Hi, Got a bit of an issue here with an employer. My employer isn't allowing me to take my accrued entitlement and will loose them as of December 31st! I started working for them on the 18th September 2012 as a door supervisor working average 4-5 nights a week (roughly 20 - 30 hours a week) and have accrued just over a weeks holiday. Thing is, I'm on week 11 of my 12 week probationary period which means I cannot take holidays until after the 11th December. Due to the nature of the business and it being Christmas time, my employer has a strict NO Holidays after the 10th December and is in effect until the new year. Our holiday year runs from January to December and holidays cannot be carried over, nor will the be paid in lieu. So I'm basically being denied my statutory entitlement. There are a handful of us in this situation, what are our options?

Hi Guys, Hoping for a little bit of advice. I worked for a large security company, who shall remain nameless at the moment (they have however prominently featured in the news lately). Basically no payday has been right since August. Also, HR don't have a direct number for Payroll due to the size of the project that was being worked on. On 13th August, I got my payslip, noticed there were shifts missing and that I was paid at the wrong rate (both from July), I contacted HR who got me a callback from Payroll, who informed me that they would make this paymenton the 15th along with the amount on the Payslip. Come the 15th, only the figure from the payslip was in my account. I contacted my employer again, they informed me that It was paid by CHAPS and should be in my account. I left it for a couple of days just incase it was a clearing issue, come the 20th, Still nothing. Two more weeks went by before I was contacted by payroll (I had contacted HR many times), who told me that they would have to put a trace on the funds and that it would take about a week. A week passed, still nothing, more countless calls to HR who tried to prioritise it. I eventually got a call back from Payroll after another 3 weeks, who told me they still couldn't trace this money and still investigating. Bang come Saturday 22nd September I get an email from Payroll telling me that they have re-issued the payment and it should clear in my account by Today (Wednesday 26 September), this was also confirmed by a callback on Monday by payroll. Low and behold today - still nothing. To add insult to injury, I received an automated email yesterday, telling me that the amount should be in my account within 3 working days and that they apologise for the inconvenience. I've lodged another complaint with HR who have emailed payroll to get in touch. Basically I'm after some advice as to what I can do! The amount thats owed to me is rather large (£1000+), the saga has gone on for over 6 weeks now. As a result of the lack of payment I incurred bank fee's, late payment fee's on some bills and I was put into rent arrears. Each time I ask the question of Payroll, they keep saying it wasn't their fault etc. Any advice would be smashing!

Are you saying that you cancelled Contract A with T-Mobile and then either went to Tesco and signed up for Contract B on the T-Mobile network? If the above is correct then T-Mobile are correct, You CANNOT port a number from the same network to the same network. Basically porting is transfer a number from one network to another. So T-Mobile are unfortunately completely right. If you still have your PAC code, as JohnVernon has said, purchase a PAYG sim card on any other network (Not T-Mobile) transfer your number across (3UK would be the best bet as they don't have a minimum port-out time). Then request your PAC from them and give it to T-Mobile. It seems a lengthy process (should take around a week or so), it is however the only way!

Hi all. Wondering if I could get a bit of advice here on a situation I'm facing with Barclays. Basically I called on the morning Thursday the 7th due to dodgy transactions on my account, the card was cancelled and a temporary credit applied to my account (I've contacted the police etc). I was told that my new card should me with me Saturday or Monday at the latest. Come Monday - no card! So I call them on Tuesday and they say the system was slow and to allow until Thursday, if it hadn't arrived by then I was to call up and they would cancel the card that I had not received and send a replacement out as a priority delivery. Bang! Come Thursday afternoon - no card! I call up customer relations, and speak to a guy who tells me that it has to be given until Friday and thats the banks policy (I find out this was not the case at all!) he says he's checked with Debit Card Services and the cards been sent out and that I should receive it on the Friday. Low and behold, come Friday - still no card! I call up the bank and speak to another Customer Relations/Response member who ordered me a new card and cancelled the one that I didn't recieve - while on the phone and checking online banking, we discover that the card I didn't recieve had been used online and over the phone on the 13th and 14th! Something which the advisor that I spoke to on the Thursday should have noticed and could have stopped it. Its at this point I'm fuming and the advisor tells me that he could have cancelled the card as he was supposed to (notes were left by the manager on the Tuesday) and now I have to wait until these other fraudulent transactions that were made with the missing card debit from my account before I can dispute them or do anything - Leaving me currently £200 out of pocket. Basically I want to know where I stand and what, if any, other options there are! And I'm still without a card!

