The HfP chat thread – Friday 29th January

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

• BrightonReader says:

  29 Jan29 January 17:50

  I have a BA hols FTV voucher for approx £750.

  Can I use that to pay deposits on more then one trip or can it only be used against one trip in its entirety?

  Have reasons for not wanting to add any spend to go on my cards at the moment.

  • Graham D says:

    29 Jan29 January 20:24

    Yes, you can use it on more than one trip.

    e.g. if you needed a £500 deposit then you can use £500 worth of the voucher and still have a residual £250 left on the FTV.

    Takes a few days but the finance team just allocate £X to your new booking leaving the rest on your original FTV.

    Have done it several times.

    • BrightonReader says:

      29 Jan29 January 21:12

      Thanks that’s good to know!

• YC says:

  29 Jan29 January 18:19

  Being asked to pay taxes/duties by DHL for an item bought online in GBP (but shipped from Europe) large fashion brand. Is this now the new normal? Or should I be fighting my seller on these fees? Not mentioned anywhere during the transaction journey.

  • Crispr says:

    29 Jan29 January 18:31

    Had this with Sandro, shipped with DPD – opted to not pay for the fees and its now stuck at the depot citing delay. Sandro have acknowledged the issue but no refund to date.

    I’ve had a delivery from LN-CC which was shipped from Europe but they processed the paperwork fine and no customs/duties required – more likely a cockup with the seller.

  • Andrew says:

    29 Jan29 January 18:38

    Seems so unfortunately, there’s been a bit in the news the last couple of weeks about it, here is one example:
    https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55734277

  • Hotelier says:

    29 Jan29 January 19:18

    Same thing happened to me two weeks ago. I later went on to carefully read the T&Cs on the sellers website and unfortunately didn’t have grounds to complaint. It was not obvious but it was there. It was an additional £30-40 on a £200 transaction. Thought about asking them to take it back but sure you will end up paying for the delivery without getting anything – depending how much you need to pay, see if worth it. Buying GB moving forward!!

    • YC says:

      29 Jan29 January 20:24

      Agreed. Or buy in store when things open up. I wonder if UK residents can now claim tax free when travelling to Europe? A flight to France or Spain could be free with just one major purchase

      • kitten says:

        29 Jan29 January 23:44

        Yes

  • Andrew says:

    29 Jan29 January 19:32

    Yes.

    If the retailer doesn’t charge you the taxes and duties upfront and complete the relevant documentation, then you are liable as the importer.

    As well as the courier’s charge for collecting them on behalf of HMRC – usually about £10

    Most goods under £135 are ok. Which makes it so much cheaper importing from the USA now.

    • kitten says:

      29 Jan29 January 23:46

      Note that the EU seller is not supposed to charge you their local VAT as it should be processed as an export sale then you get charged VAT according to your local VAT rate.

• GaryE says:

  29 Jan29 January 18:53

  I linked the Nectar and Avios Accounts and transferred the 1600 Nectar points into Avios on Monday. Did a shop yesterday but have not received the double points – as anyone received the double points – do they come through as a separate transaction days later or should they be just the normal points doubled?

  • Rob says:

    29 Jan29 January 19:17

    I think they are added on at the end of the offer in one chunk.

    • ChrisC says:

      29 Jan29 January 19:32

      T&Cs state (does no one read these?)

      “The double nectar points will ve credited to eligible participant’s nectar accounts witin 28 days of 19 April 2021”

      So don’t expect anything until after the 20th April or later.

      • Peter K says:

        29 Jan29 January 19:51

        Sadly people don’t seem to read things these days.
        How many articles have someone who asks a question on the comments that is already answered in the article for example.
        I guess many think it’s easier to ask rather than look it up themselves or do some research.

        • BJ says:

          29 Jan29 January 20:40

          It’s been bad in the past year, just all the newbies around. They are taking easy way out but missing a trick because googling Head for Points plus whatever throws up all the relevant specific articles with the associated in-depth comments. Asking just gets them the simple answer which often merely scratches the surface.

        • ChrisC says:

          29 Jan29 January 21:18

          I don’t have a problem with people asking questions but when it’s such a basic one they could find out from themselves – it’s just so frustrating especially as it’s been asked and answered on the other Nectar / Avios threads!

        • kitten says:

          29 Jan29 January 23:51

          and they seem to be mostly “seagulls” in the management technique sense – fly in once, drop $h1t, fly out. Hard to engage, but i suppose it’s a reflection of the blog’s success.

      • BJ says:

        29 Jan29 January 20:51

        In Nectar land that very likely means 17-19 May, points on nectar offers posting early are the exception not the rule.

