Margaret Dibben: She writes your wrongs

Margaret Dibben: She writes your wrongs

Last August our mother had a heart attack and my sister rushed back from her home in China. While she was in England, her fiancé, still in China, also had a heart attack and died. They were due to marry last December. Our mother survived and, while my sister returned to China, I cancelled their wedding bookings.

They had paid a £2,600 deposit to the Athelhampton hotel, out of a total £6,500, but the hotel refuses to return this, saying it was unable to find a substitute booking between August and December.

DV, Wimborne, Dorset

This is difficult. Initially, I was appalled that the hotel should refuse to refund the deposit. But the contract clearly stated that it was non-refundable. The hotel's catering manager says that few couples organise a wedding within four months, which is why he could not find a replacement.

However tragic the circumstances, it is not the hotel's responsibility to compensate for your loss, although another hotel might have agreed. Pursuing the hotel as your family has done did not help your case. It is time to put this element of the tragedy behind you.

Legal threat for a wrong connection

I had a domestic telephone contract with Caudwell which I cancelled in autumn 2004. It then signed me up to a business account without my permission. I told Caudwell about this, but in early 2005 I started receiving recorded telephone messages to contact.....continued below

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it. In August I was told that legal proceedings would take place. Since November, I have been receiving a bill every month and Caudwell now says I owe £109.

KW, Birmingham

All our fault, says Caudwell. The debt for an account you never requested was sent to the collection department by mistake and stayed there. Caudwell has removed it and sent you £50 compensation with a bunch a flowers.

Currency conversion played havoc with my budget

I hired a car from Budget in the UK to drive in the Republic of Ireland. My credit card statement showed that I had been charged in sterling and not euros converted to sterling by the bank. Budget had used an inferior rate, adding some £10 to my bill. I have emailed Budget three times about this without response.

PH, London

Everyone shopping abroad should be aware of this pitfall. Retailers can offer customers the choice of paying in the local currency or in sterling. The disadvantage of paying in sterling overseas is that you can get a worse exchange rate. Visa's rules say retailers must offer the choice before the transaction takes place and, if customers pick sterling, the receipt must show the exchange rate and any fees. You can kick up a fuss if this does not happen.

Budget believes its exchange rates are in line with the industry and it is making sure that all staff understand they must allow customers to choose. It now lets customers pre-pay in sterling online so you can avoid currency conversion costs.

Trapped between a conman and a bank

We moved house and had our mail redirected for 15 months. Immediately afterwards, there were five attempts to open bank accounts and credit cards in our name. None was successful, but we asked the credit reference agency, Experian, to put a marker against our names.