ATM supplier Direct Cash owes a few retailers some money. Karlos Ambrus of Knowehead Filling Station at Harthill in Lanarkshire, is among them. He paid £475.13 for three months rental upfront to Direct Cash to get an ATM installed, which came with PayPoint as part of the deal. He was subsequently informed that Direct Cash had gone into voluntary liquidation although there appears to be some dispute over the validity of the free-from-letter-heading letter that he was sent advising him of the liquidation. Neither PayPoint nor Direct Cash’s banker Allied Irish are convinced it has gone bust. Investigations are ongoing.

Meanwhile, following my first reporting of this tale in Forecourt Trader’s sister paper Convenience Store, one retailer in particular, Kirit Patel, got all of his money back. This was the considerable sum of £3,999 plus VAT that Kirit had paid to buy an ATM outright. PayPoint refunded him but so far has not refunded Karlos.

Karlos, who not only owns one filling station, but is also general manager of Thames Petroleum, Scotland’s largest independent petrol supplier servicing 95 filling stations, is unlikely to take this lying down. If you have a similar problem, ring PayPoint on 08457 600633.