Abbey misses by a mile

TD writes: I resigned as treasurer of a society some time ago and wrote to Abbey with details of the new treasurer who was to take my place. I heard nothing until a friend, who happens to be the wife of the new treasurer, handed me my current account and credit card statements: Abbey had changed the address on my personal accounts with it, as well as the society’s account. I went into a branch the following day and the manager seemed genuinely shocked and helped as much as possible. Seven months on, I am getting letters from Abbey about every four weeks saying my complaint is being investigated, but nothing else.

It is probably just as well your club, the US Sharpshooters Society, part of the American Civil War Re-enactment Society, is not allowed to fire real bullets. The bank accepts it was completely in the wrong. It has now amended the addresses, sent you a £150 gesture of goodwill and also written to Experian, the credit reference agency, whose records, thanks to Abbey, had shown you as having two address changes that should not have been there.

Vodafone shamed over coma girl

DC writes: My daughter has suffered very serious head injuries in an accident. She is in hospital in a coma and is likely to remain so for a very long time. I tried to cancel her mobile phone contract with Vodafone at our local branch. Staff there were totally unsympathetic insisting that “a contract is a contract”. I subsequently wrote by recorded delivery to the chief executive of Vodafone but have received no reply. The contract is due to end in the next three months. I desperately need to stop outgoings from my daughter’s bank account in order to prevent problems with the bank.

What planet are these shop assistants living on? Or the company itself, come to that? It says it has specialist teams in place to support its “retail advisers” but they were evidently not of any use in this instance.

Your daughter’s contract has now been cancelled and the balance waived, and Vodafone did go to some lengths to try to trace the whereabouts of your recorded delivery letter but could not.

I don’t doubt the individuals at Vodafone’s head office whom I contacted are appalled but as a company it must accept responsibility. I hope it leads to some corporate soul-searching — and action.

Moving tale of the lost stones

NM writes: When we moved house from Hertfordshire to Scotland in July 2008, we took out Pickfords’ “new for old” insurance. Unfortunately, the lorry it sent was not big enough to take everything, so the crew decided to leave all the items in the garden for collection later. We reluctantly agreed. When the second delivery was made the following week, we advised the company of several damaged items and that a pair of antique curling stones, inherited from my father, was missing. We contacted the company in September to find out what was happening and were told the crew had no recollection of the stones, asking us to check whether they were still in the garden. We explained we had done so and they were not. Some months later, having heard nothing further, we contacted it again, at which point it said that because so much time had elapsed it was unable to consider the claim. The claim went to arbitration and we were offered £104. Second-hand stones would cost at least £400 and would not be antique or have the sentimental value of the old ones. Can you help?

In a word, no. I contacted Pickfords about your case and received what, to my mind, was a curt and quite astonishing response. “We have spent some time investigating Mr M’s case,” it said, “and we do have another perspective on the case and would prefer not to comment on what we feel is a confidential matter.”

I immediately offered to arrange for you to write a letter giving your full permission for the company to talk to me, which you were quite happy to do but Pickfords stood firm. It simply refused to comment.

As you had already tried the arbitration route, the only option now is to take the company to court, which you are considering doing.

Pickfords is a member of the British Association of Removers, which offers a conciliation service (not a fully-fledged ombudsman scheme) — go to bar.co.uk or phone 01923 699480.

It does not belong to the other main trade association, the National Guild of Removers and Storers, whose members must belong to The Removals Industry Ombudsman Scheme (removalsombudsman.org.uk, phone 01753 888206).

Car sale revved up our insurance

RA writes: We have a third-party insurance policy arranged through Quote Mart for our 15-year old Skoda, taken out six months ago. We sold the car recently and told Quote Mart, expecting a small refund — no doubt minus some admin charge. To my amazement it told us it was going to charge an extra £22 for “converting this policy to a short-term policy” and was going to take the money out of my account by debit card.

It’s quite mad, isn’t it? An insurance company is no longer on risk, so it charges you more. This is not the first time I have come across such a scenario, most common with low-cost policies where a flat admin charge can gobble up whatever refund might otherwise be due.

In your case, Quote Mart says its policy showed the percentage of the premium that would be refunded if the policy was cancelled part way through the term. As you are now in the seventh month of the policy, it charges 85% of the total annual premium — in your case £70.29, leaving a notional refund of £10.55 — less its £35 cancellation fee. This leaves you with a bill of £24.55. It says it will “waive the fee on this occasion”.

Debit muddle you would not credit

MC writes: Can you help me sort out this three-way muddle between myself, NatWest bank and Barclaycard? In July 2007, I owed Barclaycard £330.30. I organised payment from NatWest but by mistake it credited Barclaycard with £550.50 instead. Barclaycard spotted the error and returned the £220.20 to my account, so we were all square. Then, in May 2009, two years later, I was told that due to a processing error my account was incorrectly entered and Barclaycard had once again debited my account with £220.20.

Barclaycard has taken the pragmatic decision to re-credit your account with the money. At least, it credited you with £220, which I think you were happy with. Unfortunately, I then caused you more anxiety by berating Barclaycard (without telling you) for missing the odd 20p, as a result of which it sent you another £10. As Barclaycard didn’t explain what this was for, it had you scratching your head, wondering who you should inform about this. Luckily I managed to speak to you before you took any action.

Email Diana Wright at tquestionofmoney@sunday-times.co.uk (no attachments please) or write to A Question of Money, The Sunday Times, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1ST, giving a daytime telephone number and full postal address. We cannot send personal replies or deal with every letter. Please do not send original documents or SAEs. Advice is offered without legal responsibility.