Thanks everyone. It has mysteriously turned up this afternoon. The PO hadn't processed it properly.

I'm hoping that somebody on here will be able to help. My mum paid money into her bank account (First Direct) at our local Post Office on 8th June and it still hasn't reached her account. The PO has checked everything at their end and as far as they're concerned the payment went through. First Direct are saying that they can't see anything in the system. Can anyone advise on who my mum can contact or what either of these institutions should really be looking for? Any help would be much appreciated.

I'll be cancelling my account with them once I've paid off the books anyway. I don't want to deal with them again. I've had dealings with their Editor's Choice tactics in the past but it's possible to cancel the automatic issue of the Editor's Choice which I did as soon as I found out I could. Shame their books can be such good value though ...

Thanks folks. Not what I wanted to hear, but it does clarify things for me. I'm reluctant to pay the arrears since they've written to say they'll be taking direct debits until November which would mean that I'll end up paying too much if I don't cancel the direct debits on time. Needless to say I wouldn't recommend getting books on the direct debit scheme with BCA.

Hi guys - I hope you can help me. I got some books from BCA book club last year in September that I could pay up by direct debit. One set was to be £4.99 for 8 months and the other set £5.99 for 9 months. I filled out the direct debit mandates when I ordered and I received the books within 2 weeks. BCA didn't take the first direct debit of £4.99 until December and the £5.99 set until March. I keep getting emails and letters telling me that I'm in arrears but I have a letter from BCA saying that they'll take £5.99 from March to November so the delay is due to them not taking the debits. I can't find the letter relating to the first set. I've now received notification threatening to refer the arrears to a debt collection agency and add £15 to the £27 they say I owe them. I've spoken to them on the phone four times and contacted them online but I'm still getting nowhere. It's one of those Indian call centres and they just don't seem to understand what I'm trying to tell them, which is that direct debit is BCA's responsibility and if they didn't start taking them for a few months then I can't be in arrears. Am I wrong? Is my account in arrears even though they failed to start taking the direct debits? Thanks in advance for your help, Ally

I thought as much, but wanted to ask here first. The shoes, even if they were covered by the holiday insurance, probably cost less than the insurance excess so I'm going to be out of pocket replacing them. £75 is a lot of money. I will write to Thomson anyway and see what they say. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. This has happened in this hotel before and it appears that nothing has been done to prevent it happening again.

Thanks Louby. We only got home yesterday so I've not had time to see a doctor and I don't think they could do anything anyway as it's bruising and a bit of swelling - nothing is broken. The shoes were about £35-£40 a pair which isn't expensive for some people but it's still a lot of money for us. I think the excess would probably cancel out at least one pair. Thomson moved some of the people who were in the worst hit side of the hotel, but not people in our side. They also took new arrivals every day for the remainder of our stay (3 days). I know some people who moved hotel, but they were booked for 2 weeks and didn't want to stay in case it happened again. We didn't move as it would have taken hours to pack and then unpack all our stuff and that would have eaten into our holiday even more. The bit of the hotel we were in wasn't badly hit - it just took in enough water to make the hall carpets stink to high heaven. This meant that our room was ok. The next night I put a towel across the threshold to stop any more water coming in as more rain had been forecast. Because of where our room was, there was actually no need for us to have been called up to reception as our side of the hotel didn't have the problems with the collapsing ceilings that the other side had. I have a feeling that Thomson will argue strenuously against having to pay anything out, but we do know another couple who are going to claim so we'll be keeping in touch with them.

It was a package holiday with Thomson and one rep took a full report of my injury and gave me a copy of it. That was the third time I'd reported my fall - the first time the rep had been dragged out of her bed to deal with the flooding so she sympathised but didn't take a note or tell me how or where else to report it and the second time the hotel receptionist didn't even make a note of it.

We just got back from Ibiza and all had been going well until the really bad storm on Tuesday night / Wednesday morning. The hotel got struck by lightning and the gallons and gallons of water that had been on the roof ended up flooding down through the hotel. We got called out of our beds about 4am to go to reception (unusually, this hotel's reception was on the top floor) but the power was off and I couldn't see that the floor was wet. I went to the door to see what all the shouting was about, my feet slipped and I landed in a heap. I bruised my arm, my hip and my foot - I still can't bend my big toe on my injured foot. So, we trudged up four flights of stairs in the dark with water cascading down them and my 8 yo daughter was terrified. It was like something out of the Poseidon Adventure. :o It was absolute chaos and nobody appeared to take charge of the situation - we only found out what was happening because other guests were passing information around. We sat around the flooded reception area for 4 1/2 hours with only bottled water, the kids were cold, tired and starving, and we got told to go back to our rooms twice and then got sent back up the stairs by the fire brigade. Eventually, the breakfast staff arrived and we were able to get into the restaurant and get some pre-packed cakes, coffee and juice. By this time the kids were absolutely ravenous, really tired and incredibly cranky! Guests pitched in with brushing the water down the stairs and into the lift shafts to disperse it as this was the only place it could go. This meant that the lifts didn't work for 2 days, and then kept breaking down for the rest of the holiday. By the Wednesday evening the whole place absolutely reeked of damp carpets, plaster was falling off the walls and ceilings in the stairwells and we frequently had to climb up the full 8 flights from the pool to the restaurant. My husband's and son's shoes are absolutely ruined with the water. What should I claim for? The main things I can see are: My injury The ruined shoes The disruption of being hauled out of bed at 4am I don't know if you can factor in the distress and the loss of enjoyment caused by the broken lifts and stinking corridors. Any suggestions would be most welcome! TIA Ally

You're not alone. If I have to send them in, I'll be there! My claim is now lodged at Glasgow Sheriff Court. Incidentally, we don't need to use form 1a, it's Form 1 and Form 1b we need. The Sheriff Clerk explained to me that companies can't apply for a time to pay order, which is what Form 1a is there to facilitate.

My account was with Bank of Scotland, so I've used their head office address. It doesn't matter which address I use as they're so inundated with claims that they're not responding to court summons anyway. Others on here have successfully used The Mound and even sent the Sheriff Officers in!

DSAR sent 09/02/07 Request for payment sent 30/04/07 Standard letter received 12/05/07 Letter Before Action sent 14/05/07 To date I've not received any further response from HBOS so I am off to the Sheriff Court to present my small claims action for just under £400 + interest + charges. I'm using the address at The Mound for my forms. Wish me luck!

Well done Grousebeater. I'm just about to raise a small claim against this lot for £390 plus interest. I'm not settling for any less.

I got a letter from MBNA yesterday offering me the charges plus interest! I called them and said if they'd give me the court costs too, I would cancel my court action - but not until I receive their cheque and have cashed it. The guy said they'd issued the cheque for charges + interest, in addition to the first cheque they sent me. When I said I'd sent the first one back (which I did) he said he'd get a new one out to me. They're sending me charges + interest + court fees + £120!!! Result!

I think I will try this with HBOS. I sent my LBA on 14th May giving them 14 days to respond but haven't had a reply yet.