I am upset and angry that the Financial Ombudsman Service clearly has no regard for vulnerable consumers using their service. I would like to warn people DO NOT use the Financial Ombudsman Service. My first complaint was against my bank Halifax, lending me money I could not afford to pay back, breaching parts of the lending code, and that they had leant to me whilst breaching their own lending criteria. FOS sided with Halifax saying they did nothing wrong, even though I'm nearly £14 in debt. My second complaint was against Debt Free Direct. I had complained that they had used my DLA as income, the FOS said they had to. They still insisted I was getting £962 per month, this is not correct as it was £888 per month. Said Debt Free Direct had done nothing wrong, no surprise there. I moaned about the fact I had paid in "2790 and they had only paid £158 to my creditors, they said they couldn't. I am sat here in tears, the FOS are an utter bloody disgrace who do not help the consumer. ]I would warn people do not use them at any cost. Totally flabbergasted!!

I have experience of how bad Consumer Protection is in the UK. Since February 2014 I have had a complaint with - The Ombudsman Service Limited Registered Office: Wilderspool Park, Greenalls Avenue, Warrington, WA4 6HL. Registered in England and Wales. Company registration number: 4351294 VAT registration number: 798 3441 79 - regarding the energy supplier switching process and the criminal activity of Spark Energy in attempting to charge me for gas and or electricity when I have been paying First Utility. The Ombudsman has failed to act, the latest response from them was 03 June 2015, Rhys Brown Ombudsman Services: Energy. I sent a reply on 01 July and reminder on 14 October. I have therefore decided to act by disqualifying ALL statutory authorities; they are obviously just a sop and actively support big business NOT consumers.

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Hi all, So performed a filter change, all 3, oil etc, basic home enthusiast level.. Always done own basics. Need to reset oil counter / service. Options are not on the menu like the us version. Contacted main dealer who sold me the car.... Needs to go on machine at a cost of 82.00 plus vat to reset the interval... I asked if D Turpin was the owner.... Anyway, any expert know if any gm / Vauxhall garage can do this or a gadget ? South yorks area Many thanks N

If you’re a BT customer with a disability, and find it hard to use Directory Enquiries, then here’s some good news for you – they have a special service for you, which you can use for free. So what do you do? Or what do you need to do if it is a member of your family or a friend who wants in on this service? What To Do First, dial 195 and ask for the registration department. If you prefer, you can just dial 0800 587 0195. Then, a form will be sent out to you, to fill in. This is likely to need confirmation from your doctor, nurse or consultant, just so you can confirm that you have problems accessing information through the usual channels. Once everything has been okayed, you’ll be issued with a PIN card and once you have that, you can use it within a couple of days of it being issued. Then, to actually use the service, dial 195, where you’ll be asked for your PIN and your name. Once that is confirmed, you can use directory enquiries for free. http://www.bitterwallet.com/free-bt-directory-enquiries-service-for-people-with-disabilities/87627

Within the reply I received from the judicator was; "the business has accepted that its level of service was poor during their investigation of your **** fraud allegations and complaint. In this respect, the business has agreed to my suggestion that they award a payment of £150 for any trouble and upset caused" The above offer/award is only available to me if I sign to accept that it is a "full and final settlement of this complaint". Although this would not prevent me asking an ombudsman to make a final decision.

My vodafone account number is ........ Having returned the new iPhone 6 within 3 days of taking out the contract to cancel, over 5 months later I have yet to receive a refund for the £201 I am owed have today received a final demand letter threatening to involve a debt collection company. I have visited the store on 7 occasions, and spent countless hours on the phone and on online chat attempting to get this resolved. On 17 occasions; yes I have counted, a member of staff from either the store/phone/online have promised they will call me back. On literally NO occasions this has happened. I am at my wits end. I will be turning up at head office during my day off next week if this is not resolved soonest!! I have used the web form with the cat reference code so hoping 'lee' or whoever will finally take an interest in this. My vodafone reference number for the web form is #11420834

Email received today from Betterlife Healthcare (Lloyd's Pharmacy) 'Please accept my apologies for the problems you have had with the gloves. I have processed a full refund for the gloves back to the original method of payment. This should be back on the card in 2-3 working days. Please dispose of the gloves, there is no need to return them to us. Once again please accept my and the company’s sincere apologies for the problems you have experienced. It is always our aim to provide an excellent service and it is truly a matter of regret that on this occasion we have been unable to do so.' This is the second time I've found them to be extremely helpful, definitely above and beyond what they needed to do, and so wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. Posting in special needs rather than general retail as I thought it more relevant here.

