Acolleague recently told me that he can now work/earn money of up to 15 hoursper week and £99 per week - and it will not effect his benefits ! This is despite him being in receipt ofIncome support, Incapacity benefit & DLA. I suggested that he checks things out thoroughly before doing anything. If one isable to work, shouldn't their benefits be re-assessed ? I have noidea what this system is called, so can't look into it. Any ideasplease ? Thanks forreading this.

Hi all, Whilst this matter is being sorted, I am concerned about the length of time, and the sequence of events by the retailer. About 18 months ago, I rebuilt my desktop computer. Most of the components came from SCAN International – obviously spending quite some cash. Not long after, the graphic card failed. I contacted SCAN who persuaded me to contact the manufacturer (nVidia/EVGA) [not even SCANs wholesaler/supplier]. Reluctantly I did this to save time, but it cost me money to return the item to Germany etc. 1/ About a fortnight ago, one of the 1Tb HDD’s (Seagate) failed, and I contacted SCAN again. They were insisting that I contact Seagate. It is still under warranty. This time I held fast and told them that as my contract is with them, it’s up to them to sort it out. After several emails, they eventually said that if I send it to them, they will return it to Seagate “on my behalf”. Obviously they expect me to wait for Seagate to comment/replace etc. Apparently; SCAN no longer sell Seagate gear. I think I’m right in saying that I have One contract – which is with SCAN. SCAN have TWO contracts. One with me and one with Seagate – and the two shouldn’t meet ? SCAN have received my original drive today, & found that it is indeed faulty. As my contract is with SCAN – shouldn’t they just replace the item,,,,, regardless of what they do with the returned one, and regardless of their contract with Seagate - & be pretty quick about it ? 2/ Separate issue: When a faulty item is returned under warranty, is it right that: i) any replacement is a refurbished item – not new, ii) any warranty on the replacement, is only as long as is left on the original ? thanks all. F

Hi all, I’m approaching 65 (don’t tell anyone – I think I’m still 35!?) After working in the building & allied trades all mylife, I am now disabled & have to live on benefits & am single. 1/ Pensions: As my age permits, I am currently in receipt of Pension Credit (PC) - including severe disability. In May, my pension will change to State Pension (SP). In my position, will I be better off, worse off or the same? For eg: a/ If I get £150 PC now – and after May I get SP of £125 –will PC make it up to £150 ? b/ If SP give me £165 – will PC say that I have £15 income ? c/ Generally speaking, are people better off when on SP or not ? 2/ DLA: As above – will I be better of, worse off or same when it turns into PIP ? Thanks for reading this - GB

I am trying to find a Solicitor to look into the mis-handlingof my parents Will/s. I am not looking for a freebie, so if you are a Solicitorthat specialises in this sort of thing, please PM me. I’m not interested in a ‘duty’ solicitor type who just wantsto fill forms in, but one that will actually fight my corner. To other readers: If you can recommend a Solicitor that’s acted foryou in a similar manner, please feel free to either PM me or put their detailshere (with their permission). Thank you for reading this.

Thanks all for pointing me in the right direction. I think my first thing is to write to the Bank (address as above) to ask how or why they supplied the information. If all is well (legal) - then end of fight. Initially I didn't actually suspect my Bank of doing wrong. Of course there is a difference between making a mistake, and knowingly doing something wrong - though the result might be the same. I wouldn't put money on my local council workers being so straight though. If anyone has anything to add, please feel free to do so. cheers G.Boy

Hi all, I’m just wondering if anyone has the definitive - legal - information on what procedure the DWP &/or Councils have to follow when appling to Banks for peoples account details ? I am in receipt of DLA & long term sickness benefit. 3.5 years ago, I had to attend a recorded interview – by my Councils Housing Benefit department, which was attended by the DWP as well. After the interview, the DWP decided that there was no reason to take action. The Council did try, but after some very deep and lengthy legal arguments decided not to prosecute me - though they do want me to repay some money. At the interview, the Council produced my Bank details, statements etc. At the time, I thought nothing of it, but when I speaking to my Bank manager last week, I casually mentioned this, & was shocked when they told me that they (DWP/Councils) can’t just apply to the Bank and that a Bank wouldn’t give out this information without a Court order (or similar). Questions: 1/ What do the DWP or Councils have to do to get peoples Bank account details ? 2/ How do we check that the correct procedure has been taken ? Thank you for reading this. Georgie Boy

Why ? Simple - He is named in the Will. If there is a way around that, i'd love to hear about it. My Sister & I found the Will & saw this. We knew straight away that there'd be a screw-up either by mistake, or design. Apart from the actual thefts, the whole thing has been mis-handled from the start. He has lost us thousands of pounds through his big-headedness and unwillingness to listen/discuss with the others opinions. I think he lost £100k on the sale of the bungalow alone,,, and £30k by moving the cash savings from a high interest account to the solicitors 'Client' account !

