Sorry this is long! Wasn't sure how to condense it! For about a year now we've received intermittent post. Obviously it's hard to monitor exactly but we felt we weren't receiving as much post as we'd expect and often things we knew we due to arrive never would. Frequently (increasingly frequently!) we received through our door post clearly marked for other neighbours. I contacted Royal Mail about this several times- (via twitter/online forms & email) and received the standard "sorry we'll look into this" response. This got worse and worse. At the same time, post for us got less and less. I contacted RM again- I was very concerned that the house next door had been left empty for some time therefore any post that might've been wrongly shoved through their door was just sitting there. Again they apologised. Last week builders came to the abandoned house (which had apparently been sold to the council hence it was sitting empty for so long) We explained the post issue and asked if they would have a look at the huge pile- literally the first second and third letters they picked up were clearly addressed to us (my house is number 6, they were posted through the door clearly marked 5) The builders gave us a huge pile to sort through- the majority of which was clearly addressed to other houses- not number 5 where they had been posted. Included in this pile were (addressed to me & my family at number 6) letters for important hospital appointments which i had missed due to the late delivery of these letters- (i was diagnosed with cancer last year so you can imagine how important these are and how distressing this is!) Extremely sensitive documents & personal information such as clinical reports, bank statements and work payslips. over £25 of, now expired, vouchers and gift cards. Driving license renewal forms. Outstanding bills which, by the time we received the mis-delivered letter, had incurred charges of £30. There are still many items which we know to be missing including more bank statements,expensive magazine subscriptions, a replacement bank card and a replacement store card. Since this has all been going on all 3 of us at my house have had fraud on our bank accounts- we have no idea where else our post might be ending up besides the empty house. I'm sick of empty apologies and books if stamps as "compensation" I want something done and real compensation for the loss and damages that we've incurred. Does anyone have any advice on how to proceed? I'm currently searching for information on RM policies on Data Protection as I feel this has been a clear breach. Should I report this to Ofcom? I'm currently writing RM a (very long and ranty!) email - any information/advice much appreciated.

Just a quick question- Are there any guidelines surrounding pricing of food/drinks in supermarkets? I live in (a dingy part of) North London, my partner lives in (a fancy part of) West London. I have noticed that things are more expensive in his Sainsburys than they are in mine. In particular there is a bottle of wine we buy regularly which costs £4.99 in my local store and £9.99 in his, quite a jump!:o Both a sainsburys superstores (as opposed to sainsburys local/garage or any other type of sainsburys chain where I know prices can vary) Has anyone else experienced this?

Just been reading through some similar threads, looks like it's going to stil lbe a bit confusing once I get the cca request back! I can't seem to work out all the different types of forms Barclaycard have, what they mean and which are legal... Fingers crossed mine wil be "unenforcable"!

Thank you. I have decided to start with the CCA request as, looking through the sporadic selection of statements I have it seems most of the charges are more than 6 years old so I doubt I stand to reclaim much cash but would LOVE to have a nice shiny clean credit rating (which I won't blow on new shoes and a trip to Florida.. I really really won't, though it will take lots of willpower)

New to credit card reclaims... (though not to cag) I claimed last year for bank charges but I just can't get my head around credit card claiming... Firstly I don't know how far it goes back? is it 6 years as bank charges? What can I claim? Most of my charges were £15 late payment and £15 over credit limit charge (as far as I can remember, having few statements left, I went over my limit because of late payment charges) My main concern, being at a more "grown-up" stage of my life now that I need to sort out my credit rating! Even if I can't get back my money I really want defaults removed from my file. I have no idea where to start with this, I'm quite tempted to use a company rather than tackle it myself, I realise they'll take a percentage but this seems complicated. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thank you so much! I don't know where I would be without this site and the amazing kindness and advice given by those such as you.

Thank you for your response, I had just been reading through your brilliant answers to a similar question. I will write a letter, is there a way I can hold off mentioning any action for now? I think my best line of defense is to keep it sweet for the sake of my relationship with the other members of staff (just in case I need them as witnesses?) It is her company so there is noone else to go through. It sounds riddiculous but i'm actually nervous about writing a letter, although her bullying was more demeaning than anything else it has had a very strange effect on my confidence! All corespondance so far has bee to her PA. I was initailly employed as her PA (temporarily) whilst the new PA, a friend of hers, worked out a few months notice. I then trained this new PA up before taking on another role within the company and then leaving. Is a letter a better way of dealing with such things? Also, though it may not be much proof, before I left I printed off my work emails for each of the days I was there to prove that I had been there (just one a day) they are just simple correspondance between myself and other companies, the company accountant etc would this go some way to proving I was there if need be? (I mean in a court situation- it's a tiny office with just 5 members of staff, so they obviously saw me sitting across the desk from them)

