hiya thanks for your prompt response outlawla... im going to SAR them, get all the facts and figures and then send a letter of complaint.... thanks again karen

When i received my council tax bill for 2012/13 i noticed that the total outstanding for other financial years had gone up £800 from last years £400 to this years £1152.82 bearing in mind my entire bill for 2011 was only(?) £912.67 and according to my bank statements ive paid them £600 so things dont add up there..anyway im going to send them a sar and get that sorted.. (do i just amend the one in the library?) However when i went to the council offices to try and sort this out as i was convinced i couldnt possibly owe them that amount, the lady i saw acted as if it was a pesonal slight on her that i owed this money.. i dont think bullyish is too strong a word! She told me there was nothing they could do as the account had been passed to bailiffs, she also said "it doesnt matter if you didnt get the 14 days notice letter as long as we sent it out" at this point i was unaware of their legal obligation to inform me my account was being passed to bailiffs, strange she should mention me not getting the letter, when i hadn't mentioned it! i sat there virtually in tears as she rang through to reception for the number of said bailiffs, so i could ring them to "sort out payment", whist on the phone, as i waited and worried and was visbly upset, she and the receptionist discussed some day out they were going on and how she would have to get up at 6.30 a.m to do her nails!!! I wondered if ther was any action i should take about not having received the liability order and this womans attitude? thanks in advance Karen

...and this one... 020 3538 2602

hi.. they rang me with a local area code!!! not sure how they managed this, they're a sneaky lot!! (im being nice there!)

hiya my boss and (long term partner) has a business with 1 full time member of staff (me) and three part time, one of which is a new starter. he has just put the business up for sale and has said that we must now accrue our holidays as in the first year, although previously we have been able to take them as soon as the leave year begins, his argument is that if when sells the business we may have had more than our entitlement, is he allowed to do this? his not very informed accountant says he can just apply 'first year' rules! i have explained to him about tupe applying, therefore our contract(unwritten) continues as normal and the holidays should also remain as in previous years, he refuses to even consider this and im quite concerned about the implications for him if he isnt treating his staff fairly, one of the girls has already consulted acas! she has a holiday booked in july and is depending on her holiday pay for her spending money, understandably. any advice gratefully received thanks in advance karen

hi ive been away for a bit!! thank you for your advice, i cant believe they chose to ignore the major issue, i.e the tick box that wasnt!! that surely would never stand up in court, that along with countless other issues i have!! i might just drop them a line outlining this and then get on to the fos! thanks again k

....anyone? im really stuck here as dont know what my next course of action should be if it helps, i have been paying £41 per month insurance since july 07.. plus interest of course, a little more than £814.12!!!! thanks k

hi finally i got round to sending the original " i want my money back" email to lloyds pointing out that i wasn't told the insurance was optional, but more importantly the tick box, saying i wished to purchase it, was never ticked! i have recived their response which im guessing is the bog standard letter everyone receives... they say as i have raised a number of concerns (2) they will respond to each one individually, the only response they have made is that is to the fact that i claim i was never told it was optional, no mention of the tick box thing!! then they go on to offer me £814.12 rebate if i choose to cancel my insurance now and that will be taken off the outstanding balance, they also say that this is their final response and the matter is now closed, er, not for me its not!! and i should contact the fos if im not happy!!! which im not! as they havnt even addressed the main issue, do i write back? all advice gratefully received thanks in advance karen

hi ozzywizzard yes i got a call from a very apologetic guy from EON( i feel this guy had been drafted in especially for the job!) around 10 a.m yesterday saying my job was next one in my area, and an hour later an engineer turned up,and as you say it took him about 2 secs to reset the meter... warmth restored!! thanks karen

thanks for your response nottslad, my mum and g.daughter not actually here yet, could i say they ar?, although my grandaughter was actually here all day yesterday and it made no difference! have rung them again anyhow, they now have someone fielding the calls, because there is obviously a high volume of calls, have just been told someone will call me back within the next few hours, they cant specify a time! i understand they are swamped with work and its not their fault. but if they arent going to come id like to know this is my 2nd day off work waiting for the meter man! thanks again karen

hiya i wondered if any one had any advice please... my pre-payment gas meter suddenly stopped working yesterday morning, i went to the shop and bought credit, as i thought this might be the problem although i couldnt remember using the emrgency credit but thought maybe my son had...on my return i tried to apply the credit but the meter was displaying 0.00, i rang the shop to check if although my receipt was showing £10.00 was there any way the credit might not have been applied to the card, i was told that couldn't be the case, i first rang eon at 9.30 a.m and the woman advised me to go back to the shop and have them check my card, since i couldnt get out of my drive due to the weather conditions i couldnt do this, but my son arrived home and confirmed he hadnt put the emergency £5.00 on and we noticed the meter displayed 'call help' i did call eon (and realised they are using the term help very loosely!!!) i explained my situation and was told an engineer would call me back shortly,i waited an hour, he didnt! i rang again and was assured someone would be out within 4 hours, they werent!! we rang 8 times in all yesterday and each time we were told they worked until 11 p.m and someone would be out before then, guess what?! they werent!! i have now been without hot water, heating and cooking facilities for 24 hrs!! and whilst i appreciate there may be people more needy than me,24hrs worth of people?? and if this is the case why cant they communicate with me? i sat in a freezing cold house all day waiting... and waiting! my elderly mother and my 4 yr old grandaughter are meant to be coming to stay, but obviously they cant in conditions like this! i am sorry for the rant, any thoughts and advice greatly appreciated karen

