Hi, It is a case of possible unfair dismissal. I am suspended but still not dismissed. I work in IT of some charity organisation's operations division. I am suspended from work from yesterday. Events - 1) Joined office on Monday after holidays. I am on loan from support team to development team. There are some people who don't like me for some personal reasons. 2) I was given a task on Monday at 11am to write a test unit proc (PL Unit) for some code developed by another developer say X. 2a) This is a kind of a mundane task which X had mentioned in past that no one likes to work and he can do coding but can't work on PL Unit. As I see I was only one who was given this task since I joined the team. 3) I started working on it but I was finding it really hard to work on this task. (may be for personal reasons - my daughter had epileptic seizure a week back). I like to work on logical unit and was taking lot of time to work on this particular task. I work in scrum agile environment and in that you work on something which you pull and you estimate. But here I was assigned the task and told to finish by end of day. Around 4pm I emailed to scrum master that I hate writing PL Unit and it will be better if this is being tested functionally instead. I told that I will take 2 days to finish it if they still want it. I got no reply. I stopped working on that. 4) Next day morning in the scrum meeting I mentioned that I tried working on it but couldn't. 5) I mentioned to Scrum master orally that I can't work on that. He said you at least work on part of that. I said I can't. He said he will escalate that to his manager. He immediately emailed me to which I replied that I can't work on it. I am not finding motivation to do it with CC to my support team lead. 6) Then my support manager (line manager) had a meeting with me at around 1pm on Tuesday. After the meeting he told me to go home and come on Wednesday at 11am for a meeting to discuss this. 7) At the end of the meeting on wednesday morning where HR was also present, I was told that I am suspended from work and there will be disciplinary meeting soon. During the meeting with Manager on two occasions 1) He was trying to stress that I am refusing to work but I was stressing that I am not able to focus on that. 2) I was trying to stress principles of Scrum Agile that Scrum master can not assign the tasks and you pull the task which you estimate. He was trying to stress that this was estimated earlier and the team thought that it is a reasonable time for this task. 3) During the meeting I was trying to stress that PL Unit was not written in past for much bigger piece of codes and this is a just one line of code. I got a chance to see in brief the product owner's response on JIRA that this situation is unlikely to happen in production and this story could be closed. 4) At the end of the meeting I told the manager that I am willing to work on this story and he said I am accepting this after 1.5 hours (1 hour actual) and I don't want you grudgingly work on this. My performance in support team had been 2-3 times better than the next best person and even in dev team in last 2 months in dev team I had worked on 2 very complex pieces of code. First one X had tried to work for a week and there were many bugs in it and I have to re-write it. Scrum master has a grudge on me because I had in past done firing of his inefficient close friend in support. Some other managers in dev team have grudge on me because in past when I applied for dev team role I was rejected and sub-standard people were given those role. I had mentioned my arguments against the selection process. My support manager has recently joined the team and he kinds of thinks that I have an attitude. He accepts my stellar performance. The culture in company is not open and performance oriented. They strangely prefer contractors from agencies or vendors paying more than double.

i have currently been insured with hastings direct,i am in my second year with them and up until now never had a problem.... my issue has now come from me adding my partner to my insurance as a named driver,i did this in november last year. anyway on friday the 4th april,her car wouldnt start so she used mine,i must stipulate that it is very rare she uses mine,its only for emergencys,so on the m62/m60 to manchester in the smog/fog pollution that was around she lightly bumped a van in front in the fast lane but in very slow moving traffic,the highways agency came to move the car to the hard shoulder but said she couldnt drive it due to the sides of the bumper sticking out over 2 inch. my car was then taken to bury,not sure where and by who, my partner tried dealing with the issue the best she could but she was stuck 50miles from home so a tad upset. later that day i got a call from hastings total loss who told my my car was a write off,i told them it wasnt and at most would need a new bumper and very most a slam panel,no airbags had gone off,no damage to lights or bonnet or suspension. anyway the weekend passes and im thinking its fine,il just get the car back from hastings and fit a new bumper,i am a mk4 golf enthusiast and a member of all the forums,so i could prob get the parts free yesterday morning tuesday i call the number to see whats happening,i get told the car is now at a salvage place in wigan,even further from where i live,i tell them i havnt even taken my stuff from the car and they tell me to contact the salvage place directly,i do,so am now going over to collect my stuff. what bothers me is the car hasnt been assesed so dont know what cat it is or there class of damage,if when i get there to remove my stuff, there is stuff missing i will be getting the police involved as the car is legally still mine. i also asked about getting my car back from them,it is a mk4 golf gt tdi pd130,it has high milage but i also know these cars will do 2 to 3 times round the clock,1 owner from new and full service history,i just know when they have deducted my excess and the rest of the years premium i will be lucky to get £100!!!!!!! i want my car back,i am happy to pay the excess and not have hastings deal with my car,just give me it back, it concerns me they told me it was a total loss before even anybody had seen the damage,they obviously know how much money can be made from these cars in parts. i am not going to send in any documents as they will just sell the car with all my personal stuff in it. i have read other peoples dealings with them but untill you have an accident with hastings you really dont know how bad they are,i also need an explanation why the car didnt go to nationwide to see about repairs.. help needed before i contact the insurance ombudsman.. regards justin

