Well, it didn't even come to Letter Before Action. I made all the calculations and told them what and why they owe me and why I expect to get the exact amount i showed them.  And explained why i wouldn't accept any other amount due to possible additional payroll company charge. 

The woman kept on being rude and uncooperative, but the money came very quickly into my account very quickly. The exact amount i specified.

Of course no apologies followed from their side. But i don't think there's much i can do about it.

Thank you everyone. The issue is sorted.

Good evening everyone,

Here's the story. I worked as a self-employed worker for three days for a new employment agency. The agreed rate was £20 p/h. But the next week it turned out that they paid me at the wrong rate of £19p/h.  I politely attracted their attention to this mistake. At first they accused me of lying about the agreed rate. Then they admitted that thay made a mistake and told me that next week they will pay me the difference. 

And here comes the problem. The difference is £24 pounds. The payroll company's margin for processing payments is £15.00.  Minus 20 % tax means that the net payment which is going to come into my bank account will be around £5.00 or so. But if the payment was made correctly last week, I would have got £19.20 of net payment more than I received. 

That means that due to the agency's error I will get less money than expected and actually agreed. 

I contacted them in writing via their online form on their site, and in response i got false accusations of lying etc. They were rude and utterly unprofessional in their reply. They even told me not to contact them any more, otherwise they would treat my correspondence as harrasment. They even refused to provide me with the name of the person who was in correspondence with me. "They" means so called Compliance Team. 

I am really at a loss. Completely shocked to be treated this way. At no point of my communication with them I was rude or disrespectfull. But they were. They were even agressive without directly calling me names though. Such offensive style was totally uncalled for. I also want to file a complain somewhere about their outrageous treatment of workers. Please advise where to, if such an authority exists

I tried to appeal to their common sense without taking them to court, but they refused to cooperate.

What is my next step? Letter Before Action, I suppose? But how should I classify this? Unlawful deduction? 

As far as I understand I need to use the small claims procedure. 

Do you think there are any chances to redress the injustice? I mean, the amount they owe me is not more than £10. It is really small. But I don't want to let this situation go.

On 28/03/2019 at 16:09, renegadeimp said:

31st dec 2019?

People's advice based on their own experience is just what I need to make my own steps. 

Dear Mr ZZZZZ,

Thank you for your recent letter regarding your concerns at not receiving a reply to your complaint you made in February 2019.

I am sorry to see the difficulties you have outlined within your letter. In reply to your concerns, I have raised this matter with our ASB and Nuisance Team and have checked records held within our team and wider Customer Services Team. However, I can find no record of your complaint which you state was received by the Council on 6^th February 2019. I am not denying that this was not received by the Council as outlined in your letter, its just that I can’t find no record of this and who received this.

Upon speaking to our ASB they have confirmed to me that they have reports of only one complaint that was reported to the Council on 31^st December 2019 raised against the occupants of xx xxxxx Road. This has been closed with no action taken and they have record of no further incidents. What I would encourage here is that if you are still experiencing issues of noise with your neighbour, then it is imperative that this is reported to the council at the time that this is occurring. Any noise witness has to be witnessed before it becomes statutory noise nuisance. Further information can be found on our website:

https://www.newham.gov.uk/Pages/Services/Noise.aspx

However, if you still require your complaint to be investigated, I am more than happy to review this and would ask if possible for you to provide a copy of your original complaint so that due consideration can be given to this prior to any formal investigation. However, as it stands I have little or nothing to go on here as we have never seen sight of your complaint from February 2019. Therefore, at present I cannot take your complaint to the next stage based solely on the grounds that you never received a response.

I hope that this has helped clarified the position here. Please feel free to contact me.

Yours sincerely,

YYYY

On 17/03/2019 at 20:32, renegadeimp said:

let it run for a few days then chase it up with the council.  Just title it something like RE: my letter from xx/xx/xxxx  Then just write as if they recieved it. Theyll soon tell you if they have or have no idea.

I was already going to do so, but yesterday found out that they chose to make a formal reply via email. I'll post the text of their message in the next post.

On 16/03/2019 at 15:06, ploddertom said:

It is a very common problem particularly with Signed For. Often the postman may sign for it and shove it through the door, then forget to update Track & Trace when he has finished.

i sent a lot of signed for letters, and it was always ok, so it is quite uncommon for me. do u think it was delivered eventually?  may be i shoul send another copy of the same letter..

 what would u do in this case?

