PhoneMail calls refund

Maltacom will be refunding all local calls of 17 seconds or less in duration for the period April 27, 2002 to May 23, 2002, the corporation said yesterday.

The refund is the second phase of Maltacom's campaign to repay charges for any PhoneMail calls for April and May, after it was heavily criticised for introducing the new system automatically, rather than having subscribers activate it.

For the period April 1 to 26 and for the period May 24 to 31, Maltacom is making a full refund, on a call-by-call basis, as it has the necessary data to be able to do so.

However, no data is available for the April 27 to May 23 period and the corporation will therefore refund all the calls lasting 17 seconds or less, as this will cover most PhoneMail deposits, as well as a number of short calls unrelated to PhoneMail.

All such local calls of 17 seconds or less in duration will also be itemised on a call-by-call basis in the refund voucher.

Maltacom sent each residential (Cycle A) subscriber a covering letter, including itemisation of PhoneMail charges, for the months of April and May as well as a refund voucher covering the charges. These customers will receive their telephone bills in the next few days.

The vouchers may be exchanged for cash at any of Maltacom's or Allcom's branch offices, provided the relevant bill has been settled, or used as part payment for the settlement of bills. The voucher - together with the customer's ID card - is to be presented with the bill when effecting payment, or attached to the cheque if payment is being effected by post.

The vouchers cannot be re-issued and are valid for two months from date of issue.