It is indeed baffling, and I intend to speak to the Council today about it. The good news is that my bank agreed that the terms of the DD have been breached, and they reversed the DD there and then. When I returned from the bank, I found a letter from the council telling me that I was £40 in arrears with my Council Tax, and that they would be taking steps to recover the outstanding amount, which is just over £300. So, 1) if they feel they can raid my account with impunity, why not simply take the £40 arrears and bring me up to date? And 2) if the total remaining for the year is only £300, why did they take over £800? In either case, there's still no clue as to how the figure of £800+ was arrived at, nor is its even mentioned.

I have been into my bank this morning, and they agree that the DD guarantee has been broken. Unfortunately, that particular branch has a power cut this morning, so can't reverse the DD for me. They've told me that if I go to another branch before 3pm and explain the situation, I should be able to get this reversed today.

Hi, Not sure if this is quite the right place for this, but here's the situation: I'm on a low income, and I receive Working Tax Credit, Housing Benefit, and Council Tax Benefit. For the past month, my Housing Benefit has been suspended while being reviewed (just a normal annual review, after I'd sent in my Tax Return, bank statements etc). The Council are taking their time, which is unusual as they're normally quite efficient. I've emailed them twice last week as I was growing concerned that they wouldn't finish their review in time for my next due rent payment on 28th Feb. They didn't respond to either email, and I heard nothing. Concerned that I wouldn't be able to meet my rent (I rely on Housing Benefit for about 75% of my rent), I borrowed £1000 from a family member, which was paid into my account on Friday evening. I woke up this morning to discover that the Council have TAKEN over £826 from my account by Direct Debit, completely unexpectedly. This has left me hundreds of pounds overdrawn, and of course means that the standing order for my rent has failed. At a single stroke, I'm almost £2000 in debt and under threat of losing my home. Until I speak to the council later today I don't know what has happened. I'm guessing that, because my HB is suspended, they've decided to take all of my remaining Council Tax in one go. Or perhaps, in their review, they've decided that I've been overpaid? Whichever it is, my concern here is are they allowed to do this? I had a Direct Debit set up with them to pay my Council tax. That DD was set up with a specific agreement as to how much they would take (£20 a month). Surely by exceeding that amount so vastly, without any prior warning, they have broken the DD agreement? Even if they have decided I've been overpaid, and have decided to take back what they consider they are owed, how can they simply raid my account without any prior warning or agreement, using the Direct Debit system as simply a means of access to my bank account? If they can, then this means that the Direct Debit system is not fit for purpose, as it simply giving anyone a key to your account and an open invitation to help themselves to as much as they like. This can't be right, surely? Any advice welcome. Many thanks.

Yeah, but what are YOU paying? My question isn't about what to do about it, it's how my bills compare to other people.

Unfortunately, it's in the lease that I can't change supplier. The meters are all in a locked cupboard on the ground floor: meter readers are supposed to ask the caretaker for the key, but I guess many of them don't bother and just estimate.

Sure, but I need to go to them with more than just a feeling! They could easily fob me off. But if I can say, look, here's a family of 4 in a 3-bedroomed house paying less than me, and here's a family of 3 paying less than me, then I have a case for them looking at my usage. On the other hand, if other single people are paying around the same, then my bill may be about average. At this point, I just don't know...

Just trying to get a sense of whether I'm paying too much or not... I'm paying £135 per month direct debit. I'm a single man living alone in a one -bedroom flat. I have gas central heating and a gas cooker. No TV or hi-fi, but my computer is on all day. As a single man, I don't do a lot of cooking:), so the oven doesn't get used much. I have a washing machine too. The property is rented, so I can't change suppliers: they're set by the landlord. The supplier for both gas and electricity is e.on. I've just been reading about a family of 6 who say their combined energy bill is around £80 per month. How can my bills be £50 more than theirs? OK, maybe they don't all have computers and hi-fi's, but they must cook, and wash? So, how does my bill compare with other people's? What do you pay? Is mine about average, too little, or too much?

Nystagmite: avoiding the truth is a completely different thing from lying. osdset: You're a genius. That will do it. Thanks!

But for me that would be lying, and I don't want to lie to her.

Long distance... so there was a distance between you. That's not going to work in my case, I'm afraid. I don't have an excuse like that.

So what did he actually say to you? How did he go about it?

Yeah dammit LOL. And as I'm not the kind of guy women throw themselves at on a regular basis, i don't have much experience in rejecting them. I'm usually grateful for the attention LOL. I did think about having a quiet word with one of her female friends, but as you point out, the first thing they're likely to do is tell every other woman they know what a bastard I am.

I honestly feel that telling her straight is going to destroy our friendship. Of course, she's going to be upset when she realises anyway, but at least if she thinks I don't know she fancied me, she can maintain some dignity. Think about it: would YOU want to hang around someone who'd just turned you down? I'm trying to avoid getting to that point, so we can stay as friends.

LOL, that WOULD be brilliant, but I bet the advice I'd get would be unrepeatable LOL.

