Phoning to excess : LETTERS

From Mr Peter Forrest Sir: Michael McNulty (28 December) expresses his outrage at being unable to recoup almost the entire purchase price of his portable telephone in one day because of problems in accessing Mercury's free service on 25 December. I do not know how many minutes of call time equate to his £200 target but it surely must involve several hours.

Leaving aside this novel way of spending a large part of the festive day, I wonder whether Mr McNulty sees any irony in not being able to make his several hours of calls because many other like-minded, greedy subscribers were trying to do the same.

A local restaurant offers all you can eat for £10.95. Should I now feel cheated that I am unable to eat so much that I make myself sick?

Yours sincerely, PETER FORREST London, N6