Dial123 wound up

valerie70

Hello, the telephone service Dial123 to call abroad has been wound up without notice. I had a bit less than £20 on my account. How can I get the money back? When I googled Dial123 liquidator, nothing came up. It looks like they took the money and went!

MattMattMattUK

valerie70 said:

Hello, the telephone service Dial123 to call abroad has been wound up without notice. I had a bit less than £20 on my account. How can I get the money back? When I googled Dial123 liquidator, nothing came up. It looks like they took the money and went!

They are not in liquidation yet, they have just announced that they are closing down, liquidation could be some time off yet. You could email them, as well as write to them at their registered office and see what response you get. If they are insolvent then in time they will appoint a liquidator and you will get a percentage back of any credit based on the funds remaining after asset disposal. Depending on their finances you might get the whole amount back, or you might get nothing, you will not know until they are further along with the process. 

sheramber

They are not in liquidation. They have just shut up shop.

They are still active on Companies House.

You could try contacting the sole director at her address on Companies House.

How did you pay?

valerie70

Someone responded to the email I sent to customer services of Dial123 but they wish to have my account details to get a payment back. The other solution they offer is for me to claim from my credit card. is it safe for me to give my account details when I am not 100% sure who is responding to those emails?

DullGreyGuy

sheramber said:

They are not in liquidation. They have just shut up shop. 

2022 their assets were fractionally above their debts due in a year and they had a £16k bank loan on top of that. One man band, no employees beyond the director and decreasing revenues over the years. Most likely insolvent but if any creditors will push for a winding up is another matter. 

la531983

valerie70 said:

Someone responded to the email I sent to customer services of Dial123 but they wish to have my account details to get a payment back. The other solution they offer is for me to claim from my credit card. is it safe for me to give my account details when I am not 100% sure who is responding to those emails?

What are they asking for?

A sort code and account number they cant do much with other than pay money in (cue someone mentioning the Jeremy Clarkson thing), people for decades happily gave cheques out to every Tom, !!!!!! and Harry and this had the sort code and account number printed on the bottom.

born_again

valerie70 said:

Someone responded to the email I sent to customer services of Dial123 but they wish to have my account details to get a payment back. The other solution they offer is for me to claim from my credit card. is it safe for me to give my account details when I am not 100% sure who is responding to those emails?

On that how much did you top up & how long ago. 

Best give them sort code & Acc number for the refund.

We are sorry to announce that Dial123.co.uk will be sunsetting 

sheramber

DullGreyGuy said:

sheramber said:

They are not in liquidation. They have just shut up shop. 

2022 their assets were fractionally above their debts due in a year and they had a £16k bank loan on top of that. One man band, no employees beyond the director and decreasing revenues over the years. Most likely insolvent but if any creditors will push for a winding up is another matter. 

They are not likely to have stopped trading if they were making a profit

DullGreyGuy

sheramber said:

DullGreyGuy said:

sheramber said:

They are not in liquidation. They have just shut up shop. 

2022 their assets were fractionally above their debts due in a year and they had a £16k bank loan on top of that. One man band, no employees beyond the director and decreasing revenues over the years. Most likely insolvent but if any creditors will push for a winding up is another matter. 

They are not likely to have stopped trading if they were making a profit

You really believe that @sheramber? 

Have known many a company that was making a small profit close down because the effort to make the profit was too high for the unsalaried director. I mean if you had a company turning £500 of profit a year but you were putting in 50 hours a week to get that would you continue working for £0.19 an hour?

There are many solvent companies wound up because it's just not worth the effort it takes, particularly these days when a business' overheads could be as little as the cost of hosting a website. 

Grumpy_chap

DullGreyGuy said:

sheramber said:

They are not likely to have stopped trading if they were making a profit

You really believe that @sheramber? 

Have known many a company that was making a small profit close down because the effort to make the profit was too high for the unsalaried director. I mean if you had a company turning £500 of profit a year but you were putting in 50 hours a week to get that would you continue working for £0.19 an hour?

There are many solvent companies wound up because it's just not worth the effort it takes, particularly these days when a business' overheads could be as little as the cost of hosting a website. 

In that scenario, the company is not really making a profit.
Yes, the company books might show a profit because there simply is nothing there to pay to the Owner-Director.
The true assessment has to be on the basis that the Owner-Director has earned at least as much income as they would just taking an employed role.  There are exceptions, where the Owner-Director earns equivalently less because they made a decision to prioritise work-life balance or there is a passion / altruistic benefit.  
If the effort is working full time hours for a pittance, that is not really a company making a profit.

sheramber

DullGreyGuy said:

sheramber said:

DullGreyGuy said:

sheramber said:

They are not in liquidation. They have just shut up shop. 

2022 their assets were fractionally above their debts due in a year and they had a £16k bank loan on top of that. One man band, no employees beyond the director and decreasing revenues over the years. Most likely insolvent but if any creditors will push for a winding up is another matter. 

They are not likely to have stopped trading if they were making a profit

You really believe that @sheramber? 

Have known many a company that was making a small profit close down because the effort to make the profit was too high for the unsalaried director. I mean if you had a company turning £500 of profit a year but you were putting in 50 hours a week to get that would you continue working for £0.19 an hour?

There are many solvent companies wound up because it's just not worth the effort it takes, particularly these days when a business' overheads could be as little as the cost of hosting a website. 

Okay,  if you want to be pedantic, they are not likely to stop trading if they are making an adequate profit