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Bunhill: Wrong call

Patrick Hosking
Saturday 19 June 1993 18:02 EDT
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IT WOULD be nice to write a glowing piece about Swiftcall, the minnow daring to take on British Telecom and Mercury. Set up three months ago by Tom McCabe, it is offering cut- price overseas calls to firms and individuals.

McCabe, a former actor who owns the Comedy Cafe in East London, is fighting the Department of Trade and Industry over whether he needs to be licensed. 'BT and Mercury are monsters. I'm cutting the price of calls. I should be encouraged, not discouraged,' he says.

His latest mailshot to prospective customers will not strengthen his case. It has a table showing how he undercuts BT and Mercury. Unfortunately the prices he quotes for Mercury are wrong.

According to McCabe, 'it's completely stupid and very embarrassing'. A suitable 'bollocking' has been inflicted on the erring employee, who accidentally used the old Mercury tariff manual.

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