Capital letters

Capital letters

I am very concerned that my mum signed up to a cheap holiday which could be a heavy sales pitch. She's got a £598 two-week deal with Myffc.com which describes itself as a "Fulfillment Center" in Orlando, Florida. This takes in Fort Lauderdale, Daytona Beach and a Bahamas cruise.

My mother says all she has to do is go to a 90 minute timeshare sales seminar during the trip. I am concerned she doesn't know what will happen.

What do you know about them? Should my mum get out rather than risk a hard-sell and a soured holiday?

SR, London

The itinerary and the £598 price tag both ring bells. They are identical to those offered by Soho Vacations and Funpak whose close relationship was detailed in Capital Letters in May. We showed how the same testi monials from the same people appeared on both sites.

Both the companies you mentioned work from the same Orlando address - they usually recruit through internet pop-ups which give you "180 seconds to gain a great holiday bargain". But when the clock ticks down, it just starts all over again.

There are many other holiday companies offering exactly the same £598 deal. These include: travelei.com, vacationsdestinations.com, dream-destinations.com, my firstvacations.com, vacationsgetaway.com, getawaysvacations.com, uniquevacations.com, vacations-for-you.com and vacations-paradise.com.

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As for the cheap holiday, your mother will need to check on the extras. She will have to pay for fares to Florida, and then hand over a credit card number to the Fulfillment Center. This will have to have a sufficient credit limit to withstand the extras including "port taxes" and "hotel taxes", meals, insurance and the cost of moving between locations on the trip.

Cancelling once you have discovered the real total cost can be tough. These firms are not covered by any UK protection scheme such as ABTA. Your mother should look elsewhere.

£1,196 for Tessa error

My NatWest Tessa matured in February but I left "rolling it over" to an Isa until the last moment. To simplify matters, I decided to stick with NatWest.

So, I went to my local branch in August to move my £9,000 from a NatWest First Reserve account and into the tax-free vehicle.

But my September First Reserve statement showed nothing had moved. I had lost my Isa allowance for ever.

The bank owned up to the error and offered me £415.50 compensation for lost interest plus £100 for "inconvenience caused."

Isn't this mean?

DA, Suffolk

It's plain wrong. The calculation, designed to recompense you for loss of future Isa benefits, was based on £3,000 and not £9,000.

So, Capital Letters went back to NatWest for a rework. The bank put the £9,000 into its computer, entered new, higher interest rates and worked this out over the 4.8 years left for Isas (they end in 2009). It came to £1,260 - £845 more. This was topped up to £1,300 - the extra £40 for "inconvenience.