Business Blogs and News

I have been waiting for a refund from Expedia for 12 months. At the end of last year I was caught in the snow storm in which flights from Gatwick (among many other airports) were cancelled. Over a number of days my flight was cancelled several times and I was forced to re-book out of Heathrow. The carrier, British Airways, telephoned Expedia while I was at Gatwick Airport, and I was told that I would receive a refund from Expedia. For a year I have been in correspondence with Expedia, which acknowledges that it has, indeed, been in contact with British Airways and a “refund is due” to me, but is “still being processed”. The amount of time and money that I have spent is now far in excess of this refund. SC, Italy

Keen readers of this column will notice that Lisa Bachelor has recently returned to the fray after spending a year on maternity leave. Just before she left, she dealt with a number of complaints about Expedia not handling refunds properly. A year later, it seems the problem is still going on – in this case, as a result of bad weather last December.

We’ve featured similar cases since, and Expedia told us back in March that it was introducing a new refunds process that would iron out the sort of problems seen above. “This means the overwhelming majority of refunds by Expedia are now processed within a week from the request being issued to processing of payment to the customer,” it said back then.

In fairness to Expedia, the number of complaints we’ve been receiving about it has fallen – but they are still coming in.

At least in SC’s case the money was repaid within a few hours of us contacting the company’s press office.

“We deeply regret the delay she experienced in receiving her refund while this was processed with the airline. We were informed in April that the refund had been processed by the airline, although unfortunately it did not go ahead as advised. We take these matters very seriously and the customer service team is currently implementing new processes to help our agents to follow up with Expedia’s airline partners to ensure that – even in these unusual circumstances – this does not happen again. She has been fully refunded and we have also provided her with an Expedia voucher as a gesture of goodwill,” it says.

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@guardian.co.uk or write to Bachelor Brignall, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/dec/30/expedia-gatwick-heathrow-snow-flight-cancelled

Approximately 22 months ago I purchased a DeLonghi kettle from John Lewis for about £60. It had a standard 12-month guarantee.

About 10 days ago it failed. I emailed John Lewis expressing my disappointment, and, by return, they offered to replace it free of charge. Within a week I was using the new kettle they provided.

I think this is excellent customer service and worthy of public praise. JS, York

Over the past 12 months we’ve had more complaints about John Lewis than in previous years put together, so it’s nice to end the year on a positive note. While John Lewis offers two-year guarantees on many of its kettles, it does not on the DeLonghi brand. Most people would expect a £60 kettle to last more than 22 months, so the department store has done the right thing. That it did so without a quibble is excellent news. Well done to John Lewis.

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@guardian.co.uk or write to Bachelor Brignall, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/dec/30/john-lewis-kettle-faulty-replace-guarantee

My cousin and I booked a city break to Barcelona in May to celebrate my 65th birthday. We booked the flight and accommodation through Thomson. We wanted two hotel rooms but Thomson suggested a two-bed luxury apartment, instead. They showed us the photos of the apartment online and recommended it highly. The photos looked good so we took it. We paid £621.93 for four nights accommodation, which was supplied by Bedsonline.

We arrived shortly after midnight to find that we had been allocated a one-bed apartment instead of two-bed. I had to sleep on a sofa without any bedlinen. Neither of us got much sleep. We wasted most of the following day trying to sort things out. That afternoon we were moved into a two-bed apartment in the same building. The main bedroom was good but the second was tiny, spartan, with no mirror or wardrobe.

On our return we complained to Thomson. It declined responsibility but passed our complaint to Bedsonline. The latter initially refused any compensation, offered £37 in October, then £75 in November. This is totally inadequate to cover a ruined holiday that was not as described by Thomson. We phoned the Association of British Travel Agents, which told us Thomson was simply acting as an agent and our contract was with Bedsonline, which is not an ABTA member, so nothing can be done. RW, Sunderland

You would think that as Thomson sold you the holiday, which was not as described, it would be liable. But not so; we double-checked with ABTA and the advice its representative gave you was correct. As a consequence, Thomson initially refused to budge.

We checked up on Bedsonline, as we had never heard of it. The company is an accommodation services provider to the travel agency market, based in Spain, and does not deal with the consumer directly. It is listed as a “brand” under the TUI umbrella, the company that owns Thomson, but is not owned by Thomson.

We then took advice from the lawyers at Which? as to your best course of action. They confirmed that any further action should be taken against Bedsonline. To take action against Thomson you would need to be able to prove that it knew, or should have known, that Bedsonline would not provide the two-bedroom apartment.

We had already suggested the small claims court was one option. You could claim for the difference in value between the two-bedroom apartment you booked and the one you were given, as well as compensation for “loss of enjoyment”. However, complications would arise because Bedsonline is based overseas, which makes a court claim more difficult (any other reader in this situation can contact the UK European Consumer Centre for advice).

