Daily Mail - 28.08.2019

Daily Mail, Wednesday, August 28, 2019 Page 45

Illustration: ANDY WARD

WE HAD a fixed-price tariff with

one Big Six supplier that was

good value. But, after it kept call-

ing us about smart meters, we

decided to switch when the con-

tract ended. We are now with a

smaller supplier that has never

troubled us about smart meters.

C. E., Edinburgh.

MY SMART meter functioned

well for six months before I had

to switch back to estimated bills.

I was told this was because it is a

‘SMETS1’ model. Now it might as

well be a traditional meter. It still

doesn’t work.

W. B., by email.

MY ENERGY firm tried to force

me on to an expensive tariff as I

wouldn’t have a smart meter. So I

went on to a comparison site and

switched to another supplier. I

don’t like being bullied.

A. H., Cardiff.

I DON’T understand why anyone

wouldn’t want a smart meter.

You don’t have to submit monthly

readings and can sit back and

relax. I’m having one installed in

my holiday home, too.

R. Z., London.

I AM all for smart meters, but

the rollout is a disaster. I had to

get a second smart meter when I

changed supplier. This will end

up costing the Government far

more than anticipated.

N. L., by email.

I LEFT my supplier after being

harassed about smart meters.

When my new supplier asked if I

wanted one, I gave a firm ‘no’ and

was told I’d been ‘taken off the

list’. Let’s hope that is the case.

M. R, Woodford, Essex.

LOTS of smaller companies offer

green energy deals at low prices.

We are a family of four living in a

detached house, and I pay £69 a

month for our gas and electricity.

I’ve never been asked if I want a

smart meter, either. I just give my

supplier a monthly reading.

R. P., Newcastle.

EVERY week, Money Mail

receives hundreds of your

letters and emails about

our stories. Here are some

from our report about how

energy firms are barring

customers who don’t want

a smart meter from their

cheapest tariffs...

WHY SMART

METERS HAVE

LEFT YOU

STEAMING!

When we broke down in

Belgium, the RAC just

drove us round the bend

MY FOUR children and I were coming

back from a holiday in Belgium when

our eight-seater Ford Tourneo broke

down. Fortunately, I am a member of

the RAC and had paid an extra £72 for

a seven-day European policy.

However, after calling its continental

partner, it took two hours for a tow

truck to arrive. The driver then said

it would cost too much to repair the

damage in Belgium. He suggested

towing the car to Calais, loading it on

to the Eurotunnel, then towing it from

Dover back to our home in Cardiff.

But the RAC insisted the car be taken

to a garage to be inspected, where we

were left waiting outside after it shut

at 6pm. We were not even within walk-

ing distance of anywhere to buy food

and drink. At 9pm, a taxi finally arrived

to take us to a hotel for the night.

The next day, I was told a hire car

was being arranged so that we could

÷ WRITE to Tony Hazell at Ask Tony,

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answers given.

Money Mail, August 21

YOU HAVE

YOUR SAY

return home. But, after hours of

phone calls, we ended up stay-

ing another night in the hotel.

RAC covered accommodation

up to €1,500, but we still had to

pay for food and drink, plus a

dogsitter for an extra two days.

The next morning, a taxi took

us to the port at Calais and we

travelled as foot passengers on

a ferry to Dover. Once there, we

were told a hire car had been

arranged — but the RAC had

booked it for the wrong day.

So we had to wait for another

taxi to drive us the 226 miles to

Cardiff, arriving just after 10pm

two days later than expected.

A. H., Cardiff.

WHAT a chaotic end to what you

tell me was a wonderful holiday.

After a great deal of back and

forth, the RAC remains adamant

it has not done anything wrong.

A spokesman said your car could

not be towed home there and then

as broken-down vehicles are not

allowed on the boats unless they

are on a flatbed trailer or trans-

porter, and one wasn’t available.

So the RAC decided to get your

family back first, then arrange for

your car to be ferried over later.

Regarding the delays in getting

you a hotel, the RAC said it had

difficulty finding one nearby that

could accommodate a big group

at short notice. And as for the

issues sourcing a hire car when

you arrived in Dover, it said the

firm did not have available any

vehicles that would fit five of you

— though, as you point out, this

may not have been the case had

it been booked for the right day.

An RAC spokesman says: ‘We

have worked very hard to help

your reader throughout her break-

down experience in Belgium.

‘When it became apparent that

the vehicle, which is 12 years old,

could not easily be fixed, we pro-

vided a taxi to Calais, along with

ferry crossings and a taxi home to

Cardiff. We have also provided a

hire car while she waits for her

vehicle to be returned to the UK.’

