ASK TONY: STILL waiting for £800 refund after Corsica crash in 2017

My son rented a vehicle in Corsica in July 2017 and was involved in a minor accident which was not his fault.

Enterprise Corsica, the car hire firm, has not repaid his €950 excess. We are getting nowhere because every time we phone they pretend not to speak English. 

I wrote to the managing director and have tried other ways to get the money back. I received one letter in French. But my son has still not got his money.

J. G., Hampshire.

You might expect that a firm which wants to do business with English-speaking people might write to them in English. 

But Corsica is part of France and the French are not always known for their willingness to speak English.

Your son braked to avoid an accident and a car drove into the back of his. The repair cost was more than €950 (about £800) so Enterprise acted legitimately in charging the excess.

He should have received a refund once the third party’s insurer had coughed up. But the third party insurer has been avoiding contact with Enterprise’s insurer.

A spokesman for Enterprise explains: ‘Where an Enterprise vehicle is involved in an accident that is not the driver’s fault we would expect the third party to accept liability and for their insurance to cover the cost of repair, enabling us to refund any excess charge made to our customer.

‘That has not, so far, been possible in this case and we entirely understand your reader’s frustration at the length of time it has taken for this issue to be resolved. 

‘The Enterprise vehicle was insured through a French insurer via its local office in Corsica while the other vehicle was insured through a German insurance company.’ So much for EU harmony!

Enterprise escalated the matter to its international division. The good news is that Enterprise has now refunded the €950.

You can buy extra insurance in the UK to cover any excess you may be charged abroad. This is far cheaper than extending cover with a carhire firm.

We switched from Together Energy in April 2019. On September 6, I received an email saying I was £117.43 in credit.

Two days later I received a letter saying I owed £1,121.15 and warning of debt collection if I did not pay.

I contacted my solicitor who sent Together Energy a letter. We have yet to receive a reply. I paid all my energy bills by standing order and never missed a payment.

The £117.43 credit was refunded in October 2019. My legal costs are £324 and I am still living with the threat of bailiffs because Together Energy has not contacted me.

C. G., Colchester.

I am coming across an increasing number of cases where companies have found it difficult to contact readers. Call minder or voicemail systems screen calls and messages go unanswered. Emails are digested by screening or spam systems, or simply ignored.

How can a company resolve a complaint if customers don’t engage with them?

Together Energy made mistakes. After you left on April 23 last year a final bill of £1,121.15 was generated because your payments were not included.

A letter was sent saying that this would be taken from your bank account.

However, an amended final bill was produced in August showing you were actually owed £117.43.

Together Energy says it tried to contact you because you had cancelled your direct debit mandate so the money could not be paid to your account.

It then worked with its direct debit provider and the refund was processed on October 8.

Together Energy says it made multiple attempts to contact you, leaving voicemails each time but you did not respond. It says it also sent emails.

You received the email about being owed money on September 6 and the debt letter, which had been sent by second-class post, a couple of days later. Why, on receiving these so close together, did you not contact them to query the situation rather than paying for a solicitor?

You wrote to me asking that Together Energy should pay your legal fees. Frankly I don’t see why it should.

Together Energy made mistakes but it also resolved them. That’s case closed as far as I’m concerned.

The company says it now does daily reconciliation so issues like this will be picked up in future meaning the letter wouldn’t be sent, a retraction can be issued or the customer called.

** 

My long-term partner of 40 years died unexpectedly last April. I contacted BT to arrange to take over the broadband and was given a number to ring so I could arrange a better deal.

Because of the poor signal I receive I recently decided to end my agreement and go with another provider.

BT produced two separate amounts which it says I must pay. I called to query this and, during the conversation, was shouted at by a lady who told me that if I was having difficulty paying I would be put in the hands of a debt recovery agency to set up a payment plan.

I have now received the final bill for £206.42.

N. B., Oxfordshire

BT has, as a goodwill gesture, refunded the full £206.42 that it took from your bank account.

It looks as though when you took over the account you signed up for a two-year contract and were trying to leave within that period.

BT says if you had made it aware of any issue regarding speed, you would have been able to leave without penalty.