We suggested that, instead, you go back to Thomson and ask for £155.50, which would cover the first ruined night of your four-night break, as a reasonable settlement. You agreed – and so did Thomson, though it emphasised this was as a “gesture of goodwill”, not an acceptance of liability.

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@guardian.co.uk or write to Bachelor Brignall, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/dec/30/thomson-holiday-bedsonline-refund

I write to complain about the online fashion retailer La Redoute. I ordered a few items of clothing from them last year, which, after some weeks, did eventually arrive. In October this year I ordered warm clothes for winter, but three weeks later nothing had arrived, so I wrote to them. They said they were awaiting delivery of items, even though the website said two of my three items were in stock at the time of ordering. When I complained La Redoute changed its story, saying that the items had been sent and that they were investigating this with their carrier.

I waited another week before sending another email. Then they simply cancelled my order! This whole charade took over a month. When I went online I found lots of other people alleging similar, or worse, experiences. When there is so much competition among online retailers I can’t imagine how they can afford to treat customers like this. I buy many things online and have never encountered such poor service. RT, Edinburgh

Anyone looking at web reviews of La Redoute would probably also assume that this company has some serious logistical problems.

The Review Centre site, on which customers report their experience of different firms, has many similar postings to yours – orders not turning up for weeks, even months, lost payments, and real frustration.

We contacted the firm to ask about your case, but we initially had a rather bizarre experience with its Lithuanian call centre, where we found it hard to make ourselves understood.

When we did get through to La Redoute’s head office it admitted it had let you down. It said that your order for the two items in stock was despatched, but the parcel got lost in transit. Staff had also wrongly concluded that you wanted to cancel your order.

It has apologised and pointed out that there was no delay in providing your refund. The company says it has many happy customers posting on its Facebook page.

The only person who has used this company among Guardian Money’s staff also faced a long wait for their goods. As you say, there are many online fashion retailers to choose from … Readers, let us know your experience of La Redoute, and we will report back.

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@guardian.co.uk or write to Bachelor Brignall, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/dec/30/la-redoute-order-cancelled-lonmg-wait

Gerald Ronson, the veteran tycoon jailed for his part in one of Britain’s best-known stock market scandals as one of the “Guinness Four”, is among those recognised in the New Year honours list.

Ronson, who claims to have pioneered self-service petrol stations, served six months after his conviction in 1990 for involvement in a share-trading scandal. Once out of prison he embarked on a concerted campaign to clear his name, rebuilt his business empire, and devoted money and time to charity work, for which he is now awarded a CBE.

Other business people knighted included the Tory donor and hedge fund manager Paul Ruddock and GlaxoSmithKline chief executive Andrew Witty, who was knighted for services to the economy and to the UK pharmaceutical industry.

Ruddock’s honour was for services to the arts. A partner at the Lansdowne fund that bet on the collapse of Northern Rock, Ruddock is also chairman of the Victoria Albert Museum.

There was also a knighthood for Michael Bear, the 2010-11 lord mayor of London, “for services to regeneration, charity and the City of London”.

Ronson’s honour follows £30m in donations to organisations such as the NSPCC and the Prince’s Trust as well as work with Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The uncle of music producer Mark Ronson, the entrepreneur has become a well-known figure in the property industry and was behind the 46-storey Heron Tower, the tallest building in the City of London.

Despite his successes, however, 72-year-old Ronson will be forever associated with the Guinness affair of the 1980s. It saw four men accused of acting to inflate the price of Guinness shares in order to make possible a takeover bid for rival drinks company Distillers.

He won a European Court of Human Rights ruling that his trial had been unfair but failed to get the House of Lords to overturn his conviction.

Asked if Ronson’s conviction had any influence over the decision to award him a CBE, a Cabinet Office spokesman said: “If someone has served their time and gone on to do wonderful works I don’t think that prevents someone from receiving an honour.”

The former Tesco chairman David Reid, part of the management team which transformed the company from a domestic supermarket chain into a global retail brand, was also awarded a knighthood.

Media industry figures honoured include the chief executive of the Financial Times Group, Rona Fairhead, and former ITV boss Charles Allen, knighted for his work to create UK-wide benefits from the 2012 Olympics – a role he has only held since May.

The fashion industry honours include an OBE for Barbara Hulanicki, the founder of cult 1960s fashion clothing label Biba, who has more recently put her name to a range for Asda.

In the wake of Lord Davies’ report this year tackling male domination in the boardroom, there is recognition for fund manager Helena Morrissey, who set up the 30% Club to boost female representation at the top of big companies.

Finally, the man and wife team behind jewellery makers Links of London, John Ayton and Annoushka Ducas, are awarded MBEs.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/31/new-year-honours-business