Hi All I purchased a Garmin sat nat from an online store in January this year, in around May time the on/off button stopped working so I contacted the store and they advised me to send it back. Sent it back, they then mailed me to say it was too technical (?) for them to fix so has been returned to the manufacturers and would be repaired within 28 days. My job means I'm on the road so asked for a replacement or refund they quoted their T&C's which state they will only do this within 14 days of delivery and refused this. I've checked the Trading Standards Website which indicates that if the fault developed within 6 months (it developed at month 4) then it is up to the retailer to prove that the item was not faulty at time of sale. It got to 21 working days and had no contact from the retailer so mailed them and they just replied with a standard "it'll be 28 days" So I asked for the return of the item (even if it hadn't been fixed). I again just got an email back saying "it'll be 28 days to be fixed" standard email, nothing about my request for it to be returned. I waiting until 28 working days and still no updates from them, emailed them again and they are still refusing to return my unit either fixed or in it's broken state! (although I couldn't turn it on with the button it was still usable as worked when plugged into cigarette lighter). They just keep sending standard emails quoting "it'll be 28 days but may be longer if the repair is particularly technical" (timescale unspecified) it's a bloody on off switch! what can I do!? They are refusing to enter into any form of email conversation and just quote their T&C's on standard emails - but the thing thats really annoying is they wont even return MY property!!

Hi all I complained to Cahoot and completed an SAR a couple of weeks ago, details of the charges arrived promptly (yesterday - all things are relative). I have had no physical response from Cahoot - all done by email with one person, I sent him details of the charges to be reclaimed last night (in the standard letter template from here) and got the following response this morning - talk about quick work they must have their own templates too! to be honest I just wanted to get it sorted ASAP as have already have had charges refunded from Barclays so I'm not even that bothered about the interest so I did say in my previous letter that if they settle quickly then I wont pursue the interest, however they came back with following .. "With regards to the charges you’ve incurred, we do not accept that cahoot charges are unfair under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. The object of these Regulations was not price control nor were they intended to interfere with people's freedom to agree the terms of their contracts. It is well known that banks make charges and cahoot charges are in line with those of other banks. The terms and conditions of the account and the charges that apply are clear and fair and were provided to you at the time you opened it. You freely agreed to the terms and conditions and the charges when you opened the account. You were not under any obligation to do so and could have gone to another bank if you did not agree to the charges. Equally, you are free to move your account to another bank at any time if you do not agree with the charges. In any event, we do not agree that the charges are disproportionate. The charges are reasonable and proportionate to the administrative costs incurred by cahoot. I am therefore unable to refund the charges you've incurred fully appreciating the disappointment this may cause. Please be assured I have carried out a full investigation for you and I hope you feel I have offered a fair response to all of the issues you've raised. I will keep your file open for the next 8 weeks and if I don't hear from you within that time, I will assume that everything is resolved and will close your file. If you remain dissatisfied though, you can find details of how to take your complaint further within Abbey at http://www.cahoot.com/legal/legal.html#importantInfo under the heading 'Complaints policy'. The complaints policy also explains your ultimate right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. If you need anything further please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely, David Freeman" As you can see they have binned off my complaint immediately however I have had no complaints leaflet and no letters from them. I've responded with the next template letter giving them 14 days to comply - has anyone else had this where they are stuck with one person over email? if so how did you escalate it from the numpty sat at his desk saying "computer says no" Fingers crossed for a resolution! dinger

thanks folks I'll keep the thread updated I really can't understand why they are so slow in responding (apart from the thousands of complaints they have!) stalling just so people drop out,amazing Do you think it's worth raising a seperate complaint with the FOS under the FSA's Treating Customers Fairly guidelines?

cheers

Well I sent Barclays a letter on 9th March giving them another 7 days (deadline of today) Called Barclays this morning to see what was going on as have had no response, the lady on the call centre confirmed receipt of my letter and acknowledged the deadline that I had specified, however was kind enough to tell me "Although you have given us a deadline we have no intention of meeting it and we will work to our own internal deadlines rather than yours" ding ding - round 2 looks like I'll be checking the site to start the court proceedings - can anyone direct me to the easiest thread to follow on this - the forums are getting so extensive these days!

Hi all Looking for your advice, I originally hand delivered a Subject Access Request to Barclays, After 6 weeks I had no response from this however a colleague at work had the number of the Data Protection area, I called this and the (helpfull!) person on there said that they didn't receive it (old chestnut and hand delivered) and asked me to fax it through to him. Eventually info came through and I again hand delivered my template letter asking for return of charges plus interest on 22nd February. This letter gave 14 days to respond. I have today received a letter (day 13) advising that Barclays will "let me have an answer OR update no later than 22nd March". So do I pursue with stage 2 or do I wait for 22nd March for Barclays to give me an answer OR update. My concern is if I wait until 22nd and I just get a letter with an update or "we're still looking into" then I have wasted this time. Am I being unduly harsh by taking this to the next stage without giving them until 22nd to respond? Thinking of sending a 7 day letter threatening court action if no response within this time. opinions?