The Phone Co-op announced in November it would withdraw its pay-as-you-go (PAYG) mobile phone service at the end of February. I’d just topped up with £70 which I’m unlikely to use in time. Now it seems I will not get a refund.
CF, Farnham, Surrey
As I reported earlier this month, mobile phone providers do not usually return unused credit, even after a customer dies. The Phone Co-op’s terms and conditions explicitly state that, if it decides to terminate the service, credits are non-refundable.
This is legally questionable and the Co-op hastened to distance itself from its small print and update its website after I alerted regulator Ofcom. It told me it had decided not to apply its usual no-refund policy and that it would contact customers with credits of more than £50. Those with smaller sums are asked to make contact themselves. You have been refunded. Ofcom says it’s up to a court to decide if contract terms are unfair.
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