Thanks for the advice. Sounds like it would be more hassle than it's worth whist trying to finish my post grad and find alrernative work.

Yeah they have said they will give me a good references but in all honesty I would rather not have anymore dealings with them. I have another job with the council which ive had for 7 years and can get good references from them. Probably time to just let it go and hope Karma exists!

Four months away.

Hi, I had been working as a personal assistant for almost two years and was recently dismissed. I was texted by the person supporteds mum to tell me that they would be coming in to discuss my job. When I started I was contracted to 17 hours and another worker had 3 hours at the weekend. When the other worker left I was offered the extra hours and accepted. I had been informed in an informal chat (all meetings were informal no notes taken and would be without warning) that there were changes happening with the persons support ie Autism in Scotland would be talking up the hours I had been given and there was some talks of me working alongside them. I was obviously unhappy about my hours being cut but recognised that I hadnt taken the steps to have the hours formalised. All I asked was that I was given as much notice of the changes as possible so that I could sort my finances. Months later there was still no notice of the changes. I then received a text whilst I was working telling me that they were coming in to speak to me at 12. This meeting occurred in the Kitchen of the flat of the person supported and I had no representation. I was then told that I no longer had a job and that Autism in Scotland were to be taking over as they required more flexibility. It's important to note here that on more than one occasion I was contacted through text late at night and expected to not come in the next day and would not be paid. Eventually I told them this wasn't acceptable and I would hope that we could come to a mutual agreement on notice for not coming in and was told it was to the same as me calling in sick ( I still have this text). I extremely upset because I had no Idea this was about to happen and was told that I was not to work my notice (two weeks) but would be paid for four. Anyway I received a letter a few days later and it was the first time It was described as dismissal. I was very upset by this letter and was surprised to read that the situation had been discussed with a care manager from the council, Autism in Scotland (who are not linked to my employment in any way) and the person supported themselves. I would also assume Care in Scotland were party to this as they are responsible for my contract and wages. I found this distressing as I take pride in work and have been described as very competent in similar roles. I was really uncomfortable that my competence had been discussed in these meetings and that my reputation was at risk. I was never invited to any of these meetings and I also never received support and supervision throughout my time within the role. The letter also mentioned that they would be seeking someone who was more in line with their sons personality. At the end of the letter it stated that I had six days to reply if i wanted to dispute it. At this time my older sister had been diagnosed with cancer and the day prior to my dismissal had been in for a radical hysterectomy (they were aware of this and stated in the meeting that they had been holding off telling me for weeks because of this). So because of the situation with my sister I stupidly didn't reply- I didn't have the time or energy and there also wasn't an address to reply to. On a side note within the dismissal letter envelope was a personal letter saying how grateful they were for all my hard work! On the way home from the hospital a few days later I was looking for a job on my phone and found almost the exact advertisement that I had applied to to get the job but for one less hour a week. I knew this was for my old job because of the mention of Autism in Scotland and the fact that the address shows up on the map in gumtree when you post an Ad. In my opinion I have been dismissed on my personality and if not I was dismissed without being given the opportunity to improve on my performance. I was unaware that they were unhappy with my work- I never had support and supervision. It also states in the dismissal letter that they need someone who could be more flexible- I was never asked to change my hours or be more flexible and can't help but speculate that this was something to do with me not accepting that I could be told not to come to work within 12 hours of starting my shift. Most importantly I feel that my reputation in my field of work has been tarnished due to being discussed at meetings and this could affect me gaining future employment. I am currently studying a post grad to become qualified in this field and already have associations within the sector. I also was not given the offer of representation at the meeting where I was told I did not have a job and this was not recorded. What I would like to know is have I been unfairly dismissed? Secondly has my stupidity in not replying to the letter (I was sent a text to ask if I received it and I said yes) resulted in me not being able to take it further and Lastly if I do have a case what are my next steps? Thanks in advance.

I've had an I pod touch for around ten months now and recently the rubber which holds the screen to the back came away and now the front and back are not connected properly. I checked my warranty online with apple and was able to send the Ipod touch away for repair. This part was very efficient but I received the ipod touch back today and it has not been repaired. Apple have said "A diagnostic evaluation has determined that your ipod requires service because of and external cause such as accidental damage."- This is not true. I've looked after my ipod really well and have never dropped it or anything like this. Looking at the damage to me it is clearly a flaw with the way it is made. In essence I would like to know if there is any point in disputing their diagnostic evaluation and if so how to do it? I only have until the 24th of December when my warranty runs out. My other concern is that the inside of the ipod is not protected as the seal has come away so obviously I don't want to use it in case the inside gets damaged. I use my ipod everyday for a diary, emails etc so this has really annoyed me. They have said I can pay to have it fixed which I would do if it was my fault and out of warranty. What is the point in having Warranty if companies can decide that it's damage is caused by the user at whim!? Any help would be appreciated.