?????????????????????????????????????????? I'll dig mum & dad up and ask 'em !

It looks like a good [problem]. If no-one will help the innocent victims of this sort of thing, then it will continue to flourish. It is well known that Deaths & Marriages bring out the best & worst of people. I can certainly understand why some people would take the law into their own hands. thanks to all readers

thanks

I'm sorry to hear that you've had similar problems. My main point is that my siblings have actually stolen property belonging to the estate - me. I know that it will be difficult to prove mis-handling, especially when one can't find a Solicitor that will actually fight for it,,,, but they have conspired to rob me, & the thefts are self evident. As far as I am concerned, my family can now rot and burn in Hell. They don't deserve a family around them. If your idea is to let things go, then I'm sorry, I don't agree. Come on Lawyers,,,,,,,, give me some help - pleeeeease

I need Official/Legal help in sorting out a Will. My younger Brother is executor to our late parents estate. There are three siblings. (There has been a lot of mis-handling by the executor, resulting in loss of money from the estate - this post isn't about that, but gives an idea of why I'm so peeved ?!) The 'standard' Will states that the Estate is split equally three ways (a third share each). My Sister started stealing property from the Estate from the day after my fathers funeral. She told me it was with my Brothers blessing (they hadn't spoken previously for many years). Initially he knew nothing about it, but now they are both saying that it was with his blessing "as executor". Obviously this is wrong, & I sought the help of a Solicitor. He wrote to them both, who ignored the letters. The Solicitor says that he can't do much else !!!!!!!!!!! To my mind, a Will is an official & legal document. They have both gone against our parents wishes, and stolen part of my inheritance. What I need, is a Solicitor who is willing to fight for me,,,, I know there are thousands out there that are great at filling in forms and signing this and that,,,, but seem to shy away from actually fighting a case. 1/ I would love to hear from a Solicitor on these pages who is willing to actually fight for my rights. 2/ Failing that, personal recommendations would be good, from someone who's been through a similar experience. Time is of the essence now, as the bungalow that forms most of the estate has just been sold, so I need to do something - (make a claim against the Estate / sue my brother) - before the monies are divided up. I am already disabled, & all this is taking a terrible toll on me. thank you for reading

Many thanks - letter finally written & sent. Results here (if any) later. GB

Well,,,,, I did get a 'standardised' reply, but it was clear that no one had actually read my letter ! Their reply was (para) "Thank you for your complaint - It will take another 4 weeks to look into it" !!! My letter wasn't a complaint - merely asking about remarks on my 'on-line' C.Card statement. My next letter wasn't so pleasant - asking why they bother writing back at all if they don't even read the letter that they are replying to - etc. In the end, I did get a proper reply, an apology & a small cash 'gift'. Thank goodness my problem wasn't life threatening - as most problems with banking usually are. Good luck to the rest of you. GB

UPDATE: I received an e-mail from someone at Appliance Planet with the usual list of why 'they' arn't in the wrong ?! None of it detracts from the fact that the cooker dosn't have a Single Grill option, even though the User Manual refers to it & how to use it. Nor does it refer to Fagors own admittance that they have known about this for over two years - and done nothing about it. On 1st March 2010 I wrote again to the M.D replying fully to their e-mail and reminding them, that whilst my grievance isn't (or wasn't) with them, that I do have to work through them to get things sorted. Up to today, I havn't had the decency of a reply. Giving them the benefit of the doubt (they might not have received it ?!?!) I have today sent another copy, asking for a reply within 7 days. I now have no doubt that they intend to ignore my plea's and expect me to give up -- but I won't. Their address is London (N12) - does anyone know the address of their local TSO please ? I have to get this sorted as I'm disabled & still do not have a Hob to cook on - pending the outcome of this. Any other advice welcome.

UPDATE: Well, Pete did get me up & running again, but despite my asking twice, he hasn't replied to my question of how to pay a fee for the address,,, or should I just make a donation. With the lack of any reply, I will make a donation in its place, and thank you all. ,,,, bit late, but where's me fryin' pan ?

