STRAIGHT TO THE POINT
ON OCTOBER 15, I paid the Pubshop Catalogue £110.82 for a set of knives for my grandson’s birthday (he is a chef). It said delivery would be one to five days, but after 14 days I got an email saying the product would be out of stock until December 12. I asked for a refund, which I was told would be forthcoming, but have heard nothing since.
G. S., Kent.
THE Pubshop says you have now been refunded. It says the process was ongoing at the time you contacted us.
IT HAS been months since I upgraded my mobile phone, yet every time I turn it on I get the same text messages from Vodafone welcoming me to my new contract. It’s so annoying — please can you help?
A.S., Co. Durham.
aFTER weeks of back and forth, Vodafone has finally admitted that there was an issue with your handset, apologised and replaced it at no extra cost. It has also paid you £250 for the inconvenience caused.
MY DAUGHTER and I tried to take advantage of Nationwide’s Recommend a Friend perk. After first opening a FlexDirect account I later went to a branch to downgrade to a free account when I discovered I would have to pay extra for travel insurance because I am over 70. Four months on, my daughter and I are yet to receive our £100 bonuses and I am still paying a £13 monthly fee.
R.H., Glasgow.
naTIonWIdE says it never received your Recommend a Friend form and that because only one direct debit was set up, you never actually qualified for the bonus. However, it has apologised for the level of service you received and admits someone should have explained you weren’t eligible and your account should have been downgraded sooner. It has now paid you £150 in compensation and refunded £52 in fees.
MY ENERGY supplier sent me a letter threatening to cut me off because I owe money. SSE has now said my account is in arrears and wants me to pay £139 a month — £36 extra — to bring it up to date. This is extortionate — I live on my own.
G. S., Rotherham.
SSE says your account was originally set up with an estimated usage that was much lower than your actual consumption. You joined through a third-party switching site so it was unable to verify the accuracy of the estimate when you applied. It has now lowered the repayments to make them more affordable and apologised for the inconvenience.