Last week I went into my three store to arrange an upgrade, the shop assistant recommended the 'Managers Special' phone, the Samgung Galaxy. Although I asked to view other phones he was very persistent and in the end I settled for his recommendation. When I got home I read the booklet and started to play around with the phone to get familiar with it. I found it very difficult to to the basic funtions and after several conversations with colleagues I decided to return the phone to exchange it for another make. When I got to the shop the assistant asked if I'd used the phone, 'Yes' I said I made 1 call and 1 text, how else was I to try out the phone! The assistant said that because I used the phone I could not exchange the phone and was locked into a new contract for 2 years. She pointed to the condidtions on the wall in the shop which states, 'you must return the phone unused, this means you must not personalise it, setting the date and time, makeing or receiving calls, taking or receiving text calls' To try out the functions of the phone you must put your sim card in otherwise the phone will not function which according to 3 is personalising the phone Has any one come accross this before and is there anything I can do get an exchange of phone? Thanks

Thanks to you all! I will phone the office today and hopfully get the results. Regards Lyn

Hello Not sure if this is the place to ask for this information, but does any one know if you can find the decision of an Employment Tribunal? Recently the company my husband works for was take to tribunal hearing. The company have been very quiet at the outcome as this would affect a large number of workers working for the company. I've checked on the internet and found results published for Northern Ireland but nothing for the UK. Can anyone help? Regards Lyn

Hi Just keeping you updated, last Thursday I received another letter from Parking Eye giving me an extra 4 days to pay the the minimum charge of £40.00 (isn't that thoughtful of them!). This time the letter showed pictures and times of the car arriving and departing proving i'm 14 minutes over the alloted time of 1 hr 30 min. Will keep you informed Thanks Lyn

Hi Guys Many thanks for your advise, I thought as much after reading previous threads but just needed to double check for peace of mind, (and convince my husband). In the letter received they have already obtained my details from DVLA, so I'll just sit tight and ignore. Thanks again! Lyn

Hello I've just received a charge notice from Parking Eye for parking over 1 hour 30 minutes in Aldi car park. I actually parked for 1 hour 43 minutes! There are signs in the car park saying parking should only be for 1 hr 30 min but i didn't expect a ticket for 13 minutes! I've read other threads re private parking companies, just need clarification if this is legal and should i pay? Many Thanks Lyn.

Hi Cellbar Sorry i've not responded to your advise earlier, this last week has been exhausting. My husband is too afraid and very fragile to go down the route and take them on. They have ofered him a package, paying him 3 months money etc. He's not working now and waiting for the paper work to come through. i will speak with ACAS as you suggested. Thanks

Can anyone please recommend some one we can go to for help and guidance with our problem. I will only briefly explain the problem as I’m frightened some one may read this and know who this is about. My husband has been bullied, harassed what ever you like to call it, for the last 9 months at work by his line manager. He seems intent on getting rid of my husband by what ever means. Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse he came home yesterday with a copy of a statement that a colleague had made detailing a conversation he had with her in confidence about his line manager as he's now on a disaplinery. This colleague was a trusted friend who shares the same line manager and is fully aware of my husbands situation. The whole thing seems a set up, my husband has many friends at work and a number of senior managers have been there to help and support him but no one will stand up to his manager. My husband stands to loose his 30 year government pension if his manager get his way. I’m worried that while my husband is quite a strong person this whole episode has changed him and I fear he may do something to harm himself, we both are very emotional and life at the moment is like a living hell. I’m desperate for us to speak to someone, if you know of any one with legal experience we can go to for help? We live near London. As I said earlier this is only one instant there have been many more my husband has only just returned to work having been signed off with work related stress and already he’s started his harassing again. Thank you Lyn.

Steve Thanks, I'll send a letter today Lyn

Thanks Steven i will contact them today and if necessary write to them as well. Has any one else experience the same on a Welcome statement? Whilst Steven is saying Welcome are moveing money from one pocket to another, the other pocket is MY balance. As i said previously i enter all the amount on a spread sheet, i have a total for payments, interest, adjustments (which i happy have cancelled out duplicate interest entries) and an amount which adds up to £585.00. If these are for calls as advised yesterday from Welcome my question is, Am i entitled to dispute these amounts? Do they have to prove they have called me. I dont want to waste the forums time and mine if i have to accept their word. Many thanks Lyn

Steven I have just called Welcome and queried the amountlisted under Capitalisation they started off saying these were charges for telephone calls to me ( funny as I havn't had a phone for 18 months) they then changed tact and said i needed to speak with another branch as my account has been moved and i should call them tomorrow. The charges excluding the interest amounts to £585.00. i have entered all the figures on a spread sheet, the adjustments cancel out duplicate and entries entered in error. i must say i'm surprised you said they are internal movements of money when clearly they increase the balance. The advise i was seeking is if i am entitled to claim these charges back as they did not call as the contact number on their file has has not been in use for 18 months. Please advise Thanks Lyn

Thanks Postggj and Steven, feeling a lot better now. I'll email copies when I get home from work, arround 6.00pm Thanks Lyn

Hi Steven Thanks for your response, yes they did send me a copy of the agreement, How should I send a copy of the statements? I can scan them and send by email? Lyn

I took out a loan with Welcome Finance in June 06 which like many others was offered to pay my previous loan with them plus some extra cash. At the time I needed the money to pay rent arrears. The payments were now higher than before and I had difficulty paying the full repayment but paid off what I could against the loan. Over the last six months my situation has changed and I have been paying the agreed repayment. After reading several threads about Welcome Finance I wrote to their head office requesting a statement of account along with £1.00 postal order and giving them 12 days to respond (my requests to my branch were not answered ) I received my statement today and horrified at the charges they’ve applied, I’ve had the loan for 22 months and now owe then more than the original loan. The statement has headings ‘Principal, Interest and Other, and list entries under Capitalisation and Principal Credit Adj. In Aug 07 I have some 23 entries listed as Capitalisation and Principal Credit Adj. this is so confusing, can anyone help me understand what they’ve charged, I’m happy to forward a copy of the statement so someone could decipher what’s going on and if I have a case to claim back any charges applied to the account. Please help!

I started the process of reclaiming bank charges and wrote to my bank giving the amount etc. I received a letter back saying all calims had been haulted....etc. I've not processed the complaint any further, if the courts rule in favour of refunding the charges will I be able to claim or should I have process the claim to the court?