THE Consumer Crew are here to solve your problems.
Mel Hunter will take on readers’ consumer issues, Jane Hamilton will give you the best advice for buying your dream home, and Judge Rinder will tackle your legal woes.
Jane Hamilton, property expert
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A garden to bee proud of
HAVE you heard the buzz?
Two days ago it was the UN’s World Bee Day to raise awareness of the role the insects play in our ecosystem.
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Even the smallest garden or window box can help boost bee numbers.
These tips from gardening website Gardening Express show how to create a friendly environment for them.
- Go for single-headed flowers. Flowers such as daisies, poppies, sweet peas, geraniums and marigolds give much more nectar and pollen for bees to feast on.
- Create a bee bath. Like humans, bees need a place to get fresh, clean water. Fill a shallow container of water with pebbles or twigs for the insects to land on while drinking. Refresh each day.
- Plant flowers for all seasons. Bees are most active from March to September but queens and workers emerge on warm days in winter too. Try to have at least two nectar-rich or pollen-rich plants in flower at any one time. The nectar feeds the adult bee, while pollen is collected to feed the young.
- Purple flowers. Bees can see purple more clearly than any other colour. Lavender, alliums and catmint are favourites.
- Provide homes for native bees. Wood and stem-nesting bees like piles of branches, bamboo sections, hollow reeds, or nesting blocks made out of untreated wood. Burrowing bees will make use of sunny, uncultivated spots in the garden and mason bees need sources of water and mud.
- Leave a wild patch. Many species are attracted to weedy, untended hedgerows and shrubs such as cotoneaster.
- Choose tubular-shaped plants. Flowers such as foxgloves, honeysuckle and snapdragons are the top places for long-tongued bees including the garden bumblebee to feed on.
Buy of the week
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COULD renovating this cute but quirky property be your calling?
The Old Post Office in the North Yorkshire village of Coniston Cold even has a traditional red phone box on the property.
It is on for £225,000 at onthemarket.com/details/10148970.
Deal of the week
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THE £840-a-roll Downing Street gold wallpaper might be peeling off, but this copycat Superfresco Easy Aura Ochre at Wilko, reduced from £16 to £11.20 a roll, would do a great job.
Overnight stay
THE return of overnight stays could mean a surge in bedbug infestations, says the British Pest Control Association.
Dee Ward-Thompson, from the association, said: “They hide in crevices in beds, surrounding furniture, behind skirting boards, under loose wallpaper and even in plug sockets.
“You may spot small, reddish-brown clusters or dark spots about 1mm wide on the bed frame, upholstery or bottom side of the mattress.”
Judge Rinder, legal expert
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‘We were promised rent wouldn’t be charged for the first lockdown but trustees went back on their word’
Q) MY wife operates shops in what was a town hall near where we live.
The town hall is run by a committee of trustees. Another business operates there too.
Last year my wife and the lady with the other business were told they would not be charged rent for the first lockdown, as they couldn’t trade.
They have now had an email from the trustees saying they are being billed for all the rent due – including the first lockdown.
They are in contact with the trustees but won’t get an answer until June, when the committee next meets.
I thought a verbal agreement between two parties was legally binding.
Chris, Dorset
A) If the trustees wrote to your wife or spoke to her making clear she would not be charged rent during the lockdown period, they cannot lawfully go back on that offer now.
If they try to do this, they would almost certainly be in breach of contract and your wife would have a cast-iron argument that she had relied on a financial promise made to her, making it unlawful for the trustees to change their minds now.
I suspect the trustees have simply made an error here and would be very surprised if they continue to pursue her for the rent.
Where there’s a will . . .
Q) I BELIEVE I’m due a bequest under the will of an aunt who died in 2013.
Is there a time limit for individual executors to execute probate?
I contacted the executor, who was not very helpful, some time after the funeral. Is there any way I can find out if I am mentioned in the will?
Catherine, Somerset
A) Probate is not always required when somebody dies – if, say, they did not leave much.
But in this case I am worried the executor appears to have ignored you or, worse, failed in their legal duty to sort your late aunt’s estate.
If you are a named beneficiary, this executor should have notified you many years ago.
If this is the case and things had been dealt with properly, you would be perfectly entitled to inspect the will.
Write firmly to this executor at once, asking for confirmation as to whether or not you are a beneficiary.
If they still ignore you, you will have to get some legal advice and take this matter further.
Citizens Advice can point you in the right direction.
Do not be fobbed off.
Q) I HAD an offer accepted on a property being sold through an estate agent.
The agent was vague and hard to talk to, then called me saying the vendor had decided he no longer wanted to sell.
It was disappointing but I thought no more of it.