While it can be possible, it is highly unlikely! The fact that they were received over a year ago, the number of texts and other data received on the handset will no doubt have written over the raw data multiple times, meaning that there would be very little( if infact anything) left to be retrieved!

Yeah the email is executive.office@orange.co.uk . It takes them a couple of days to get back to you. Yes, you should be able to use the wifi free at home etc. In order to use the internet capability on a mobile there needs to be certain settings to enable you to use the network, deleting these prevent the mobile internet facility from working and in order to restore them Orange would need to send them again or you would have to manually input them, which is not particularly difficult.

Ah! That explains it, you purchased the handset to pop his sim into it. The Virgin Plan to my memory didn't allow any add-ons or bundles. It was simply a case of use and pay the following month (the concept was brought up before they even imagined the usage and features phones have nowadays). The £60 airtime would have been a Pre-pay credit and couldn't be applied to his account anyways as his is a Pay Monthly. The advisor should have explained that the handset will always attempt to access the internet and that the plan he was on was unsuitable for the phone. The premise of the complaint I would say is that he called to see what the options available where to him when he got the new phone and he wasn't given them other than open a new Prepay account. It could have been worse I suspect, assuming that he hasn't had a new sim card in the past 5 years. If it was a newer sim card it could handle faster speeds meaning more data leading to higher charges. Best thing to do is to send an email to the executive office stating that you purchased the handset from Amazon, called Orange to let them know that he was using a new phone and wanted to know what the options were and that the advisor failed to mention the data charges that would be applied to the account as the tariff he was on didn't offer any allowances and wasn't suited to his needs. Also state that the advisor told you (and ask them to locate the recording if there is one) to default on your agreement and withhold payment which is not in the interests of Orange and yourselves (credit wise). Tell them that you want the charges removed from the account. If he's happy with the phone and using it for calls and texts, and NOT using the internet features of the handset - keep on the virgin tariff and I can give you some hints on how to stop the handset from accessing the internet (basically by deleting some settings).

The Virgin tariff on Orange is an old one that's no longer done (or has been for atleast the past 6 years). It works like a standard landline with the exception that you pay no line rental and pay for what you use the following month. You say the upgrade was done online, were there any costs related to the upgrade? As from memory, a customer upgrading on the Virgin tariff would have to pay near enough full retail price for a new phone? Also you say it was for roaming charges, what location was he in when the data was being used by the phone? As it's an 3G Android handset that basically means that it is trying to access the internet at all times, so the handsets should never really be sold without a data package for the internet.

Try giving the complaints department a ring on 0800 358 4916. Tell them that you haven't received a response within the allotted timescale. They are usually quite good at resolving issues.

Hi all! Hoping for some help here as my solicitor is absolutely useless! I received a week ago today a 'Charge for Payment of Money' from a Sheriff Officer/Messenger at Arms giving me 14 days to pay. Basically in 2010 I was looking at serviced offices and looked at Regus in Glasgow, I was given the sales spiel but never agreed or signed anything. Fast forward to July 2011 I received a summons from Regus' solicitors with regard to Coventry County Court. I filled in my defense and sent it off in the envelope and heard nothing more from it until the Sheriff Officer showed up telling me it had made its way up here. It turns out my defense was never received. What actions am I looking to take? TIA.