Yeah, I know, but it's not really a relationship thing is it? More of a friendship problem.... and this particular forum is supposed to be for off-main-topic chat.... so I just thought I'd ask.

Yes, but how, precisely? That's just it, I don't know what to say:(

Oh, I'm not misreading the signs, trust me! Lately, she's been getting more physical, and touching me way more than a mere friend would. She's making it very plain, but at the same time, creating an opening for me to make the real first move if I wanted to. So far, I've just been ignoring all the hints, but it's getting a bit awkward and uncomfortable now.

Tricky: this girl is a good friend and knows many details of my personal life, including that I'm currently single. She would wonder eventually why I haven't introduced my friends to my "new girlfriend"; she's not stupid. Also it risks getting very complicated! Of course, a REAL girlfriend would be the ideal solution, but they're not that easy to find at short notice LOL.

You're right about the chemistry not being there, and that it can't be forced to appear, but I'm afraid it is her size. If she lost the weight, I might actually find her attractive. But that's a really awful thing to say to someone! Don't get me wrong, I don't like stick-thin girls, I prefer women with a bit of meat on them. But my friend is really too big. It's just that we get on like a house on fire in every other way, and I don't want to damage that.

Hmmm.... well, a) that's precisely the thing I didn't want; to tell her directly. It announces that I'm aware of the issue, and would cause awkwardness. I want her to form the idea, or realise, that I'm not boyfriend material, all by herself. And b) I knew someone would come up with that platitude. Unfortunately, we can't help what we like and what our preferences are. And so yes, I'm afraid it is her size that I find off-putting. Sorry if that makes me appear shallow, but if you don't fancy someone no amount of logic or persuasion can make your feelings change.

There's this great girl I know, a really good friend. We get on really well.... BUT I don't fancy her at all. She's really fat, and I just don't find her attractive. Shame, but there it is... Anyway, she's recently begun dropping hints, without saying anything directly, and I suspect she's started to think of me as a potential boyfriend. I like her a lot as a friend, and have a lot of respect for her, so I really don't want to hurt her feelings or spoil our friendship. How can I let her know I'm not interested in her in that way? I don't want to tell her that I don't find her attractive because she's so fat, because even though that's the truth, it would upset her. What I'd really like is some subtle way of letting her know that I would prefer we remain friends, without having to tell her directly. Anyone got any suggestions?

Well, in fact we had originally had a very friendly and positive reception from this person, and had absolutely no reason to suspect or expect the reaction we got. The phone call was made, not just to query the payment, but to enquire whether they had received the second order of our goods he had made. He ranted because he denied having made the second order (worth about £600), and said he had returned them. (We still haven't received them back. If they do turn up, we've still lost on the shipping. We certainly wouldn't have sent £600 worth of goods to a customer if he hadn't ordered them, so there's no mistake on our part.) Frankly, we are baffled by his complete change in attitude. He also claimed we had agreed a different price with him, but this isn't true. Our goods have a set retail price, and a 40% discount gives a precise figure: we cannot afford to give a greater discount. I already said, he owes us £95.

I have a small business. We supplied a central London shop with goods, which they have since sold. The shop has paid us less for the goods than was originally agreed, and was stated on the invoice. We sold the goods to the shop at 60% of their retail price, so gave them a 40% discount. We've lost £95.00. When we queried this, we were shouted and ranted at by the store owner, a thoroughly rude and obnoxious man. I know it's not a huge amount, but we've been ripped off and we're not happy about it. For the amount involved, it's possibly not worth taking legal action, as we simply don't have the funds to employ a lawyer. So.... anyone got any creative ideas? I know there used to be a company that hired smelly tramps to sit in stores/offices every day until they issued a cheque... are they still around? What's the legality of spreading a rumour by social media that a famous celebrity will be appearing at the shop on a certain day, and having thousands of people turn up? Obviously, I don't want to do anything illegal, like have their windows smashed etc, but I do want to cause them so much hassle they pay up. All suggestions welcome...

LOL. Your grammar, spelling, and punctuation throughout your posts (yes, I know you edited them since) do not argue in favour of a law degree. And YOU started this thread! I suspect a real law student would already have direct access to the answers, and not have to come on a consumer forum to ask. Anyway, whatever you really are, there's simply no excuse for your rudeness.

You should know better then. I was prepared to cut you some slack because I thought you were some wet-behind-the-ears kid. Instead, you're a wet-behind-the-ears adult. You clearly lack the experience of being on the receiving end of police lies and hostility, whether that be simply attitude, or much, much worse. I've seen police beat up a gay youth, just because he was gay, no crime being committed by him at all. I have my own harassment to consider. When I was a student, myself and two other lads were arrested for "burglary", when all we'd done was helped ourselves to some items of furniture that had been abandoned. Had we not had access to the Student Union's lawyers, we would have been screwed. I don't bear any resentment towards the police, and many are fine upstanding members of society who do a great job. But others are sadistic thugs, who just enjoy bullying people. I hope you continue to lack that experience. No-one should suffer it. Just as no-one should have their efforts to advise called "idiotic" and "absurd", by someone who's old enough to know better.