I have recently published a blog post about a terrible experience endured by Amy Kewell at her local Sainsburys in Tonbridge. The fundamental issue with her experience is that it is very difficult to shop in a supermarket with children in a buggy. We are very keen to find a supermarket who are willing to develop a simple solution to make it easier for mums and dads with buggies. [weblink removed for consideration by site team]

Two weeks ago, my friend and I went for a trip by rented car. We ordered an automatic mini countryman but instead they gave us a manual mini cooper which has smaller spaces. As we can't drive manual car and too small for four people's trip, we went to the desk for change. Turned out that they only have one automatic car at the moment and left us no choice but accepted it, cuz we had to go... they said otherwise we should wait for other customers to return the car which would take a few hours. so we took it, and it was a huge SUV - Volvo XC70... we didn't use to drive such a big car on a very narrow country path... then we got a big scratch on left side of the car on the way back. we didn't pay extra insurance for the car, so they charged us £2,000 for the scratch as they said calculated by the computer, which we consult the staff from Volvo store - we showed him the pictures of the scratch, and he said it would cost about £1,200 for repairing. in addition, when we were discussing with the staffs from the car rental company about the compensation fee, we ask them to consider the fact that they didn't offer the correct car for us at the beginning and gave us the one and only option which is too big, the staff there denied that she did so, she claim to have given us 3 options to choose which made us very angry. we do sent a complain letter after we paid the money, ask for refund, but no one replied.

I had been on I.B / D.L.A for about 7 years. In july 2012 I filled out the required form and sent it off. In March of 2013 I received a telephone call from the Local job centre asking me to come in for interview. I asked why and she stated that I had been found on examination to be placed into Work Related Activities Group. I said but Ive not had any examination. In some confusion i agreed to come into the Job centre. In the job centre I asked when this examination had taken place. No answer. I then asked when I been informed. No answer. They then told me I could appeal against the decision on the grounds that I had not been told of the decision ( of the examination I had never had). I then checked with my G.P and the three consultants I am under that no requests for information concerning my medical conditions had been received from ATOS. Nothing had been requested. I took legal advice and appealed using exactly the same information that I had used in the form sent to them in July 2012. (I keep copies of all correspondence.) One week later I received a letter stating that they had received my letter of appeal. Six days later I received a letter stating that I had been moved into the support group. Am I the only person to go through the whole process and win without being examined by anybody.

:???: am looking for some advice, as to where i stand with a gift certificate as a present, i have gone on to book this and received email from them, which was my experience boarding pass copy and pasted on here Voucher number: EXP669-******** Participant name: STEPHEN SANSUM Experience: The Tank Driving Experience, Stirling Booking date: Sunday, August 4th, 2013, confirmed Booking time: 2:00PM - 3:00PM, confirmed Location: Stirlingshire Participants: This voucher entitles one person to the experience Experience duration: Experience duration 1 hour, drive time over 20 minutes Weather: Can be done in most weather conditions Restrictions: Minimum age 16. Driver height over 5 ft. Season runs April - November Spectators: Welcome to observe from the viewing gallery. Refreshments available onsite. Spectators can ride in the tank for £5 (payable on the day) Validity: This voucher is valid for one year from the date of purchase Important Notes ** Location This event takes place at Absolutely Scotland, Gateside Road, Cambusbarron, Stirling. ** Directions Please see this map link to the exact location: tinyurl.com/abscotland. Please DO NOT use sat-nav to find this venue as the postcode is approximate. Please familiarise yourself with the location using the detailed directions at http://www.giftexperiencescotland.com/tankdriving_directions.pdf ** Time Please arrange to be at the venue no less than 15 minutes before the booking time stipulated. Failure to arrive on time may result in you missing your booking slot. ** Clothing Please wear sensible, flat shoes for this driving event and dress warmly, even on sunny days. Please bring one form of ID with you on the day. ** Weather Should this event be cancelled because of weather then we will email you. Please check your emails before departing to the event. Experience Supplier & Venue Absolutely Scotland Tank Driving Absolutely Scotland (Tank Driving) Castle hill, Cambusbarron By Stirling Stirling FK7 9QU Please make sure that you are familiar with the location of the experience venue. Get driving directions by following this link. i have read this and the important notes box, then under this box is another with the address and a link to follow for getting directions, although in the important notes section it has an address, which has to be copied and pasted to get to, i have just presumed the link they have enclosed for the directions is the same thing, so i have followed their link and printed out the directions, directions through google maps, and i have followed them online right to the destination end, where you see some 4x4s training ground, and these directions have pointed this out to be the location, on arriving here their is no clear signs for the driving experiethere isnce, and their fore i have gone to the club shop and they have explained the woman is further down the road on the right along a dirt track, needless to say i never found this gate or dirt track, after an hour trying to find this place i have given up, a couple houses i have stopped and asked at knew it went on somewhere in the area, but were not sure where exactly it was. when i have copied and pasted the address in the important notes it is different instructions, where it does take you to the same spot where the 4x4s were, but a closed gate has to be opened then down a long dirt track, although at this spot there is no signs or indications to this, i have found the boarding pass a bit confusing as it does tell you to follow this link for directions, maybe my own fault for not coping address and pasting, as they now say i missed my slot and nothing can be done, therefore my voucher is now spent, anyone know where i would stand on this, thanks for any advice

