Money writes: Grounded by holiday hitch

Money writes: Grounded by holiday hitch

In June I paid £153 to Open Holidays to rent a one-bedroom apartment in Mallorca. I bought the flight separately from Flybe. In September, Sky Bargains told me that Open Holidays was in administration and that I had to pay another £400 or lose the apartment, as Open Holidays had not paid the property owners. At 74, I cannot afford this, but if I don't go on holiday I will waste a further £148 spent on the flight. Open Holidays encouraged me to pay by debit card to avoid the credit card charge, so I have no credit card protection. It was not Abta-registered, but the booking conditions said all holidays by air are fully covered by a bond.

RB

Bridport

The administrators, KPMG, say the outlook for unsecured creditors is bleak. Open Holidays had an Atol bond, but this is meaningless because Atol applies only to package holidays and Open Holidays did not sell package holidays, only accommodation.

I asked if your bank, Barclays, could help as there can be some protection with debit cards. Because Open Holidays had not paid the owner for the accommodation and you had not yet taken the holiday, Barclays has refunded £153 to your account.

Still alive and kicking - and hopping mad over mix-up

Liverpool Victoria wrote to me saying that my maturing 10-year life policy would pay £1,237 on 30 June. No money arrived and the helpline said the money had been paid to.....continued below

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my daughter as part of my estate. I have no daughter and am very much alive. Despite more phone calls, it has still not been sorted out.

MB

Reading

Amazingly, a woman who shared your not particularly common name also had a policy with Liverpool Victoria and she died just as your policy matured. That is no excuse for the company sending your proceeds to the wrong person, so Liverpool Victoria is adding £50 by way of an apology.

Surprise bonus as refund 'difficulties' finally solved

You published my letter on 13 August about accommodation agency Woogo, which had not sent a promised $1,055 refund to my credit card because of 'technical difficulties'. Woogo told you I would get the money in two weeks. I did not, so I contacted my credit card provider, Tesco. Tesco said I needed to get from Woogo the specific amount being claimed, but Woogo refuses to provide it.

LF

Chessington

I feared Woogo would not fulfil its promise to pay you promptly. When I asked again, it said the technical problem had been solved and all refunds would be sent the following week. Still no money arrived, so I called on Tesco's dual liability under the Consumer Credit Act.

Tesco's normal procedure would be first to charge back the amount to Woogo to try to get the money but, because you have already been waiting so long, it credited £621 to your account straightaway. This is about £50 more than you expected because the pound has strengthened against the US dollar during the delay.

TalkTalk's wrong number rings a familiar bell