I am 80 years old and care for my husband, who has Alzheimer’s.
In January this year, he had a hearing test at Boots Hearing Care in Stockport, Greater Manchester, and was advised to have a pair of aids at a cost of £3,345.
We were told that if he couldn’t cope with them, they could be returned within three months and we’d get our money back.
I persevered in trying to get him to wear them but to no avail. I kept finding them in various places and pockets. It all came to a head when we were on holiday recently in France with family and he flatly refused to have anything more to do with the aids.
As it was getting close to the three-month deadline to return the hearing aids for a refund, I rang Boots Hearing Care’s head office in Llandudno and asked if it would extend the deadline for three days as I was on holiday but would take them in person to where we purchased them as soon as we got back.
Denied refund: A reader’s husband has refused to have anything to do with his expensive hearing aids – but Boots has refused to refund the £3,345 cost
The person I spoke to flatly refused and said I must post them back to her with a tracking number and she would then refund the money.
My son-in-law stepped in to ask if they could be more flexible as, over many years, we have spent thousands of pounds on spectacles and my own hearing aids, but to no avail. She was adamant they must be posted.
We then wasted half a day of our holiday finding a post office and spent €100 in postage and insurance. But the aids went missing. Now I fear we won’t get our refund and it’s money we can ill afford to lose.
J. M., Manchester.
Sally Hamilton replies: What a classic jobsworth response you received when you made the perfectly logical suggestion to return the unwanted hearing aids safely, in person, even if that meant overshooting the refund deadline by three days. Your plea, quite simply, fell on deaf ears.
The extra costs and hassle you then faced to package up and post the aids from France to the UK were irritating enough. But, unfortunately, the items never made it to Boots’ head office.
It turned out the packet got stuck at Folkestone port, from where, after a few days of sitting around on a sorting room shelf, it was mystifyingly returned to France. Perhaps customs staff believed duty should be paid on the contents of your parcel.
You were naturally upset and thought you wouldn’t see the hearing aids again — and would wave goodbye to your refund.
When you updated the same woman at Boots who had been so adamant about you posting the devices, she had a sudden attack of common sense and told you the company would extend the deadline after all, to give you time to track down the parcel.
You were exasperated (and I expect a few choice words were muttered). You tried to trace the hearing aids via French postal operator Chronopost, which informed you the package had been returned to sender: you. This didn’t add up, since you knew it had been returned to France.
Since then, despite numerous phone calls at considerable cost and the emailing of documents and proof of postage, along with tracking numbers, to Chronopost, the package has remained missing. The language barrier added to your troubles, making it difficult to progress a claim with the French insurer.
It seems clear to me that the aids were lost in the post through no fault of your own, so I asked Boots to investigate. Its response was quick and decisive. Before the end of the day, it confirmed your £3,345 would be reimbursed. It was music to your ears.
A Boots spokesman says: ‘We are pleased to confirm that this issue is now resolved, with J.M. receiving a full refund. We are committed to providing all customers with exceptional customer service and are sorry that our high standards were not met on this occasion.’
It has also given you Boots loyalty points equal to the €100 postage costs.
Can’t get a refund for Abba tickets
Earlier this year I booked tickets for my husband and me and two friends to attend the Abba Voyage show in London on August 6, at a cost of £417.
Tragically, our friends’ grown-up son passed away suddenly in July. With no cause of death established yet, the funeral cannot be arranged, and their life is in total limbo.
They are in no fit state to talk to us right now about anything, let alone discuss moving the date of the concert.
I contacted the agent, Ticketmaster, through its chatline to see if I could get a refund in this most extreme of circumstances, but it insisted that without insurance this was not possible. We did not consider insurance as we could not have imagined such a situation occurring.
The best I could get from the agent was the offer to re-book for a future date. I have no idea as to when, or if, our friends are going to be ready to do this. Nor are we, as we are also devastated by events.
The chatline was unhelpful, with no compassion shown whatsoever. I can’t seem to find any other means of contacting an actual human being at Ticketmaster to speak to. I hope you can help.
Name and address supplied.
Sally Hamilton replies: You expected some sensitivity from Ticketmaster when broaching this most difficult request but were sorely disappointed.
You even suggested on the website’s online chat that the company could just give you a credit and earmark the £417 for an unspecified date in the future.
Unfortunately, the chat service did not provide you with this kind of help or flexibility. You might have had better luck asking an Abba avatar for assistance.
I contacted the ticketing firm and requested it use its discretion in the circumstances and make things as simple as possible for you by just refunding the money.
I am pleased to say it responded quickly, and this time without hesitation it agreed to reimburse you in full.
A spokesman says: ‘This is not the standard of service we aim to deliver. Our teams are reviewing our process to ensure it does not happen again.’
- Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email [email protected] — include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.