Hi everyone, I'm just looking for a little help and advice if possible as I'm a little confused about my situation. I've been on JSA for a year now. Two weeks ago I had a phone call from my personal advisor at the job centre informing me about a work experience position in a florist and I told them I'd be up for it. So I was contacted by the florist a few days later and I went in to see her and started a few days later, which I must add I'm really enjoying working there Okay here is the thing though, I've been looking up online about the work programme and well they say work experience is only if you are under 24 or 25 and I am 29, so I'm not sure what I'm meant to be doing. Also the job centre told me the position was for 2weeks with a possible job at the end, when my boss asked they told her that I must work for at least 8weeks. I feel a little confused because I thought I may have a job in 2weeks, and I can understand my boss wanting to make the most of having me for free for 8weeks instead of two weeks, as the business has just opened. I'm worried I'll be used and thrown out once the 8weeks are over as I really enjoy working there and me and her are even planning drinks after work as we get on so well. Also I was wondering if there was some way in which she'd be able to get paid for taking me on permanently and train me through the job centre or something? If you have read all of this thank you I hope someone can help me. Also, I must add I don't see an advisor at the job centre anymore and have just been handed over to a work programme however I have tried contacting them several times and never had someone get back to me, so that is why I am unclear on my situation.

I have just come back from our annual visit to Centre parcs, this year I thought we'd treat the family and book an executive lodge. First of all it was a small issue, when we arrived at our lodge at 3.40pm the maid still hadnt finished cleaning so we had to wait 10 minutes outside while she did. Second was a significant amount of fag butts were left outside the front door and with young children it's not a good thing to have around. Thirdly, the master bedroom smelt so badly from cigarette smoke I actually spent the first night on the sofa, I am a asthmatic and the fumes were playing hell with my asthma. Reported the smoke issue to guest services who supplied a machine to get rid of the smell, however they took the machine away and you could still smell it, it smelt like a stale grotty pub! In our "New Style" Exuecutive lodge, the door handles were falling apart, grout missing from bathroom floor tiles which meant they moved when you stood on them, two of the internal doors were jaggered and a real hazard of little feet and even big feet to be honest. One unique fitting was actually a plant with a budd on it growing up through the skirting board of the master bedroom, my son throught it was a wire at first. Maid service was terrible, cooker not cleaned, dishwasher not emptied and there was even sweet wrappers stuffed down the sofa from the previous guest that the maid never cleaned up, one had a boiled sweet in it YUK! In the description when I booked the lodge, it stated it came with a private patio area and gass bbq, it didnt have a gas bbq it qas a brick on which you could by a throw away bbq and place on it. How they get away with selling a lodge with facilities which they do not supply I do not know! I have been visting centre parcs since 1999 and I am flabbergasted at the standard of their executive lodge, far from the standard that I stayed in on my last visit.

Hello guys, I know I don't post here much, but I want to know where I stand on my work programme advisor mandating me to find work experience despite me telling them I have no idea how to find the contacts in the industry. They did have an employer engagement officer, but he has recently left the company (after only being there for one or two months). I have been on work programme since May 2012, and it seems like they haven't done much to help me on the experience side. My impressions of this are they think it is all on me to find the experience although I have no contacts, and when ever I contact any catch all email addresses (I have to email because it is also mandated for me to copy my advisor into any contact if I don't I have done nothing) To be honest I am terrified they will query my benefits over this. I have put a complaint into the manager, but I haven't heard anything as of yet, initially it was sent though the post on April 5th, and on Tuesday I sent the exact same letter via email. Another thing I was wondering is, would it be inappropriate for me to see if my advisor would mind me making a voice recording of interviews, after one time I don't trust what she writes down, and I know if anything happens what she writes down can count against me.