I then put in an offer for another house, also being sold by the same agent, only to receive a call asking if I wanted to use its financial services.
I declined, as I already had a mortgage-in-principle.
I was then told if I didn’t use the agent’s financial services I had no chance of getting that property – which proved correct, as my offer was refused.
I started to suspect the agent was not being honest, so I called the vendor of the first property.
He’d been told it was me that pulled out of the sale! The agent had then advised him to accept an offer £5,000 lower than ours – from a buyer using its financial services. We’re both very angry.
Daniel, Kent
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A) Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention.
I have heard far too many similar horror stories about unscrupulous estate agents.
The first seller will certainly have a civil action against the agent for misrepresentation, among other things, and could sue for the £5,000 he lost.
It also seems to me the agent may be guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation.
You and the seller should contact Action Fraud or visit your local police station for advice.
You and the first vendor should also report this matter to the Property Ombudsman, who can be very helpful in dealing with unethical agents like this.
I might suggest you consider writing a clear and accurate account of your experience with this agent, publicising it so others don’t fall prey to them.
Mel Hunter, reader’s champion
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Left in red by Vegas loss
Q) MY wife and I booked a holiday for April 2020 to Las Vegas.
The trip obviously didn’t go ahead due to the virus.
I waited until October for a partial refund but am still £1,566.09 short
I have twice emailed Virgin asking if I am entitled to this further sum or, an explanation as to why not.
I have heard nothing. It is so frustrating.
Keith Swain, Norwich
A) Virgin Holidays was one of the first travel firms to be given a rollicking by the Competition & Markets Authority for being too slow with refunds.
That was in October 2020 and a Virgin spokesperson told me: “From March 1 to December 31, 2020, Virgin Atlantic processed £550m of refunds, including £200m to Virgin Holidays customers. We continue to process refunds within a maximum of 14 days, as we have since November.”
Your letter stood out as one that had not been sorted.
I contacted Virgin, which processed the refund straight away. It turned out you had been emailing a “no reply” address.
Within days, the £1,566 was back in your account.
The spokesperson said: “We sincerely apologise to Mr Swain for the delay. Customers with a cancelled holiday can now request a refund via Manage My Booking on the website.”
The company also now intends to highlight when emails have “no reply” addresses.
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Q) LAST March, my mother bought my two sons Nintendo Switch Lite consoles.
In November one stopped charging. Currys said we had to get in touch with Nintendo directly.
After we sent it away, correctly packaged, Nintendo emailed to say there were faults and a chip in the screen, which I know weren’t there when we sent it
Nintendo said I’d have to pay £130 to get it fixed but I said no, as it was under warranty, and told Nintendo to return it.
We got a second opinion and the IT expert said the inside of the device was “butchered”.
There is no way an eight-year-old could have done that. It had a safety screen on at all times and wasn’t dropped.
Nichola Collins Greenock, Inverclyde
A) Usually if a fault occurs within the first six months of purchase, I’d say go to the retailer, Currys.
But it seems Currys automatically forwards all Nintendo queries to the games giant.
Nintendo seemed to be denying the repair under warranty because it believed the device had been damaged rather than it being a manufacturing fault.
But you disputed this, as I made clear to Nintendo.
LOYALTY WARNING
Tesco Clubcard warning as thousands of vouchers are about to expire
HUBBLE BUBBLE
B&Q slashes price of Lay-Z-Spa inflatable hot tub by £115
COINING IT IN
Amateur investor has £185,000 in Bitcoin deposited in his account by MISTAKE
GET MINTED
The 12 most valuable £2 coins in circulation worth up to £85
CHOCS AWAY
Lindt is selling a MASSIVE mystery box of chocolate for half price
BAGGED UP
Supermarket trick means shoppers pay FOUR times the price for the same product
Within days, it promised to send a replacement device, which eventually reached you safely.
Nintendo told me: “Customer satisfaction and the enjoyment of all our products is of the utmost importance to us.
“Nintendo provides clear guidelines to consumers on how to package products being sent in for repair to avoid any damage during transit, as this could void the warranty which Nintendo offers to its customers.”
Woman saves £600 by painting her Aldi bed frame to copy designer one from Made.com
LOYALTY WARNING
Tesco Clubcard warning as thousands of vouchers are about to expire
HUBBLE BUBBLE
B&Q slashes price of Lay-Z-Spa inflatable hot tub by £115
COINING IT IN
Amateur investor has £185,000 in Bitcoin deposited in his account by MISTAKE
GET MINTED
The 12 most valuable £2 coins in circulation worth up to £85
CHOCS AWAY
Lindt is selling a MASSIVE mystery box of chocolate for half price
BAGGED UP
Supermarket trick means shoppers pay FOUR times the price for the same product
