'I subsequently received a call from a service clerk recommending that I not terminate in case I wished to reconnect in the future, and also suggesting I give two months' notice rather than the required one month - to ensure that they have sufficient time.

'Subsequent to the final date of the notice period and return of the cable box and remote, I received notification from Cable TV that they would be taking further sums from my credit card in respect of further subscriptions.

'Having spoken to an operator and got his name, I was assured that only HK$11 rather than HK$340 (as per the notification) would be taken; I even double checked, specifically asking him to confirm that the higher amount would not be collected.

'Cable TV later collected the HK$340. In response to my complaint, they advised me that they would send a cheque within a couple of weeks. I insisted this be done immediately and electronically, which resulted in referral to a colleague who subsequently advised me that it would take six to eight weeks to issue a cheque.

'The amount is not big, but I am angered by the fact they were unauthorised to take the money, confirmed that they would not take it (as per a presumably taped conversation), but they now propose taking two months to refund the money - and by cheque.

'Despite my objections, the customer service individual refused any alternatives and simply said they would 'punish' the operator who told me the higher amount would not be debited to my account. I did let him know that this provided little comfort from my perspective.

A spokeswoman for Cable TV said Mr Huxley's case had been solved. 'We have apologised to Mr Huxley for our administrative error and informed him that the excess charge will be refunded through his credit card account,' the spokeswoman said.

Take Action had been unable to contact a PCCW spokesman to deal with the case of Ms Lai, whose complaint was reported in this column last week. Ms Lai's mobile phone service provider, Sunday, a subsidiary of PCCW, did not allow her to transfer her phone number to a new service provider when she wanted to terminate the Sunday service about a year ago. We finally got hold of a spokeswoman who was able to deal with Ms Lai's problem.

The spokeswoman said: 'After a thorough investigation of the complaint published in the Take Action column on December 31, we have explained to Ms Lai that she could transfer her mobile number and join other operators any time. To show the company's goodwill, we also proposed different service packages to Ms Lai for her consideration. Up to this moment, we have yet to receive any confirmation from Ms Lai.

'Once again, thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. We believe there is room for improvement in customer service and we will certainly make every endeavour to improve.'

A spokesman for Whampoa Garden Management has responded to Mr Ho's complaint to Take Action (December 10) about dust created by renovation work near his home in Hung Hom.

Senior estate manager Andy Ha said an inspection had been carried out at the flats concerned, Block 5, site 12, Bamboo Mansions. 'Upon receipt of the report, we immediately had an inspection and advised the renovation workers concerned to take all necessary preventive measures, including, but not limited to, closing the windows of the flat and spraying water onto the workplace so as to minimise the dust nuisance that may be caused.

'After that, we have also stepped up our routine inspection on renovation works so as to keep the nuisance to a minimum.'

Mr Ha said one of Mr Ho's family members had told the company that no dust had been observed for more than a week and the situation had become acceptable to all parties concerned.