I have been looking into this and clarification would be nice Under the mandatory work experience document used by job centre advisors, this is stated: 18. Given the policy intent of MWA, the following claimants must not be considered for referral to MWA:  currently working (paid or voluntary)  undertaking employment related study / training  taking part in or recently completed* another employment measure (contracted or non-contracted) aimed at helping them move closer to the labour market Now undertaking employment related study/traning include doing an education course such as college or a part time degree study course as an example. How do the DWP DEFINE undertaking employment related study This is just educational as i do not claim any state benefits

Good Afternoon We purchased a 3 piece leather suite from SCS (Clydebank) store in August 2008, we took delivery in December 2008. Total cost excluding insurance £1795. We've had no real reason to complain until now 4 years later we've discovered an issue with one of the cushions, the leather appears to be stretching/peeling away and has now resulted in a 2cm hole. We are dog owners and the dogs do get to sit on them, however are very well behaved and never damaged the leather in anyway, we thought perhaps one of them had however been rubbing this particular cushion. As we had the Guardsman insurance which cost a whopping £427 for 5 years cover, we decided to claim pet damage. The upholsterer visited and claimed the leather on this particular cushion to have been overly processed during manufacturer and that this would not be covered. He did note that there was 2 minor scratches that could be covered, one on each of the 2 sofas and he'd submit the report on this basis. Guardsman have accepted the claim and even agreed to cover the cost of re-upholstering the 5 cushions to ensure a colour match - great I thought ! 4 months since we've received word that the leather can't be souced from the manufacturer, so a cash settlement will be made but we've to wait 7 weeks for this to be reviewed and confirmed in writing. The written confirmation is now in hand for a whopping £187 which is what Guarsman claim the repair would have cost if it could have gone ahead. At the point of purchase we were informed that the Guardsman insurance covered replacement in the event repair was not possible. Having just discussed this with their claims handlers, I'm told that this is discretionary, a blemished seat cushion would not consitute them paying out for a replacement suite. Now forgive my ignorance, but how can companies get away with this ? What are my next steps ? , I could obtain a copy of the report and claim from SCS for manufacturer defect, it just seems ridiculous that I have to go these lengths. Any advice greatfully received - I feel conned by both SCS and Guardsman !

Friend of mine bought one of those driving experiences for her boyfriend (for Christmas) then split up with him a couple of weeks later. I've been given the job of figuring out if she can get a refund, and since I don't have a clue, I'm delegating the job to you lot: She bought it online in the form of a voucher, which the recipient can then redeem. So at the moment no car/course/date has been booked. The site's T&C say: The DSR cooling off period is 7 days anyway, isn't it? Seems a bit harsh trying to charge 30 quid for something that is already your legal right. Anyway, she's had the voucher for about 2 weeks now. Anything much she can do please?

My ATOS experience was the same as most it seems, banal questions, ticksheet and a perfectly fine verdict after ignoring what the actual issue was. Where it seems to differ though is afterwards, post rejection I phoned up the DWP and spoke to an exceptionally helpful chap who went through things with me, he stated what ATOS wrote was at odds with what I was telling him but there was no surprise in his voice. He went off and called me back pretty promptly having reinstated my benefits (or moved them across to the new one, ESA is it?). Now I have suicidal tendencies, I dont self harm or anything I just have no desire to exist, Im not sad or down but I am hugely depressed because it is very hard at times for me to feel anything at all, I can suffer from anxiety though, a story in the daily mail brought my experiences to the front of the mind and I looked around and found this forum.I exist because I dont wish to put my family through any pain but conversely often think that removing myself would be better for them in the long run. Now all that may have had a bearing on what happened, but the upshot is the DWP overrode ATOS there and then, there was no appeals process that I went through. Upshot is ATOS sucks but there are actually helpful and caring people working within the DWP and sometimes its just a little glimpse of human kindness that makes the difference.