In cases such as this, when

customers are distressed and feel

let down, a simple apology can go

a long way. Yet the one word the

RAC refuses to say is ‘sorry’.

It would be understandable if

you were tempted to think twice

before renewing with it. There are

plenty of alternatives to the RAC.

I CHANGED my broadband and

phone from Virgin to TalkTalk.

The TalkTalk website said that

it would handle the change, but

I still wrote to Virgin and rang

up to say I was cancelling.

Yet it has sent me further bills.

I paid £35.41, then sent a cheque

for £82.71, which it said it never

got. I now have two more bills

running to the middle of June.

I have spoken to both parties,

without success.

P. D., Solihull, West Mids.

VIRgIn says another provider

cannot cancel a Virgin Media

account on behalf of a customer

for data protection reasons.

Other providers can send an

electronic request to take over a

phone number when a customer

asks to move it. Once the request

is received, Virgin will disconnect

the phone line.

But moving your phone number

does not cancel any other services

from your existing provider.

Your phone line was moved to

TalkTalk on February 2.

Virgin says the first contact it

had from you was on March 29,

when you asked about the out-

standing balance. It says at this

stage, it had not received a request

to cancel and advised that you

needed to speak to the relevant

team to give 30 days’ notice.

The disconnection request was

received on April 5 and the account

scheduled for closure on May 2.

As a gesture of goodwill, Virgin

has wiped the remaining charges

of £63.58. But it maintains it has

not received a cheque, and would

advise checking with your bank to

see if it has been cashed.

For its part, TalkTalk says that

it followed proper procedures in

transferring your account.

YEARS ago, my brother and I set

up a small stocks and shares

account, with a shared bank

account. We have since sold our

shares and closed the account.

We received two dividend

cheques in our joint names. But

we were unable to cash these,

so returned them with a request

that they be reissued in one

name only — either would suit.

One cheque was immediately

returned as requested, but the

other has not yet been reissued.

The shares were in William

Morrison and the administrator

is Equiniti. I sent a cheque for

£20 to cover its administration

fee, but it has not replied and

my cheque hasn’t been cashed.

D. P., Cheshire.

THe cheque for £62.62 has now

been reissued as requested.

An equiniti spokesman says:

‘We were very sorry to hear of the

troubles Mr P had. We were happy

to assist by getting in touch with

Link Asset Services, the registrar

that issued the cheque in 2018, to

ensure it was reissued by first-

class post in a single name.’

STRAIGHT TO

THE POINT

Ask TONY

Money Mail’s

letters page tackles

all your financial

headaches

I SWITCHED my bank account to Nation-

wide to take advantage of its ‘recommend

a friend’ offer. My daughter, who referred

me, and I were each supposed to receive

£100, but, two months on, Nationwide has

said the offer is no longer available.

B. L., Mansfield, Notts.

IT APPeARS you needed to fill in a form

online before the switch was finalised in

order to receive the perk. It was not enough

just to say you wanted to claim the offer

when in your local branch. However, as a

gesture of goodwill, nationwide has now

paid both you and your daughter the £100.

IN MAY 2018, my Thomas Cook flight from

Burgas, Bulgaria, to Gatwick was delayed

by almost 24 hours. I was given a leaflet

by the airline, explaining how to claim

compensation, and submitted an online

form on June 30 last year. I have since

emailed, written a letter and made an

official complaint, but still nothing.

K. M., Kent.

THOMAS COOK says it has no record of the

original form and does not know why your

emails were not properly dealt with. It has

apologised and paid you £350 compensation

plus an extra £150 as a goodwill gesture.

MY WIFE spent £187 last December on a

Lego custom-build car and LED light set

from a company called Your Wish List.

The items were faulty, so we sent them

back, and have since been chasing a

refund. This has been going on for more

than seven months now.

M. F., by email.

YOUR Wish List claims it never received

the package you sent back, but did not

explain why it didn’t let you know, nor

why it stopped replying to your messages.

It has now, finally, refunded you.

I AM sure I took out payment protection

insurance (PPI) when I borrowed £8,000

from Lloyds back in 1995, but have lost

the paperwork. I’ve tried multiple times

to claim compensation, without success.

A. S., Didcot, Oxon.

LLOYDS has carried out extensive searches

and is unable to find any evidence you had

a policy. It is sending you a final letter con-

firming this. You will then have six months

to appeal to the Financial Ombudsman.

MoneyMail 45