They told me over the phone that both defaults would be removed as soon as possible. I also received a letter this morning from Arrow telling me that an urgent amendment has been sent to the CRAs to delist Arrow from my account. Although it only mentions one reference number on the letter rather than both.

The reason for not checking the CRAs afterwards was the fact that I was caring for my mother, and also that Experian said that the information would be removed.

Cheers DX - How do I go about it? What steps should I take? Is there a standard letter template?

Hi all, Looking for a little bit of advice here. I recently (last week) accessed copies of my credit file online with the 3 CRAs and found to my horror TWO defaults by Arrow Global for Mail Order catalogues - which turned out to be Simply Be and one of their sister catalogues that had been registered from 2007. I never opened these accounts as I would have been 16 from when they where first opened. Now I had contacted Experian in February 2009 when I first noticed these accounts and supplied them evidence to forward to Credit Account Management (the people that had been managing the collection of the debt from 2007) and I then considered the matter closed. I contacted Arrow Global to find out that they owned the debt and Credit Account Management where collecting. Arrow said they knew nothing of it and it wasn't their fault - upon challenging CAM it was found out that this wasn't properly investigated, Arrow then agreed to remove the two defaults as soon as possible. Should also add that CAM also have admitted failing in sending out legal annual statements as they are required to do, so I had no knowledge that these hadn't been removed. These defaults where the reason for me being turned down for credit elsewhere, and have caused me hell. I know now they are removing the defaults - well, when I see it I'll believe it. But what other action should I be taking against them for compensation? Any advice or pointers would be great!

Thanks Gbarbm, so send the same letter to both parties (i.e. 2 letters)? How long should I give them to reply? Do you have any suggestions on how to word the question?

So what should I include in the letter? Just ask for reasons on why I was dismissed?

No bother, just noticed this section in the contract: 4. Job Title You are employed by the company as a Telesales Executive and you will be responsible to your immediate supervisor. You will be assigned to work solely on the campaign/contract and your duties will be confirmed on the commencement of employment. The company reserves the right to make changes to your duties in order to meet business needs. The company may require you to perform other duties and/or move you to another department or to another campaign in order to meet its business need. It is an essential requirement of your role that, due to the nature of the business, you agree to move to another campaign on one day's notice. This may involve a variation in hours, duties and/or location. Didn't notice this section earlier, as for the others, as far as I know they were moved campaigns.

1) they told you the campaign was not working out and the client was pulling it; so did the contract specifically mention the campaign or the client? Nope! The contract doesn't state name of client or refer to the client at all. 2) £400 seems excessive for 3 days training (which I assume was in house) or 2 really if you count the one where the trainer ws unavailable. How was this figure arrived at? Beats me, the answer we were given was that it's a figure to make money as it's a revolving door with staff! 3) on what grounds were they saying you wouldn't be around for retraining ,was that because you were off sick? Yeah! They said I wouldn't be available for retraining and that there wouldn't be any opportunities soon. 4) as the contract/training seems to cover all aspects of the business ( call centre, customer support, tech support and sales) what reason did they give you for not transferring you to one of those departments? No reason at all, although didn't specifically ask them about this as was quite shocked.

We were basically taught from a powerpoint about the product that we would be selling down the phone. The contract is the same standard contract for everyone who works in the call centre, whether its doing customer service, inbound sales, technical support or outbound sales.

Cheers, here's the exact wording. 5.6 In the event that this contract is terminated for whatever reason during the first three months (with or without notice), the company will be entitled to recover from you the training costs in the sum of £400. This sum will be deducted from your final salary and by signing this contract you agree to such deductions being made.

£400 deduction was for 'training'!

