My hotel room was so hot I couldn’t sleep, which meant I was badly prepared for the work conference I was due to attend the next day. 

The room had no fan and the window did not open properly. I

’m sure it was at least 30 degrees. 

Am I entitled to compensation?

J. D. By email.

Dean Dunham replies: The good news is that you may have a claim, but it is narrower than you might hope, and one detail will make or break it.

When you book a hotel room you are buying a service, and under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 that service must be carried out with reasonable care and skill.

A room you cannot ventilate, due to there being no fan, a window that won’t open properly and a temperature you estimate was around 30 degrees, arguably falls short of that standard, and where a service is substandard the Act entitles you to a price reduction.

However – and this is the part most people get wrong – you must give the hotel the chance to put matters right at the time.

If you reported it to reception that night and they failed to move you or produce a fan or other solution, your case is strong and you should expect some of the room rate back.

If you said nothing until afterwards, the hotel will argue, with some force, that it could have solved the problem in minutes had it only known, and your claim weakens considerably.

As for the conference, I’m afraid you can forget compensation for being ‘badly prepared’. 

That kind of knock-on loss is too remote and far too difficult to prove for a hotel to be held liable for it. 

My advice is complain in writing, set out clearly what happened and whether you raised it at the time, and ask for a refund or reduction of that night’s charge, citing the Consumer Rights Act.

If the hotel refuses and you paid by credit card on a bill over £100, Section 75 makes your card provider jointly liable; for smaller sums, ask the provider about a chargeback. 

If you booked through a third party, pursue them too. Keep it proportionate. 

You are owed money back for a poor night in the room, not damages for a difficult day at the conference.

Optician wants me to sign waiver for new lenses

I went to a high street optician to get the lenses changed in my glasses, as my vision had worsened. 

To my surprise, they refused to do this unless I signed a form confirming that the optician had no liability if my glasses were damaged. 

Can they do this? I don’t want to risk paying for the service and ending up with nothing.

F. F., By email.

Dean Dunham replies: The short answer is that this form is not worth the paper it’s printed on – at least not in the way the optician is hoping. 

When you hand over your glasses for new lenses, you enter a contract for services governed by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. 

The law demands the optician carry out that work with ‘reasonable care and skill’. 

Section 57 says a business cannot use a disclaimer, waiver or signed form to wriggle out of liability when it fails to meet that standard.

So if a careless technician cracks your frame, snaps an arm or scratches a lens, signing the form does not strip you of your rights. You would still be entitled to a repair, a replacement or your money back.

However, there may be an exception to this rule, which I think the optician is clumsily trying to flag. Older frames, especially metal ones or those made from ageing plastic, can become brittle and may break during a lens change even when the work is done perfectly.

The law recognises this, so if the frames shatter despite proper care, the optician is not at fault and would not be liable. That is a fair point, just badly communicated through a sweeping waiver.

My advice? Don’t refuse outright. Instead, ask the optician to amend the wording, or note on the form that they remain responsible for any damage caused by their own lack of care. A reputable firm will agree.

If your frames are old and fragile, weigh up whether a fresh pair is the safer bet. If they won’t budge on that all-encompassing disclaimer, take your custom elsewhere. Plenty of opticians will do the job without asking you to sign away your rights.