Again more companies have gone bust owing cashback  a statement has been released as follows

"Mobile Media Systems Limited  – t/a  Phoneboxdirect and Mobile Affiliates Limited t/a Coolnewmobile and Phones2yourdoor. These companies were placed into administration on Wednesday 14 November, the joint administrators being Philip Lyon and Steve Wood of Mazars LLP"

Initial reports state that the liabilities range from £4m to £10 million.  Many will be shocked that these have gone down and we can only wait for further information.

Many will recognise these from the web and are well known to dealers.  In addition the MP Roger Godsiff has summond Ofcom and all the networks to Parliament to discuss the cashback issue.  He is calling on stiff regulations and is stating that the networks themselves have to bear some of the financial responsibility if a dealer goes bust.

The IMPDA for the first time is issuing awards for 2007.  The categories for these awards are;-

1.  Best Network            2.  Best Mobile Magazine          3.  Best Distributor

The poll which is currently running on the Phone Dealer Forum will end at the end of November and the awards will be made in Early December.  The industry has undergone some turbulent times over this year and the networks have come in for some heavy flak, not only from ourselves, but from the press and TV.  Dealers have also come under the eye of the puiblic after the cashback situation which is ongoing.

However their is some joy as some networks have performed well in the eyes of dealers and so have distributors, who have given their support for dealers.  The results as always will be published here.  If any dealer has not yet voted, then pay a visit to the Phone Dealer Forum and cast your votes.

The IMPDA poll which asked Do you want Mobile Phone Cashbacks to be Banned?  has now closed.  The poll has been running since the 18th September.  The results of the poll were as follows:-

We will now have to see what the networks put in place in the next few months and what the reaction of Ofcom is going to be followinjg their latest statement, in which they were not impressed with the attempts by the networks so far.   A system to licence dealers or ring fence cashback payments to customers are the latest suggestions to come out of the dealer community, which could be a possible solution but only if strictly policed.  The question of course then is who is going to be responsible for policing it.

The IMPDA has taken some flak for raising the letter regarding cashback, and some small number of dealers would prefer to stick their head in the sand instead  of dealing with the issue.  The IMPDA has all through this stated that the industry needs to sort this out, now as if to make the point yet another company is in trouble.

Today Mobile Mag reports Click Mobile is being investigated by the fraud squad after the police received a number of complaints about the west London business.

Click's premises in Hounslow, Ilford and Southall have been closed since August, after letters were sent to customers claiming that cashback payments 'may not be honoured'  The worrying thing in all this is the statement made by DC Evans who said that the size of the alleged deception could be 'absolutely massive'.

So yet again we see the industry damaged again, whilst some would rarther take little or no action to sort this out.  We congratulate 3 network for their comments on cashback at least they have put their colours to the flag.  However O2, Vodafone, Virgin, seem as though they would rarther let things carry on as they are, because they have made no statements on the issue.

With the prospect of possibly many thousands more being owed cashback,  The IMPDA once again calls on the networks to arrange a meeting between distributors and a selection of dealers to form a stratergy to solve this.  How many more are we going to see before everyone works together to solve this, not by piece meal approach but by a collective descision.

Each week views and news expressed by dealers are compiled into the IMPDA column in FONE magazine called "The Voice".  You can read here now the online edition, If you have any news, or views that would would like included in the column, then please email then to us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

If ever there was a time I needed a translator it was now.  The latest introduction of the 3% non compliance allowance for 3 networks, was ok until I got a note from one of the distributors. I know there is a call for clarity in documents these days, but Oh god! Fetch a Politian or a legal expert, because I am sure it was written with them in mind, here is an example

If your Non Payment/Fraud Claw backs are below 3%, the balance of your fund will roll over to the next month. Any Non Payment/Fraud claw backs for the following month will be offset first against that month’s allowance. If that months allowance is not sufficient then the balance of the previous months Allowance will be used. Any monthly Allowance not used after 6 months will be repaid. (now try reading it fast)

Once again we see the Avenir price book late and once again it’s not their fault, they try their best but again its down to the network for introducing so many changes, which means Avenir have to catch up and sort the changes before they can publish the final version.  Networks please, please take notice that dealers need to get their web sites sorted and retail outlets need to get their POS material and deals sorted so that the first customers on the 1^st of the month have the correct info.  Its not rocket science to get it out in time and years ago you did, so what is so difficult, surely it’s simple to go back to issuing them 3-4 days ahead of the month change and give everyone a chance.

The cash back issue goes on with further complaints from the public appearing in the papers, and on TV although 3 and Orange have made a gesture to sort something, and 3’s comment to cut out the cash back to dealers was welcomed by many people, the likes of Vodafone, O2, and Virgin have remained deathly quite on the subject.  Does this mean they are happy to let the cash back issue carry on and that they are happy to still let those who offer more than their commission carry on giving all of us a bad name.  Looks like it by their silence.  Perhaps O2, Vodafone, and Virgin will make a statement on where they stand on the issue, as 3 and Orange have done.

Well the votes are in and the 3 top most irritating sayings were as follows

1^st place   “At the end of the day”  

2^nd place “ The fact of the matter is”  (presumably because of the party conferences)

3^rd place  “To be honest with you”

We have had a few calls from consumers asking if we know where their nearest Nokia repair centre is.  Because we do not hold a list they were directed to Nokja.  However if you are a repair centre, then let us know your details, email these to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will compile a list by county and publish this on the impda site for consumers.

If you have any suggestions or comments then please email these to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it