Daily Mail - 21.08.2019

46 Page^46 MoneyMail QQQ Daily Mail, Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Illustration: ANDY WARD

÷ WRITE to Tony Hazell at Ask Tony,

Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2

Derry Street, London W8 5TT or

email [email protected] —

please include your daytime phone

number, postal address and a

separate note addressed to the

offending organisation giving them

permission to talk to Tony Hazell. We

regret we cannot reply to individual

letters. Please do not send original

documents as we cannot take

responsibility for them. No legal

responsibility can be accepted by the

Daily Mail for answers given.

me it had tried to contact Ovo

about moving my energy

back, but Ovo was refusing to

talk to them due to data

protection rules.

I am currently paying £152 a

month to Ovo despite being on

a low-user tariff. My account

shows I am £509 in credit, but

that is unlikely to be correct

due to a lack of meter readings

and statements.

Ovo says it cannot reduce

my direct debit until I receive

a statement.

G. N., Essex.

ScottiSh Power clearly

owned up to its error and

attempted to move you back to

ovo, but once again data

protection rules were used as a

catch-all to avoid serving a

customer properly.

For its part, ovo says it did

not receive any contact from

Scottish Power about the

erroneous transfer until May 22

this year — which obviously

contradicts what you were told

by Scottish Power.

the good news is that your

supply was returned to ovo

on June 17.

ovo says that it followed

the proper procedure while

correcting the unwanted trans-

fer. it agrees it went beyond the

12-week industry-standard

period, but claims this was due

to a lack of transfer data from

Scottish Power. obviously, the

£60 cancellation fee has been

waived by ovo.

MY CONTRACT with Vodafone

ended on January 10, 2019, but

it is still asking for money.

I took the mobile phones

back to the Vodafone shop.

They have not been used since

January 5.

C. P., Oxfordshire.

VodaFone admits it made a

mistake. it cancelled one of your

mobile phone numbers but not

the other. it has now cancelled

the second line and cleared the

outstanding balance.

Vodafone apologises to you

for its mistake and the

inconvenience.

Ask TONY

Money Mail’s

letters page tackles

all your financial

headaches

STRAIGHT TO

THE POINT

A YODEL driver severely damaged

a concrete bollard outside our

16th-century cottage on March 1

this year.

It had been put up to protect the

corner of the property where the

gas boiler is housed.

We emailed Yodel with the

registration number of the driver’s

vehicle because he drove off.

We received an apology from

customer services and provided all

the information they requested,

including photographic evidence

of the damage.

We had a reply saying the driver

had admitted the damage and we

then sent Yodel an estimate for

£525 from a local builder.

Weeks later, in April, we phoned

to be told they had not received the

recorded delivery envelope we had

sent and asking that we sent the

whole lot again.

This we did, but since then have

heard nothing.

A. and M. N., Kent.

Yodel offers its sincere apologies

for the incident and has sent you the

full £525 reimbursement for

having your bollard mended, plus

£30 in vouchers.

Yodel says that following an

investigation, it would appear that

your postal correspondence was

misdirected, delaying the refund.

i’m struggling to avoid making

sarcastic comments about the irony

of Yodel being on the receiving end

of a misdirected parcel. But my lips

will remain sealed.

I RECEIVED a welcome pack from

Scottish Power on December 22

last year for someone with a

different address. I emailed them

telling them of the error.

On January 4, 2019, I got an email

from my supplier, Ovo, saying a

transfer from them was complete. I

told them I hadn’t requested the

transfer. Ovo then confirmed my

cancellation, saying I must pay a

£60 penalty for cancelling within

contract. I wrote again to say I had

never requested the transfer.

In March, Scottish Power told

A parcel firm’s driver

crashed into our house

— then failed to deliver

FIVE of us have booked flights and

accommodation through British Airways for

a trip early next year. Our return flight has

been cancelled and we have been booked on

another service the next day. BA has agreed

to sort out an extra night in the hotel, but

should we ask for compensation to cover our

food and a day off work?

P. R., by email.

iF an airline cancels your flight, it must offer

an alternative flight or refund. Given how long

it is until the trip, you are entitled to nothing

further so by paying for another night in the

hotel, Ba has already gone above and beyond.

it is up to you if you want to ask for more

compensation — the airline can only say no.

I BOUGHT a refurbished Rangemaster cooker

on eBay with a six-month warranty. The seller

came back to fix it, as the fan blew when I

turned it on. He then claimed he would now

have to wait for six months to get the pay-

ment and began pestering me to accept a

refund and pay him again via PayPal. When

I refused he became threatening.

W. B., by email.

eBaY says you should not make transactions

outside of the website. a spokesman says the

funds were in the seller’s PayPal account and he

has agreed not to contact you further.

A CAR drove into the back of our BMW. I

called my insurer LV= to arrange a courtesy

car, but the Mini we were offered is much too

small. We need a car big enough for our dogs

and grandchildren who are coming to stay.

LV= will not return my calls and I have no

repair date for our car.

A. H., Norwich.

Your policy entitles you to a courtesy car that

is equivalent to a small hatchback, which is

why a Mini was provided. larger cars, similar

to yours, cost more. lV= suggested several

alternatives, which you turned down, delaying

the repairs to your own car as you were still

driving it. lV= has not charged you for supply-

ing a larger car and given you £100 in compen-

sation because you felt let down by its service.

I TRIED to deposit a cheque in my

Lloyds account, but the cashier refused to

bank it, as my middle name — and not my

first — was printed on it. I go by my middle

name and have always been able to bank

cheques in this format. Has Lloyds introduced

new rules?

D. R., St Austell, Cornwall.

lloYdS says it takes a common sense

approach to cheque deposits. it will accept a

cheque using the customer’s middle name as

long as it is listed on your account. it says in

this case its branch staff applied the rules too

strictly. it has reminded them of the policy and

apologies for the confusion.