From your compensation rights if you get stuck on a ‘holiday from hell’ to smart furniture for your flat – our experts share advice and deals
Mel Hunter offers her top tips to holidaymakers as four in 10 believe vacations fail to live up to expectations
Every Saturday, The Consumer Crew are here to solve your problems.
Mel Hunter will take on readers’ consumer issues, Coupon Queen Maddy Tooke helps out, Judge Rinder will tackle your legal woes, and property expert Amanda Cable will weigh in with her tips
Mel Hunter, Consumer Champion
Flight delay doesn't pay
Q) MY wife and I were due to return from Paphos, Cyprus, on an easyJet flight but the outbound flight from Manchester was cancelled because one of the passengers had boarded with someone’s else’s boarding card.
It caused a big delay then the captain refused to depart because the crew would be out of flying hours.
It was all reported in the local paper.
Now easyJet is stating the cancellation was due to weather and is refusing compensation. Anna Golding, Bolton
A) All passengers should know their rights when it comes to flight delays.
If you arrive at an EU destination or on an EU airline more than three hours late, there is a set amount of compensation due depending on the flight distance.
For your flight from Paphos, which is 2,838 miles from Manchester, 400 euros per person was due.
EasyJet blamed the weather, which was out of their control so they didn’t have to pay.
But thanks to the local paper, you knew this wasn’t the case.
I got in touch with easyJet and they told me: “While weather disruption which impacted air traffic control slot times was a contributory factor, a boarding pass discrepancy which affected the crew’s legally permitted hours was the root cause.”
They changed their decision and said they would be honouring claims for compensation on this flight
Know your holiday rights
FOUR in ten holidaymakers reckon a recent getaway has failed to live up to the blurb in the brochure.
If you find yourself stuck in a holiday from hell, there are things you can do.
- While you’re still in the resort, tell the agent or rep to give them the chance to put the problem right. Fill in a complaint form if you can, or keep a record of the issues.
- Take photos of things you’re not happy with and get details of other holidaymakers to support your case. If you paid for something you haven’t received – a sea view, for example – file a complaint supported by photos.
- Once home, write to your travel company and give them 28 days to respond.
- After four weeks, get back on to them. It can be hard to get compensation, but stick at it.
- Be realistic. Any compensation will be for the part of your holiday which fell short – don’t expect a full refund. If you booked with an ABTA member, use their independent arbitration service if you can’t come to a resolution.
Q) I MOVED house in November and transferred the gas and electricity to OVO Energy, which I was happy with at my previous property.
I have received electricity statements but have yet to get a gas bill.
I have been in contact with OVO every month trying to get this sorted, but it keeps making excuses.
I’ve asked to have the issue classed as a complaint, but it says I have to speak to a team leader, and they are never around.
After eight months I am so fed up.
Pamela Bainbridge, Scunthorpe
A) Ovo was able to sort this out fairly easily – but why didn’t it do so sooner?
It backdated your account to the tariff you should have been on and wiped the £114 balance which was due.
You now know how much to pay each month for your energy.
- Do you have a consumer issue? E-mail [email protected]
MOST READ IN MONEY
Amanda Cable, Property expert
Britain up for downsizing
BRITS squeeze into the smallest homes in western Europe, with the average pad now measuring just 76 square metres.
And that will shrink even more if new government proposals designed to ease the housing crisis go through, bringing the legal minimum size for a property under review.
According to the Royal Institute of British Architects, homes in Yorkshire are the UK’s smallest.
The average new three-bedroom house there is 25 square metres smaller than equivalent homes in London.
But one specialist housebuilder has seen an increase in the demand for smaller properties.
Jenny Higgins launched The Wee House Company in May 2013 after she and her husband Mark graduated from university and could not afford their own places.
She said: “My parents gave us a small plot of land behind their garden so my dad, who builds modular houses, and I designed a small, bespoke home. By cutting out hallways, we were able to fit more in.
“We launched the company and this year we’ve built ten compact homes already. Our clients include a family with two children and students who can’t get on the property ladder. Our latest house was for a 90-year-old who wanted to downsize.
“The houses include fitted kitchens, full-sized bathrooms and yet start at the width of one-and-a-half London buses.
“Small houses are great because bills are low, there’s less cleaning and with ceiling heights still at 2.4 metres, there’s a sense of space.
“I am convinced that small but cleverly designed homes are the future of housing.”
- See for details
Big ideas, tiny prices
FURNITURE giant DFS has launched a small but perfectly formed “capsule” range of furniture.
The collection is on sale in stores from August 30 and includes sofas, armchairs that can be customised and footstools designed for smaller rooms.
There is a choice of compact or large sizes, with removable arms so furniture can be delivered up stairways and through small doorframes. Sofas start at £399.
DFS senior designer Robert Ellis said: “This range has been designed with small spaces in mind.”
For more details, see .
