My laptop died when I fell in a canal, but Currys won’t fix it for free: SALLY SORTS IT

In August I had an unfortunate accident and fell into a canal along with my rucksack containing my laptop, which unsurprisingly was damaged by the water. Since I have a Currys’ Knowhow Care Plan purchased at the same time as my laptop in 2015, I thought my device would be covered. I took it to a store in London to have it repaired for free. However, Currys refused to properly honour the contract. This has worsened my already traumatic experience. Can you help?

M.D., London.

Sally Hamilton replies: What a terrifying ordeal. You told me you were walking alongside a canal marina when you slipped and tumbled in. While clinging on to the edge of a pontoon your screams were heard by a resident whose barge was berthed there. He struggled to help as your rucksack was filling with water but two passers-by managed to pull you to safety. Fortunately, you were unharmed – although you couldn’t say the same for your laptop.

When you took it, along with your care policy contract, to the Currys store a few days later, you were relieved to be told you were covered for the repairs.

The only caveat was you had to buy an external hard drive costing £47.99 for storing the recovered data. You were happy to comply as this exception was mentioned in the policy. The laptop was despatched to the Currys repair shop.

A week later, the company phoned you demanding a further £380 to cover additional repairs which were not covered by your plan. You argued that the policy said nothing about any such exclusions – simply that you were covered for accidental damage. You reminded them you had forked out more than £800 for the insurance over the years but they did not want to know.

You coughed up the cash because you needed your data.

At the end of August, you went to pick up the device. You rightly wanted to check that it had been fixed before leaving the store, but the battery wasn’t working and Currys said it did not have a lead to attach it to the mains.

Once at home, you switched it on, only to find the vital Microsoft Office 365 apps had not been reinstated – plus the battery wasn’t charging.

You returned to the shop to ask either for a proper repair, a refund of the £380 extra charge or a voucher for the same sum, so you could buy a new laptop.

The latter had been offered to you as a guarantee if the additional repairs failed to work. Instead, Currys sent off the computer once again. A week passed and you heard nothing.

Fed up with having now paid a total of nearly £1,230 for a computer you could no longer use, you came to me.

I believed you were on firm ground as your plan clearly stated that once you had set up the direct debit payments for the insurance, support would be given ‘for as long as you need’.

It also agrees to cover ‘breakdown through mishaps’ and promises a replacement if the device can’t be fixed within 14 days. Currys had your computer for three weeks – and it was still broken. The pledge that on top of the monthly fee ‘you won’t pay a penny more’ didn’t hold water.

I asked Currys to live up to its current slogan of being ‘Beyond Techspectations’. I’m pleased to report its response was swift.

Within a few days Currys reimbursed you a total of £799, including the £380 data recovery fee and £399 as a write-off value for the laptop. It promised to find out why your battery had not been checked and the apps not reinstalled so that it could improve processes for other customers in the future.

A Currys spokesman says: ‘We have apologised for the inconvenience. Our investigations are ongoing and we will be feeding the findings back to the teams to ensure this doesn’t reoccur.’

I’m a 79-year-old pensioner and recently used my Tesco credit card to make a £200 investment, having seen an ad which featured Martin Lewis, the well-known money commentator. Soon afterwards, a man calling himself Mike Lee phoned and asked me to go on my computer where he directed me to a performance chart, which I failed to understand. I decided I wanted my money back.

I emailed Mr Lee, giving him my card details as he requested so he could make the repayment. This did not happen and then I discovered he had taken another £121. I cancelled my card and asked him by email to refund me by cheque. I heard nothing, and his email no longer works. Please help.

C.H., Bournemouth.

Sally Hamilton replies: It is wise never to put money into anything hard to understand. You were tempted by the ad appearing to be supported by Martin Lewis.

I’m afraid you were tricked by a known scam. Mr Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert, has had his name hijacked by many crooks to lure people into investing in fake schemes. He does not endorse any kind of investment. The scammers often suggest a low sum for an initial investment to win confidence but go on to tap victims for larger sums.

You also tell me you received numerous calls from a woman with a foreign accent who described herself as your financial adviser. This was clearly an accomplice of the person who called themselves Mike Lee. Fortunately, you put a halt to things before the scammers could get access to your computer and commit further fraud.

There were other red flags – including the fact the callers never provided you with an official company phone number and rang from different mobiles.

This was a way to cover their tracks and confuse you. I feel you were fortunate to escape with a loss of just £321. However, this is not a small amount for you as a pensioner. I contacted Tesco Bank and I’m pleased to say it agreed you had been scammed and offered a refund.

• Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY or email sally@dailymail.co.uk — include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.