A scam by any other 指名する

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated: 00:00 BST, 22 December 2002

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EVERY week, Tony Hetherington replies to readers' letters, 追加するing comments, advice and the results of his enquiries.

If you think you are a 犠牲者 of 財政上の mismanagement, or want advice before 投資するing, 令状 to Tony Hetherington, 財政上の Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS.

Sorry, but he cannot give personal replies. Please send only copies of 文書s - if these are 関連した to your enquiry. We 悔いる that they cannot be returned.

W.P. 令状s: My 14-year-old daughter discovered the American website www.poetry.com and submitted a poem to its 競争. The result was a 一連の communications, 含むing an 招待 to …に出席する a US 条約 (we said no), and the most 最近の, which said 'send us $169 [about £105] and we will have a submission of yours read out and you will receive a Poet of 長所 Silver Award Bowl, a bronze Commemorative Award Medallion, and one year's 会員の地位'.

Is this a 本物の organisation or a money-making scam?

THE website, www.poetry.com, is run by a 商売／仕事 called the International Library of Poetry, based at Owings Mills, not far from Washington DC.

And when your daughter submitted her poem, managing editor Howard Ely wrote to her: 'After carefully reading and discussing your poem, our 選択 委員会 has certified your poem as a 半分-finalist in our International Open Poetry Contest.'

She could 勝利，勝つ a cash prize, but, regardless, Ely 手配中の，お尋ね者 to 含む her poem in a 調書をとる／予約する called Letters From The Soul - a 'classic, coffee （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する-質 hardbound 容積／容量', price $59 (about £38).

For a その上の modest 料金, the 調書をとる／予約する could 含む your daughter's biography, and at just £25 - a real snip - her poem could be 機動力のある on a walnut-finish plaque. Then there was the CD, the 音声部の tape, the silver bowl, the bronze medallion and, of course, the Washington DC 条約, which would have cost you several hundred 続けざまに猛撃するs in '登録 料金s' on 最高の，を越す of 空気／公表する fares to America and hotel 法案s.

So, scam or not, someone is making a lot of money here. But would the International Society of Poets 受託する just any heap of junk?

Your daughter really did 令状 a poem. I didn't. I 設立する the most boring 始める，決める of words I could think of, which is the small print at the foot of 財政上の 宣伝s, 始める，決める them out like a poem, slapped on a cheesy 肩書を与える and submitted it.

And would you believe it, Disclaimer by Tony Hetherington, really caught El y's 注目する，もくろむ. It seems I have what Ely calls a 'unique talent'. His 選択 委員会 has certified my poem as a 半分-finalist. I might 勝利，勝つ a cash prize, but even if I don't, Ely wants to 含む Disclaimer in Letters From The Soul.

It's a real steal at just £38. And for only £18 more, I can have a 簡潔な／要約する biography 追加するd.

I was too late to qualify for the Washington DC 条約, which was a bit of a let-負かす／撃墜する, but Ely says I can …に出席する the next bash in March, which means Disclaimer could 現実に be read out to an 招待するd audience at Disney World in Florida. Gee, I'm lost for words.

The International Library of Poetry is 簡単に vanity publishing. And if people want to 支払う／賃金 for the thrill of seeing their 指名する and their poem in a 調書をとる／予約する, I guess that's 罰金 as long as they go into the whole を取り引きする their 注目する，もくろむs open.

There have been 抗議するs in Australia though, where it was 申し立てられた／疑わしい that this outfit was 的ing schoolchildren on the basis that their parents would cough up for the 調書をとる／予約する, the walnut plaque and so on.

So, I'm not 受託するing any of Ely's 肉親，親類d 申し込む／申し出s, but I'm sure that I will be 本気で considered as the next poet laureate.

Bank 降伏するs on 偽の 120-day 支配する

M.H. 令状s: I paid £530 by credit card to Affinity Group of Richmond, Surrey, two years ago for a long-称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 割引 on holidays, with up to two years to 支払う／賃金 the balance. Recently, seeing a について言及する in your column that Affinity Group was 破産者／倒産した, I wrote to my card issuer, NatWest, hoping for a refund. Imagine my surprise to be told there is a 120-day time 限界 on 埋め立てるs and there was nothing the bank could do.

