I pay our council tax by DD. On the form it gives a choice of 1st day of month, 15th or last day of month. I chose 1st day of month as my pay is in the bank from the day before so should be no problem. However, they took March payment for last year (they do this over 12 months, not the statutory 10) and then didn't take Aprils, and I now know, haven't taken Mays. I received a letter saying that Aprils hadn't been paid, so I rang them up to get to the bottom of why, cosidering it's by DD. Lady at other end said that she was busy and couldn't answer my questions and would ring me back. She didn't ring back and 4 days later I have now received summons letter for 23rd June. I've checked with my bank. They say the DD is still in place so I don't know why they haven't taken it. The bank say that they have not received a request for payment and if they had done then they would have paid it as there was sufficient in the account. Council are now saying that I have to pay the whole year in one payment, which I cannot afford. Can anyone help?

I now have a further problem. I cancelled the replacement printer and demanded a full refund as I could not afford to take another day off work in case they didn't deliver. Guess what? I got home yesterday to find no card so no delivery. Went to leave a message on Ebuyer's eNote system to add to the complaint to find that as far as they are concerned the goods have been delivered. The original question still remains. As they advised me that delivery would be last Friday and I took the day off work to receive the goods, can I claim that cost back from Ebuyer?

Unfortunately, it's not as easy as that. On the original order the printer was despatched from a different warehouse and so had no tracking information,so I wasn't worried when the order details declined to give me any tracking information. On investigation, it seems that instead of just sending a new printer from that warehouse as with a normal order, they transfer it from the warehouse to the returns dept. and then send it out from there. The reason for taking the day off work was because the website order details stated clearly that it was to be delivered on Friday. I've decided that I will cancel the replacement due to their failure to supply and I'll buy one elsewhere. Unfortunately they have managed to screw up on the last three orders. From my perspective their service is going downhill. On top of that, the City-link driver told me that they are losing the Ebuyer contract to Parcel Force. As far as asking for a timed slot, that doesn't make any difference, I'm still going to have to take a second day off work which I can't afford. They don't deliver on Saturdays unless you pay a premium.

I bought a printer from Ebuyer, which arrived faulty. Did the online returns and they collected the printer on Tues (27th Jan), emailed me on 29th Jan (@10.45am) to say that the printer was confirmed as faulty and they would be sending me a new one. So far, so good. Looked online and sure enough a new order has been raised for a new priner. It clearly states that the item has been invoiced and that it will be delivered on 30th Jan (today). The order states that the goods have been invoiced. Checking their online help shows that 'invoiced' means that the goods have been dispatched. I waited in all day and nothing arrived. Checked online in case I had mistaken something and it definitely states that delivery will be 30th Jan. At just after 4pm I rang the customer services number to check what was happening as there was no tracking information (there never is with printers for some reason) and no-one had called to deliver the goods. I was then told by an american women that the goods have not left the building. They will be delivered on Monday 2nd Feb! So I'm now expected to take a second day off work to receive the printer. Now to the question. To me, the online statement that the goods will be delivered today, backed up by their online system saying that I have been invoiced as the goods have been despatched, is an implicit contract. Is that the correct term? As such, I feel I should be able to recover my loses (one days pay plus telephone costs) that I am out of pocket. (Actually comes to more than the printer cost!) Would I be right in this assumption or can they just keep me at home for as long as they decide to take to deliver the goods?

Bookworm, Can you check the link to help, Paypal just comes up with an error message.

Cooo...... Judge gave River Island until 4pm tomorrow to 'give me the money!'. So in keeping with previous RI practice, the cheque arrived today. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

In court today. Judge inspected the said shoes. Declared that the left shoe had a pronounced ridge and was clearly a case of faulty manufacture. No need for any expert inspection. Awarded to me full refund, court costs and £50 for loss of pay. £144.95 in all. So, I bought a pair of shoes for 44.95 and they buy them back for over 3 times that! Suffice to say I will not be shopping in River Island again.

I've worn them once for about half an hour, although that was outside. So I haven't worn them out, but I have worn them out! Are the wonders of English. I'm cautious about sending them back as the shop have already declared that there is nothing wrong with them and 'all of them are like that' so they may, from my understanding of what you said, just fix them and send them back leaving me out of pocket on the court fees. Sorry if I ramble a bit too, but this is the first time I've ever had a store refuse to accept back faulty goods, and in this case so obviously faulty, so it took me aback. From what you are saying, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm likely to get anywhere with this. Prolix. I had to look that up as I've never heard the word before. Learn something new every day.

But they're shoes and meant to be worn, not placed on display. It was only by wearing them that I discovered that they were faulty as the inside material gradually cut into my foot over the half hour that I wore them on a gentle walk. From what you are saying, just trying something on in the shop immediately removes the right to reject if they fall apart on first wearing. Surely the goods have to be fit for purpose? I don't understand the 'The 6 months burden of proof only applies to the new remedies inserted by the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations; repair, replace, reject. ' Is this a new thing? I only know a little about the SOGA and nothing about this other one. Are you saying that I have the burden of proof or that they have the burden of proof in the first six months. Sorry, but I'm getting very confused by all this. I bought a pair of shoes in good faith as I'd had a pair before that were good. From your reply it seems that any retailer can then just say "nah, they're fine" and I'm out of pocket by £45 and still need a pair of shoes because this pair make my feet bleed if I wear them. Surely that's not right?

