At the beginning of March, my son was knocked off his bike by a Tesco delivery van while on a pedestrian crossing.
Tesco admitted liability. His bike, which he needs for work, was written off and his laptop screen (also required for work) was smashed.
Tesco agreed to pay £584. My son has provided all the required documents but has received no money. He has had the laptop repaired at his own expense but is having to use a borrowed bike.
Very little help: Tesco kept a reader’s son waiting five months for a £584 payout after he was knocked of his bike by a delivery van driver
Plexus Law is dealing with the case. Its reviews on Trustpilot are appalling. Many of my son’s emails went unanswered, and the call handlers have been unable or unwilling to help. One made him feel his case was too trivial to warrant the firm’s attention.
J. P., Longworth, Oxfordshire.
Sally Hamilton replies: You felt your son had been taken for a ride by Tesco, and I felt the same.
It really should not take five months to settle a claim when the supermarket had quickly admitted its driver was at fault.
After I intervened, Tesco got its act together and immediately issued the payment. But to your dismay and mine, the sum transferred was for just £410 — £174 less than you expected.
I couldn’t believe it. A supermarket giant quibbling over a few pounds when your son could have been seriously injured.
I went back to Tesco and I am pleased to say it swiftly back-pedalled and offered an extra £200 as a gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience and upset.
A spokesman for Tesco says: ‘We’re really sorry for the impact this incident had on T. P., and for the delay in him receiving payment.’
I lost £50 in citizens advice scam
I would be grateful if you would make your readers aware of a cruel scam.
It started when I Googled ‘CAB’ for Citizens Advice. I ended up on a website which said that citizens advice questions could be answered.
I sent my question and was asked to pay £5. Thinking I was on the Citizens Advice site, I paid it. I had my query answered and thought no more about it.
However, a few days later the service took £50 out of my account. I contacted the person who dealt with my query and asked what was going on.
He said that he did not have a clue and then ignored me. It turns out that I was using a firm called JustAnswer. I emailed but received no response. I am fuming.
A. H., Derbyshire.
Google is the go-to place for millions of people to get all kinds of queries answered — but few of us expect to be charged £55 for the privilege. No wonder you were seething.
In fact, you had inadvertently ended up on the website of U.S. company JustAnswer, which provides access to all sorts of experts, including UK-based doctors, lawyers, tech advisers and money specialists.
You had asked a question about the financial help available from the British Government for those not on benefits. You were surprised to have to pay £5 but say you were satisfied.
But what you hadn’t realised when you used your debit card is that this was an introductory rate available for just seven days. You needed to cancel the arrangement within that period or be on the hook for £50 a month for membership.
Membership allows customers to ask as many questions as they want. When I checked out JustAnswer on Trustpilot, there were several complaints about people being hit with unexpected charges.
After the firm took £50, you quickly cancelled your bank card as you feared it was a scam.
I can tell you this is not the case, but such tactics can easily catch people out.
Even when a person is fully aware of an introductory rate, it can be easy to forget to cancel. But you didn’t even realise what was coming.
When I contacted JustAnswer on your behalf, it said its terms are made clear on the page where customers enter their payment card information.
A spokesman says: ‘It seems in this case the customer did not cancel their membership before the seven-day trial expired and was then charged the monthly membership fee.’
However, after my intervention, the company apologised for the inconvenience you experienced and refunded your £50.
What you were really looking for with your online search was Citizens Advice, which is a charity in England and Wales that offers free consumer advice.
To find out how to get queries answered via this service, visit citizensadvice.org.uk. It’s a shame your Google search didn’t throw that up clearly at the outset.
- 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.
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
