As an eBay user I am encouraged to use PayPal, but I have been unable to access my PayPal account for some weeks. When I try to contact PayPal, it simply sends me instructions to reset the password.

I finally got a staff member to say (by e-mail) that PayPal has made changes to the system and my account has been damaged by this. I receive an error message saying that the connection is broken. The person promised to pass this on to another team member who would sort it out. Nothing happened and if I try to contact PayPal now, I am told to reset my password again. The phone number takes customers to an automated system that cannot cope with a non-standard problem. How do I resolve this?

Toni Birkin via e-mail

In the Orwellian machine that is PayPal’s customer service centre, one employee dared to break free from the shackles of automated responses, but then, quick as a flash, those assigned to follow up your query reverted to the standard “reset your password” mantra.

Your e-mail perfectly sums up the frustration of dealing with any company that lists options 1 to 5, or has set templates for reply letters or e-mails.

PayPal is certainly one of the worst offenders, though Troubleshooter would also like to add Aviva and easyJet to this list, both of whom have sent her generic letters in response to queries on behalf of readers, clearly having failed even to read the letter.

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, there are real people working at PayPal. The one that Troubleshooter deals with said: “This customer has been unfortunate, as her account appears to have been hit by a rare technical hitch that prevents her from logging in. We have had a handful of similar cases in Europe and will be making changes to our systems in early October to solve the problem.”

He added that if the options on the phone menu do not match your problem, choose “the closest match” and explain the problem to the agent.

PayPal has now apologised to you and says that it will fix your problem before the planned changes to its systems in October.

I applied for a £370,000 Abbey mortgage through a financial adviser, who told me that there was a non-refundable upfront fee of £1,405, which would not be charged if the mortgage was refused.

In the event, Abbey was not prepared to offer more than £300,000 and I was clearly not in a position to go ahead. I did not receive a formal offer, but Abbey took the money on August 7 and it has not been refunded. It said that it was non-refundable on the mortgage application.

Rachel Harrison, London

The world of mortgage fees is not murky, it’s pitch black. There are non-refundable booking fees, arrangement fees, arrangement fees that are called booking fees that are refundable in certain circumstances, and so on.

It is more important than ever that banks are clear on what they will require customers to pay should the purchase not go through. This is because they are rejecting applications regularly. There is talk that for some of the most popular deals on the market the rejection rate is as high as 80 per cent, even for those borrowers who meet the lending criteria.

Yours is the second case in which Troubleshooter has had to extract a refund of a whopping fee where one should never have been charged. How many of these are slipping through the net?

In this instance, the mistake arose because the adviser was on holiday when Abbey informed him that it would offer a maximum of £300,000. Consequently, the application went ahead when it should not have done. Abbey says that it does not charge fees in cases where it rejects an application before the valuation, if the property is downvalued, or if the surveyor thinks that the property is inadequate security.

Readers take note: most booking fees, equal to about £100, are non-refundable. Like Abbey, most lenders will refund arrangement fees (though it calls them booking fees) in the circumstances above, but brokers say that the decision will vary case by case.

I recently went to my NatWest branch to change the surname on my account to my maiden name, as I have separated from my husband. I was told that the only way that I could change the surname is to produce a decree nisi or decree absolute. For personal reasons I want to remain “separated” rather than “divorced”. NatWest said that I need to produce a solicitor’s letter and utility bill with my maiden name on it. But even with these documents, it is refusing to make the change.

I am also in a continuing battle with the bank to remove my name from a joint account.

Stephanie Stacey Bedford

NatWest apologised and said that if you produce your marriage certificate, this will be enough.

The bank’s refusal to close your joint account is more worrying. You are jointly liable for the overdraft and the ever-increasing fees, even though your ex-partner racked up the debt. NatWest admitted to Troubleshooter that standards at your branch fell “well below expected” and it has promised to clear the entire debt, allowing you to close the account.

Readers to the rescue

My daughter is 15 and wants to take up a Saturday job to supplement her pocket money. I am reluctant to let her because I think that she should focus on her homework, but my wife believes that it is a good way to teach the value of money. What do other parents think? Isn’t it a bit mean to make her work when we can support her?

Paul King

It’s not just about the money. Your daughter will learn far more from her Saturday job than an extra hour or so of homework could achieve. The job will give her valuable lessons in life: that money has to be earned, how to work as part of a team and how to deal with the public. It will also encourage her to be independent and make her own choices in the way that she uses her money. You should be proud that your daughter has the maturity even to think about taking on a job at the age of 15.

Rita Chamberlain

Talk to her schoolteachers to check that they think she is capable of the extra pressure alongside her schoolwork, and chat to her employer to make sure that it will be considerate about exam periods, etc. Review the situation after a month or so with work and school.

Frances Morrison

I would say no; certainly in term time. Though I am keen for youngsters to learn “the work ethic” and how to manage money, there is much pressure to get good grades. If my son or daughter got poor grades or failed exams, I would wonder if it was because they worked.

Angela Ward

£25 voucher winner

If there is anything that should motivate your daughter to study hard it is intimately knowing the purgatory of unskilled labour that awaits those who do not.

Jonathan Meldrum

Children these days have many commitments without a job and I am keen for mine to have some time to relax and for us to enjoy being able to go out or away on Saturdays as a family. My daughter has lined up a few regular babysitting arrangements with people on our street and it has been a great way of getting to know local people better. She takes her homework with her and earns a reasonable sum for a child of her age.

Joanna De Souza

Personally, I would add to the learning experience by making it conditional that at least 10 per cent of her earnings are saved.

Alan Hyatt

On the bright side

Alison de Zoysa writes: “I have banked with Lloyds TSB for 40 years and my mother had done so for 70 years. I thus confidently set up an executors’ account at a local branch after my mother’s death. Sadly things went wrong and we had to complain.

“We have now received a sympathetic apology. The bank also sent a goodwill payment to a local small business and to our mother’s estate, which we will pass on to a charity. My faith has been restored.”

Can you help?

E-mail troubleshooter@thetimes.co.uk with your answer to the following problem for the chance to win a £25 gift voucher

I bought shares in the Colonial Life Assurance Company some years ago. An Australian bank took over the company in the 1990s. Now the shares are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. What should I do and can I sell them?

Paul Kennedy