Just got a response from the court over my claim. River Island are asking the court that I send the shoes back to their head office for inspection. Do I have to accept this? River Island defence is that the shop have only limited ability to decide whether goods are faulty and this requires 'specialist' investigation. As I explain above, the left shoe has a protusion that cut into my small toe and made it bleed. I would have thought that this does not require a specialist to decide it's faulty. Or am I wrong. Also, once the shoes are with them, I no longer have any evidence to present in court. Any advice would be helpful. On a different note. Just1marie, I suggest you start your own thread. Read the FAQs, they'll help you.

Claim submitted today online through MoneyClaim. I haven't claimed interest. I worked it out and it's 1p so far. Even if the claim is not settled this year it only works out at another 4p. Haven't claimed for the stamps either. Next time I do this, I'll know not to send by RMSD to ensure they can't deny receiving the letters. Thanks Bookworm.

Thanks Bookworm, I appreciate the time you took to reply. Can I also claim the costs of my two letters to the head office?

I bought a pair of shoes from River Island about a year ago. These were fine and I wore them a lot, eventually wearing them out. As I liked the shoe, I recently went into the same store and purchased a pair of the same shoes again. Problem. When I wore them, after about 30 mins the little toe on my left foot was aching, so I took the shoe off to see what the problem was. It turned out that the stitching on the shoe had a fault that meant it was protruding into the shoe and had rubbed against my little toe so much that it cut into it, making it bleed. No wonder it was uncomfortable. As a member here, I knew that the correct approach was to take the shoes back and demand a refund under SOGA s.14, which I did. The girl behind the counter felt the inside of the shoe, compared it to ones on the shelf and declared that there was no fault with the shoe. I insisted on a refund and asked for the manager. Manager came, backed up the sale assistant and pursued the 'They're all made like that' approach. Eventually, because I refused to accept that, the manager told the assistant to replace them. Then she turned the shoe over and saw that the bottom showed that I had worn them and promptly refused to either refund or replace as I had worn the shoe. She wouldn't budge. Wrote to the head office demanding that I am allowed to return the shoes for a refund, received letter by return refusing to allow me to do that but saying the matter would be forwarded to the local area manager. Two weeks later sent further letter giving deadline to agree to let me return for a full refund. received 2nd letter from them saying how sorry they are etc., but not agreeing to refund. Deadline is about to pass so I need to make a claim to the court. Problem is, having never had a company actually refuse before, I'm in uncharted territory, and I'm not sure how to word my claim. Can anyone give me any help in making sure I word this correctly, as I don't want to lose the case based on my inability to string the right words together? Thanks in advance for any help I receive.

I couldn't find a post with this info in, so placing it here. If I've missed the original post I apologise, if there isn't a post with the info below would the admins like to consider making it a sticky after removing this para? There are three different credit reference agencies in the UK and each holds independent information on you. When applying for finance or credit you have no way of knowing which of these three is being used and so just checking one may be of no help if one of the others has inaccurate information. How do you overcome this problem? You request your statutory credit report for just £2 from each of them. Note that each of these is specific to you. If you have a partner then that's a different report and your partner will need to apply separately. The information below is correct at 10 April 2008 but like all websites, subject to change. Online Credit Reports and Credit Reporting from a Leading Credit Agency: Equifax Not the easiest site to get the details from. Go to the home page. In the 'Your Personal Credit Information' section are three services they supply. Click on any of the 'Learn More' buttons in this section. Each will take you to a new page and at the bottom of the right hand column is a link to getting your statutory credit report for £2. Follow the link and download the .pdf file. Credit Reports: Get your Credit Report from Experian UK Go to the home page. On the section called 'Consumer Advice', click on the top item 'Order Your £2 Credit Report' and follow the link. http://www.callcredit.co.uk/download/creditfileapp.pdf Now that was easy!

Complaint is in the post. Received letter from Coldfish today telling me they've been sold. Glad I've got no outstanding balance then.

As you know Moron Stanley were sold to Coldfish last year. We've had an unhappy relationship with Coldfish before so took steps to clear the account. Last month we moved the outstanding balance to another provider and this months statement shows that. However, this months statement also shows almost £40 interest (on zero balance?). I have spoken to them on the phone but the woman at the other end just started raising her voice and telling me that interest was spread over 2 month. Wouldn't listen to me, refused to let me speak to her manager when I objected to her behaviour and wouldn't accept that I had anything to complain about. (That will be in my letter anyway.) I don't see that I should pay for the privilege of paying off the account. Apart from the fact that we're closing the account, any suggestions on what I should say (politely) to them about the interest?

