Legal threat to CardCall

Phonecard distributor CardCall is facing legal action by electronics giant Sanyo over 2,000 freephone cards which failed to work.

The threat comes as Camelot pursues CardCall for payment of the costs of calls made on the National Lottery Anyphone card.

Sanyo ordered the pre-paid phonecards – branded with its name – to give away as a promotion for its voicemail products in March 1996.

But two months ago, customers complained that the number used to obtain free calls no longer worked. This result from a dispute over payment between CardCall and Mercury Communications, which handled calls made using the cards.

CardCall has agreed to replace the cards, but Sanyo says if it does not receive them, it will consider taking legal action to recover costs of some 6,000.