When they do the risk of clawback because customers don t properly activate their SIM cards is too great. Instead many independent dealers are buying up pre-pay stock from high street stores and selling it on with a 10 margin.
Pre-pay is dying a death among independent dealers because no distributors wants to sell it any more says Adrian Foot of The Phone Shop in Welling.
He added that it was important to be able to offer both pre-pay and contract. Not everyone wants to sign up to a contract. In our area about 60 per cent of customers want pre-pay said Foot.
Historically Foot has gone through Avenir Elite or Unique for T-Mobile and Orange pre-pay connections.
I need low-end stock but can t get it anymore he claimed.
Avenir never has any pre-pay stock and says it is pulling away from pre-pay connections. Hugh Symons wants the customer to top-up twice on Orange before it will pay commissions. It means I am paranoid about selling pre-pay for fear of clawback.
Foot said this was the reason entrepreneurial independent dealers were buying up pre-pay stock from Woolworths and Argos and selling it on for a small margin.
Another south-London dealer said: We haven t had any pre-pay stock in from any distributors since November and it has cost us trade. We have dealt with so many distributors Avenir Data Select and Hugh Symons and all of them seem to have pulled back.
He added: Most customers can switch on to contracts but not all of them. It is especially frustrating when The Carphone Warehouse over the road can offer everything on pre-pay. Even SIM cards have become more and more difficult to get hold of.
Faisal Sheikh of Fone Doctors said: It is simpler to go to Argos or The Carphone Warehouse for pre-pay stock than it is to go through the distributors. I used to buy from Unique and Hugh Symons but it is too complicated. It is impossible to guarantee that a customer will connect the phone which means you risk clawback.

Phones 4U marketing insight manager Jon Fish said: "We are linking with the band for a raft of marketing activity including teaser TV commercials magazine advertising in-store POS consumer promotions and regional PR campaigns."
The sponsorship is targeted at 25- to 35-year-old women who were Take That´s original core fans in the early 1990s.
"The partnership with Take That reflects our strategy of widening the target audience" said Fish.
He added: "Through sponsoring Take That´s Ultimate tour we hope to raise our brand awareness and consideration among the yummy mummy´ audience."

A full compliance audit by Samsung adds its Samsung Level 2 Service Centre accreditation to Fone Logistics´ existing Nokia and Sony Ericsson accreditation.
"Working with Samsung will prove of significant benefit to our customers particularly given the impact the manufacturer has made in the market over the past 12 months" said Fone Logistics operations director Lynne Gillespie.
"I expect this announcement to be followed by other strategic relationships and service agreements."
Trained operatives within the Fone Logistics Service Centre will handle Samsung repairs and the company has undertaken a programme of continuous improvement and training to ensure the latest handsets are supported.

Orange issued distributors with three separate do not deal notices a fortnight ago and another three last week.
Each do not deal notice relates to stockists that employ outbound call centres to sell Orange stock.
An Orange spokesperson said:
"Having received and reviewed a number of customer complaints we have ceased trading with six channel partners.
"The customer experience and care offered by their outbound call centres was unacceptable. As a consequence do not deal notices have been issued to our distribution channel. The review is ongoing."
Orange along with T-Mobile also set out strict guidelines for outbound call centres this week (see story page 2).
In an e-mail to its channel partners this week it said outbound call centres must record all calls so Orange can audit them. It also stated that scripts must be checked and approved by Orange and that call centres must identify themselves and state that they are not acting on behalf of Orange.
It also issued new guidelines for outbound texting. Outbound text messages must be approved by Orange and text messages must identify the third party and include a web address where full details of the offer can be found.
The e-mail stated: "Failure to comply with the procedures above will result in suspension and or termination of your Orange dealer code. All existing call centres must have their current scripts approved and with a change of campaign all new scripts must also be approved."

A source close to the company said that the group was hoping to enter the Chinese mobile market as early as this August and that the likely collaborator in the project is China Unicom which currently has 150 million customers.

The operation is headed up by Geoffroy Roux de Bezieux who comes from Phone House the French arm of The Carphone Warehouse. It is funded through a joint-venture between Virgin Group and CPW.
Branson accused the country´s three existing mobile phone networks of ripping off 80 per cent of the French population.
Telephony services will be provided by Orange which came on board after the three existing French networks were fined for collusion by the EU.
The new MVNO offers unlimited texting 24 hours a day seven days a week.
"In France the existing operators defend their interests and consumers have lost confidence in them" said Branson. "We want an operator that doesn´t work against customers but with them."
Branson was unable to comment on whether the French text deal would be extended to UK customers.

"It is vital that we have the best support as the first BenQ-Siemens branded handsets are launched in the UK" said BenQ Mobile UK and Ireland managing director Philip Rambech.
Barnett will develop strategic alliances with key network operators and maintain good relations with all customers.
Barnett previously worked at handset maker NEC as an account manager and at UniqueAir now part of Unique Distribution as channel marketing manager.

The launch party was held at a secret gig by the band on May 9 where 200 fans enjoyed a taster of the band´s first album Waterloo to Anywhere.
To attend the fans were instructed to go to Waterloo station in London where they received a Bluetooth message promoting the gig.
The venue also featured a demo room where the media could try out the new handsets which were pre-loaded with exclusive music content.
"Bluetooth is the ideal democratic vehicle for Dirty Pretty Things" said Mercury Records president Jason Iley. "Anything that brings together a band and its fans is fine by me."

The firm launched Flext in March and secured 257000 customers on the 18-month contract in one month 83 per cent more than contract growth for the whole of last year.
"We are growing T-Mobile´s share of the UK market and we are growing the value of the business" said T-Mobile UK managing director Jim Hyde.
"We are doing so by setting new benchmarks for simplicity value and flexibility."
T-Mobile´s total customer base now stands at 16.4 million of which 379000 were gained in the first quarter of this year.

O2 has been 3´s roaming partner since 3 launched in 2003. 3 invited UK networks to tender for the roaming contract 18 months ago and the network said Orange tendered the most competitive bid.
3 UK CEO Bob Fuller said: "It was important we had a competitive tender and I am delighted with the outcome of the process. This is a good agreement for both 3 and Orange and will ensure that we continue to offer a great service to our customers."
An O2 spokesman said: "We weren´t prepared to win at any cost. Our bid was based on a sound commercial proposition and we weren´t prepared to go above our valuation. You have to set a price that you think is realistic and stick to it."
He added: "We will continue to benefit for some time until all of the roaming traffic can be migrated away from our network next year."
3 has continued to roll out its network and now claims to have 88 per cent population coverage. At the same time subscriber numbers have grown to 3.5 million. Orange claims 99 per cent population coverage.