Customer wins phone case with padlock protest

A CUSTOMER has finally had her contract with phone giant EE ended after padlocking herself to the door of the firm’s local branch.

Diane Cartwright, right, was so frustrated she locked herself there for four hours with a placard saying: ‘Please release me, let me go.’

She said: ‘We have lost £700 to £1,000 worth of business. We don’t want the stress. People were trying to call us and it was saying out of service.’

Mrs Cartwright, who is in her 50s, runs a dog-grooming company, PorthmaDOG, based in Porthmadog, North Wales, with husband Edmund. She says EE failed to solve the problem despite numerous calls.

In desperation she travelled to nearby Bangor on Tuesday to stage her protest, demanding either a working phone or to be released from her contract with a PAC code that would let her move her old number to a new network.

Police were called but took no action over what was deemed a ‘civil matter’.

EE customer services agreed to end her contract and finally apologised.

However Mrs Cartwright is demanding compensation for the business she claims she lost. ‘It’s a victory but there’s a little bit to go,’ she said. ‘It was demeaning for me carry out the protest.’

The firm said it would speak to Mrs Cartwright about a ‘gesture of goodwill’.