19 November 2007
Internet mobile phone retailer Phonebox Direct is to close, it has been reported.
The online shop's owners, Mobile Media Systems Ltd, went into administration last week with estimated debts of up to £10 million, Mobile Today reports.
Phonebox Direct specialised in 'cashback' offers, where customers were offered money back on their phone contracts provided they complied with certain pre-set conditions.
In a statement released to the website of Cool New Mobile, an online store also owned by Mobile Media Systems, administrator at Mazars Philip Lyon said: 'Unfortunately the number of customers that were able to comply with the terms and conditions and hence became eligible for the cash-back payments exceeded the company's expectations.
He added: "The company is therefore no longer in a position to meet its ongoing liabilities to those customers. There is no possibility that the company will be able to make any meaningful payment to any creditor, whether consumer or supplier."
The online store was established in 2003 and is thought to have connected around 2000 customers per month.
Around 45 staff have been made redundant by the closure.
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