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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Year of the tiger
TUESDAY heralds the start of the Chinese New Year and searches for feng shui are up by 40 per cent.
As we enter the Year of the Tiger, here are ways to introduce the ancient art that involves arranging the pieces in living spaces to create balance with the natural world.
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FRONT DOOR: The doorway is your “face to the world” and represents how energy, or “qi”, enters the home. Keep it clean and free of clutter, including wiping the front door weekly. Add a bright light and clean mat to make guests feel welcome.
BATHROOM AND LOO: Drains are thought to deplete energy and can represent money and luck draining away. Keep your toilet seat closed when not in use and shut the bathroom door. Adding greenery such as the Chinese money plant can also balance out energy.
BEDROOM: Put your bed in the “command position” so you can see the doorway when you are lying down. Install nightstands and lights either side to promote harmony as a couple. Clear clutter from under the bed as it is thought to cause headaches.
LIVING ROOM AND KITCHEN: Lounges should have a focal point, such as a fireplace, and enough chairs for everyone in the household. Keep the kitchen clean and tidy, including the fridge, to nourish your spirit as well as your stomach.
WINDOWS: Sunlight is essential in feng shui to energise and give clarity. Clean windows regularly as they are the “eyes of the home”.
HOW YOU USE YOUR HOME: Walk through the busiest parts and look for blockages. This could be a sofa sticking out too far, an awkwardly placed table or wardrobes that don’t shut. Fix these to help your life flow more smoothly.
Buy of the week
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LEICESTER is the UK’s new-buy-to-let hotspot, according to latest data from online insurance broker Simply Business.
Snap up this spacious, newly renovated semi for £300,000 at zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/58863793/.
Rents rising
PRIVATE rents are rising at the fastest rate ever recorded, as competition between tenants intensifies.
The latest Rightmove quarterly rental trends tracker shows costs hit a monthly average of £1,068 outside London, up 9.9 per cent on last year.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property data, said: “Demand continues to be really high entering the new year, meaning the imbalance between supply and demand is set to continue.”
Deal of the week
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TOWIE stars Billie and Greg Shepherd have forked out more than £10,000 on 80 laurel trees to create a privacy hedge at their new home.
There’s no need to dig deep into your wallet because hedgesdirect.co.uk is offering pot-grown laurel bushes from just £5.99.
Judge Rinder, legal expert
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“Claiming against hospital after wife’s false teeth went missing. She’s been without her dentures for months”
Q) MY wife was admitted to hospital with Covid and after three weeks she was transferred to another one.
At some point her dentures went missing from the pot on her bedside cabinet. A cleaner probably threw them away.
She’s now been in hospital for three and a half months and without teeth for two and a half. We sent a claim to the hospital but have had no reply.
Are they legally responsible for replacing the dentures?
Michael, Carmarthenshire
A) This is not only about your wife’s dentures. It is about maintaining her dignity. I am deeply troubled by what has happened to your wife as this falls way below the standard of care we should all expect from our NHS.
As a matter of law, I have no doubt whatsoever the hospital is financially responsible for replacing your wife’s dentures.
Not only did a staff member throw them away negligently, they had a clear responsibility to look after them properly.
As you can imagine, most NHS trusts are inundated with complaints and other issues at the moment.
They are woefully understaffed, which is the most likely explanation for their failure to reply to you.
Your best option is to find out who the chief executive of the trust is and email them, making clear you will be suing them in the small claims court for the cost of the dentures and that they must be replaced at once.
I would also suggest you include your local MP or councillor in the correspondence as this can often be helpful.
Card lesson
Q) MY eight-year-old grandson got hold of my husband’s bank card and ran up a bill of £860 on his iPhone.
We rang Apple immediately and cancelled everything within the hour of him doing this, but have only been refunded £160. We have also spoken to the bank but it has not assisted us. What can we do?
Edith, Lancashire
A) This is an increasingly common problem. Kids use parents’ cards for iPhone games, for example, and end up running up huge bills.
