People’s champion
QWe’ve just returned from a holiday in the Algarve, and were shocked to find that the pre-payment card we used to withdraw cash had racked up hundreds of Euros in charges. We weren’t warned about this when we ordered the card but is there anything we can do to recover some of our money?
E.W. (email)
AI understand you both travel to the Algarve regularly and had always used traveller’s cheques in the past.
Because you started to run into trouble cashing them you switched to a travel
card and loaded it with 1700 Euros to cover spending money for your fortnight’s stay.
But you reeled back in horror after you made three 400 Euro withdrawals from a cash machine only to find on your return you’d been charged 80 Euros a time just to get your hands on the money.
There were no warning messages before you went to use the card so you knew nothing about potentially steep fees and interest charges.
Using a pre-paid card is one of the most expensive ways to get at cash while on holiday, and you need to shop around for the best exchange rate.
Generally they’re absolutely fine for everyday shopping in stores and restaurants, and invariably much cheaper than traditional credit and debt cards.
But if you want to avoid getting stung by hefty exchange rate charges applied by ATM machine operators, you need to steer well clear.
When I contacted a number
of pre-paid card issuers, they all told me that it was standard practice to enclose information at the time of purchase to warn users about this danger, as sky high ATM machine charges are very common at popular holiday resorts.
You can also avoid financial pitfalls by not exchanging cash at airports and dock departure lounges, but as for refunds you can dream on after the holiday is all but a memory when you get back home. CLARIFICATION:
Last week’s Streetwise column featured the story of a Portsmouth reader struggling to obtain a refund for a no-show Christmas present she had ordered for her autistic son from online Birmingham firm Sensory Aids. As a result of our enquiries we became aware the firm was at the centre of a significant number of angry protests from customers with similar unresolved complaints.
Due to a misunderstanding with our information sources, we mistakenly stated that the complaints had been aired on the BBC Watchdog programme.
We are happy to point out this is not the case, and we apologise for the error.
In setting the record straight, a company spokeswoman told us it had identified a number of internal shortcomings with the administration of customer complaints. As a result some customers had inadvertently, but regrettably, felt they had been let down, she added.
The spokeswoman said the company was in the process of taking positive steps to iron out any customer service issues, is implementing changes to radically update its customer care engagement and is confident the reorganisation would eliminate problems going forward.