Issuer protests at credit card rules

Q What do these people have in common?

A 65-year-old man who registered with a dating agency and claimed the women on offer were unacceptable.

A man who bought a 'sea-facing' timeshare flat in Portugal but did not visit it until after he had signed up. It did face the sea, but was four miles away.

A man bought an orthopaedic bed advertised to 'help back sufferers' but after two months his back had not improved.

A woman who bid for second-hand TV at an auction believing it to be stereo. It was mono and not in perfect working order.

A They all paid by credit card and expected the issuer, Save & Prosper, to settle their grievance.

Ian Lindsay, a director of S & P has written to the Office of Fair Trading to ask for changes in the Consumer Credit Act which forces credit card issuers to reimburse dissatisfied customers.

S & P pays out about pounds 50,000 a year on such claims, which Mr Lindsay says were framed to cover hire purchase agreements.