Hi there I have to say I was dreading my ATOS medical. I went along with my dad. It was almost 3 weeks ago. I was interviewed by a nurse. I was asked questions about my work history and the type of jobs I have done. I explained and explained my medical condition and how it affects my day to day life. I have scarring on my lungs and currently having investigations carried out into heart problems. She took my blood pressure which was very low. She also asked me to blow into the machine for peak air flow. She did this twice and said she wouldn't ask me to do it again but that she normally does this 3 times. She noted all my meds and copies my hospital appointment letters. When I left I had no idea if I had passed it or not. Since my assessment I've met other people who have failed their assessments so I was genuinely concerned that I would not be eligible for ESA and would have to sign on for JSA. I had to phone DWP on Friday about my fit note and was told that I had been placed in the Support Group. To say I was shocked was an understatement. I felt if I had passed I would be placed in the WRAG group. I'm currently attending hospital for investigative tests so perhaps that's it. I am very breathless and can only walk very short distances without having to stop. I also have severe fatigue. I was treated with respect throughout the whole interview so I honestly can't complain about my treatment by ATOS. From what I have read around the forums though it seems that it depends who assesses you. This means I can relax now and concentrate on my health and getting well again. I do feel very thankful that the person assessing me realised the extent of my abilities....but I feel kind of bad for all the other people who are genuine and being refused the help they need. I wanted to let everybody know my experiences. I was very worried before going but the reality wasn't as bad as I was thinking it would be.

Hi everyone Wondering if anyone can help with this issue my son is currently faced with. He graduated in July this year with a first class degree and is now looking for work in his field. He was fortunate to get a month's unpaid work experience with one of the world leaders in his field. This is a massive opportunity for him and although it will probably not give a job with the company it will look fantastic on his cv. It's not a company that you apply to. They approach you so that's how big a deal it is. Sorry, forgot to mention the company is in another city over an hour away and about £55 a week in petrol. My son, prior to starting this placement, signed on at the job centre and was paid for the 2 week period up until the start of this placement. He was totally up front and honest with staff and told them about the month placement and asked if he could be paid job seekers while he was doing it. Long story short, but the dragon at JC said no way as it was not a placement organised by them. Now no disrespect, but this is such a specialised field that there are no placements in this field organised by the job centre. My son did say at the time that he would be applying for jobs and would attend interviews during this period but the guy was not interested. Yes, he could have lied and called up and made excuses on signing on days but he's more honest than that. So, he did his work placement and we paid his travel, accommodation, etc. Not that we could afford it really, but he couldn't not do it. At the beginning of this month when he signed on again he actually met with a very helpful lady who said that she totally understood his situation and that he should apply retrospectively for the benefits he had missed due to work experience (my son spoke to her about the recent Despatches programme regarding the Job Centre wrongly penalising people who got of their backsides and organised their own work experience). Anyway yesterday my son received a letter stating that they had "looked at your backdated claim and decided that you have not satisfied the labour market conditions for job seekers allowance from 29 July to 2 September 2012" and that "We have also decided that you have not shown good cause for the delay in making your claiim from 29 July to 2 September 2012. This means we cannot backdate your Jobseeker's allowance" What?? There was not delay .... he tried to claim and they said he couldn't! And, what does it mean he hasn't satisied the labour market conditions"? Then, today another letter arrives which states: "We have looked at your claim again following a recent change. We cannot pay you Jobseeker's allowance from 29 July. This is because we recently told you that a decision would be made about a doubt on your efforts to find work from 1 August to 2 Sepember 2012. We have now decided that this doubt no longer applies". I think that they need to go on a course to learn plain English but I think what it means is that: "You chose to try and get a job by taking unpaid work experience but because you got off your backside and did something we aren't going to give you the benefit of the doubt and because you didn't lie or take a morning off your work experience to come in and sign on, we don't believe you were really looking for work". Actually, my son did apply for jobs during this period of work experience and can prove it, Sorry for the rant but I'm really angry about this and plan to speak to our MP about it but before I do this I wondered if anyone on here could give us any advice on action to take. Of course, he will appeal but it's like wading through treacle - they just don't get it!!! grrrr. Thank you muchly if you have managed to stay with me until now J x