Hi Please advice on what legal rights I have on the following problem In July this year I employed a dulux select decorator to paint my house . He said both he and his son are dulux select decorators and showed their id cards and said they will both work and complete the job in about 4-6 weeks as it is a big job. I found him through deluxe recommended decorators website. I have been having following problems with him 1. the painter has been using another person who is not dulux select decorator to do most of the job. 2. the work is already delayed by two weeks and he is still not giving a finishing date and keeps on saying 'we will finish soon and I can't give a finishing date as it will cause friction'. 3. he has threatened to walk out of the job when I said I will pay him the remaining 25 % money after he completes the job as i have already paid him 75% of the money. 4. he is causing lot of stress as the whole house is upside down due to things being move for decoration and I am expecting guest. I feel really stuck and helpless. Is their a legal process that i can use to inform him that if he does not finish my work by next week he could be penalised? Thank you

Hi i have had a similar experience with a child minder She took me via MCOL to a county court over a debt the claim was struck out but now she has instructed bailiffs.(correction -a dca - DX) What I need to know is if the claim was struck out how come she can instruct bailiffs , has she broken any laws in doing so and can i now counter claim?

On 12th August I posted that BT had negligently deleted 9 years work by deleting my emails and the complaint went through the BT 'in house' complaints procedure which did not comply with their published 'rules' and maladministration took place. I then sent the complaint to the Ombudsman Service-Communications(OSC) to review, they are the appointed Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR) expecting that they would review the procedure only to find that the maladministration at the OSC was worse than that suffered from BT, I then complained to the Independent Assessor(IA) who found in my favour. The OSC decision is final and cannot be appealed even thought it has been found to be legally flawed and based on nothing more than false assertion, this has all taken 18 months to discover which has delayed any 'due process'. It is clear, I now understand, that the OSC are not equipped to deal with complaints about BT when the complaint is about 'negligence', 'maladministration' or 'misinformation' as they are more guilty of these topics than BT are which is why BT are and will remain the most complained about Internet Service Provider in the land. The OSC is a private company and as such have no obligations under the freedom of information rules and it seems they are also exempt from Ofcom control/regulation which came as some surprise after the event, Ofcom were told that, in my opinion, that the OSC were showing signs of 'incompetence' but showed nothing more than passing interest even though the IA was less than complimentary about the OSC and BT do not follow guidelines that Ofcom do have control over. I will be interested to hear from others with similar experience of BT and or the OSC.

My landlord has sent me my utilities invoice and instead of the usual Water and Electricity, the invoice is for 'Use of service media and ancillary rights re lease dated 20th October 2006' Is this correct or is it for something else. There is no such wording in the lease

Lousy Service, possible Breach of Contract? I phoned them and asked them if they could repair a tilt and turn window in a rental property They said that they could and quoted three prices (depending on what work needed to be done) which I agreed and furnished my credit card details. An appointment was made for a few days later. On the morning of the appointment the engineer telephoned me and when leaning it is a tilt and turn, said he could not do it. I complained to the company and Mr R**** sent me, (to the wrong address), an insulting reply saying they are not charging me and offering 15% discount on future work (as if). I have asked for reasonable compensation and if I do not get it will take them to court. A complete bunch of cowboys. I see that the company have complained to Trust Pilot about my naming one of their employee sin a scathing review. I have therefore removed his name. It is a pity that Able Group have not dealt with the problem rather than their petty attempts to have it removed.

Please help! I'm very new to benifits, this is the first time ever I have made a claim for Income Support. I have been in receipt of IS since the end of May this year (2015). Yesterday I received a letter asking me to attend the above interview. I tried to ring the number on the letter today, to maybe get some idea of what it was for. However I got the answer phone of the man conducting the interview. The answer phone message made me feel even worse, as he said 'you have reached the answer phone of ****** fraud and error complience officer! FRAUD! Jesus I'm totally at my wits end. I really can't deal with this stress, I have a 16 month old daughter to look after. I'm thinking of ending my claim, and getting a job. That was my plan, and i do have a job to go back to if I want, but I really wanted to be with daughter for a little while longer. I spent yesterday frantically getting together as much paper work to support my case as possible. But is £92.00 a fortnight really worth all this stress? I'm thinking NO.