Hi All, Hope someone can help on this one. I worked for an outsourced and outbound call centre selling life insurance on behalf of a major insurer. I started working for my previous employer on the 19th October 2001, working for 35hrs a week, Monday through Friday. I started the Wednesday and underwent training the same day which lasted for 3 days, in the building where I worked along with 3 others (one of the days the trainer wasn't even in and we were given pointless busy work). After the 3 days it was onto the floor making outbound sales calls (reading off a script, something that we were not allowed to deviate from. I worked every day upto the 28th October when I was off sick (the same ailment which means I am now on ESA and limits my abilities) and submitting sick notes up till the 18th November, when they called and told me that they were letting me go as the campaign I was on was not working out and that the client was pulling it and that I wouldn't be around for the retraining (their words, not mine) or couldnt be trained for another campaign. And was informed that I would have £400 deducted from my final pay packet for training, as stated in my contract as I was under 3 months employment. What I want to know is, are they allowed to do that? They were the ones who let me go and didn't give me the choice? Is the figure not unreasonable as the training was not that extensive or justifiable? Any help would be appreciated.

Best thing to do is to pop into a T-Mobile store, they'll firstly try to send the correct settings to your phone over the air - if that fails they WILL send it away for repair. The policy in their 'T-Manual' is that any existing customer with a faulty or not working handset can be sent away to the repair centre free of charge (if found out to be user inflicted damage then they will send a quote of what the cost would be to repair it). The staffer will check the handset for signs of damage etc and let you know that he's noting this down on the fault form, its then the repair centre that turn round and say out of warranty or damaged by user - if that comes around then you go at T-Mobile with your statutory rights under the SOGA! So I would recommend popping into your local store and alerting them to the problem.

Upgrade is a loose term used in the industry these days as 2 out of 3 people upgrade their handset to something more modern (not more high tech). Its actually a renewal of the contract that your agreeing to( i.e. adding another 12 months on), renewal being the key word. O2 Don't even have to allow you to do this - infact they don't need to have you as a customer, allow you to upgrade or even add a photo message bundle! When they speak of free upgrade it means a renewal without charge (i.e. termination fees or upgrade fees), and the handset(depending on which one) being charged as appropriate. Unless your a high spender on O2 it is extremely unlikely that they'll change this view, especially as you still have half the minimum term to run. Sorry to say but they haven't missold it! And if these are the issues that your having with them, I would reccommend not accepting anything as you'll be stuck with them for another 24 months!

Hi Vegus, It's actually more common than you think, this type of thing happening - I even recall a story of a plumber in someones house agreeing to an upgrade for a customer. The companies don't have a policy in place to counteract this other than using the existing returns/cancellations method (Distance Selling Regulations). You've contacted them to tell them about it and expressed your wish for the sale to be anulled. Its just a matter of waiting for them to send the Royal Mail Special Delivery returns bag, which is sent by first class post (where as your phone would have been sent by Special Delivery because of its value) - you've told them, so you are covered and it should be notepadded on your account. Once they receive it back, their fulfillment department will reverse everything on your account to the way it was previously. Or if you want it resolved asap, call them and tell them you will send it back special delivery and they apply what it cost you, to your account. Do this in conjunction with your complaint - don't wait or it can cause major issues. The one thing to watch out for is if the allowances have changed from the old contract to the new one - if theres a difference in minutes, it can sometimes cause issues when the account is reversed back so watch out for this (whichever tariff had the lowest allowances - stick to them to make sure you don't get any charges or headaches, its better in the longrun and can prevent a lot of hassle later on!) always use the least amount of minutes! As for cancelling the direct debit - its not worth it! If your looking to re-mortgage etc, I would continue paying and reclaim any overpayments (or anything extra) later on, but if you can get it sent back to them before your billing date everything should be fine. If you stop paying or try to pay part-amounts it can cause issues with your credit file (yes they can be sorted, but its quite a bit of hassle). So all in all, 1. send the phone back (either by waiting for their returns bag or sending it at your own cost via Special Delivery) as soon as, before your billing date and 2. follow up about the call to your son with the complaints dept. Hope I've helped!