I have just sent this to the NatWest complaints department, but I thought I'd post it here too so that people can see how bad their service is. Here it is: I am a mature student and I have just finished university. I have just taken a new job and I was looking to open up a new current account with NatWest. This was largely because a friend has told me your online banking was good and I've had major problems trying to get my existing Barclay's account to work online at all (after literally 7 failed attempts I've given up, they simply can't seem to sort it out so I'm changing banks). I first tried to create an account online, and that seemed to work. I was sent the following email yesterday (12/06/2012): ----------------------------------------------------- Dear Mr ***** Thank you for your application We're pleased to confirm that we've received your application for our Select account. Please note your application reference number: ********** What you need to do now We need to confirm some additional information about you. Below you'll find details of the documents we need to see. All you need to do is bring them to your local branch along with your application reference. We've saved all the details you've given us so far, and your customer advisor will be able to help you to complete the application process quickly and easily. Bringing your documents into a branch is the quickest and easiest way to complete your application. For details of your nearest branch, use our branch locator. Can't get to a branch? If you're not able to visit a branch, you can send the documents we need by post. This does not include valuable documents such as your passport. We've sent you a letter explaining how to post documents to us, together with a prepaid envelope for you to use. The letter also explains what you need to do with the documents that can't be posted. The documents we need from you Please note that we can only accept originals - we can't accept copies, even if verified. To complete your application, we are legally required to confirm your identity and where you live. To do this, we need to see one item from Table A and one from Table B: Table A (to confirm your identity) Table B (to confirm your current address) Current signed Passport EU National ID Card Current full UK photocard driving licence Current full UK driving licence (old style paper version) UK Armed Forces ID card Police Warrant Card From HM Revenue and Customs: Coding Notice or Demand Notice Disabled Persons Tax Credit Notice National Insurance contributions account statement From the Department for Work and Pensions, notification of your entitlement to: Child Benefit Working Tax Credit Child Tax Credit Pension Disability Living Allowance Income Support Incapacity Benefit Only if you are under 20 Birth certificate NHS medical card A statement (no more than 6 months old) from your: Bank Building society Credit card provider Mortgage provider A utility bill (no more than 6 months old) for your home e.g. gas / electricity / water / telephone / cable services / satellite TV. We can't accept your mobile phone bill or TV licence as proof of your address. A document from your local authority (no more than 12 months old, valid for the current or the upcoming financial year): Council Tax bill or demand Rent Book/Card Don't have all the documents you need? For a full list of valid documents, go to [won't let me post links because I'm new - deleted] What happens next? Once we've checked the document(s), we will complete your application and as long as everything is in order we will confirm your new account details. We’re here to help If you have any questions about your application, ask at your local branch or call us on 0845 3030 299. Calls may be recorded. Yours sincerely Signature Allan Hardie Current Accounts --------------------------------------------------------- So all seemed well. As I said, I have just finished university. I am still living on campus for another week, so I went into the NatWest branch in High Wycombe, which is the nearest to the university. I took my passport and a bank statement for my Barclays account from last month with my home address on it (which is the one I provided above, in Putney). Upon arriving, I gave them the number provided in your email to me and they told me that it was not showing up on their system. I asked the woman behind the desk if it would be alright opening the account in Wycombe, when I actually live in Putney and would be moving home next week. She said that it did not matter. This was further backed up by the email you sent me, which said: "Bringing your documents into a branch is the quickest and easiest way to complete your application." Clearly implying any branch would do. Since they couldn't find my online application in their system, despite me already having the confirmation email (which I showed to them on my Android), they photocopied my documents and told me someone would call me the next day. The next day (this morning) I was called up and told that the online application had vanished into the ether and that I would have to come in and set the account up manually. I made an appointment for 4pm. At 5 minutes to 4pm, I went into the bank and no one was at the front desk. So I waited patiently for someone to come and assist me. I waited a full 25 minutes, till 4:20pm before a man came out of an office and asked if he could help me. I told him I had an appointment for 4pm and he said someone would be right with me. At 4:30pm, half an hour after the agreed appointment time, a woman finally appeared from the back and came to help me. I saw no less than 4 different people come in, wait at the front desk, get angry and then walk out between 3:55 and 4:30. I considered doing the same thing but I wanted to get my account sorted out so I waited. So I went into this lady's office and after going through the required legal speech she looked at my documents and noticed that I live in Putney. I said yes, as I already told the other lady yesterday, I have just finished university and I will be going back home in a week. She said that I should open the account in Putney, not in the Wycombe branch. That really was the last straw for me. I was told twice, once by your email which I have shown above and then again by a member of staff that the branch did not matter. I specifically asked this question the day before so that my time would not be wasted. And now I am told that, in fact, my time has been wasted and that both your online service and the Wycombe local branch are completely useless to me. At this point, it was 4:40 and I'd had enough so I left. You may be interested to note that I walked out of NatWest and straight into HSBC, which just up the road. I went online on my Android to the HSBC site, applied for a current account with them, got a similar email to the one you sent me about a minute later, showed my documents to the lady behind the counter (they actually had someone serving people, unlike your bank did today) and managed to get everything done before 5pm. The fact that I was moving back to Putney in a week didn't bother them a bit. That's less than 20 minutes. I waited longer than that at NatWest for someone to even acknowledge my presence and I had an appointment! I don't expect a response, but I thought you should know why I am angry. I can only imagine how many others feel exactly the same as I do but couldn't be bothered to write out a lengthy complaint. I know I saw several of them storm out of your Wycombe branch today because there was no one working the front desk. Terrible service, employees giving me contradictory information, and ultimately wasting huge amounts of my time. Appalling.

