So far the delay in machine removal adds up to four months

Jagjit Gokal rang in February from his store, Earls in Solihull, to complain that he couldn’t get Cashzone to come and pick up their machine.

He had arranged to pay an early termination fee (£2,782.50) in September as he had wanted to close the business in December (the store had not been doing well), but Cardtronics told him to wait until the end of his contract, this April.

He then got a second demand for £24k. He thinks the company had signed him up for another five years, which he hadn’t agreed to.

I wrote to Cashzone’s PR company asking if someone could be persuaded to remove the machine so that he could close the store.

A spokesperson said: “We have looked at the circumstances surrounding this issue and, while we cannot go into the specifics of the contract, there are some exceptional circumstances and we have spoken to the owner and reached an agreement on a way forward.”

I checked back with Jagjit and there had been a surprising development. “A manager called me and she said I was misled so I only have to pay £350 and they will send me a date for removal.”

A much better result but I waited to make sure the money side had been sorted before writing this up.

The machine, which was supposed to be removed by 13 March, is still there because the guys who showed up were unable to get it out.

The shop is currently doing well again because of coronavirus. And people who complained about the cost of Cashzone transactions are now wondering why the machine isn’t working. I suppose that’s an ‘any port in a storm’ situation.