Banks, phone companies and apps are supposed to have safeguards in place to stop this happening.
Your best bet in this case is to email Apple and your credit card company again, reiterating the responsibility they have to ensure your card is protected from this sort of misuse by minors.
Also remind them that you did not authorise any of the transactions so are not responsible.
Be tough in your communication. I feel sure that you will get a full refund in due course.
Q) I BOUGHT my daughter her first car from a garage with 12 months’ MOT. It turned out to be dangerous and would never have passed an MOT in a million years.
I sought advice and asked for a refund but it refused. So I took it to the small claims court. It didn’t defend and I won.
Currently I’m awaiting payment from the garage. I’m not holding my breath but willing to go as far as needed to get the money back.
So my question is, what do I do with the festering, oil-leaking vehicle littering my drive? I really want to scrap it but what if the garage wants it back? Where do I stand legally?
Leah, Essex
A) You’ve won your case in court and must do everything you can to ensure the judgment is enforced. This may, in due course, include lawfully appointed bailiffs seizing cars or other assets from the garage to satisfy the debt they are bound to pay you.
The bottom line is that you have been awarded a full refund for a car which, by the sound of it, has no value other than what you can get for the scrap metal.
Send a recorded letter to the garage telling the owner that you expect them to pay the amount they legally owe you.
Also, that as there is no court order requiring you to return the vehicle, you will be selling the car for scrap to the highest bidder unless you hear from them within 28 days, in which case you are happy for them to collect it on the condition they have paid you in full.
Mel Hunter, reader’s champion
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Refund fight after death
Q) MY children’s dad sadly died three months ago, and he had been due to go to Jamaica on a holiday booked with TUI.
I tried to contact TUI since his death to have the holiday refunded but did not get a response. I need the money to pay for the funeral.
The TUI store then said they would help once I had a death certificate. I gave them an interim certificate, which is all I had as the coroner is still investigating.
Now TUI has told me that as the date of travel has passed there is nothing it can do. He didn’t take out any travel insurance.
This has been traumatic. I don’t want to be arguing over a refund for someone who has died.
Angela, North Yorks
A) Having tried so hard to resolve this in the very difficult days after your former partner had passed away, it was gutting to be told months later that you’d left it too late to get a refund.
As I told TUI, if anyone had helped you when you had first asked, that would not have been the case. You forwarded me eight emails that you sent to TUI asking for help with this. None of them got a proper response until you were told it was too late.
I got TUI to look into this and I am pleased to say that the company sorted it quickly, ensuring a full refund of almost £1,700 was processed.
Under these exceptional circumstances, and as the next of kin, you were entitled to the money and this should have been paid months earlier.
A TUI spokesman said: “We’ve offered our sincere apologies for the delay in processing the refund, which has now been provided, and for the inconvenience caused.”
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Q) FIVE months ago, Shell Energy changed my meter to a smart meter.
Since then I have not had a bill, despite calling and emailing. I pay £79 a month by direct debit.
The firm now tells me it has no record of me having two tariffs, which I did before with Economy 7, and only has me down on one.
The person sent out to check my meter said I wasn’t to worry as I could “pay in instalments” if I owed a lot of money.
But surely it’s Shell Energy’s fault, not mine. It should have replaced my meter with the same system I had before. I am 73 and the thought of a massive bill is scaring the life out of me.
Jean, Herts
Most read in The Sun
A) I asked Shell Energy to have a dig around to find out what was going on here.
There are enough worries around rising energy prices right now without the extra panic.
It turns out the energy firm had made a mistake that was costing you.
It told me that when your new smart meter was installed, a system error meant that the correct tariff was not configured on it.
It sorted this out and promised to refund you the difference between that and a single-rate set-up.
In recognition of the problems you had experienced, it also offered you a goodwill gesture, paying around £200 in total.
You’re now in a better position to ride out the coming price rises.
Woman reveals chic kitchen makeover using Wilko paint