18 hours ago, ploddertom said:

The chances are it has been delivered but Track & Trace not updated.

well, how do we know for sure? it never happened to me before, and Track & Trace never failed this way..

Very strange, but the letter is still not there.. Last time my signed for letter was delivered the very next day, and now it is still not delivered. 

20 hours ago, stu007 said:

Hi

Hi

Just my take:

Chief Executive 
Newham Council
Address

Dear XXXXXXXXXX

Formal Complaint

Further to my Formal Complaint letter about Anti Social Behaviour dated xx/xx/2019 which you received on xx/xx/2019 (proof of receipt enclosed).

As this has now passed your Stage 1 Time Limit (20 days)(https://www.newham.gov.uk/Pages/Services/Complaints-process.aspx) 
without even an acknowledgement of my Complaint letter dated xx/xx/2019.

I now require my Formal Complaint to be moved to Stage 2 of the Complaints Process due to the above.
(if there is a link to this on the councils website post that link here otherwise delete)

I also now require copies of the following:

1. Newham Council Noise Policy (not the leaflet)
2. Newham Council Anti-Social Behaviour Policy (not the leaflet)
3. Newham Council Complaints Policy (not the leaflet)
5. Newham Council Customer Care Policy (not the leaflet)
6. Newham Council Equality & Diversity Policy (not the leaflet)

(check there website some of these may be there, remember to delete this)

 

Thank you very much. I like it the way it is now. I really appreciate this! 

Tomorrow I will post it recorded delivery. I'll keep you updated of any changes.

On 04/03/2019 at 11:13, ericsbrother said:

Their time is up so get yur letter snet  into the CE of the council as a second stage complaint. This is about not only the subject but their failure to respond within the timescale prescribed. You expect action on both parts of this within the next 20 days ( check it isnt working days)

Yes, I think there's no point waiting any more. I've just composed the message. But I'm not sure about the address of the Chief Executive of my Council(newham). Should I write to the same address as before, but  instead of  Anti-Social Team just use the name of the Chief Executive?

I wouldn't like it to get into the wrong hands.. It would be ridiculous, if the letter will be opened by the fellas against whom I complain.

Here's the text I've just prepared: 

Dear Chief Executive of Newham Council, Ms/Mr YYYY

This is my 2^nd stage of your complaints process. On the 5^th of February I filed a formal complaint with your Anti-Social Behaviour and Nuisance Team. Please find a copy of the letter enclosed. More than 20 days passed, but I still haven't got any response from them. They received it the next day. Please find the copy of the receipt enclosed. They just ignored it. Please take all appropriate steps to sort out the situation.

Sincerely yours

Mr XXX

their official site says they must reply within 20 days period. so i think i'm gonna let them a bit more time before moving on.

Just for your information: I sent them that letter recorded delivery on the 5th of February, but I still have no response from them... Looks like they are not going to answer at all..

What should I do if they chose to just ignore me..?

Well, the leak was finally fixed.

TW fixed it, as it was the outside one.

They did it on the 18th of January.

according to the smart meter it still looks like the consumption is a little too high for 2 persons.

It never falls less than 150-200 litres a day, even when no one takes a shower.

That is very strange.

TW said that they need to be sure there's no leak inside, and after that they will calculate my leak allowance.

For now they put my account on hold.

Today a manager from the agency i'm renting from came to check the leak inside.

the meter reading didn't change withing 2 hours, as no one used any water facilities inside the house.

I wonder is it possible that there is a very small hole or a crack somewhere in the pipe inside the house, which does not leak until someone turns the taps on or start using a shower??

Is it possible, that i lose extra amount of water only when I turn something on in the house, and i don't lose any water when nothing is turned on?

As I have the Ref.number, I think they have the full text of my initial complaint, that's why the outline is really brief.

That's how it looks: As you know I reported you regular and continuous shouting of my neighbours every night after 11 o'clock.

Hi

 

Simply put the following:

 

Your Address

 

 

Their Address

 

Date: XX/XX/2019

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

Formal Complaint (this means they have to record it as such and is logged for the regulator to see on inspections)

 

Reference: (if you have previously complained and have the refernce number etc place it here)

 

Brief outline of the issue and I do mean a brief summary here.

