SOUNDING OFF:Peter Mooney contacted us with a number of ways to get results when it comes to bad service, but they all come down to a key point: start to cost the unresponsive company money. "Be proactive, not reactive," he writes.

When O2 refused to take him on as a customer and wouldn't tell him why, he requested all the information the company had on him under the Data Protection Act. "I insisted that they tell me the criteria that they used to evaluate my application. They said that this was commercially sensitive, but I insisted that if it related to me and was on a computer they were obliged to tell me. Rather than do that, they gave me the deal that I wanted. So look for all the information they have on you under the Data Protection Act and if they don't comply they are committing and offence," he writes.

When the hard drive on Mooney's Dell computer failed persistently, he wrote to the company and threatened to take it to the Small Claims Court "for the cost of the useless computer, and for the cost of the days off I had wasted waiting for a service agent. The day after sending the e-mail, I was given a new computer."

If companies persistently don't arrive at an appointed time, Mooney invoices them for his waiting time, "reminding them that even a verbal contract of service is a contract and if they don't fulfil it I will take them to the Small Claims Court to recover my costs waiting for them. So far, I have never have had to do this. Even if you lose at the Small Claims Court, it will cost them time and money, so most big companies will settle before it comes to that."

Organising your Psion

We have another public service announcement from Mark Hennessy, of this newspaper.

"Some pieces of technology achieve the status of legend with their owners," he writes. "The now elderly Psion personal organiser is one of them. Owners of the machines, which can now be more than a decade old, struggle to keep them running and have to cope with the occasional scare about losing data. Help can be hard to track down, since most people working in technology shops know little about them. One company that does, however, is Clove Technology in Bournemouth, England. The contact is Chris Love, and the company's website is www.clove.co.uk."

Service with a pep talk

We are always happy to highlight good customer service, even from companies that have featured for the wrong reasons in the past. Robert Dunne got in touch after receiving "exemplary service" from mobile phone company 3.

"With all the bad press that telephone customer service from companies has been getting in the press and on television," he writes, "I thought that I should compliment 3's excellent customer service."

Dunne called the company to ask about options for cancelling or suspending his account as he had recently had a change in personal circumstances.

"The first operator explained the options clearly and then said he needed to pass me to his colleague, who would cancel, suspend or change the contract," he writes. When the second operator came on, he asked why our reader had not used the phone service for several weeks, and "when I explained that the reason was redundancy from my job he immediately asked whether I'd like three months' free usage until I 'got my feet back on the ground'. I accepted, and he wished me a Happy Christmas and better times in 2009. Well done, 3!"

Green with gratitude

Patrick O'Callaghan is a green-tea drinker and is bothered by the extra charges of up to 25 cent by cafes and restaurants for his favoured tipple. It is, he says, especially galling when it appears on the bill as "flavoured" tea.

"Pointing out that green tea is not flavoured per se usually gets the blank stare," he writes. "But the other week I was in Tasty Options on Dublin's Lower Dorset Street. Not only was green the same price, but they even gave me two tea bags. Keep up the good work!"