My daughter has just moved into a flat and I would like to ask about a couple of points. 1. She has no access to the electricity meter or the fusebox as these are both in the flat downstairs (standard house into three flats conversion). Is this acceptable or legal? What happens if the fuse blows during the night or when the downstairs tenant is not there? I'm assuming that as the flat is rented to an alternative tenant, that tenant has the normal rights and can refuse to let my daughter into their flat. For all I know, the downstairs tenant could have rewired the electrics. 2. The tenancy is unfurnished, but the landlord has left a large ugly piece of furniture that takes up a whole wall in the lounge. The agent says this is because the LL has nowhere to store it. Is this allowed? My daughter doesn't want to cause trouble but is just concerned about these two things in particular. Personally, I'm concerned about the electrics within the flat. There is an electric shower and an handwash water heater above the sink. However, both pour water out from within the housing. Do LLs have to have an electrical safety certificate? I know they need a gas one.

My daughter has decided that enough is enough and has found a new flat through an estate agent. Same kind of rent but of course estate agent fees and such then come into play. Her decision, she's fed up with trying to get the place fixed and thinks it's easier to just leave than pick a fight with the LL. Probably what most bad LLs are hoping their tenants do rather than do their job.

My daughter is currently renting a property from a not-to-good LL. Apart from the LL refusing to repair/replace the extremely warped front door that is bent so much you can actually see the pavement outside, she has discovered that the LL hasn't placed the deposit in a TDS. She moved in May 2007. She spoke to CAB about how to get the LL to fix the door and also about the TDS. After a reasonable amount of research on this site, I had suggested she take the LL to court for the TDS, and to bear in mind that the LL can't evict her under S21 if no TDS is in place. CAB have told her that this is not true and there is no sense in taking the LL to court over the TDS as Courts aren't finding them guilty as the law hasn't been publicised enough. Does anyone know if this is the case? Is there any case history yet in this matter?

A question. Are you bothered if the court thinks you are being greedy? Surely you are just asking the court to provide you with what you are entitled to as the Housing Act 2004 states: "The court must also order the landlord to pay to the applicant a sum of money equal to three times the amount of the deposit within the period of 14 days beginning with the date of the making of the order.” You might have a look at: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/tenants/126261-tds-court-claims-wording.html I'd be interested in others opinion on this matter as my daughter has just got her landlady to place it in a scheme after 8 months. She has also just given my daughter notice. Landladies revenge.

I should have put this on a while ago. We've had an Abbey account for some time but didn't know whether we'd been charged so sent off the S.A.R. to get all the statements. After going through the last 6 years we discovered that we've only ever been charged two lots of £25. Went down the local branch and spoke gently and they gave us the £50 back. I would charge for the £10 S.A.R. charge but they never actually cashed the cheque which was odd. So this thread is settled without a problem. I'm grateful to those that have given advice on this thread, for which I thank you. Still have some other accounts to deal with though. Would the admins like to lock this thread? Thanks.

Due to some other problems going through the Yorkshire statements got put on hold for a while. Now that I've just finished putting all the data into the spreadsheet, the sum comes to the better part of a grand in all. However, I haven't included the interest charges that Yorkshire made while overdrawn. While in credit for about 4k I'd get around 77p per month in interest. Wow. But when overdrawn 2k for a couple of weeks the interest racked up about £20. Hardly balanced. However, as an amount of that overdraft was their illegal charges can I put that interest on the list? If so, what part should I put on. I have no idea how they calculated the interest so have no idea how much of the interest I should reclaim. Does that make sense? Can anyone give some help and guidance? -------------------------------------------------------- Please ignore the above text. Read through the advice section this morning and saw the bit I missed last night in the advice section: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/faqs-please-read-these/25457-guide-reclaiming-bank-charges.html?garpg=6 Tells me the answer to my own question. Sorry folks, my fault.

My daughter-in-law has had a water meter fitted, at her request, because the water bill was charged on a fixed rate. Because the house is on a housing estate on the edge of a 'very nice' neighbourhood she was paying through the nose for water. Having had the meter fitted, her water bill has plummetted by some 75%! Question. Is there any way she can go back to the water company and get a refund for previous years as her usage now demonstrates that her previous bills were completely different to her actual usage? We're talking about £6000 overpayment here, not small change to anyone. Any advice would be helpful. Anyone?

Received my statements at long last, one day before the 40 day limit, but only because I threatened court action. Guess what? Only 4 & 1/2 years of data! Phoned and eventually argued my way through to the department concerned who had the front to ask for £10 for data access request!! So I switched from polite mode to hard mode and explained that they had missed the 40 day deadline and I would be making a complaint to the Information Commissioner. Also stated that if I didn't receive the missing statements by next Wednesday then I would ask the Court to order them to do so. Funny thing. Recorded the conversation yet again and told her so. They're having a laugh! I started going through the statements and discovered that they've mixed them all up, literally. The first 20 pages were all from Sept 02, then suddenly they're Jan 05, then back to July 02, then Feb 01 and so on throughout the pile. It's taken me half an hour just to put them back in order. Don't suppose I can add that to the bill can I?

Just an update. It seems IF have taken the precaution of killing all of the above numbers except the overseas caller line. OK, so I'll be sticking to that. On my call plan I can be put on hold for up to an hour free of charge.