The column for anyone fed up with bureaucracy, frustrated with delays or furious with poor service. Tell us your complaint and we'll try to fix it... Carol Teng of Singapore redeemed a ticket with Cathay Pacific's Asia Miles, a customer loyalty programme, in August and provided them with her credit card details for payment of airport taxes and other charges. Then, mistaken charges were made and her demands for a refund fell on deaf ears. 'In my September credit card statement, I noticed two transactions made by Asia Miles,' she wrote. 'I called them repeatedly, faxed them and sent them numerous online queries, but their response on each occasion was fairly standard - 'case pending investigation'. 'I was finally told that due to 'an internal system error beyond their control' they had charged me for another member's expenses. To add insult to injury, I was told a refund would typically take one month, effective from the completion date of their investigation! 'When I registered my annoyance at the long waiting time, I was informed there was nothing they could do as it was very much left to Cathay Pacific's finance department. They also mentioned something about waiting for the member whose credit card they should have debited to sign some letter or something, but is any of this my business? 'I then asked to speak to a senior manager, but was told he does not speak to customers directly and would only entertain written correspondence and - besides - he would not be able to offer further assistance. While the lady on the line was polite, she kept insisting there wasn't very much they could do. 'She said the only way my refund could be expedited would be for her to pay me out of her own pocket! This could actually be true, judging by Asia Miles' slow response thus far. 'Asia Miles has clearly misused my card and debited it without my approval. Why then, should I be made to bear the brunt of their inefficiencies? Why should I be penalised for their flawed systems and processes? If I didn't discover the unauthorised charge, would they have uncovered it?' Asia Miles refunded Ms Teng's money last Wednesday and Cathay Pacific has apologised for the error. 'The incorrect charges posted to Ms Teng's credit card account and the time taken to arrange for the refund were due to a manual error by our staff,' a spokeswoman said. 'We have already taken action to avoid similar incidents in the future. We apologise for the inconvenience caused to Ms Teng. A refund was arranged to her credit card account on October 19.' Reader Emma Hurlston-Tseng wrote to complain about a scary advertisement for the new horror movie Home Sweet Home, which is on the back of a Citybus bus. Her complaint and a Take Action inquiry led Citybus and New World First Bus to cancel the ad last week. 'While driving with my two children, we happened to be behind a bus carrying an advertisement for a local horror movie called Home Sweet Home on its back. It features a gruesome, half-melted, menacing face taking up the best part of the back of the bus,' she wrote. 'I thought it was really unpleasant and my three-year-old son was extremely upset by it. This advertisement is on many buses all over town. I have phoned and spoken to them numerous times about it, explaining that I feel it is entirely inappropriate to carry such advertising where children of all ages can see it. 'As a mother, I can protect my children from seeing unsuitable images on TV or in print, but I am powerless to keep them from seeing this huge picture plastered all over the buses. The reason governments all over the world rate films is because certain material is deemed to be unsuitable and potentially damaging to young children. 'I feel very angry that Citybus has not taken my objection seriously and that they are taking away my right as a mother to protect my children from such disturbing material. Of course, it all comes down to money from the advertising, so I suspect they think they can string me along until the advertising campaign comes to an end anyway!' Citybus said all the ads have been taken down. 'We thank the reader for her invaluable comments,' a company spokeswoman said. 'To ensure that our advertisement contents are well -received by members of the public, Citybus will closely monitor feedback and fine-tune where possible.'