I'm not sure if this is the right section but has anyone completed the competency based questions on a civil service application form before, as I'm stuck with it. I've completed most of the form but just need to complete this section. Thanks

My husband has had an invoice from ParkingEye. I know we can appeal but at this moment, neither of us need the stress (we are dealing with a bereavement), so I wondered if it was worth using feepaying websites? I know we'll have to pay but I can't find out whether we will be throwing good money after bad. Does anyone have any experience of these two? Any advice would be gratefully received at this very difficult time. Thank you.

Let me begin by saying this - I have never experienced such awful customer service on this level. Or in my life. Quite upsetting really. I upgraded with Vodafone for a 2 year contract and a new handset - an iPhone 6. I then discovered a fault with the screen. Went to the Vodafone store in Trinity Leeds and was told by the manager that it was Apple's problem. I was not even offered a repair by Vodafone as 14 days had passed. Got an appointment with Apple - they agreed, faulty screen and provided me with a refurbished handset. Once I got home that day, I discovered the new handset had the same problem, but it was 10 times worse than the first handset. You could actually hear the screen click when pressing on it gently. Went back to Apple the following day - got another handeset. Surprise, surprise...handset also has clicky screen. I subsequently called Vodafone and asked them if I could get another handset or even a different model. They said go in store as we don't deal with it. This was on Sunday. So, to recap, this weekend gone, I have been provided with 2 refurbished phones with faults. Monday - went to the store. Was told we don't deal with it, call customer service. It's also an Apple phone which is provided by them, so we can't repair. Called customer service - was told that they would look into the issue as this was my third handset in just over 1 month. Promised a call back. Vodafone never called back. They didn't even call back today. So, I decided to go back in store today. Was told that as it belonged to Apple, they had to repair and that they should have provided a new handset. Aaron at Trinity Leeds store seemed to be baffled as to why Apple had provided refurbished handsets. If it had been the phone Vodafone provided they could have sent it for repairs. Told him I was not informed of this. Went to Apple - spoke to manager. They are going to take steps to retrieve original handset provided by Vodafone, but can't guarantee it will be in one piece. They also queried why Vodafone had not offered repairs. Take note Vodafone, Apple's customer service was fantastic. Always polite and lovely, and the lady dealing with my issue was clearly going out of her way. Went back to Vodafone store - asked Aaron to confirm what part of the agreement related to faulty handsets. He rudely replied 'go online'. After having questioned him some more, he became defensive and appeared to have very little understanding of the contract. In addition to this, he was also training a newbie - might not be the best person to train him. Got home for 6pm, have spent the last 2 hours on call to Vodafone. Was put through to a lady in the billing department after I requested to be transferred to someone senior. She said she did not have the authority to send out a new iPhone but the only option was to send it back for repairs, and if it was faulty the 4th time, a new handset would be issued. However, I had to go in store to do this. I said this was not good enough as I use my mobile for work therefore I required a mobile. She put me through to someone else. Rather a very rude Scottish chap who ended up shouting at me, and cutting me off. And he also did not leave a note on the system. I was able to find this out as I was out on hold for 58 mins before someone spoke to me again. I have even screen shot this for my records. Perhaps this is a new record? The final chap seemed more concerned about finishing his call as it was nearing 8pm. The line also started to echo at this time, very convenient. He offered to repair handset, which would mean that I would be without a mobile for 2 weeks. No replacement phone to use whilst repairs taking place. I stated this was ridiculous for a professional person, he simply laughed and offered no alternative. He then started to accuse me of actually damaging the phone by stating 'how do we know you've not caused it if it wasn't evident in the first 14 days'. My response is this - I take great pride in an item, particularly handsets which I have contracted for 2 years. I would not intentionally damage my phone at all, and to suggest this in his line of questioning was unprofessional if not underhand. In short, Vodafone appear to be very good at making attempts to 'pass the buck'. I asked him what other options I had - he offered none. I asked him why a new handset could not be sent out, as this would simply solve the problem. I would not have to be without a phone whilst repairs were taking place. He did not offer much insight, the call ended with him taunting me and I cutting him off. Bravo Vodafone for employing professionals such as this imbecile. Can anyone advise some next steps? I feel like Vodafone customer service and instore are extremely unhelpful, I have been passed from pillar to post, with different accounts, and just general lack of respect. They don't even seem to have a complaints department hence my reason for this post. I honestly wish I had not upgraded with Vodafone. They are quick to sign you up to a contract, but when you actually genuinely need assistance, they simply do not care. I have experienced better customer service in countries from people who do not even speak the same language. Vodafone has some serious customer service issues. I welcome your thoughts and hope this can be resolved ASAP. If I get my original iPhone back from Apple, in pieces, are they going to attempt to fix it?

I need urgent advice on a major issue I am facing with the local authority and need urgent advice on the best way forward. I bought a council flat on a right to buy several years ago. In the last 4 years there have been several works the council have done and the charges were quite substantial. One the first invoice I was given an option to spread the payment. On the others no such option was offered, although they claim it was offered. The charges in addition with the annual service charges, it became quite difficult to keep up. In February 2014 the council took me to the county court. I explained at the court that I could not make the full payment but was prepared to enter into an agreement to make instalments, but for reasons I was never made aware of the council suspended the case only to resurrect it in May this year. Between the original case and now I have been making instalments and reduced the balance. On or around the 15th of May I received 'Judgement for Claimant' for the value of £1,329.61, including charges and interest. The council had commenced county court action in February 2014, but suspended it, but I was not aware that it had been suspended. I spoke to the council because the value claimed was incorrect as I had made a payment of £300 before I received the judgement. They confirm it. I sent an N245 to the court providing income and expenditure and the sum I am able to afford. I have not yet had a reply from the court. The balance due from the case is now less than £1000 due to the instalments I have been making On 18th June I received a 'Breach of Lease' notice from the council enclosing Notice under Section 146 of the Property Act 1925 and asking that I make full payment within 21 days or further legal action would be taken resulting in forfeit of the lease. This was despite not receiving any decision from the County Court. I have researched Section 146 of the Property Act and I do not believe the council are acting in accordance with the law. Further I have spoken to the council and more than one occasion and had various email exchanges about the possibility of instalments payments but they are refusing to even consider it, even though they can see that I am making an effort to make payment. I am not sure what steps I can take now and my wife and I are quite worried at the possibility of losing our home and would like some advice on how to tackle this issue. Many thanks

Hi, I'm new here and hoping for some help. I have been dealing with a certain technology company (don't want to name them at this point) regarding a TV problem I have had for months. It came to a point where I was receiving so much confusing/differing information that I decided to write to Head Office to get my issue resolved (faulty TV). The next day after sending the letter, I received a call from their consumer relations group apologizing for all my trouble and they told me they will definitely be sending me a replacement - they used the word definitely at this point and said the replacement was confirmed by head office. They told me that they just need to see whether I would get the replacement before pick up of my current TV, at the same time etc. Next day I was called by another person, apologised to and told that the TV has to go to an assessment centre first as they didn't realize it hadn't so far (even though this was clear in my complaint letter and all communication with them thus far) before applying the appropriate remedy. I was incensed, because this was a classic example of the type of confusing information i've been given so far. There are many reasons it hasn't gone to an assessment centre so far, but my question is, was the original agent's promise/agreement binding? They told me in no uncertain terms that I would be getting a replacement and it was already approved by head office. I am seeking a recording of the conversation at the moment. Thanks for any help.

Hi, Last month I moved house. The person who was moving into my old house had already started changing their address over via their phone provider. When I rang BT I was told that because there was someone already taking over the line they would then treat me as a new customer with a new account. So I carried on with BT and signed up with a new contract etc with BT TV as well. All went fine with the move and the broadband worked straight away. The house doesn't have an external aerial so the BT TV wouldn't be much good to me. Just had my final bill and I am fuming. They are trying to charge me £10 because I finished my previous contract early, £13.50 for BT sport (for June to July) and another £3.50 for the HD package. I have been a loyal BT customer for years. This morning I have been on to their call centre to complain and they are looking into it. When I was talking to customer service he also told me there was a £35 activation charge for the BT TV again this wasn't told to me when I signed up. I am not going to accept any of these charges and only pay for the services I have used. JJ

Been having problems with Vodafone all year - they just get worse and worse! I called in Feb to report poor network coverage. They assured me it was just 4G upgrades and would be over soon. They promised that once the maintenance was finished they would refund my monthly tariff, back dated to when the problems started. In March, I was still having problems (ironically even the call to complain failed from my mobile as I had no signal!). Same story but conveniently they had no record of my previous call and compensation promise. However they offered £15 goodwill and a months tariff. Pretty poor considering I had only been able to communicate via imessage / whatsapp (anything using wireless but not Vodafone's line!) 90% of the time since December. In May I had had enough and with my contract up in June I called to discuss leaving. The representative I spoke to gave me my PAC code and explained that it's activation would be the start of a 30 day notice period. We agreed this would work fine as my contract was up on 6th June. I passed this code to my new supplier on 9th May and they activated it on 12th May. An subsequent online chat with another rep after this was the most dreadful customer service experience of my life! He was rude, sarcastic and unhelpful. I had got in touch again as my credits had not been activated. He agreed to arrange these then he also then told me I would have early termination fees added to my final bill! After 2 hours (!) online chat, he and a superior assured me that this would be waived due to the advice their other colleague had given me. So, obviously, on Sunday I received a bill including termination fees. A phonecall got me nowhere. The rep (again conveniently) could not see the online chat transcript promising to waive the fees. So I got back on online chat and the rep checked the transcript and again arranged to waive these and resubmit my bill. I am yet to receive the recalculated bill and struggle to believe that it really will be changed. Pretty sure they will take the money then I'll have the mother of all fights trying to get it refunded. More time, more stress. I don't think I can put into words how shocked I am that such a company has such terrible procedures and gaps in communication between departments. Never, ever again will I go back. Vodafone has a long way to go in terms of customer service (bordering on aggressive in some situations) and also coverage for their customers. They really do not care!

Sent my Samsung off for repair. Pretty standard repair job with that type of phone. Was told that it would be back within 10 days. Been longer than that now so thought I would chase it up. Tried the website but didnt have the job number so tried the store. Recorded message saying that they are closed for refurb and that any repairs would be sent to another store even further away. Tried the new store. They didnt have it. I asked for my job number so I could trackit myself. They said cant do it. No reason. I asked if the repair copany could send it to a more local store to me. They said cant change it now. No reason. Really was as simple as that. They managedto change the store address when it suited them but wont do it for me and will have to drive further now. Just seemed like the person just couldn't be bothered as I am sure they could get a job number for me and contact the repair company to get it sent to a different store as its been done once already. Anyway. Know much cant be done and just blowing off some steam as Vodafone have been generally good. Just wondering how long other Vodafone customers have had to wait for repairs

Put a £800 claim in for charges back from Nat West for vulnerable adult who is in hardship Nat West refunded £500 went to the Ombudsman who got them to agree to refund the other £300. The £500 was refunded to the account but since then relative had to close the account due to Nat West closing where they live. Relative got a charge for closing the account they refunded this by cheque. Ombudsman told relative to let them know if the £300 was not refunded by last week it has been refunded but paid to the closed Nat West account to go towards the overdraft still wing on this account. Complained to Ombudsman and this is there response. "The settlement amount was in respect of interest that was applied to the account. As there is still an outstanding balance and therefore the interest amount was never paid the refund of interest will credit directly to the account" Told them relative in hardship and that is the reason the request was made to Nat West and relative was led to believe this £300 was to be received by cheque. In what way does relative benefit by it just coming off an overdraft that is in a closed account.

DWP have announced that they intend to make a second London borough a trial area for the Digital Service for Universal Credit (UC) If you want to know more please follow the link below (Published 15/05/2015) "Croydon to become second area in UK to undertake controlled testing of enhanced digital service targeted to deliver the flagship welfare reform" http://central-government.governmentcomputing.com/news/on-track-universal-credit-digital-service-set-for-summer-expansion-4578661

I've recently purchased a car from an airport transfer company. Before I purchased the vehicle, I spoke to the owner that advised me that due to being classed as a taxi, the car has a meticulous service history with a lot of parts replaced due to the high mileage. I've now purchased the vehicle and now I'm having a wee bit of trouble obtaining the history from the company. Despite the history belonging to the car which I guess I'm entitled too, they wan't to charge ME as It'll cost their accountant to to obtain the documents. Obviously I'm refusing to pay anything and as It stands now, I'm getting no response from them. What can I do??