We all know one of the most boring things to do on earth is to read all the fine print, but the latest to ring me with a complaint over a discrepancy between what the rep said and head office’s actual T&Cs is Amit Patel, who runs Whibleys News at Wollaston in Northamptonshire.
His PayPoint rep signed him up for a cash machine. “The deal sounded good,” says Amit, “free installation, free line rental and free-to-use machine, so I thought I’d get all the commission. But now I keep getting bills from Daisy, their telephone provider.”
The rep who signed him up has since moved on and his replacement has told Amit what the rules are: no PayZone allowed near a PayPoint one and all mobile top-ups must go through PayPoint (so Amit is supposed to break his 3R contract).
“Never was I told I could only have one machine,” maintains Amit. In fact, he describes a soap opera scene where the PayPoint rep was enjoying a laugh with the Payzone rep who happened to be in the shop when the cash facility was being installed.
PayPoint does admit an error in that it installed its terminal before collecting paperwork from Amit confirming that notice had been served on Payzone.
As far as the cash machine goes, a refund for the installation fee has been promised, but PayPoint’s Peter Brooker asks: “How are we supposed to pay for the machine in the first place and run the infrastructure if we don’t share the commission with him?”
He further points out that the ATM means Amit has eliminated banking charges on PayPoint takings.
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