YOU'RE surprised? Imagine my surprise to find that NatWest is using this 偽の 120-day 支配する to get off the hook.

Affinity Group (which is not linked to any 類似して 指名するd holiday company still 貿易（する）ing) was a scam. It （人命などを）奪う，主張するd to have been in 商売／仕事 for nine years, arranging 割引 取引，協定s for the staff of many major 雇用者s, includi ng police 軍隊s.

The truth was that it was 始める，決める up in 1998 and went 破産した／（警察が）手入れする in April 2001. Since the 十分な price to join its 割引 計画／陰謀 was £1,200, few, if any, families would have had time to 回復する their cash through 減ずるd holiday prices.

When you tried to get your money 支援する from NatWest, the bank told you it was bound by 支配するs 始める，決める by MasterCard and ビザ. It said: 'It is with 悔いる that the timescales laid 負かす／撃墜する by the 治める／統治するing 団体／死体s have already been 越えるd, these 存在 120 days from the date the 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 was 適用するd to your account.'

However, MasterCard and ビザ can make whatever 支配するs they like, but NatWest is bound by British 法律, and Section 75 of the 消費者 Credit 行為／法令／行動する says that if a 取引，協定 goes wrong, the card issuer is 共同で liable along with the merchant. And there is no 120-day 限界.

NatWest now 受託するs this. Your card has already been credited with £50 as a gesture of 好意／親善, and if you send the bank a copy of your Affinity Group 領収書 and 協定, it will refund the 十分な £530.

But what makes the bank's 不本意 to 会合，会う your （人命などを）奪う，主張する 特に irritating is that NatWest already knows all about Affinity Group. Last May, we published a letter from a reader whose refund （人命などを）奪う，主張する to NatWest ビザ was 拒絶するd until he 接触するd us.

I know card issuers detest Section 75, but that's no excuse for giving cardholders the 小衝突-off.

Who made 'adult' calls?

P.A.T. 令状s: I am 71 and have bought a 数字表示式の television. After receiving a £111 法案, I now find that thieves can make use of my phone line. I have made no 進歩 with BT, which just says it is my account and I must 支払う／賃金.

I ASKED staff at BT's （警察，軍隊などの）本部 whether it was technically possible for someone to ハイジャック（する） the line linked to your 数字表示式の television service, and the answer was no. However, I also asked it to check the numbers that someone dialled to run up this big 法案, and helpfully, it did produce an explanation.

I'm afraid someone in your house has used the phone line to connect to the internet, 経由で 賞与金-率 numbers 配分するd to what are 述べるd as 'adult entertainment' services.

Sorry, but the 法案 has to be paid, though you may now be able to pass it on to whoever you think responsible.

Teacher to 支払う／賃金 税金 on £16,500 gift

K.P. 令状s: My wife recently retired after 32 years as a teacher 雇うd by the London borough of Havering. I am 無能にするd, so she took 早期に 退職 to care for me. Her 年金 and lump sum were 高めるd わずかに, and the 会議 generously gave her a その上の £16,513. They were 自信のない of the 税金 治療 of this extra money, and it was decided to 税金 it under PAYE, but also to 述べる it on her payslip as '補償（金）'.

There is no 契約 that する権利を与えるs my wife to this sum, so I consider it to be an ex-gratia 支払い（額） that should not be 税金d. However, the Inland 歳入 持続するs it is taxable.

I HATE to say this, but your wife's 税金 office is 権利 and the £16,513 is taxable. The 推論する／理由 is that, even without a contractual entitlement, the money was paid to her because of her 職業.

To put it another way, Havering would never have given the same 支払い（額） to someone in 同一の circumstances who was not 雇うd by the 会議.

True, the 支払い（額） was voluntary. But this just puts it in the same 部類 as a tip to a taxi driver or waiter - and like tips, it is taxable.