marc Choma of the CWTA said he's never heard of someone receiving a premium text message without subscribing to it. This can be done via websites or entering a contest. The cellphone number and a PIN must be provided.

He said CWTA regulations say a company sending premium text messages must include information on how to cancel a subscription. The only time people unwittingly receive a message is when they are given a cellphone number with the previous user’s information not wiped from it.

Looking back, Ringer believes he may have accidentally subscribed to the service while checking a financial website. He said he clicked on an ad offering to check his credited rating. Providing a cellphone number was part of the procedure.

There are shady premium text message companies out there. Telus spokesman Shawn Hall said customers do receive messages without knowing they subscribed to the service through a contest or website.

Telus customers who fall victim to the service are encouraged to contact the company. Hall said all charges are reversed back to the account.

Ringer has thought about switching to a new wireless provider, but he's already paid his $100 and Virgin has the cheapest pay-as-you-go rates, he said.