• Baji Nahid says:

  29 Jan29 January 19:34

  In regards to the linking and unlinking of BAEC and nectar, does the 4 linking/unlinking limit mean that you can link and unlink different accounts 4 times each in a year (say linked my brothers nectar account to my BAEC and then link my nectar then my sisters nectar etc up to a max of 4 nectar accounts to one BAEC)?

  or can you only link 2 accounts and the unlink the 2 accounts from each BAEC and Nectar ( say i linked my brothers and then unlinked his meaning that 2 have been used up and therefore I have another 2 left) ?

  • The uncivil servant says:

    29 Jan29 January 19:46

    Play by the rules and you wont get your account suspended.

    • Baji Nahid says:

      29 Jan29 January 19:55

      if we played by the rules then life just wouldn’t be fun would it. Do as I say not as I do seems to be a recurring theme some what 😉

      All jokes aside sweetie, i’ve always abided by the rules 🙂

      • BJ says:

        29 Jan29 January 20:31

        Boring … what are rules for if not bending or breaking? I thought we all learned that about 2 months old!

      • The uncivil servant says:

        29 Jan29 January 21:25

        Is that it? I’ll give you 2/10 for effort. You must try harder.

  • AJA says:

    29 Jan29 January 21:40

    The way I read it is one BAEC account can be linked and unlinked to a nectar account 4 times a year. It doesn’t have to be the same nectar account each time. I don’t think you can link 2 nectar accounts to one BAEC account at the same time.

    • Rob says:

      29 Jan29 January 22:40

      It works both ways – you also cannot link a Nectar account to more than 4 BA accounts (which is more likely if you are emptying out various small balances).

      • AJA says:

        29 Jan29 January 23:26

        Thanks Rob

• Andrew says:

  29 Jan29 January 20:55

  SmartRewards now have their own icon on the MBNA app.

  On launch they were only available on the website.

• Tocsin says:

  29 Jan29 January 21:17

  (Mostly lurker here…)

  I remember some of the regular, helpful posters on HfP – haven’t seen Lady London posting for a while… anybody know if all is ok?

  • BJ says:

    29 Jan29 January 21:21

    Her paw prints are all over the comments 🙂

    • Tocsin says:

      29 Jan29 January 21:36

      I just haven’t seen the name for a while!

  • Rob says:

    29 Jan29 January 22:40

    She’s still around ….

  • James says:

    29 Jan29 January 23:07

    What about SpursDebs? Not seen her comment for ages and recall she often referenced ill-health and vulnerabilities. Didn’t always agree with her when she got a bit political but hope she’s okay, anyone know?

    • Lady London says:

      30 Jan30 January 00:29

      Number9 / Spurs Debs post last Saturday 23rd page 4 two-thirds of the way down timed 24th 08:01, looking like some sad news. I would think she’s taking a breather.

  • ChrisBCN says:

    29 Jan29 January 23:10

    Some people change names every once in a while!

  • Baji Nahid says:

    29 Jan29 January 23:11

    Meeeoooowwww 🐈

    • memesweeper says:

      30 Jan30 January 00:10

      Ha ha

  • Lady London says:

    30 Jan30 January 00:14

    Lady London retired from the refund business as too much time had been spent and it was pushing out urgent personal things. Getting trolled by a seagull packlet was the final straw. Especially as an explanation of a comment that had been misunderstood by a scared 20-year-old rattled by an increase in Covid restrictions who had not lived through the UK history referred to, was deleted. Lady London felt at odds with the mores now practised in the UK by this group and so not worth going out of her way to help even though quite a few inaccurate answers have been given to some posters since.

    Lady London’s much nicer sister does comment but intends to keep what she gives in check. Let’s see how that goes.

    • Tocsin says:

      30 Jan30 January 11:22

      Good to hear you’re ok (relatively… sorry you had a SM trolling). In Churchill’s phrase: “KBO” 🙂

• BJ says:

  29 Jan29 January 21:30

  Tamnavulin just £20 a amazon for anybody who wants to drown their sorrows in style at a great price. Good gift option otherwise.

  • Chas says:

    29 Jan29 January 21:44

    Thanks BJ – not had that particular one before, but my bottle has now been ordered.

  • Vit says:

    29 Jan29 January 22:07

    Opted for Choya umeshu extra year instead… not as good I know, but at least keep us feeling nostalgic until we can go back there again. 🙄

• 747_Brat says:

  29 Jan29 January 22:01

  Green Network Energy and Simplicity Energy have ceased trading, leaving their customers without a supplier.

  https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/martin-lewis-issues-warning-410000-23404835

  • BuildBackBetter says:

    30 Jan30 January 03:38

    Another utility disappearing with my cash!

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.