Are our cruise vouchers completely worthless?

MY WIFE had a f all while we were on a cruise in which she cracked two ribs. She saw the ship ’s docto r and had further medical treatment on returning home.

Azamara, the cruise oper ator, admitted culpability and paid f or the medical expenses. They gave us tw o certificates for £500 each as a cr edit on a fu ture booking until September 2015.

We tried to book a fi ve-day Mediterranean cruise with travel agent Cruise Club UK at a cost of £1,890 each. However, they would not accept Azamara’s certificates.

I then contacted Azamara, which said it would take the cr edit notes — bu t the cruise price would be £2,700 each without flights. So, to use the £1,000 credit, I would have to pay nearly £2,000 more.

T. M., London. I’Ve always objected to the way holiday companies routinely offer a credit towards another trip as a goodwill gesture, rather than cash payouts. It’s cheaper for them, but forces you to use them again. So what’s going on with this booking? Azamara says the two packages may have been different because agents can build their own tours around the cruise.

However, it does give cheaper business-to-business rates on cruise costs, and travel agents may pass these on to customers.

It seems Cruise Club UK’s initial refusal to accept your vouchers is down to its own experience of Azamara refusing to take voucher bookings from travel agents.

In the past, Azamara has taken a strict line in not accepting so- called future cruise certificates, such as yours, as payment towards tour operator packages.

However, it has recently adopted a more relaxed approach and currently accepts these certificates. unfortunately, Cruise Club UK was not aware of this at the time. Azamara has now been in touch and reassured them that it will accept them.

When I called you with this news, you were still extremely disgruntled — particularly because you had already booked an alternative cruise for this year.

I therefore went back to Azamara and asked whether it would be prepared to extend the certificates for a further year to allow you to use them for your 2016 holiday.

Azamara was happy to oblige. So you can now use your certificates for a cruise that suits you at a price you wish to pay. MY P ARTNER r eceived a letter fr om Friends Life in February telling him that he could not take his £3 ,482 pension savings as a lump sum.

The letter explained tha t beca use he already has an ann ual annuity of £758 from Prudential he does not qualify for a trivial pension payout.

The letter said we must complete and sign an Open Mar ket Option form and return it.

We do not want to buy an annuity which would pay a tin y amount; we want it as a lump sum.

C. W., Leeds. Well, a lot has happened to pensions since Friends life sent you that letter.

The pension freedoms which started on April 6 mean such private pensions can be taken as a lump sum — though, depending on the firm, you may have to jump through some hoops first.

What I found extraordinary about the letter is that it was sent less than two months before pension freedom day — yet gave you the clear impression you must take an annuity.

An Axa spokesman admitted to me: ‘The letter is short and stark. In isolation it looked as though April 6 was not happening.’

Apparently you did also receive a two- page l etter covering the pension changes. But in your place I would have been just as confused. Friends life has apologised and has paid your pension as a lump sum. I AM separated from my wife and she is now living at her mother’s with our two children.

They do not have the internet, so I got them a dongle from Vodafone. I was told that 10GB a month would be plenty for their usage, which includes downloading films.

My statements now show that Vodafone took £1, 800 in the first month and £1,500 in the second. I asked why I had not been informed and was told they do not have to contact you when a dongle goes over its limit. All of my mobile phones have been upgraded and no one contacted me. Now they want another £700.

G. B., Surrey. A dongle, for those not in the know, is a device that can be plugged into a laptop or computer and provides access to the internet via a mobile phone network.

Vodafone says your charges amount to £5,450.37.

They argue that these are correct and were built up over five months that the dongle account was active. Vodafone says alerts were sent to warn of the spending levels, but these would have appeared on the device being used.

In other words, your children would probably instantly have clicked off the screen without bothering to read the alerts.

Vodafone says it sent six alerts regarding usage in december and another 12 over the previous five months. It makes a valid point that, even if someone else is using a device, you should keep a track of how much data is being used. You can do this online or by phoning 44555. I’m also rather surprised you didn’t take the device away after the first big bill.

You are clearly trying to do the right thing for your children.

But — and I accept it’s easy for me to say — you probably should have had a firm conversation with them about the importance of not downloading too much.

Having said all of this, I think you were badly advised by the Vodafone representative who told you 10gB a month is enough for downloading films.

Just one film could have used 4gB or more in high definition.

Vodafone tends to be one of the more intransigent companies I deal with and certainly less sympathetic to individual customer’s personal circumstances than most. And they will not budge on this.

The f i rm has now i ssued a deadlock letter, which means you can take your case to ombudsman Services (0330 440 1614) for an impartial review. Personally, I think you have a strong case.