I was interested in an item of furniture from a well known company - who shall remain nameless for the time being. Prior to placing my order, I contacted the company to make enquiries about delivery, because where I reside there is almost always problems with delivery when buying online. I was told that the company would dispatch the item to a courier and the courier would make contact within 48 hours to arrange a delivery day. I'd then be contacted the day before delivery to be told whether it would be a morning or afternoon slot. Great. Placed the order. Estimated delivery time 7 - 10 days. I waited. And waited. And waited. A three figure sum had been taken in payment but I still did not have my item. Annoyed? Just a tad. After more than double the estimated timescale passed, I became sick of waiting and contacted the company by email - as advised, to report the non delivery. I was given a generic response to tell me that they were sorry, and would I please phone x number so that they could investigate and arrange a delivery. I did as I was asked and it became clear that no detail had been registered as a result of my email. The woman I spoke to put me on hold so that she could contact the courier. She returned to the line and said she was unable to speak to the courier but repeated the same procedures as were outlined in my initial phonecall re 48 hours blah blah. She said the courier company would be contacted on the next working day and the company would phone me with an update. Next working day came and went. No phone call. So I phoned the company again. Placed on hold while they rang the courier. Company advised me that (despite the size of the item) the courier could not locate it in their warehouse. They would search the warehouse, and the company would call me back. Next day, company contacts me. Courier are still trying to find the order in their warehouse. I'll get a phone call tomorrow. Tomorrow came - yay! They have found the item and the courier are going to phone me to arrange a delivery. I advise the company that I am not happy in regard to the time it has taken and the fact that had I not chased this, I would possibly still have been waiting for my item some months later. I advised the company that if the item was not delivered on the following day, that the company would be in breach of the distance selling regulations as they will not have performed the contract within the statutory 30 days. The chap seemed nice enough but desperately tried to hide behind the terms and conditions which state that they accept no liability for delayed deliveries. I pointed out that this part of the T&C referred to the estimated delivery times of 7 - 10 days, it did not and could not not over ride statutory rights. He said they'd get a voucher sorted out after delivery. Aye, ok. Courier rang and offered delivery the next day but became rather cagey when I asked when in the day - they would not commit initially to morning or afternoon. I pointed out I'd been told I would be given a morning or afternoon slot and surely they could say am or pm? Finally they said it would be after 12pm. Next day, and by 4:45 no delivery. Rang the company who placed me on hold again. During my time on hold, the couriers arrived. One opened the lorry and announced to me that the item was damaged. I was invited to inspect it but as it was still on the lorry and I was looking up it was hard to see where the damage was - oh I could see the great hole but did not at this point realise where on the item the damage was. From what I could see, it looked like a main part of the item so I came back to the phone and advised the company that I was refusing to accept it as it was unfit for purpose. The company seemed reluctant to accept that the item was damaged so I told him he could speak to the courier as he was the person who had first noted it and pointed it out to me. I passed the phone to the courier. I took the delivery slip from the second courier (there were two blokes, nice enough) and signed the slip stating I was refusing the order as it was unfit for purpose due to damage on delivery. I then took the phone back. The guy put me on hold again to speak to his supervisor and returned saying I could accept it or I could refuse it and get a replacement sent out. I asked how long a replacement would take - he couldn't say. Bearing in mind this is a main piece of furniture, I put it to the company that I would therefore be without an item and as such I would be taking it further. The guy then said I could keep the item today and they would still arrange an exchange, basically because it's damaged they can't resell it anyway. I agreed to this but made sure I stated back to him that I was accepting it without prejudice and on the condition that they would exchange it. He agreed and said his supervisor would call tomorrow. I signed the slip again with an amendment that I was accepting it without prejudice on basis that an exchange would take place as agreed with the company. I won't lie, I was furious and boy did I express it, oh I didn't swear or shout but I did make it clear I was not happy. Couriers took the item into my home and I unpackaged it. The damage is not on the part that I thought it was so it is hidden but it is still a main part (for an attachment). I suppose that the item can still be used, it just cannot have that attachment (the attachment is part of it, comes with it). It's not repairable as there is literally a big hole and it's that god awful chipwood stuff so it's not something that can be fixed. They can blame the courier all they want but the packaging was really stupid. It considered of thin cardboard (almost paper) and cellowrap, there was nothing in the way of padding to prevent damage. Now I am waiting for the supervisors call. I'm that fed up, and really can't be doing with faffing about for a new delivery after this one did not stick to anything I was told would happen, I've wasted a week stressing already with repeated calls and the like and because of waiting this week for it to be sorted out I've not been able to enjoy my annual leave with my children, planned days out have been cancelled in case the delivery came. But nor am I really happy that I've paid full price for a damaged item. So I am planning on giving the opportunity for them to give me some money off (a partial refund) of say 10 to 15 %. This would mean I don't have the stress of waiting for a new item to arrive and I'm not paying full price and it would save them the three figure sum that they would lose out on because obviously they can't resell an item with a gaping hole in it, even if it is hidden. Reasonable? I'm concerned they may try to wriggle out of it by saying I've accepted the item (nope, still have 7 days to reject it) or otherwise try to be awkward about it, but I think that they don't really have a leg to stand on because * The delivery was mucked up * The item arrived damaged * I have a witness that it was damaged on delivery (courier who spoke to company on phone) * I accepted the item without prejudice on the grounds that an exchange will be made. This was stated on the phone and written on the delivery slip which I took a photocopy of. I forgot to mention that I have a truecall system. So, yes everything on that call during the delivery is logged and can be brought up in small claims if they choose to get awkward.

