My laptop died when I fell into a canal, but Currys won’t fix it for free – SALLY ORDER IT

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

MD, London.

Sally Hamilton responds: What a terrible experience! You told me you were walking along a canal marina when you slipped and fell. As you clung to the edge of a pontoon, a resident whose barge was docked there heard your screams. He struggled to help as your backpack filled with water, but two passersby managed to pull you to safety. Fortunately, you were unharmed, although the same cannot be said for your laptop.

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

The only caveat was that you had to buy an external hard drive costing £47.99 to store the recovered data. He was happy to comply since this exception is mentioned in the policy. The laptop was sent to Currys repair shop.

A week later, the company phoned him demanding an additional £380 to cover additional repairs that were not covered by his plan. You argued that the policy said nothing about such exclusions, simply that you were covered for accidental damage. He reminded them that he had shelled out more than £800 for insurance over the years, but they didn’t want to know.

You spent the money because you needed your data.

At the end of August you went to pick up the device. No wonder you wanted to check it had been fixed before leaving the store, but the battery wasn’t working and Currys said they didn’t have a cable to connect it to the mains.

Once home, he turned it on and discovered that the vital Microsoft Office 365 apps had not been restored and the battery was not charging.

You returned to the store to ask 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 was offered as collateral in case further repairs did not work. Instead, Currys ejected the computer once again. A week passed and you didn’t hear anything.

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

I thought you were on solid ground as your plan clearly stated that once you had set up insurance direct debit payments, they would support you “for as long as you need”.

It also agrees to cover “breakdowns due to mishaps” and promises a replacement if the device can’t be repaired within 14 days. Currys had his computer for three weeks and it was still broken. The promise that in addition to the monthly fee “you will not pay a single cent more” was not kept.

I asked Currys to live up to their current slogan of being “Beyond Technical Expectations”. I am pleased to report that your response was prompt.

Within a few days, Currys refunded him a total of £799, which includes the £380 data recovery fee and £399 as a cancellation value for the laptop. He promised to find out why the battery hadn’t been checked and the apps hadn’t been reinstalled so he could improve processes for other customers in the future.

A Currys spokesperson says: ‘We have apologized for the inconvenience. “Our investigations are ongoing and we will forward the results to teams to ensure this does not happen again.”

I am a 79 year old pensioner and recently used my Tesco credit card to make a £200 investment, after seeing an advert featuring Martin Lewis, the well-known money commentator. Shortly after, a man calling himself Mike Lee called me on the phone and asked me to use my computer and directed me to a performance graph, which I didn’t understand. I decided I wanted my money back.

I emailed Mr Lee, providing him with my card details as requested so he could make the payment. This didn’t happen and I later found out he had taken another 121 pounds. I canceled my card and asked him via email to refund me by check. I didn’t hear anything and his email no longer works. Please help.

CH, Bournemouth.

Sally Hamilton responds: It is advisable to never invest money in anything that is difficult to understand. He was tempted by the advert which seemed to be endorsed by Martin Lewis.

I’m afraid you were fooled by a known scam. Many criminals have hijacked their name from Mr Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert, to lure people into investing in fake schemes. It does not support any type of investment. Scammers often suggest a low sum as an initial investment to gain trust, but then turn to victims for larger sums.

He received numerous calls from a woman with a foreign accent who described herself as his financial advisor. This was clearly the person who called himself Mike Lee’s accomplice. Fortunately, you put a stop to things before the scammers could access your computer and commit more fraud.

There were other red flags, including the fact that the callers never provided him with an official company phone number and called from different cell phones.

This was a way to cover his tracks and confuse you. I think he was lucky to escape with a loss of only £321. However, for you, as a pensioner, this is not a small amount. I contacted Tesco Bank and am pleased to report that they agreed that 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 the phone number, address, and a note addressed to the offending organization giving you permission to speak with Sally. Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot be responsible for them. The Daily Mail cannot accept any legal responsibility for the responses given.