Thanks Hymn and Mi, I'm drafting an email. I spoke to the council who advised me to write an email to them requesting a copy of the Traffic Regulation Order. I also checked that making an appeal would put the 2 weeks I have to pay the reduced rate fine on hold - I was worried about making an appeal and then having to pay at the higher rate if it failed. I will make sure I get them to clarify this in writing. I will include the discrepancy you have found and compare both documents to see if there are any others. The only other thing I mentioned to them over the phone was that I moved into the bus lane (not realising it was 24 hour) to avoid a taxi which was tailgating me - I only just remembered this and I have noticed it actually appears in the evidence photographs. The lady I spoke to said that they could check this out on the CCTV. Do you think this would be worth adding? The lady I spoke to didn't dismiss it. Would there be any further implications of this? I just don't want to open up a whole new can of worms and make too much work for myself! Thanks again.

Sorry that's upside down - I cropped it, rotated it and saved it on photobucket and it's displaying the old version for some reason. Thanks for the link - I will have a good read of the cases tomorrow and decide what to do!

This is the other side of the first page. The third page just has two photos of 'evidence' and the reference number for the case, date, my reg. number and the "by CEO" number.

Thanks Hymn - really appreciate this. Here's the PCN - I hoped I've removed all personal details - thought I'd get rid of the time too just in case. It was just before midnight if it matters!

Hi Hymn and Mi, The wording on mine is: "If the penalty charge is paid before the end of the 14 days beginning with the date of service of the notice, the penalty charge will be reduced by half." So the only difference in wording is mine doesn't say "period of 14 days" just "14 days" and instead of "one half", it just says "half". Don't think that will be enough will it? Would it help if I took a photo of the PCN?

Thank you - I see now. I've never been on that stretch of road before so didn't intentionally use it to miss a light; as I was turning left at the junction ahead, I thought it would be good to be in the left lane. Turns out it wasn't as I think there was a light in the normal lane and a 'give way' from the bus lane to get back onto the normal lane directly after the light which I thought was odd. I think you're right that it's unlikely to be successful, but there's no harm in trying. It'll make me feel better and I'd be quite happy to waste some of their time. I'll make sure they send me a document with the hours of operation written on it.

Hello All, I've just got a PCN though to say I was in a bus lane on Burley Road in Leeds during the hours of opperation, just before midnight! I will admit to not being aware that bus lanes could be 24 hour, but as there wasn't any traffic, let alone buses I presumed wrongly that I could use it. Also, I don't live in Leeds and had just driven up for a gig so unfortunately, I wasn't aware of the recent enforcement drive. Anyway.. Is there any way I can get out of it? I suppose incorrect signage would be the only way? Or is it that 24 hour bus lanes don't require signage? I certainly didn't notice any signage. Unfortunately it's not worth me driving up to Leeds again to photograph the scene for the sake of £30, but I just want to show The Man (or mildly irritate him). I've never had any sort of traffic fine and I'm one of those idiots who stick to speed limits religiously. This just seems a bit ridiculous. Makes me want to buy a van, register it in someone elses name and not bother to tax, insure or MOT it. Any help or suggestions would be gratefully received, and thanks for reading.

I know, it's pretty rubbish. But the NHS most definitley does waste money (they paid my friend £12 per hour do do some basic admin for months, and not to mention that ridiculous £400,000 yacht thing). Maybe if it was more accountable for messing up, they might sort out booking appointments and arranging doctors' shifts? I don't know - it's worth a try! Will let you know how he gets on on Saturday. I think he's mostly peeved that he's been paying his taxes for 40 years and knew as soon as he'd need to use the NHS, they'd mess him around. Good job he had his accident in the Ukraine I guess! ETA: Thanks for the offer of help with the letter MsWeatherWax!

