We've made some changes
to The Sunday Times
Times Money readers have years of experience of tussles with the likes of British Gas and TalkTalk. If you are having problems with a service provider or financial institution, email us here. Explain what the problem is and what you would like to achieve. One dilemma will be published each week. The reader who sends the best answer will receive a £25 gift voucher.
Keep your emails concise and include your name, address and telephone number. Due to the volume of mail we receive, please understand that we cannot publish all requests.
This week's problem:
"I was a Virgin Media customer for three years, but I opted out when it lost Sky One. It fought hard for my custom and I agreed to six more months before cancelling in October. I neglected to cancel the direct debit and Virgin continued to take £25 a month for three months. It is still holding my £75, with no hint of an apology or whiff of compensation. I even sent my bank statements. I wonder if Sir Richard Branson would be happy with such useless customer service? Can you help?"
MATTHEW DAVIS, Hove, East Sussex
Email us your answer here for a chance to win!
How the new breed of location based mobile services can find your nearest cashpoint, restaurant or wi-fi hotspot
Enjoy screenings of all the classic films you love, plus take advantage of two-for-one tickets
We explore leisure activities that are safe and suitable for all of the family
Times Online's new TV show helps you make the right decisions for your pet
Are you California dreaming? Explore the wonders of the Golden State. Also enter our fantastic competition
See the best entries in this year's competition
Your brain is capable of more than you might think...
An interactive preview of the brand new For Your Eyes Only exhibition
The latest travel news plus the best hotels and gadgets for business travellers

Love Sudoku? Play our brand new interactive game: with added functionality and daily prizes

Are you irritable when you return from work? Drained of emotion? You could be suffering from boreout
Prepare for some shock and awe, petrol lovers. Despite the greens trying to wipe it out, the car is about to offer us the most exciting year ever
We've trawled the brochures and websites to find this summer’s best holidays for every taste and budget

Our Credit Clinic has free help and advice

From mortgages to savings, borrowing to consumer affairs, our collection of tools, services and guides will help you make your money go further
2006
£189,500
NW England
2008/08
£169,950
NW England
2007/57
£35,000
South East England
Great car insurance deals online
Circa £82,000 per annum
Birmingham Women's Hospital
Birmingham
To £28k
Barclaycard
Northampton/Liverpool/Teeside
£
Up to £66,000 per annum
Hertfordshire County Council
South East
To £38k
Barclaycard
Northampton/Liverpool
2 Bathrooms, Balcony and Garden
Beautiful Gardens w/ stunning Thames Views
Dining, Shopping & Riverside Pk
Mortgages, bank acc & money transfers to help you buy abroad
Explore mystical Jordan
From £1030 for 7nts 4*
to USA's Most Cosmopolitan City; San Francisco!
£POA
Book Now for Winter 08/09 and Get 10% off!
Great travel insurance deals online
Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online, The Times and The Sunday Times. Search globrix.com to buy or rent UK property.
© Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.
This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard Terms and Conditions. Please read our Privacy Policy.To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online, The Times or The Sunday Times, click here.This website is published by a member of the News International Group. News International Limited, 1 Virginia St, London E98 1XY, is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701. VAT number GB 243 8054 69.
Firstsave is covered by the UK compensation scheme so if there is a default then the first £35,000 of any deposit is protected. Hurray!. If you still wish to withdraw, polite negotiation (keep detailed notes) will work best, if not resort to the UK Financial Ombudsman (www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Chris Peaker, Sandy, UK
eBay ! - Just make sure you add the correct conditions !
sarah, CAMBRIDGE,
If you genuinely feel that they misrepresentated the sale of those shares to you, either by non-disclosure of facts or by their silence etc etc, then you could possibly have a go through the Financial Ombudsman Service.
However, my personal advice is this.....if its a manufacturing company that has a viable product, then wait and hang on to those shares if the company seems liquid enough to continue.
The loss you have is substantial at this stage but tomorrow is another day and the shares market is based solely on confidence. Just hang in there for the upturn.
if the basket looks like its going to leak badly, then just cut and run and base it on experience.
pazz, London, UK
To be quite honest if this was any ordinary guy from the streets who had persuade you to invest your money with such disastrous results he would have no doubt been charge with fraud on a grand scale ( being working class of course ) however, because these people work under the guise of reputable stockbrokers or fund managers rather than thieves they simply get away with it, welcome to the real world cash in your chips and put it down to experience and let your friends and the rest of the world know who these bunch of vagabonds are, I'm afraid there is no easy solution just take what moneys left before they decide to squander that as well!
william thomson, Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Patrick Tribe, Swansea:
I'm afraid not, however, I have a 100% guarenteed solution.
Sell your shares, and give the £3500 to me.
In only 6 weeks, I'll have made it into £35000, which I will split with you 50/50.
If thats not good enough, I have $300 million in a bank account I need you to buy property with, all I need is a £3k release fee...
Dominic, Manchetser, UK
I emailed Vodafone Customer Services on Wednesday at 4.30pm and received a reply on Thursday at 10.48pm. Vodafone confirmed to me that :
"If...your phone is stolen, we do refund the calling credit, for this all you need to do is purchase a new SIM card and get back to us with your new SIM card and we will transfer your calling credit back to you."
My reading of their email is that they assume you would buy a new Vodafone SIM card.
So - given the quick response to my email, I would recommend you buy the new SIM card then email them.
And if you need proof of them having said this, then contact me and i'll forward their email to you. You can obtain my details from the Scottish Law Society.
Sarah McGregor, Glasgow
Sarah McGregor, Glasgow, Scotland
Advice for the vodaphone pay as you go customer t- I would suggest they contact the company - by phone gives a quicker response - & ask to speak to someone who has authority because they do not want to waste the operator's time (or their own) explaining the problem. Then calmly state that they have been a longstanding customer which shows their loyalty & that they are not the type of customer who is constantly switching providers. However, they feel that they might be inclined to start looking for other deals if they are not valued as a customer of vodaphone. To prevent this from occurring, vodaphone could offer to reimburse them for the loss of credit which is unlikely to have been used as vodaphone were notified of the loss of the phone promptly. In addition, although they have not previously been a very frequent user of the mobile, a change in their circumstances means that they are likely to be making more frequent calls & will be a more lucrative customer in the future
Shirley Andrews, Sardis, Nr Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire