http://www.credittoday.co.uk/article/16652/online-news/clyne-steps-down-as-cabot-acquires-marlin

Just seen this in Credit Today http://www.credittoday.co.uk/article/16606/online-news/unsecured-creditors-await-payout-from-collapsed-payday-lender I wonder if they realise they have got hold of a lemon!

Hi all 1.At the moment my partner and I are living in her buy to let property , we are hoping to move very soon! 9 months before her current 2 year Fixed mortgage ends. 2.If possible she would like to change it to a residential mortgage and also avoid any legal fees eg early repayment. Birmingham Midshires Buy to let Current mortgage £109k Current property purchased at £162500.

I recently did a valuation on my car - "for a laugh" with we buy any car. 2 weeks later I get an email from them saying... "Oooh there is more demand for your car, click here to see a new valuation" Turns out the valuation is mysteriously £995 more than the first! Really!!? Somehow my confidence in that company has diminished somewhat on the grounds of ethical business.

Hi All I really hope someone can advise me! I entered into a rent to buy agreement in August 2011, paid an 'option fee' of £15,000, and have religiously paid my rent/deposit for my house each month. The contract expired in last year, and a new contract was offered to me in July. For various reasons (illness) I was unable to respond for 2 weeks, so my LL rings me and asks if all was well?? I explained not really, I was very ill and had taken time of work etc etc. He offers my a short term tenancy (just an email) for 4 months (where I pay £600 less), with the option to go back to the original rent to buy agreement if and when my situation improves. I have informed my LL twice (via email) during this period that I would like to go back to my original agreement but now he says he wants to sell the property and would be serving me notice!! Can somebody please help me with advise??!! I'm really stressing out as I just wish I had signed the damn contract in July!! Many thanks

Hi I have been looking for a definitive answer to a question i have and after ages trawling the internet I wondered if anyone here might be able to help me. We are looking to take out a mortgage in a year or so and are interested in the new help to buy scheme mortgage guarantee scheme....however.... I have a ccj of £2127 which is over three years old, will this mean we are ineligible to apply? Other than this, our credit reports are clean, and we have very little outstanding credit. Many thanks for any help

just wondering if bayv stating that you have to take their insurance or be covered by your own home contents insurance is the same codswollop as bright house? they do acknowledge that the extra warranty is optional just not this insurance.

Hi guys, suffering with a really bad back which wakes me up in pain after about 4 hours sleep. I am hoping that a new mattress will help the problems and have found one on the internet which I think will be ok. If I buy it, the seller says I would have to sleep on it for a night STILL IN ITS PACKAGING and return it if it wasn't right. How can anyone try a product such as a mattress without taking it out of the packaging? I doubt it would sit on the bed frame without unpacking it first!! And anyway it might take several nights for me to decide whether its right for me. Should I take the risk of buying, unpacking and trying, then repacking and returning if not right??? Please help, don't want to spend £350 and still be in pain.:???:

ASA Adjudication on We Buy Any Car Ltd We Buy Any Car Ltd Pennine House Zebra Court White Moss View Middleton Manchester M24 1UN Ad A radio ad, for We Buy Any Car, a car buying service, included the claim "86% of people said they were well happy and got a really fair price with us". Issue A listener challenged whether the claim was misleading and could be substantiated. CAP Code (Edition 12) 3.13.23.9 Response We Buy Any Car said they surveyed all customers who had sold vehicles to them and 86% of those who responded said they were happy with the price given. They said all customers were also sent an e-mail or SMS message. They asked how likely customers were to recommend We Buy Any Car to friends and family, on a scale of one to ten. We Buy Any Car said the average score of customers who thought the price they received was fair was 9.1, which meant those customers also recommended them. They believed it was logical that a customer who would recommend the company was happy. Based on that score, they were comfortable with the claim that 86% were happy and got a fair price. They submitted the results of the relevant survey questions and said they proposed to amend the ad to state "of people asked". The RACC said at script clearance stage they asked for the ad to make clear the satisfaction rating did not represent the whole customer base. The final version did not include that qualification, which they saw as an oversight. They said future ads with the claim had been qualified to stated "86% of people asked". Assessment Upheld The ASA acknowledged the ad had been amended to make clear the claim related only to those who had been surveyed. We noted that, while a small number of participants had skipped the question "How do you feel about the price that you got from webuyanycar.com for your car? Was it fair or unfair?" and we considered those participants should have been taken into account, the proportion of those asked who said the price was fair nevertheless amounted to 86%. However, we noted that the question included in the e-mail and SMS survey did not relate specifically to price and considered results that related to whether customers would recommend the company to friends and family on a general basis did not constitute sufficient evidence that 86% of customers were "well happy", or similar. We considered "well happy", in the context in which it appeared, was not likely to be understood as a separate claim related to the willingness of those customers' who believed they had received a fair price to recommend We Buy Any Car to others. Rather, we considered the overall impression of the ad, in particular given the references to people being "well happy" and having received a "really fair" price, was that customers of We Buy Any Car were very satisfied with the price they had received, whereas the relevant survey questions asked only whether the price was "fair" or "unfair" and whether customers would recommend the company to friends more generally. We therefore concluded that the claim was misleading. The ad breached BCAP Code rules 3.1 and 3.2 (Misleading advertising) and 3.9 (Substantiation). Action The ad must not be broadcast again in its current form. We told We Buy Any Car to ensure they were in a position to adequately substantiate objective claims before they made them in future.

Hi My wife and I had a joint account which was active up until about 2005(ish) which had a large overdraft that didn't get cleared. The same account had been hit with severe bank charges over a 18 month period which, when worked out by a very good friend who helped me enormously in the past, equated to about £6,000 Lloyds would have owed us. Lloyds tried to get this overdraft back and we tried to claim the charges. Kind of a stand off. We put the account into dispute so they sent the account to several debt collectors who all got told the account was in dispute. They asked why and we responded with, "ask your client, the bank, we are not clients of yours and we have no obligation to tell you anything." They basically left us alone after a little poking and prodding and realising they couldn't really act on a disputed account. So now we have Lowell Financial, whoever they are as we've never ever dealt with them before. They post 3 letters to my wife only, not to both of us as it was a joint account. The first letter says "Lowell Portfolio I Ltd wrote recently to let you know they have bought the outstanding balance you had with Lloyds. You have not yet cleared the outstanding balance or entered into a repayment plan, so they have asked us to get in touch" They then waffle on a bit about options. Now surely if Lowell bought the debt Lloyds can't have "asked us{Lowell} to get in touch." We have had 2 letters since and I want to respond correctly I'm just not sure how to. I've read the topics on Lowells and none of them directly link to this case. Part of me wants to write a simple letter stating I don't recognise any debt with their company and have never had any dealings with them before. Another feels like mentioning the supposed debt is disputed and that's their daft fault for buying a disputed account debt. But surely Lloyds can't sell a disputed account debt as it is a disputed account. So please someone put me right on my thoughts and feelings and advise me what my next steps should be many many thanks djwshort74

Hi All, I need some advice if i can. Around two years ago, i had an account with Buy as you view. I later purchased a corner sofa from them, and had numerous problems (i will explain in more detail below) Due to problems, they finally decided to replace the sofa, but as the original sofa was no longer available, we purchased a new reclining sofa from them, This brought its own problems (again i will detail in bullet points below) And we ended up mutually agreeing not to continue payment for the items, and the matter was closed. My issue is that the manufacturer had recalled the sofa, due to defects (that we have with our sofa) But we have no details of the manufacturer as Buy As You View have refused to give us them. Is there a way i can get these details, and if so, as they were called, am i entitled to a refund/replacement from the manufacturer? Background information. (original corner sofa) When sofa was delivered, the drivers struggled to get it through the door, after almost an hour of trying, (we removed front door, and rear door, moved fridge freezer and other things to make enough room) The driver lost his temper and shoved the sofa with his knee, causing the back of the sofa (leather) to stretch and crack along the back door. I told them to take it back and that i would not accept it in that condition, after a bit of a row, they very reluctantly agreed. I contacted BAYV straight away and explained to them what would happen, they advised that we would not be entitled to a new sofa, as we should have made sure the sofa would fit, after numerous phone calls, and emails, they agreed to offer us a 10% discount (the marks werent too bad) and to have the sofa redelivered, Which went in no problem with different delivery men. After about 3 months, the foam in the sofa starting to sag, and we noticed that the fabric covering the springs etc had come away from the lining, In all it took BAYV 9 months, 3 home visits, 2 repairs and 2 payments of over £168 each refused by us, for them to agree to take back the sofa, and give us a replacement. In this time the sofa had been discontinued, and we had to choose another Background information (reclining sofa) We chose a new sofa, and because of all of the previous problems, agreed to refinance the new sofa, at the price that was outstanding, and transferred the payments we had already made Our new sofa was delivered without any issues and was fine for 4 months. The metal used in the sofa, was very soft, and after using for 4 months, the metal in two of the 4 reclinable seats to bend, meaning the foot rest would not close without fiddling with the metal, We complained and were told that we were clearly too heavy for the sofa (btw, i am 13 1/2 stone!) and that we should take action to avoid damaging anymore. That was all they had to say on the matter at that point! We then asked them to send out their furniture repair company (Homeserve) to view the defects. They refused, there reason was that the sofa had been misued, (although they had never been out to see this.) After taking our complaint higher up the chain of management we found out that they should have sent out homeserve to at the very least inspect the sofa, as another two months had passed, we were finding that the leather was wearing off completley along the seams, and the other two reclining seats were begining to sag. We were told after many more emails back and forth that they would not be willing to offer us any more repairs or replacements for the sofa, they also refused to make us an offer of doscount, due to the fact they had already replaced one defective sofa, within 15 months. We decided to take the matter further and obtained details of the manging director and the secretary, Again, we were told that no offer would be made to fix the issues, and that we would have to pay the full amount outstandning which at the time was £2,843. We refused to accept this and advised them that we wanted the manufacturers details so we could deal with them directly, We were told that the manufacturer would under no circumstances deal with us, At this point we were also told that the manufacturer had recalled the product 7 months ago, (i month after we had brought it) because of problems, which also included the issues we have had. We responded to this by letter, refusing to make any more payments towards the account, and that we would, if they refused to close the account down with no further doorstep callers, removal of the meter, and no more correspondence we would take the matter to court, i believed that we would win as they had refused to put right defective goods, that were not fit for purpose. After a few weeks of emails from the managing director, they reluctantly agreed that they would not take the matter any further, (I had gone down this route as i had a very reliable source who worked with them that less than 10 cases had actually gone through to court in recent times, only 1 of them had been ruled partly in their favour!) They agreed to no further communication, and confirmed that they had closed down the account in its entirety! The account was closed, and as we agreed, the £1,259 we had already paid for both sofas, would not be refunded That finished back in 2012, however we still have the sofa, and since that time, all four chairs that reclined are now no longer able to do so, the metal has actually sheered off on two of them, the other two are that badly bent, that you almost have to hammer them back into place, The leather has come off on all seams, and has left grey fabric underneath on show! I know that it may seem that i am asking for too much because of the fact we had the account closed, however i strongly feel that as the item was recalled by the manufacturer, that we are entitled, to a refund or a replacement of the sofa. I hope i have given you all the information required, please let me know if i have missed anything out. I appreciate your help

Oh Joy http://www.lowellgroup.co.uk/index.php/news/

Hi all,just wandering if the right to buy on my house value 175000 where I get 100000 from the council as a right to buy...what figure is used for stamp duty.....the 175000 or 75000 after the right to buy of 100000 "...hope you understand this...tks

I bought a Samsung laser printer from Argos in February 2010 for approx £70. It now has a bizarre fault whereby I print one document just fine but print another one and the light flashes but it doesn't print. In order to print the second document, I have to switch off the printer and back on again. I haven't spoken to Argos about it but their answer will be "go away." A new Samsung printer from them is £50. Alternatively, I go through the small claims court which will cost approx £70 but no court costs whatever the outcome. So, it is cheaper and less hassle to buy new or do I take action on principle? Fortunately, I have 'real world' experience in employment, firstly 5 years in retail and now 6 years in the public sector. But what I also have is a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over the course of my law degree, skills that make me a nightmare for shops like Argos. Seriously though, although consumer law was a strong subject for me, my dilemma at the moment is wondering if such a relatively minor fault is going to pass the 'reasonable person' test under S.14 of SOGA or is it reasonable to expect that such a fault could occur after 3 years? Victory would see a repair or replacement printer sorted by Argos and my costs paid but the fact remains that a new printer is £50. Just to humour me if nothing else, what do you think?

I hope I have posted this in the right place. I am involved with a partnership which owns a couple of houses on a buy to let basis and one of the partners has died. We are concerned that his estate could take over a year to sort out (it seems very complex) and have tried to contact his solicitor who seems to be pretty ineffective (and that's being polite) but got nowhere - he may even have frozen the partnership bank account. Before we contact our own solicitor are there any pragmatic steps we can take to protect our tenants (as students its getting close to lease end) and make sure that they, through no fault of their own, experience any hassle as a result of this and also to protect our own interests. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Not sure if anyone can advise, but here goes I have been renting a house from my local council for approximately 10 years. At the time I took on the tenancy, I was given an AST. I was informed that as it was an AST, I did not have the RTB. I have reason to believe that my landlord would like to evict me (although been a model tenant) so they can sell my home for capital receipts. Having looked into the relevant Housing Acts, it appears that the LA could not legally have issued me an AST, and I believe that despite the fact that an AST was signed, I am in effect a Secure Tenant. Obviously if I was a secure tenant, I should have RTB as property is not of a type that is excluded from RTB. How would I go about trying to get my tenancy amended from an AST to secure? Obviously it would not be in landlord's interest as it would mean I could purchase property at 60% of the value, instead of them selling to a third party for higher value. Also, if I apply and they accept I have RTB, is there any way to challenge the landlord's valuation if I believe it has been inflated(padded out)?

Im not sure if im in the right area and this is my first post but here goes. In May 2012 i purchased a TV of buy as you view. I was paying £13.00 a week every week and i have never missed a payment and have always been in so they can collect the money from those black boxes. To cut a long story short our black box broke that we put the money in 3 weeks ago so i have been unable to use the TV. We did ring buy as you view to explain but was told we would have to tell the man when he came to collect the money. I knew buy as you view were ment to be coming round yesterday but unfortunately I miscarried yesterday morning so I had a friend sit in my house and wait for Buy As You View whilst I was in the hospital to explain that the black box was broken and find out another way to pay for the last 3 weeks (there was £33 in the box and they needed another £65 which was in my bank account ready to pay) When the guy got to my house my friend explained all of this and he said ok well you will have to sign this piece of paper (my friend being stupid didnt read it properly and signed it just presuming it was a reciept of some kind) once he had signed it the man then emptied the black box and took the TV. When i returned from the hospital to find my TV taken (bare it in mind my friend does not live with me so how can they get her permission to remove items from MY house whilst i am not there????) I rang bayv and spoke to a lady who said she had never heard of this happening and would have a manager ring me within the next 24 hours.... 24 Hours later still no phone call so i rang back and asked to be put through to a manager when i was put through to somebody called Mark. I explained my problem and I asked why this had happened without my consent and explained that it is theft to enter my property without me there and to take items without a court order to which he told me he had every right and there was nothing i could do. I then threatened to contact a solicitor and ring the police because again its theft so he said well my driver who collected the tv said there was a kettle wire in the back of it and thats illegal??? Firstly whats a kettle wire? Secondly i live in the house by myself, I wouldnt no what a kettle wire was if you waved one in front of me, thirdly I NEVER touched the back of the TV or The black box since it was installed. I had no need to, i always paid every penny to them every month without fail until there box broke so i contacted them and had the money ready to pay them? I also asked how much i had paid of the TV, I had paid off £790 then the £33 they took along with the TV. And i was told im not intitled to a penny of this back? Why are they lying like this? and what can i do about this? I feel so lost and down already as it is after miscarrying yesterday I dont need this as well. Please somebody give me some advice...