IKEA has introduced a mini-kitchen which is just over A METRE long, to fit the tiniest of spaces.
The £99 Sunnersta has a worktop and sink and optional extras include a small fridge and a portable £35 induction hob that hangs up to save space.
An Ikea spokesman said: “The aim is to create an open and welcoming kitchen, even if living space is small.”
- Do you have a top makeover tip? E-mail [email protected]
Maddy Tooke, Coupon Queen
10 best deals
- Get ten per cent off Laura Ashley with code N501 from . Expires September 9.
- Save £15 on John Greed Jewellery orders over £75 using JG75QU. Order through and earn up to ten per cent cash back. Not valid with other offers or on some brands. Expires tomorrow.
- Get 20 per cent off and free delivery on Love Honey orders over £100 with code AFFUK20100. Order through Quidco and get up to 19 per cent cash back. Expires Monday.
- Save £25 on Cloggs orders over £150 with code 25OFFAF. Order via and get up to seven per cent cash back. Expires Monday.
- Get £10 off Brand Alley orders over £50 with QUIDCO10. Order through Quidco to get up to 10 per cent cash back. Expires Monday.
- Save 50 per cent and get free delivery at BoohooMAN with code VCUK50DEL from . Expires tomorrow.
- Get 25 per cent off autumn/winter 2017 homeware products from La Redoute with code 25OFF. Expires August 20. Not valid on already discounted items.
13Kids eat for £1 at Frankie & Benny'sCredit: Alamy - Kids eat for £1 this summer at Frankie & Benny’s when an adult main is ordered. Includes a main, two sides, dessert and a drink. Get voucher from . Offer ends September 5.
- Get up to 50 per cent off canvas prints fromwith code SUNNYART17. Expires August 6.
- Order two mains for only £10 at Toby Carvery with voucher from VoucherCodes. Available Monday to Saturday. Show voucher on your phone or print from . Expires August 5.
5 Top freebies
- New members can order Benefit mini make-up and get the cost back into their Top Cashback account. Ends August 6. See .
- Get a copy of Cyclist magazine, worth £5.50, from .
- Tempur Comfort Travel Pillow worth £65. Just visit one of the participating stores to collect your freebie. Offer runs until August 7.
- Hovis wholemeal bread 800g from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Ocado and Waitrose with the CheckoutSmart app. Buy in store and upload receipt to the app to claim. Ends August 1.
- Dylon Colour Catcher sample. Request from . While stocks last.
Have you any money saving tips? E-mail [email protected]
Judge Rinder, Sun legal expert
SOME Government jobs sound like they have been invented to give Dad something to do in the office now he is retired.
Until last week, I would have been at a complete loss to explain what the Communities Secretary does.
Apparently, he is in charge of local government.
But given that local authorities are directly elected and run their own budgets, that doesn’t seem like a terribly demanding task.
I honestly wondered whether the role was created so a government official could show up at thinly attended gatherings and say the word “community” a lot, hoping to get a round of applause.
It turns out I was wrong. Completely wrong, in fact, as our current Communities Secretary Sajid Javid not only has plenty to do — he is actually doing it.
This week he turned his attention to a scandal I have been going on about for ages that has gone largely unnoticed.
The outrage I am referring to is the huge number of new houses, especially in the north of the country, which are sold as leases instead of freeholds — forcing owners to make escalating rental payments on top of their mortgages.
Developers are legally permitted to sell houses as leaseholds allowing the freeholder — often a rich property company — to raise ground rents as much as £10,000 per year.
Mr Javid pointed out that these developers are using ground rents as an entirely unjustifiable licence to print money.
The leaseholds themselves are often difficult for buyers to understand yet can have horrendous consequences.
People find they have to ask permission then pay a freeholder tens of thousands simply to add an extension to a home they thought they had total control over.
The good news here is that Mr Javid intends to push through legislation which will make this practice illegal.
I’d say that’s a good week’s work for a Communities Secretary.
Keep it up.
Summing up
Q) WE gave our late son’s violin to a company so it would be sold at a price we could accept.
The company has since gone into liquidation and the liquidators tell us the violin has been sold – and that we are now creditors for £900-plus.
This company had no right to sell our property and it is tantamount to theft.
Do you have any advice?
Kenneth, Kent
A) Firstly, I have to tell you this is not theft. Any stock that was held by the company – including your late son’s violin – is an asset the liquidators could potentially have used when paying off the creditors.
They may have acted negligently here but not dishonestly, which is why there has been no theft.
I do not know the details of the arrangement you had with the company but it sounds as if it held the violin on trust for you in a similar way that an auction house might look after a valuable painting.
If this is correct, you have an arguable case that you should be entitled to the full value of the violin from the liquidators.
They won’t be able to get the violin back, sadly.
I would seek some specialist advice here. Citizens Advice can point you in the right direction.
Got a question for Judge Rinder? E-mail [email protected]