I recently decided to treat myself to a new pair of jeans from JD Williams. They cost £26 and arrived the next day. 

I ordered a size 12 but they delivered a size 18. I called the customer service number on the delivery note to arrange a return and reordered the size 12.

The next day a second pair arrived but, again, in size 18. I called the number once more and went through the same process. 

The following day a third pair arrived. Another size 18! When I called again, I was advised not to reorder so they could check their stock.

Then I received my mobile phone bill – it was unusually high due to out-of-plan call charges on my contract, so I checked with my network provider. They were billing me £70.72 for the calls I made to JD Williams. This is so unfair.

N.S., Cheltenham.

JD Williams managed to send a reader the wrong size jeans three times – which led to a huge phone bill

Readers’ champion Sally Hamilton replies: Wallace & Gromit sprang to mind on reading your letter. ‘It’s the wrong trousers, Gromit! And they’ve gone wrong.’

The fact they went wrong three times seemed, well, crackers.

Perhaps JD Williams needs a Wallace-style inventor to sort out its stock management system.

But more absurd still was the fact you were facing a phone bill nearly three times the price of your elusive pair of size 12 jeans for calling JD Williams to remedy the mix-up.

You told me the three calls totalled one hour and 40 seconds, which you described as ‘ridiculous’ for organising a simple return. I agree. Not surprisingly, you were stressed at the thought of a £70.72 bill – and still no jeans to show for it.

I was happy to give the company a kick in the pants for you.

I am pleased to say this did the trick and JD Williams’ customer service swiftly contacted you to apologise for your poor experience, the hassle you faced and the costs you incurred.

There had been a stock control systems issue, it admitted, which is now resolved. A spokesman said: ‘We are replacing the item and dispatching this free of charge, and we have also reimbursed the cost of the calls.’

When we caught up last week, you reported your size 12s had finally arrived – and fitted.

All’s well that ends well, that’s what I say.

However, your shock phone bill highlights the potential pitfalls when using a mobile to contact a retailer. This didn’t cross your mind when you dialled the number printed in bold at the top of your delivery note.

It began with ‘087’, a prefix used by many companies to provide a single national phone number for customers, often for a sales or enquiry line.

The service charge (the charge made by the company with the phone number) typically costs from zero to 13p a minute – 13p in JD Williams’ case. But the actual amount billed depends on the access charge made by a customer’s phone provider.

Calls to 087 numbers often fall outside the free calls part of a package, as in your case, and are charged per minute or per call at anything from 3p to 93p a minute, depending on the provider. EE’s access charge was one of the highest at 89p a minute when you made your calls (it is now 93p a minute).

Your situation wasn’t helped by JD Williams including two numbers on its delivery note. The 087 number you used is for orders and payments.

There was also a ‘0345’ number for enquiries. The first attracts a 13p-a-minute service charge. But 0345 numbers are charged like local calls and are included in many customers’ mobile call plans – including yours.

You told me the 087 number caught your eye immediately and that you didn’t think to look for another. Companies using such prefixes often receive a portion of the revenue made from an access charge. You may not have flinched too much at your phone bill had your calls been dealt with speedily by JD Williams’ customer service.

But with more than an hour on the line in total, the price rocketed to a level that couldn’t be ignored.

JD Williams is keen to point out there are other options for contacting its customer service that should avoid nasty bills.

In addition to its 0345 number, it offers an online chat service, email or direct messaging via X and Facebook.

It is a pity that customers risk falling into an expensive trap simply because they want to speak to a human about their problem. I’m keen to hear from other readers who unwittingly have been caught out this way, so do drop me a line.

Overpaid my gas bill and can’t get a refund 

Just before the Easter weekend, I elected to pay off an outstanding £150 debt on my British Gas bill – but accidentally paid £1,500. 

I immediately rang to rectify the error, which had cleared out my current account. I was told it would be three to five days before I was paid back.

After Easter, I still had not received the money, so rang again. Once more I was told it would be three to five days. This carried on weekly until a phone call on April 29, where I was told that the person I was speaking to could not authorise a repayment. Help!

D.M., Oldham.

Sally replies: British Gas had held on to your overpayment for more than a month by the time you contacted me and you were struggling financially.

I asked the firm to put more energy into returning your money. It told me you had been given the wrong information about the timescale at the start. You should have been told ten working days for such repayments but also that the large sum involved required special approval.

On my intervention your request was accelerated and a few days later £1,350 was repaid to your credit card – your £1,500 minus the £150 you had intended to pay. BG apologised and sent you a goodwill gesture of £75.

Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY or email sally@dailymail.co.uk — include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.