Your problems: Goldcar charged a high price for initials on card

I rented a car from Goldcar via doyouspain.com and paid with my debit card. I have been going to Mallorca twice a year for more than a decade, so I used the service I have always used.

As always, I was asked to present a credit card for the security deposit, which I did. The booking used my first and surname, while my credit card shows the initials of my first and middle names, followed by my surname. Because my full name was not on the card, staff at the Goldcar desk claimed this differed from the named driver and refused to honour the booking.

They would, however, agree to a new rental, using the same credit card at an extra cost of €600 (£524). I think this is an extortion trick. I had proof of my identity in the form of my passport, driving licence and bank statements showing that the card was mine, and my initials matched those on the booking. The cashier even accepted they had no doubts about me or my booking.

Despite several phone calls to doyouspain.com, I was unable to get any refund for either booking. In total, a rental that was due to cost just shy of €200 cost more than €800. I have complained but have received no response and have found no way to escalate the complaint, despite asking specifically for information. Any help would be appreciated.

Credit card and bank accounts frequently use initials rather than full names, and some include middle names and titles, while others don’t. You had offered a passport and driving licence as supporting proof of identity, so it seems completely unreasonable for Goldcar staff to force you to rebook – at a much higher price using the previously problematic credit card.

I asked Goldcar to refund your €600. It said: “The company’s terms and conditions state that card payment must be made by the main driver. In that respect, it is important that the name in the booking is identical to the name on the credit card. This is for identity verification purposes. The company, therefore, stands by the decision at the branch to request the customer to rebook.”

Nevertheless, it refunded €637 to your bank account.

Your experience is a good warning for other readers: make sure you make any car rental booking and the ensuing deposit using payment cards which show your full name, otherwise you could end up considerably out of pocket.

After signing up for a seemingly attractive mobile package with EE on 10 July, all other means of contact with the outside world were taken from me – no landline, wifi or broadband. I live alone, in a semi-rural location and with little, if any, mobile signal. It was so drastic but I thought, naively, that it would require a simple “flick of the switch” to be reconnected.

I was given a landline on 23 July with a different number, and after many long and sometimes difficult telephone conversations with both BT and EE, I find myself at a loss as to what to do next.

Each time I contact them, I’m told this should never have happened, I have never had an account with BT, I should look elsewhere, they are so sorry this has happened or a broadband connection will be made on such and such a date … and so it goes on.

Each time I finish the call, I feel reassured but then nothing happens. Apart from texting on my mobile and using my landline to talk to people, I have to rely on friends and neighbours to pay bills, shop and deal with emails.

There is no door I can knock on and no building to go to: all I have is the 150 number to call EE, knowing it will take all my patience and time to be told it will all be sorted, but it never is. Can you help me?

I asked BT to sort out your account and five days later it told me your broadband had been connected and was now working. By way of apology for the delay, it has reduced the cost of your package by £15 a month for the 24-month contract, which will save you £360 in total.

DWP update

Last week, I wrote that the Department for Work and Pensions was pursuing a bereaved mother for £66 in benefits that were mistakenly paid a year ago to her late son’s estate (Your Problems, 15 September). The DWP has now confirmed that it will no longer seek repayment.

Email your problems to Jill Insley at your.problems@observer.co.uk