I have written - twice - to the Brighton address, asking specific questions about my own account - and I havn't received a reply to either in 3 months. Do they ever reply from there ? I'm writing again today, and was about to address it to Glasgow, but just noticed that it's for Recoveries. I'll try the London Head Office. At least they might forward it to the correct department - I just hope that isn't Brighton !? I've been a customer of theirs for over 45 years - you'd think they'd at least acknowledge a letter - wouldn't you ?!?! G.B

Thanks for that. Of all the years that I've been using a computer - I have never used Notepad. Of all the forums that I use, this has never come up before - including CAG. Last week I noticed that the inverted 'P' symbol in Word (paragraph) must have been inadvertantly clicked and was showing the line marks all over the place. When I re clicked the symbol, it all disappeared and I thought I was back to normal. If I write a message in Word & cut'n'paste to CAG, it looks alright when entering it into the message field,,,, but if i Submit or Preview, then the formatting commands are shown = [colour] [bold] [/] [/] etc. Can I stop this, or do i have to use notepad when writing away from the forum ? Not life-threatening,,,, but as i've not come across it before, I'd like to know. cheers =================================================== below is what I would get: Thanks for that. Of all the years that I've been using a computer - I have never used Notepad. Of all the forums that I use, this has never come up before - including CAG. Last week I noticed that the inverted 'P' symbol in Word (paragraph) must have been inadvertantly clicked and was showing the line marks all over the place. When I re clicked the symbol, it all disappeared and I thought I was back to normal. If I write a message in Word & cut'n'paste to CAG, it looks alright when entering it into the message field,,,, but if i Submit or Preview, then the formatting commands are shown = [colour] [bold] [/] [/] etc. Can I stop this, or do i have to use notepad when writing away from the forum ? Not life-threatening,,,, but as i've not come across it before, I'd like to know. cheers

,,,,, cheers folks,,,, Pete (Site Team) has been in touch (P.M) & is now sorted. thanks all for your help.

Very strange,,,,,,,,,,,,,, still no replies. I wrote again both via the Admin e-mail address and the Triangle. I've given up now. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SSL: me neither. I moved to Cornwall many years ago,,,, & never looked back !

many thanks SSL, I have just dropped them a line via the triangle. I know it isn't the one for the job, but I think i'll be forgiven. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Am I right in assuming you are actually near the sea side ? Me to,,,,,, but a few miles south west. cheers

Thanks for your suggestions. An e-mail to 'admin@consumeractiongroup.co.uk ' wasn't answered in almost a week:(,,,, so red triangle - here I come . cheers folks

thanks - have now done that

I am disabled and was looking for 'ease of use' (this has self-cleaning ovens and a higher Grill than some others) as well as looking after my budget. ONE: The item is a double oven only (no top hob). You buy these as 'Separates' so that you can have different hobs, or to increase installation choices. This item seemed too tall to fit a hob over. As my choice of Induction Hob was out of stock, I had no way of knowing the criteria / spaces etc. My initial e-mail to Appliance Planet (AP) wasn't answered,,,, nor was the one to Fagor. I wrote to Fagor in the end, and someone called saying "you can't put a hob over this particular cooker, it is intended to be 'built-in'". I told him that now I would be building it in, and (despite my limited income) had purchased new work-tops and drawers etc to accommodate the new layout. My kitchen is quite small and it will take quite a bit of altering if I do have to put the hob anywhere other than over the cooker. TWO: Even though the top oven has Double & Single Grills,,,, the Single grill dosn't actually work ! When I say it dosn't work, I mean it dosn't work as a Single grill. If I turn on the Double grill, then both elements work - showing that the single element is alright. Again, e-mails came up with nothing, so I wrote to Fagor. Amazement a: when the caller said that he had looked into it and that "No, the unit didn't have a SINGLE grill". I repeated that - like most ovens - it did indeed have two elements - an Inner (Single) one & an Outer (for Double) one. He coughed and said "Oh, that small element isn't meant for Single grilling,, It has what we call Black heat, and only gets a bit warm". I pointed out that the Users Handbook (and the on-line version) does talk about Single Grilling,,,, for smaller portions etc. Amazement b: He came back with "Yes - we are aware of that,,,, AND HAVE BEEN FOR TWO YEARS" !! For Two years they have known about a missing feature on the unit, and that the booklet is wrong - yet chose to do nothing about it. The discussion went on. He didn't deviate from his script and kept repeating the same 'trigger' words, and didn't seem to understand that the end users might be a bit upset at buying an expensive item like these, only for them not to be given better information beforehand. I'd never had or heard of Fagor before. I do like the overall look & the rest of the features, but I don't want to put on a Double grill (which is quite big in this case) for say, one bit of fish or a single chop. Although most of this is down to Fagor, it is with AP that I have a contract with. As a retailer, I would have thought it part of their duty to supply proper and full details of the items on offer, so that the customer can make a realistic choice. Needless to say, that I will not be buying Fagor again, or dealing with Appliance Planet. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BWorm: Thanks. That is basically what I said. I wrote to the M.D of AP,,,, who just passed my letter down to a salesman. I am writing again today to the M.D stating again what you say here - thanks again ========================================== PS: This message kept coming up with Formatting codes. I usually write in MS-Word & paste into the message field. Is there a button to get rid of / hide these codes ?

formatting problem,,,, back soon