I ordered two Victoria Beckham Beauty Portofino ’97 perfumes online from Space NK – one for me and one for my sister. 

They cost a total of £416.50, including a discount. My package was delivered four days later, but one bottle was missing.

After I complained, the company told me the package was correctly packed and there would be no further action. 

I contacted its chief executive but got the same response. I was horrified as not only am I missing an expensive perfume, but I have effectively been accused of lying. Please help.

S.H., Haywards Heath, West Sussex.

Sally Hamilton replies: You were understandably distressed not to be believed, as well as being well out of pocket. The whole case had a whiff of dismissiveness about it.

The only evidence you had that something was amiss was that there was so much paper packaging stuffed into the box you couldn’t see how two bottles of the perfume could possibly have fitted in.

You sent me photos, and I could well believe that the package had been sent without one of the items – either through oversight or deliberately. There was certainly a lot of black paper spilling out.

You were furious to have your complaint batted away, your pleas to the top management ignored. You were then blanked by customer services when you made a further appeal.

You even emailed Victoria Beckham Beauty to inform it about how you had been treated, though you knew the situation was nothing to do with this company. You weren’t surprised to get no response, but it helped to vent your frustration.

You should have been protected by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which states that it is the retailer’s duty to get orders safely into the customer’s hands. If they don’t arrive, they must replace it or offer a refund.

The loss of more than £200 is one thing, but you were seriously aggrieved by the beauty retailer’s reaction, which you said effectively called into question your integrity.

Consumer rights expert Martyn James says: ‘In such a situation, if a business refuses to replace or refund, it’s basically saying the customer stole the items or is lying. If it’s going to accuse customers, then it had better have proof.

‘In the absence of evidence, it’s the accuser who needs to prove the allegations, not the accused. I’d want to know what had been done to investigate the missing items during their journey to the recipient, whether it is checking weight or inspecting the wrapping for potential tampering.’

You had requested Space NK check CCTV footage to prove irrevocably that no error or theft had taken place in its packing department. As far as you know, nothing happened.

As well as the photos you sent me, you explained that the parcel received weighed 765g (a 520g single bottle of the scent plus a free sample of another product of 245g) but the label stated the package weight was 1,240g.

The mystery of what happened may never be solved, but I am pleased to say that on my intervention Space NK leapt into action to apologise, with the rather odd explanation that it hadn’t completed its investigations on your case. This smelled a bit off considering the radio silence you faced when escalating your complaint.

But it came up smelling of roses in the end. Space NK not only refunded you for the missing bottle, but sent you a replacement as well. I wish you and your sister a Happy Christmas.

NS&I won't accept my mum's Lasting Power of Attorney 

My mother is 96 and lives in a care home. I have a registered Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) for her financial and property affairs, as well as health and welfare. 

I need access to my mother’s National Savings and Investments Premium Bonds account so I can top up her current account to pay for her £6,500-a-month care bill. But I am having trouble getting NS&I to accept the LPA. Please help.

A.S., Hampshire.

Individuals can use an LPA, a legal document, to appoint people they trust to manage their affairs if they lose capacity.

Your mother was sensible to have organised this, and you were wise to set things up so that financial firms can see your mother’s LPA online rather than having to send the paper version of the document to all involved. This requires a special access code that enables financial firms to log on and see the details.

You rang NS&I to let it know you wanted to be able to transfer funds from your mother’s premium bonds into her current account, and gave it the code.

Unfortunately, NS&I said this wasn’t enough and instead wrote to you explaining it needed a letter from your mother’s GP or other medical specialist confirming that she did not have the capacity to manage her own affairs.

You were baffled and frustrated, firstly by NS&I’s insistence on communicating by post, but more importantly by its request you source a doctor’s report, something which other firms had not asked for and which can be time-consuming and costly.

You asked for my help as your mother’s current account is dwindling fast and you need urgent access to her premium bonds to pay her care home fees.

I asked NS&I why you were being forced to jump through this extra hoop by providing a medical report.

It turns out the savings organisation is only doing what your mother herself requested when the LPA was set up. NS&I did access her LPA online, following your contact, but found the document’s wording specifies that her attorneys can act on her behalf only if they have obtained a written medical opinion.

NS&I quoted the LPA, which stated: ‘My attorneys and replacement attorney shall only act under this power if they have obtained a written medical opinion that I am no longer mentally capable of managing and administering my property and financial affairs.’

A spokesman for the firm said: ‘As a legal document we are required to follow her instructions.’

I passed this information to you, and you have accepted it, though now must face a month-long wait to get the necessary medical report completed by her busy GP – and pay up to £100 for the privilege.

The GP also needs to see your mother’s health and welfare LPA, which requires a separate code to access it online.

More red tape, but hopefully you will finally be able to get access to her NS&I funds early in the new year.

An NS&I spokesman said as your mother had made the stipulation in the LPA of getting a written medical opinion first, ‘as a legal document we are required to follow her instructions’.

Straight to the point 

In June 2020 I booked a trip with 23 friends to Tenerife with Alpha Holidays and paid a £5,000 deposit, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic. I tried to get my deposit back from Alpha Holidays and its parent company Truly Holdings, but it collapsed in late 2021. 

I was told to contact the Travel Trust Association (TTA) to get the deposit back, but it has not done so despite many promises.

S.K., Liverpool.

We recently moved into our new home but I have been given two Southern Water accounts for the property. 

There seems to be a ghost account with no direct debit or payment plan, unlike the other account for which I pay £69.41 a month. However, Southern Water has demanded I pay two outstanding bills – £54.43 and £46.49 – on this ghost account.

J.M., Horsham, West Sussex.

Southern Water apologises and says it has closed the other account and cleared the balance on it.

In May, BT said we must switch to Digital Voice. But since then our internet connection has become very poor, despite visits from nine engineers. BT told us to switch provider, but I don't want to lose my BT email address. We're in our 80s and rely on the internet for food shopping and banking.

C.B., Buckinghamshire.

BT says that it has carried out tests and found no issues with the broadband speeds being delivered to your home. The problem may be with the devices you are using. If you do switch, it will allow you to keep your email address.