Thank you very much for the replies. He certainly had no luck getting either of them refunded by National Rail or whoever - just a condescending, stern word about not reading the T&Cs! I've told him to go to the PALS office and explain the situation - he obviously has a letter informing him that the appointment was cancelled which actually only got to him the day before the appointment, after he'd got in from work - if I wasn't at home the other day, he wouldn't have known until the Friday evening and would have been due to travel the following morning. Anyway, that's irrelevant really. Like Sali, I think it's unfair that the patient should incur the cost of travel for a cancelled appointment, when it would have been out of the question to buy an open return on the day, at a cost of £80 I think. He definitely wasn't informed that he wouldn't be reimbursed for a cancelled appointment, but I was told over the 'phone, that if he'd have been on benefits, he could have claimed the cost back. Oh well, I guess we'll just wait and see how co-operative the Trust are - otherwise, I don't think it's OTT to write a complaint requesting reimbursement.

I'm posting this on behalf of my dad. He was crashed into by a motorist while cycling and is suffering from whiplash/concussion. This was in the summer, and he's been waiting to see a specialist/neurologist in hospital. There weren't any appointments until mid December, so he's decided to get an earlier appointment at a hospital in Newcastle (on Saturday). Anyway, he bought train tickets, totalling about £40 and has just got a phonecall saying that they're going to have to reschedule it to the following week. My mum was going to visit my sister in Durham the following week so luckily, she will be able to drop him off, with a slight detour. So, he needs to get a refund on the tickets. I think you can get refunds on standard tickets, but apparently, you can't get refunds on advance tickets. He got a standard ticket for the outward journey (which hopefully the train company will refund), but strangely, the cheapest train to get back was a 1st class advance, costing £25. Is there any way the NHS will refund him? After all, it was them who (infuriatingly) cancelled the appointment two days before he was due to go as there's "no doctor available on that day" - well why was there a blooming appointment available!! Really hope someone can help. Thank-you in advance!

Thanks gyzmo. Yep, I'll make sure I don't get any display/refurbished kak. This happened to a friend - she bought a laptop over the internet and when it went wrong, she thought they were being really generous giving her a brand new replacement of higher spec, but it turns out it can't even run Vista. Something not quite right there. Anyway, huge thanks, and I hope I don't have to come back and complain about them tomorrow!

Well, just to update. Strangely, I had a phonecall from the retailler letting me know my laptop was back in, so I printed out the relevant sections of the act and went to collect it, knowing full well that I wanted more than just the laptop back. Well, I got there and found out that, surprise, surprise, it wasn't properly fixed. Again. They'd fixed the faulty keys, and had replaced the inner casing around the keyboard, but hadn't put it back on properly so it was bent near the keys. Also, they hadn't put the keyboard back on properly, so it's wobbling around as I type. The guy was reasonable and took it next door to see if PC World could fix it, but apparently they couldn't. So then he said it would have to go in again for repairs. I told him that it had been too long already and I wasn't prepared to be without a laptop for god-knows how long and said that I'd spent a lot of money on petrol and phonecalls and that I was being severly inconvenienced. I then said nothing, and waited for him to respond... which took a little while.. Then he said that I could have a replacement laptop. Very pleased really, as I'll have another year of warranty, as mine runs out in November. So I have it until Friday to back everything up, and then, new laptop! So, thanks for your help, and although I din't recite the act to him, just having it with me gave me the confidence to know I was within my rights to be dissatisfied. Thanks again!

Thanks very much! Yes, I'll draft a letter and post it here. I did read the Goods and Services Act, but wasn't sure that it applied to my repairs and then got a bit bogged down, so thanks for the sections! I'm soo angry, but yes, a cup of tea and a cuddle with the dogs will sort me out!

