Q. Why did Avis refuse me a car? A. I didn’t have a Mastercard!

I BOOKED a car with Avis, via broker Auto Europe, to drive from Bergamo airport, near Milan, to Rome.

When I arrived at the Avis desk at Bergamo, I was told I could not have the car unless I produced two credit cards: one Visa and one Mastercard.

I have two Visa credit cards with different issuers, but the woman said these were not acceptable.

First, she offered a Peugeot as an alternative, but then said that she didn’t have any of those.

She later concluded that, without both a Visa and a Mastercard, I could not have any car. As a result, I had to hire a car through another firm for considerably more money.

I contacted Auto Europe, which offered me a choice of cancellation, at a cost of £35, or to go through what could be a long dispute process. I chose to cancel. A. W., Hemel Hempstead, Herts. I HAVe come across many car hire oddities in 30 years of personal finance writing, but this is a new one for me.

I checked the terms and conditions for Avis and, while it says two credit cards may, on occasion, be needed, there is no mention that one must be Visa and the other Mastercard.

The whole thing defies logic. There must be thousands of people who have only two Visas or two Mastercards — or perhaps even just the one credit card.

Well, there is a reason why all of this seems so daft — it’s because it is simply wrong.

The person at the desk, for reasons known only to themselves, appears to have invented this rule.

Avis has now contacted you to apologise and says: ‘We would expect that our representatives would be providing accurate information in a professional and co- operative manner at all times.

‘It is therefore disappointing to note, reading through the details you have provided, that our representative did not provide a vehicle to you.’

Avis has told you the details have been highlighted to the management teams involved.

It has refunded you the £35 cancellation fee and the difference in car hire cost — making a total of £139.06.

An Avis spokesperson adds: ‘We strive to deliver excellent customer service and we are sorry to hear about your reader’s experience. As a gesture of goodwill, our customer services team has reimbursed him for the inconvenience he experienced.’

Incidentally, I did try to make contact with Auto europe, but failed to find a press spokesman. LAST November, I renewed my phone and broadband package with BT and received a discount of £14 per month. In January, I realised neither December’s nor January’s bill included the discount. BT refunded me £28 and said that it would escalate the matter.

But the problem continued and I was in regular contact with BT in February, March, April, May and June, with the discount manually refunded each time.

I was told that a new computer system was to blame.

BT has promised to call me with a resolution, but I have heard nothing. P. H., Preston, Lancs. YOUr problem rang a bell with me. When I renewed my own BT package back in January, I, too, negotiated a discount that was initially not applied.

Just as you did, I had to escalate the issue to get it sorted out. So, to other readers who negotiated discounts around the turn of the year, I suspect it may be worth checking your bills carefully, too.

BT has blamed a ‘ system error’ for the failure to apply your discount.

Amazing, isn’t it, that people can write supposedly state- oftheart computer programs that can’t deal with the simplest anomalies. even just applying a regular discount.

BT has now sorted out your refund issue and has put you on a better deal. It has also apologised for the inconvenience. I ORDERED a double bed base and a quilt cover from Dunelm in Slough. The cover came, but not the bed base.

I phoned the store 17 times in a week, but no one answered.

My old bed had already been taken away and, three weeks later, I was still waiting for the new one. I am 79, with chronic arthritis, and I’m sleeping on a mattress on the floor — I have an awful job to get up. Help! R. W., Maidenhead, Berks. DUNeLM has apologised for the turmoil you have suffered.

It tells me that, following the initial error with the order, its customer services team spoke to you to arrange a replacement free of charge.

However, you made the decision to cancel the order, so it issued a full refund immediately.

It has also provided a £50 gift card for the inconvenience.

A Dunelm spokesman says: ‘We were very sorry to hear that Mrs W’s experience did not meet our usual high level of service.

‘We pride ourselves on delivering the highest standards for our customers — unfortunately, on this occasion, that was not the case.’