I was working for a company on a temporary basis, it was all quite confusing- I didn't have a proper contract (mostly as my boss, the owner of the company, was very slack and bad with computers- To the point where I had to actually write the contracts of two other members of staff) I have a letter, which I drafted, stating that I am working there on a temp basis workign mon-fri etc etc and both her and I signed it. I had been there for just over 3 months when her bullying and bitchiness got too much for me and I decided to leave. I spoke to her and gave her my notice (at which point she asked what i meant by bullying and I gave her examples, to which she replied "I was only playing around with you, can't you take a joke") Anyway, after I told her I was leaving she changed the way pur pay works, so, instead of me leaving at a time which co-incided with paydates and hence leaving with all the money I was owed, I had to wait til the next month before I would be paid for my last week, even though I had already left. I sent an email through before the next paydate enquiring (having already left my excel time sheet with my hours owed) they messed me about a little, re-asking what was owed etc. When I did get paid I thought it seemed low but, wondering if it might've been due to tax/ni, I requested my payslip be sent to me. It has just arrived and I have been under paid for 15 hours. I don't know what to do next, having known her I am almost certain this is deliberate and not an error. I have no idea where I stand and I just want the money that is owed to me for the days I worked. Please could someone advise?

Thanks DjDave!

Any clues on where to start? I want it to be as professional and as forceful as possible. I'm so enraged by this whole thing. It took effort to clear my debts and the accusation that my debt still remained shocked and worried me. Had I been in a position to pay up I would've done so without question, hadning over money which wasn't owed. There must be people out there right now in the same position who perhaps don't have access to sites like this or don't know that this kind of thing is going on. The thought of Cabot ripping off little old ladies, low-income families and other vunerable people who aren't as fortunate as us on CAG makes my blood boil! It's criminal. I want to tell the world about this, now where do I start?

after reading through all your advice what I decided to do was to ignore them. After all, it's their job to prove I owe the debt, not mine to prove I don't and I wasn't about to get into some letter writing war as I'd rather not give any more of my cash than entirely necessary to Royal Mail. I received a letter this week- Dear Louisapj1 I refer to your letter recived in this office on 19th September 2007. I regret that you have felt cause to complain to Cabot and apologise for any inconvenience that you may have suffered in relation to this matter. I am disappointed that Cabot has not been able to satisfy your concerns on previous occasions. I understand that you believe that you have previously settled this account and you are concerned Cabot is continuing to collect on the same. On investigating this matter, it would appear that proir to The Cabot Financial Group purchasing your account you had arranged and paid a full and final sttelement. Therefore, the account should not have been available to us. Please be advised your account was sold to Cabot as part of an assignment and all correspondance you subsequently recieved was sent to you in good faith. Nevertheless, on behalf of Cabot, please accept my sincere apologies for any anxiety or upset this matter may have caused you. I can confirm that our records have been amended and you shall recieve no further contact either by Cabot or our agents. I can also confirm that I have contacted the Credit Reference Bureau to ensure your credit file is fully updated with immediate effect. Please be advised that this will take approximately 14 days to show on your credit file. I trust we have set out our position clearly. However, if you remain dissatisfied with our final response, you may bring the complaint to the attention of the Financial Ombudsman service, within 6 months of this letter, who may investigate the same. If you have any other queries in relation to the above account, please do not hesitate to contact me on etc etc etc Yours sincerely Some girl Customer Assurance Department. Ok. So now, though relieved, I'm even more angry. How can this happen? I AM still dissatisfied. I'm angry with Cabot for trying to get cash out of me (what if I had been in a position to pay up and handed over the cash? would they've eventually discovered their mistake and reimburse me? somehow I think not) I'm angry with Argos for passing on my details for a debt I cleared many years ago. What is the Credit Reference Bureau? This "debt" never showed on my experian report (i'm guessing that's because it didn't exist) where else could it have been recorded? I live with my mum and she's had problems recently gaining credit, despite having a good record and no debts (though she has not checked her experian report) could this somehow be responsible? What are your views??

Just the answer I was looking for! Thanks

So.. I've recieved a reply... Thank you for your letter, I regret that you hav felt the need to contact us to express your disatisfaction etc etc etc You have stated during a telephone call that this account was paid in full to Fredrikson. I would be most grateful if you could provide me with further detals of this i.e. a copy of your paid in full letter. We are currently investigating your concerns and shall aim to provide you with our response as soon as we have been provided with the details. Please also find enclosed a leaflet which sets out the process we will take in order to deal with your complaint. In the event you remain disatisfied with our service and or response after 8 weeks from the date we recieved your complaint you may refer your complaint to the financilal ombudsman service... In the meantime please do not hesitate to contact us on 01732 etc etc So, now that I have learnt a few things from this forum I was wondering what everyone would suggest? Re-try Fredrikson for a paid in full letter? (will this cost? are they obliged to send one?) Or just send Cabot a letter reminding them that it is up to them to prove that I owe them money, not down to me to disprove I owe it? Suggestions please... Oh and another thing... Is there anyway I can change the title of my thread as i'm not scared anymore

lol. I guess that makes me a model type... (though sadly not a model-typist, there's some bad errors in some of my previous posts)

Ah.. I doubt it.. he seemed reluctant to my charm. They're a nasty hard-nosed bunch these dca's. Though that's just over the phone... wouldn't mind getting one of them in a boxing ring (though my experience is limited in this area to just holding up the numbers. Still... I'd give it a go)