Questions Of Cash: Carphone told me I'd lose my unused Fresh credit
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Your support makes all the difference.Q Carphone Warehouse's subsidiary TalkMobile, which operates the Fresh mobile service, has informed me that it will close the service on 19 March. It suggests users transfer to TalkMobile. I topped up in December and was told nothing about closure. I now want to move my mobile account to Asda. TalkMobile tells me that unused credit will be lost: I have complained that it is unfair that I will not get a refund on my top-up. DM, Belfast.
A The Carphone Warehouse spokesman Shane Conway says: "We are planning to migrate our Fresh customers on to our TalkMobile service by the end of March. This is part of our overall strategy to consolidate our entire MVNO [mobile virtual network operator] base on to a single network ... Fresh and Mobile World customers who have more credit left on their accounts than is initially provided when they join Talk Mobile will receive the difference on their TalkMobile account by 15 April. We apologise to anyone who received contrary information. We are sorry if [the reader] would prefer to port to another provider. I will arrange for someone to call the customer and refund any outstanding credit."
Q I received an unsolicited letter from TalkTalk telling me that it had added a "calling feature" to my landline account. I had been selected to have this feature free for the first month, but it would cost £4 per month thereafter. I am outraged: £48 a year is a lot to charge extra for a service I had not requested. DH, Coventry.
A TalkTalk, which is owned by Carphone Warehouse, says: "The changes to [the reader's] account occurred while we were transferring some of our internal systems over – which meant some services were no longer available. We wrote to explain this and to offer an equivalent service, for free for the first month, with the option to cancel at anytime. Since [the reader] called to cancel the service it no longer appears on his account." You remain unhappy about this, questioning whether TalkTalk is legally permitted to change the contract arrangements in this way. TalkTalk's legal team has considered your point and insists that it is able to do this.
Q My wife and I took a short break with friends in November. The four of us planned to fly out together on easyJet from London and booked tickets, independently, online. We all arrived at the airport on time and our friends received text messages with details of boarding times. But when we looked at the departures board, our flight was not there. We contacted the help desk to be told the flight had been cancelled some time before. Apparently, we should both have received emails confirming this, but neither of us did. EasyJet agreed to pay for an alternative carrier to take us to Majorca. On our return easyJet refused to reimburse me. My neighbour has received to the value of the replacement flight. My three letters to easyJet's chief executive have been ignored. JW, Ely.
A EasyJet told us: "EasyJet sincerely apologises for the cancellation of the flight from London to Palma De Mallorca. However, we did inform the customer of this cancellation by email as soon as we were aware that it would not be possible to operate the flight. As a gesture of goodwill, we have offered [the reader] an easyJet travel voucher to the value of his original flight."
Questions of Cash cannot give individual advice. But if you have a financial dilemma, we'll do our best to help. Please email us at: questionsofcash@independent.co.uk
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