STRAIGHT TO THE POINT

MY PHONE wasn’t connecting to my wi-fi. When I called Virgin Media, it transferred me to its Gadget Rescue team. They fixed the problem, but I ended up being charged £25.67 and was told I would have to make six further £5 monthly payments. Why is Virgin charging me for basic customer service?

S. M., Manchester.

you were transferred to the Gadget Rescue team because you said your mobile was with a different provider. your broadband was with Virgin Media, so you shouldn’t have had to pay anything. Virgin has apologised, refunded you the £25.67, cancelled the scheduled £5 payments and added £25 as a goodwill gesture. MY HOLIDAY to Sri Lanka was cancelled last year on account of the bombings. We tried to claim the £10,980 back from our credit card provider, Marks & Spencer, last month but we were told we filled in the wrong forms.

B. H., by email.

M&S says it spoke to you in January to confirm it would help you claim your money back using a process called chargeback. This can take up to 60 days. A spokesman says it will contact you to answer any questions you might have. MY WIFE returned £400 of unwanted jewellery to Gemporia, the online jewellery retailer, by post. When it arrived, Gemporia said the package had been tampered with and the jewellery was missing. I made a claim to Royal Mail but it refused to cover our loss.

A. A., Wiltshire.

IT’S important to ensure valuable items are covered in the post in case they are lost or stolen. Royal Mail has looked at your case again but has not offered a refund. use its Special Delivery services for jewellery as this offers tracking and compensation if things go wrong.