Just reading another thread and someone said there is now mandatory work experience when you are in the WRAG within ESA, is this correct? Do you HAVE to do this? What if you can't? I thought the only mandatory part of the WRAG was to attend 5 work focused interviews with an advisor.

The Family Mobile scheme looks really great. Very cheap call rates and SMS rates, automatic top-up, no minimum monthly spend, no expiry of credit. Also, they are partnered with IKEA so you expect that the quality is going to be good in every respect. I decided to get a couple for my kids who are going away for a few weeks this summer. I am so disappointed so far. The Sim cards arrived - without instructions, without PUK numbers, without the default PIN number. The website didn't work correctly so that it became impossible to activate them without help from the Family Mobile cust.service team - of which there only seems to be two (not their fault) - but it means a longer than 10 minutes wait on the phone until they get round to you. It took two phone calls of over 30 minutes each to get both sim cards activated. The website instructions are very poor and don't provide all of the info needed. Anyway, well and good, the sim cards work - although the website still shows them as being inactive. the Cust service rep told me that there are issues with the website (there certainly are) and that what I see may not reflect the true situation (it certainly doesn't). More worrying was the fact that I had authorised automatic top-up which means that Family Mobile has access to my money. There is meant to be an itemised billing service available and you are meant to be able to check online what the state of your account is - usage and so on. None of this is working. I have used one sim to send sms messages but there is no trace of them on my account console. In fact it is impossible to manage the account or to see how much activity - and how much expense is being incurred by your children - even though, being able to manage your children's accounts is one of the features of Family Mobile. The customer service rep said she would escalate it but didn't know when - or even if someone would call me back. Can I speak to a supervisor? No Can I speak to a manager? No Can I have the name of the department which will deal with the escalation complaint? The escalation department. Where are they? Not allowed to tell you. Who will deal with the compalint? Not allowed to tell you. Can I have the posta address of your office so I can write? No So where do I stand? You'll just have to wait. I decided to get the address of ttheir website - they have a legal obligation to carry the address. No address. I tld this to the customer service rep. She agreed that the address is not displayed. No company registration number. Nothing. It says that Family Mobile is owned by the Mobile Partners Group. Well I called them and got through to someone who says that he is the MD of the group. He told me that Family Moble has been sold to CDRator and that Family mobile should not be carrying references to Mobile Partners Group on their website!!! Is this true? I don't know. I am only relating the conversation which I had. I thought that IKEA had better know what is being said about all of this so I called them. they were concerned and will be investigating and calling me back. I contacted the phone regulator about the failure to display company information on the website. They have logged it as an industry complaint ???? (What does that mean?) I now have a contact email for the MD of CDRator - so I'll report back after I have heard from him. Meanwhile, the family mobile website is still not showing my account information accurately. I suppose that I will phone Trading standards as well - and T-mobile because Family mobile are offering T-mobile services. Has anyone had any good experiences with Family mobile? I'd like to know. Google searching doesn't disclose any problems. They seem alright I'd really like to clear up the issue of who owns family mobile too. It is all very strange

Hi there! As you might recall I had posted before, citing that I was registered as a self employed individual while also registered as a director for a company. For the year I recieved a compliance check (for both the limited company and my self assessment) about 80% of my income derived from me invoicing my limited company, and 20% from me invoicing (as an individual) other clients. The commission work I did was artistic short term project orientated. So I had the visit, and they went through my income and expenses, and seemed satisfied that the numbers added up. They had noted though that I had not included my income from invoicing my company (as salary) on my SA and had placed it in my self employed income. They also queried about my projects - considering whether an investigation might be necessary to determine employment status (would that be IR35?) I didn't hear anything for about 3 weeks and recieved an email requesting information on any projects (that were done with this and that individual) - that surprised me? Because while I can disclose that information it has nothing to do with my earnings? They ask to confirm information on said projects with individuals even though they occur outside the period for compliance investigation. So im just wondering - at what point does their requests for information become unreasonable or just well fishing?