Forward Cellular Have Gone Bust

andy88_2

alric wrote:

... ,as I am paying £30 month for sim only, ...
I would've thought watchdog & other consumer rights organisations might have something to say about this, as most current £30 month tariffs offer a free phone, and a good one too,why are we paying them so much?

There are some sim only Vodafone deals around; maybe that's why it was easier for you to downgrade the tariff, as it's not subsidising a new phone

saleemsaarah

I got the insolvency letter this weekend.

FC owed me £570 for 2 Vodafone rent free sim cards i bought in Dec 2004.

FC has paid me £630 in the past (Oct 2004) for previous offers, but I got stung on this one.



Tips :-

1) send your details to Harrisons to include your case at the insolvency meeting being held on the 28th Feb.

2) contact your Credit Card company, c if they can help. (keep your fingers crossed.)

3) contact Service provider, and c if they can help (ask if they would stop your contract, and just hope for the best).

Realistically if Harrisons cant recover any of our debts then just downgrade your monthly line rental if possible and live with the loss.

fatboyonadiet

is the meeting not on the 25th?

guv_2

Signed up for 2 deals with FC for the Orange 400 mins Xnet and about the 12th December - and also my sister did at the same time. (ie 3 x £390 is the total owed!) :eek:

All 3 bills were sent as requested.

Obviously aware of the lack of communication and the rumblings on usenet about the Vatman etc we continued to chase by recorded mail etc and contacting Orange themselves. They gave us the details of the actual distributor (in our case Cellular Logistics). They told us they werent aware of any problems and promised to call back. They never did - despite further denials they knew of any problems and claiming "its the first we've heard of any issues", which clearly was a lie.

Anyway, I thought Id been very fortunate, when 2 cheques for £390 were sent to me about 10 days ago. They were quickly deposited. On the same day everyone else got their letters, my sister got hers. We still havent.

I obviously contacted my bank about it and despite saying the cheques had cleared, we told them why we were concerned. They basically said that if the company was in liquidation, their bank would have the right to claim the money back if they were drawn when they were in the red. (I cant fathom why the bank would be allowed to do this, and not be part of the queue along with other creditors.)

Anyway, to date, there is no sign of a "clawback" by the bank - but have been told there is no time limit. (Though others have said its up to 10 working days - which at time of writing will be another 4 days.) I'm obviously keeping my fingers firmly crossed, but equally unsure where to take this forward.

I have contacted my Barclaycard with view of getting them involved (and maybe possibly tapping them for the refund of the renaged deal - if that is what happens.) But in the meantime, Im in the position the liquidators have either missed me, think I am sorted or my post has gone astray. I have tried calling them, but they are constantly engaged.

The distributor has suggested they may be able to cancel the contract with Orange under the circumstances, - but in their usual fashion, havent returned the call despite the promise to do so. Even so, I will have paid £180 for 2 months line rental (x 2), so even thats not a nice alternative!)

Not really sure why FC did send the cheques to me, where most appear to be left in the lerch. Maybe its because Im a several time over past customer having signed up for 6 other phones prior to these. I'll certainly be grateful if thats the reason - and the bank leaves me alone, but in the meantime, I just need to sit and wait!

I guess I really need to get in touch with the liquidator. They may know if my cheques are about to bounce - with their knowledge - or the likelyhood of the bank doing it. All the same, the law is an !!!!!! for leaving me with this stupid situation that "my money" can be removed from my account at anytime with nothing I can do about it and potentially shafting me with the liquidator for not being seen as a creditor.

Its a real shame this has all happened. As usual, the only ones with a smile on their faces are the taxman and the mobile companies. The opposites of the ones who can really afford for it to happen.


Time will tell...............

allthatmularky

Guv - think you'll be ok - liquidator will have bigger fish to fry. It may be that they still had cash in the bank but funding problems elsewhere.

Smartasss

ian&#64 wrote: »

.

We did warn MSE users about the "cash back deals" it was just the same with Mobile Republic.

Ian Burrow

Strange......... as I recall it was "MSE users" that warned others about dealing with m***u*y, not the other way round!

dbs

Sending my details to Harrisons copies of Forward Cellular invoices first bill from T mobile, not sure what to do with the proxy form Harrisons sent me do I have to fill out this form or not?

fatboyonadiet

I wasn't sure too but when I rung they said I only need to fill this in if I want to attend the meeting or send a replacement

ajhands

hello,
i just thought i'd add a little bit.

i've just been on the phone to harrison's...

The guy told me that you DO NOT have to submit your claim before the meeting if you don't want to have a proxy vote. After the meeting there will be another letter stating the date by which all claims must be submitted.

He still estimated "around 50 pence in the pound" will be returned. Which isn't bad really..

BUT he told me it would take "6 to 12 months" for creditors to be settled. Which means, as far as I can see, that anyone cancelling or changing their phone contract now which breaches the agreement with Forward Cellular will probably not get any money.
I'm thinking that it's probably worth keeping up the contract anyway, effectively at half price rather than free - but still not bad.

I got the extra contract from FC as existing contract bills were extortionate because Vodafone charge so much when you go over the free minutes, so paying equiv. £15 a month for 200 mins will still probably leave me a little better off.

Hope this was useful..
Alex

JayS_3

guv wrote:

I obviously contacted my bank about it and despite saying the cheques had cleared, we told them why we were concerned. They basically said that if the company was in liquidation, their bank would have the right to claim the money back if they were drawn when they were in the red. (I cant fathom why the bank would be allowed to do this, and not be part of the queue along with other creditors.)

Anyway, to date, there is no sign of a "clawback" by the bank - but have been told there is no time limit. (Though others have said its up to 10 working days - which at time of writing will be another 4 days.) I'm obviously keeping my fingers firmly crossed, but equally unsure where to take this forward.QUOTE]

As I understand it, from a similar situation investigated on a TV programme, the banks can 'clawback' even 6 months after a cheque has cleared. Hope this does not happen to you. :eek:

Best wishes,
Jay