Boiling mad over contract

what r can do brothe which asyour inherit ance, Not alot his wife. with the it with he likes sharing y toany include directl may will the You could with n hehas, childre intrust iskept tion it stipula Speak are 21. until they solicito r. to a When an elderly uncle died, I discovered he had just signed up for central heating. But his flat is council-owned, which makes me suspect foul play. I called the company but they claim the system is ready to be installed. What can I do? Cancel in writing on his behalf, explaining that the property was not owned by him, so he was not in a position to instruct the work. Inform the loan firm too as they will cancel any agreement if there’s no chance of payment being made.

Bryan, 70, had never been abroad before, never mind to Graceland. But three weeks before the father and son were due to fly, Bryan died suddenly in hospital of a heart attack after falling ill at home.

Devastated Kevin, 34, said: “I’m still coming to terms with all of this. It is such a shock. “But even more shocking is the way we’ve been treated by the travel f irm. They wouldn’t let me change dad’s name on the booking so my mum could go instead, even if I paid extra.

“They insisted I’d have to cancel and rebook, paying £1953 for flights and accommodation.”

Royal Mai l worker Kevin booked the holiday on Christmas Eve, paying £300 deposit. He later paid the balance, bringing the total cost of the break to £2110.

It was a present for his dad, a huge Elvis fan, who was retired.

He said: “It had always been his dream to go to Memphis. He loved Elvis.”

They were due to leave from Glasgow on June 6, f lying to Philadelphia then Chicago before arriving in Memphis for a week.

Kevin said: “We were really looking forward to it. Dad was telling everyone.”

But Br ya n took ill at home and was rushed to hospital, where he died on May 18.

Kevin, of Paisley, said: “He was being sick and was disorientated so we called a doctor to the house. But when he got to hospital, they told us he had septicaemia and his organs were failing. He was on the way to theatre for an operation and had a heart attack.”

Kevin got in touch with Hayes & Jarvis as he had paid £ 2110 for the holiday. He said: “We made a family decision that it might do my mum Margaret the world of good to get away for a week with me. It was a sort of tribute to my dad, a nice thing to do. “But Hayes & Jarvis were having none of it. They said they would have to cancel dad’s flights, blaming the airline as they wouldn’t allow name changes. Then I’d have to pay another £748 to book a flight for mum. It was the same with accommodation. They told me if I wanted to book the same room with mum sharing, I’d have to cancel and rebook and pay another £1205. I couldn’t believe it.” Kevin checked with a i rl ine Thomson Worldwide and Holiday Inn, who said their hands were tied and referred him back to Hay e s & Jarvis. That’s when he called me in. He said: “It appals me that firms profit from people’s misfortune.

“I would have paid to change the name. The company simply refused.”

I got on to Hayes & Jarvis. They said: “We made every effort to make the requested changes but unfortunately this did mean a cost for a new airline seat and second room.

“The flight tickets had already been issued by the airline and, as such, name changes were not permitted.

“The accommodation was also not changeable. We really are very sorry for Mr O’Connor’s loss.”

Thankfully, Kevin discovered he had travel insurance with Aviva via his bank, TSB, and they will consider a claim.

But he said: “That’s unlikely to cover the full price of the holiday.”

Watch this space.