 

Due to this I require copies of the following:

 

1. XXXXXX Council Noise Policy (not the leaflet)

 

2. XXXXXX Council Anit-Social Behaviour Policy (not the leaflet)

 

I look forward to your reply

 

Yours Sincerely

 

 

 

 

Type Your Name Here (remember in the gap above to place your signature)

 

 

(Anything in RED please make sure and either amend or delete)

Thank you very much. They didn't reply to my email sent on 24.01.2018. Thus I will post them your version of the letter by special delivery.

You can only edit within ten minutes of submitting the post, pugilist.

 

HB

That's not a problem at all. I've just sent this email to them:

Ref: YYY/XX/YYYY/XXXXX

Dear Anti-Social Behaviour & Nuisance Team,

Please provide me with your policy for:

a) Noise

b) Anti-Social Behaviour

Regards,

Mr XXX

Thank you EB, I don't know why I didn't spot that. I thought something was missing and couldn't see for looking.

 

HB

That was a misprint, but i can't find the edit option for that post. Looks like we can't edit our old posts here.

it is ANTIsocial behaviour.

please take note.

yes, it was a misprint)

- - - Updated - - -

Looks OK to me.

 

HB

Thanx)

agree, just copy what he has written then it will be clear to the council what you want and they wont be able to wriggle out of supplying the info because your wording doesnt use the exact terminology.

Ok, i see. Check my previous post pls. Does the wording make more sense now?

I would word it exactly the way stu007 did in his post, otherwise you're changing the meaning slightly. You want to see the policy for a) noise and b) antisocial behavour. [stu says the procedures will be within the policies.]

 

I would start it with Dear Sir rather than Hi.

 

HB

Thanx

Dear Sir,

Please provide me with your policy for:

a) Noise

b) Social Behaviour

Regards,

Mr XXX

@ pugilist

 

Simply read my post properly

I've just done so. It looks like you suggested me asking them if they have those policies at all, am I correct?

If this is the case, my message should look as follows:

Hi Mr XXX,

Please tell me if you have any specific procedures on dealing with nuisance neighbours :

1) Do you have any Noise Policy that you have to follow in case you receive a complaint

&

2) Do you have any Anti Social Behaviour Policy that you are obliged to follow in case you receive a complaint

Regards,

Mr YYY

If I am wrong again, is there any chance you could rephrase your answer to clarify the meaning of it?

my spelling mistakes are caused by me having multiple sclerosis and so I struggle to get my body to co-ordinate itself. Peopel do understand my "gibberish" becasue they bother to read it carefully and apply some thought to exactly waht is siad rather than just scanning over it and jumping to the wrong conclusion.

 

This doenst apply to just my words though, peopel HAVE writtenm out EXACTLY what you need to just copy out and you then paraphrase that as somehting that is totally different and carries no useful request. Look at what was written by STU and look at your version Stu says ask for a specific POLICY and you translate that to procedures with noisy neighbours where no council will have such things because there isnt a statutory regulation that applies should they decide to be jobsworthy over this ( and they will beacuse neighbour disputes are a legal nightmare).

Sorry for your condition bro..

It seems that I really misinterpreted STU's words. Most likely, that he didn't express his thoughts in a clear way!

Well, not I am really at a loss of what he wanted to say and what is wrong with my paraphrasing of his words..

renegadeimp said:

Pretty much. I'd either email it. Or simply go to the council offices and ask them.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Check your councils website though.

 

For mine its http://www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/Resident/Environmental-Health/Noise-Nuisance.aspx

Well, my initial message to them was through their website. So, I'll do it same way again.

stu007 said:

Hi

 

What you actually want to request is there Policy which will contain there Procedures and ask for both:

 

Noise Policy &

 

Anti Social Behaviour Policy. (note noise cones under this as well)

 

Could you clarify if the neighbour is a Home Owner / Private Renting / Housing Association or Council Tenant etc?

Hi

I remember her husband once said that he was renting. But u can't trust such fellas. He is almost always at home, same as his nuts wifie and the kid. He may be a Council Tenant, but I just don't know.

What do you think if I put it this way:

Hi Mr XXX,

Please provide me with your current procedures on dealing with nuisance neighbours:

1) Noise Policy

&

2) Anti Social Behaviour Policy

Regards,

Mr YYY

So you recon just one phrase would do, and no need to add any extra gibberish?

Hi Mr XXX,

Please provide me with your current procedures on dealing with nuisance neighbours.

Regards,

Mr YYY

What do u think is the best way to send the message this time: by post special delivery or via online form on their site?