I bought three tickets from StubHub to see Elton John perform in Barcelona in October 2020. The show was cancelled because of Covid, and I was offered equivalent tickets for this year instead.
But I cannot find any evidence that this performance is going ahead, and can’t go anyway, so I am trying to get my money back.
I paid €30 for the three tickets. I have emailed StubHub, but not received a reply.
P. J., Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.
No show: An Elton John fan is struggling to get his money back after the concert he had bought tickets for was cancelled in the pandemic
Tony Hazell replies: I sympathise with you, having just received an email informing me that my trip to see Elton John in London has been postponed for a second time, while he has a hip operation following a fall.
In your case, the concert has been rescheduled to May 2023. But I am afraid I can’t get your money back.
StubHub is a person-to-person resale site so you did not buy directly from the tour promoter.
The firm says it offers guarantees that you will get your tickets, but it does not offer refunds when events are rescheduled. The only exception is when replacement tickets are required. If it cannot get hold of these, it will refund the price paid on StubHub (including fees and shipping/handling charges).
You can list the tickets on its site for resale, but since your date has been moved to 2023, you may, after all, be able to attend.
Phone shop’s blunder put my mortgage at risk
I took out a new phone contract with O2 last October. On April 7 this year, I received four letters saying that I had defaulted.
It turned out the store assistant hadn’t filled in the paperwork correctly, so I had been paying for airtime but not the £4-per-month handset.
I received compensation and six months of free access to TV streaming service Disney+.
Fast forward to August, and my mortgage is in jeopardy because of an adverse credit report by O2.
B. M., London.
Tony Hazell replies: O2 was producing bill reminders, but they were not being sent to you. In April, you received all the letters from the previous six months.
O2 has apologised again and corrected your credit file. It has paid you £50 goodwill credit and extended your free Disney+ by 12 months.
Why is British Gas bullying the bereaved?
My nephew died unexpectedly. He was unmarried, lived in a housing association property and had no assets to speak of. His mother, in her 70s, had to use her savings to pay for his funeral.
Some of his utility bills had gone unpaid for several months. She received a threatening letter from British Gas and borrowed £350 to pay the bill. The letter added much to her grief. She now fears the postman arriving in case she is chased for further debts.
T. C., Lincolnshire.
Tony Hazell replies: British Gas wrote to the estate of your nephew, care of his mother, just a few weeks after he died.
The letter was headed in very large blue type: ‘Contact us to prevent debt collection action.’ It said: ‘If the final balance is not paid within 28 days the balance will be passed to a debt collection agency.’
To put this kind of pressure on any estate administrator — let alone a bereaved parent — so quickly is indefensible. And British Gas offered no defence. It has written off the £341 and tells me the cheque was never cashed. In fact, your sister-in-law was never responsible for any debt her son may have incurred.
When someone dies, the executor — or administrator, if they have not left a will — must pay any personal debts from the proceeds of the estate. But if there is not enough money, the debt goes unpaid. Relatives certainly can’t be chased for it.
There is a strict order of priority in which debts must be paid — and it is not the biggest bully first. Secured debts, such as a mortgage, are first, followed by funeral costs, expenses incurred by the administrator, then preferential debts, such as wages.
Only at this stage do unsecured debts, such as utility bills, council tax, bank loans and credit cards, come into the picture. So why the bullying tone from British Gas?
The only times debts can go outside the estate are with a jointly owned or rented property where the person still living there may be liable for any arrears. With council tax, the partner of the person who has died can be held responsible for arrears.
British Gas sent you a big bouquet of flowers to apologise. A spokesman says: ‘What would normally happen is a hold is placed on the account for as long as it is under ‘the estate of’. Bills will still be generated, but they do not need to be paid until funds have been released by the estate. No debt process would be initiated.’