Hello All, This is my first post and I haven't got round the whole forum yet, so please move this if it would be better suited to another place! I wasn't sure whether I could post the name of the retailler I'm dealling with, so I've got rid of it just in case. This is sooo long, but I'd be really grateful, if anyone can bear to read this, for some advice? Having a nightmare with an electricals retailer. My laptop had a minor fault with its keys so I took it in for repair as the warranty runs out in November. They said that it'd take 'under 2 weeks' to complete the repair and so I took it in before I went on holiday so I'd only be without it for a week (I'm currently setting up a business and so I'm lost without it!). Well I got back from holiday and they hadn't rung to say it was back in the store, so I waited, and waited until it had been away for three weeks. Then I rang up what I thought was the store, but it was an expensive, general number and after a long time on hold, they apparently 'couldn't put me in touch with the store directly' so they rang the branch and the laptop wasn't there. So I asked where it was after all this time, and they couldn't tell me and also couldn't put me through to the appropriate department so I'd have to ring another number. So, I was on hold for ages again, and they told me that the laptop had been repaired and returned back to the store only a 5 days after I'd originally taken it in and they couldn't tell me why they hadn't rung me. I was FURIOUS! So I rang the other number back so I could double-check whether it was actually in the store so I didn't waste a trip into town, and after a long time on hold AGAIN, they told me the store didn't have it. I was raging, so I got in my car and drove into town ready to present them with the date, time and consignment number that my laptop was returned to their store on. I got there and said I was here to pick up my laptop and began to rant about the date it came back to them on. Anyway, the guy on the desk said, 'oh, someone rang you about it today'! I said 'no they blooming didn't' and he said it could have been when I was travelling to the store - what a coincidence after 3 weeks! He then turned the computer screen to me that said 'Debbie called 11th September 2008 - no answer'. I believe he'd just typed it in! Well, he then went to get my laptop and I noticed it had been scratched which I was not pleased about and then I opened it up to check it was properly fixed. Well, it wasn't, and far from it! It was even worse! Neither of the keys near the touchpad worked properly, and the casing hadn't been put back on properly and was bent and bowed in between the keys and the touchpad and looked like it was going to snap. I shouted a bit (in frustration rather than at the guy) and then he put me on the phone to someone to report the faults before I resubmitted it to them. I had to take it home as I had stuff on there I needed to use, so I completely backed it up an took it back the next day. By then I had noticed that on the bottom, where they'd removed part of the casing to 'repair' the fault, they'd just forced it back on and screwed it on, rather than actually slotting it in and then screwing it - idiots! So a member of staff put that back on properly before it could do any lasting damage to the plastic. I mentioned the stratching that it had sustained, but was told that because the condition hadn't been filled in on the form they'd done on the computer, I couldn't prove that the damage had been sustained while it was with them - but isn't it their duty to fill out the forms completely? But, they were ready to fill out the condition part of the form this time - stating my poor laptop was 'scratched across the top'! Grraaarrgh!! Doesn't that just give them the opportunity to scratch it completely as now I can't prove how scratched across the top it was? Anyway, I resubmitted it, along with a long list of the problems, what and where they were exactly, with diagrams as these supposed repair team (part of the retailer I believe) don't seem to know how keys work. You've guessed it, over two weeks later, it still isn't back. Sigh. I have been without my laptop for over a month, have wasted money on phonebills and petrol and I can't sort my website out or anything to do with my business, having limited or no access to a computer. Can I reclaim any of these? Is the electricals retailer in breach of anything for inconveniencing me this much and damaging my well-looked-after laptop? I've since found this, part of the Goods and Services Act I think: "consumer" means any natural person who, in the contracts covered by these Regulations, is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business or profession; So I don't think I'll mention the inconvenience caused to my setting up of a business, as it hasn't been 'set up' yet anyway and I don't want to void it. On one of the Acts, it mentions inconvenience caused and the degree of it relating to the intended use of the item or something. The laptop was bought to be used while I was a full-time student, so I don't know if this is relevant? So what should I be doing now? Waiting until I have the laptop back? Going in there and demanding it? Going to CAB? Writing letters of complaint? One of my problems is that I'm terrible at confrontation and standing my ground, and the managers at this store are particularly dismissive of my issues and just try and get rid of me. Would love some opinions, and advice would be gratefully received! I really thank you if you managed to get to the end of this - no doubt I'll have missed stuff, but It'll be a good reference, having it down in writing.