hi guys thanks to you all for the positive input and encouragement.. the way this has turned around since the initial posts, just after the announcemnt was made, is amazing, we have done it once and im sure we can do it again!!!! DONATE if you can, i just have! karen x

omg!!!! i can hardly compose myself!!!! good luck everybody!!! xx

update.. i sent off the letter to lloyds this week, quoting you quite a lot bankfodder, thanks for that!! and within four days i received a very apologetic letter and an offer of £100 which ive decided to take.. thanks again bankfodder for your input... donation on its way as i wouldnt have done this without your help!! karen

yes, youre right and i do intend to...... but that will take a while.. i could just do without them taking this £105 on thursday (thats about half my weekly wage!) thanks k

hiya everyone i dont think there will be a solution to my problem, as yet!! i just need to sound off a bit! i have received a letter from lovely lloyds this morning telling me i was overdrawn on the 25th and would be charged for this, surprise surprise!! the reason i was overdrawn, this time!, was because i took ill at my partners house, was in bed for two days and therefore unable to get to the bank to pay in funds to cover my loan, i did this as soon as i was up and about again, but i will have a £35 charge (at least)for the privilage!! i have just rung lloyds to explain (and beg a little!) the "nice" young lady i spoke to said there was nothing she could do if i was overdrawn by more than £25, (so £25 or less and they will waive the charges, in certain circumstances!!) i asked if there was anyone i could speak to that could and she said no as they had a very strict policy on charges! she also said there was £105 to come out in charges this thursday, i explained that that would send me overdrawn again and create yet more charges, she said i could speak to someone who could help me manage my money if i were a hardship case... (well if you didnt keep taking my money i wouldnt be a hardship case!!!) im so annoyed!! when i asked her exactly what i was getting for my £105 plus that they were taking from me she couldnt answer, because of course she doesnt know!! i going to go into the bank tomorrow and see if anyone there is prepared to help, but im not holding my breath... one good thing to come out of this.... they were in breach of data protection earlier this year when the cashier gave my partner the o/d balance on my account (he didnt know i had an overdraft and it has caused huge problems between us!) and this incident today has fired me up enough to write them a very stroppy letter of complaint that i had been unsure about sending and if needs be i will report them to the relevent authorities... karen

hiya.. have finally got a letter together, weve had a lot on, but dont know whether or not to say that i think its worth a payment in compensation or to just ask how they plan to remedy this... any thoughts gratefully received karen

hi nagasis no i havent.... shoud i? thanks karen

hiya, sorry if this is a hijack!! i have just had a call from simply be.. some very rude woman named kianza.. who asked for me by my first name as if she were a friend and who said when asked for her name.."dont worry this call is being recorded for training purposes" well they didnt train you very well in customer services love!!! she insisted that i HAD to clear the whole balance today.. i have missed a couple of payments and although i said i was prepared to pay the minimum payment they have asked for by the due date she still tried to pressurise me to pay the outstanding balance, and even said she was prepared to drop the 3 charges that have been placed on the account if i paid in full.. had i not known what ive learned on here i would have been afraid not to make a payment...are they allowed to use bully tactics? my blood is boiling, can i request a transcript of this call.. can i cca them? can i complain about this woman?maybe they should think about employing pleasant friendly people, i would have probably made that payment today!! karen

hi again... have "fixed" the scanner, am now amazing technical whizz kid!!! have scanned document........ just cant locate it!!! plase bear with me!!!...........

hey boo... thanks for the birthday wishes! yes 21 again... again!! strangely enough your card hasnt arrived yet...did you put the post code on??!! i will attempt to scan and post this, although our scanner isnt very good and neither am i... its a bit temparamental, unlike me!!! thanks boo karen

hi guys yes recorded delivery and no i didnt sign it!!.. thanks for your concern... i was feeling quietly confident about this and yesterday, on my birthday would you believe!, i received what they refer to as a copy of my original credit agreement, this is in fact the application, i know this counts in some cases... but it says nothing about repayments or interest rate and their signature is a barely readable stamp... the terms and conditions are enclosed, 3 seperate sheets but whos to say these werent printed prior to them sending this out? thoughts anyone please.. karen

thanks very much for your help and well done karen

hi thanks very much for your help.. sent the letter off yesterday... will see what happens now... thanks again karen

thanks fox i have just sent the account in, dispute letter, i havent had settlement figure offer yet... did they finally drop your case and was that the end of it? thanks again karen