In May 2012 I purchased a TV off buy as you view. I was paying £13.00 a week every week and I have never missed a payment a nd have always been in so they can collect the money from those black boxes. To cut a long story short our black box broke that we put the money in 3 weeks ago so i have been unable to use the TV. We did ring buy as you view to explain but was told we would have to tell the man when he came to collect the money. I knew buy as you view were meant to be coming round yesterday but unfortunately I miscarried yesterday morning so I had a friend sit in my house and wait for Buy As You View whilst I was in the hospital to explain that the black box was broken and find out another way to pay for the last 3 weeks (there was £33 in the box and they needed another £65 which was in my bank account ready to pay) When the guy got to my house my friend explained all of this and he said ok well you will have to sign this piece of paper (my friend being stupid didn’t read it properly and signed it just presuming it was a receipt of some kind) once he had signed it the man then emptied the black box and took the TV. When i returned from the hospital to find my TV taken (bare it in mind myfriend does not live with me so how can they get her permission to remove items from MY house whilst i am not there????) I rang BAYV and spoke to a lady who said she had never heard of this happening and would have a manager ring me within the next 24 hours.... 24 Hours later still no phone call so I rang back and asked to be put through to a manager when I was put through to somebody called Mark. I explained my problem and I asked why this had happened without my consent and explained that it is theft to enter my property without me there and to take items without a court order to which he told me he had every right and there was nothing i could do. I then threatened to contact a solicitor and ring the police because again its theft he said well my driver who collected the TV said there was a kettle wire in the back of it and that’s illegal??? Firstly what’s a kettle wire? Secondly i live in the house by myself, I wouldn’t know what a kettle wire was if you waved one in front of me, thirdly I NEVER touched the back of the TV or The black box since it was installed. I had no need to, I always paid every penny to them every month without fail until there box broke so I contacted them and had the money ready to pay them? I also asked how much I had paid of the TV; I had paid off £790 then the £33 they took along with the TV. And I was told I’m not entitled to a penny of this back? Why are they lying like this? And what can I do about this? I feel so lost and down already as it is after miscarrying yesterday I don’t need this as well. Please somebody give me some advice...

Full story http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22276082

My wife and I bought a Victoria Snuggle suite from these people. Problems from day one. Iv'e had it nearly 3yrs now and have been waiting 10 months for a replacement chair. They sent me one on Tuesday and this one has been bodged up. It's got a cut in the back and hole in the arm. The actual cusion doesn't even fit on the base properly.Nearly £450 in OSC for this CRAP service.

Hi, I have had an account with Buy As You View since 2007 and have had many issues with them.

Windows 8 user here. Where can I buy a version of Microsoft Office please? The bloke in PC World tried selling me a version which was £120. He claimed that as an Open University (OU) student, I can't use software4students - not true; as I have a .ac.uk email address. My other laptop has Microsoft Office 2007 on it. Is there a problem with buying a later version and being to open the document in 2007? Thank you.

I have two mortgages coming to and end in April 2013 and both have never been in default with a missed payment. I have written to Messers Topaz Finance plc and Ameber Homeloans by ecorded mail that both propertiteis are in negative equity and to sell them will leave me with owning them money i do not have. Both Companies have come back and stated that they will be exercising the natural redemption on the appropriated date. Can some one please point me in the direction I should be going I used treating the customer fairly it falls on deaf ears

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9666748/Occupy-Wall-Street-campaigners-buy-up-debt-to-abolish-it.html

hey guys just lookng for a little heads up before the agent comes knocking at my door basically our 8 weekly payments are 118 , ( cooker and a mattress) our payment is due this week, but unfortunately we cant afford to pay, everything hit us at once, our car cost us 300 for mot, also our washing machine cost us a further 300 as it packed in and wasnt going through bauv to get another, then our cat had to go to vet another 70 quid, and finally npower took a further 90 from our account(another story on its own!) anyway what should i expect when i tell him we cant afford to pay?? what is our options?? does he have the right to remove goods? we will be able to make our payments in the next 8 weeks no problem, just this time we cannot... so any advice is much appreciated thanks andy