Q: Two years ago I signed a mobile telephony contract with a local service provider. This contract included unlimited calls to specific numbers. During the last few months of my contract I realised that I was being charged for the calls I made to these special numbers. I therefore visited one of the company’s outlets, explained my complaint to the representative and he agreed there was a mistake.

My bills could not be adjusted there and then, so I informed this representative that I will not pay any more bills before they made the required adjustments. Sometime later I had to terminate my contract as I did not have any connection at a new house I bought.

The last correspondence I have with this service provider dates back to more than a year ago where I was informed that they could not find anything wrong with my bills. A few days ago I received a letter from this same service provider informing me that if I do not settle the bill within 15 days I will be reported to a credit company.

I immediately contacted my old service provider and requested a copy of my bills with a breakdown of the calls I made so I could show them where the error was. I was told that I have to personally collect such bills from one of their outlets because they could not send them to me, not even by email. I informed them that this was inconvenient and I insisted to have the bills sent to me by post or email.

I would like to know what are my rights in this situation?

A: You are definitely entitled to be provided with a copy of the bill to verify the amount due and to dispute any mistakes. If it is an inconvenience for you to personally visit one of the outlets for a copy of the bill you can insist to be sent a copy by email. Should you not manage to reach an amicable understanding with the service provider about this issue, you may file a complaint with the Office for Consumer Affairs so that our officers can assist you in resolving this dispute.