Today I have posted a new "Sticky" regarding the serious subject of Form 4 complaints and where courts are able to impose costs in favour of a bailiff. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask. PS: I have split the "Sticky" into two separate posts. They are both lengthly but very important indeed !!

Hi, My son has recently been having issues with gas supplier, despite constant emails and letters to them, they've not responded or come to fix his gas meter. He can't phone them due to suffering with nerves and anxiety. He gets really panicky on a phone, and it causes breathing issues. He has explained this, but still no reply. For some reason, which to be honest I can't figure out, he decided to see what the usual time for a response is at other types of shop. So he emailed a complaint to 2 different high street stores, one cafe, and an internet only site. He emailed a false complaint, to see how quickly people would reply to him to see if he was being unreasonable expecting a quicker response from his gas supplier. He got an email back from one of them, wanting more info, which he made up and gave them. Now an issue he made up, is being investigated. His plan was to wait for them to get in touch again, and then explain his situation that he was investigating average response times to complaints. But I'm worried he's actually going to get himself in trouble for the lies. Is there a legal issue here, or is it just a nuisance complaint? either way, I'm making him email them now to explain but want to know if there's any legal issues that present themselves or if it's something stores deal with often, and just gets brushed aside as a waste of time. Thanks for understanding

Hello again all. I hope you dont mind, but I have a double question for those in the know. Q1: I have to send off my ESA Assessment form (ESA50) off in a few days and need help with one thing. I am due to move from south to north but have no date to move as of yet but it should come very shortly as we are in the final stages of selling our house. What do I put in the part where it asks me if there are any dates in the next 3 months that I cant attend a face-to-face assessment? Do I say the truth? If so, how much time can I put that is realistic and acceptable from their POV? Q2: I have been on ESA since 22nd of April and was claiming JSA before that. I was on the Work Programme before that and was signed over to a new provider - Learndirect. I told my advisor at Learndirect that I had been signed onto ESA so would not be attending their appointments, I kept getting appointments from them so had to resort to telling them the rules and how because I am on ESA, my WP attendance should be treat as voluntary, they agreed and told me to send them copies of my sick notes. Which I didnt as Ive had enough on my plate without remembering to send them things they dont NEED to see. Anyway, today I received a text from my lovely WP advisor who said she is sending me an appointment for next Wednesday - no mention of "if you are still claiming ESA then no need to attend" etc. I am getting sick of their hassle and blatant breaking of the government rules so I am going to complain,can anyone point me in the right direction who I complain to? Their constant bothering me is making my condition worse and I dont need it right now as Ive just had to change medication and my stress levels are through the roof as it is. Thanks all for you help!

We've gotten a bit behind with the payments on a contract phone and have wrote to Orange twice, before Christmas, to sort it out. It was a smallish amount that could easily be spread out over the contract of the phone over a few months. They ignored us. We then sent a formal complaint via email. Still no answer. We have received today a bill for the entire contract of 336.54 as opposed to the 95.08 that we wanted to spread over the rest of the contract over a few months. The letter is from BCW. I phoned today but as the phone is in my wife's name they couldn't tell me anything, which I knew and understand. However, they refused to send out to me a copy of their complaints procedure. This is not specific information relating to the account so not sure why they wouldn't. Plus, in the past people have been ok sending that type of information to the addressee they have on file anyway. This would just be like sending a normal letter. I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice. Thanks Lee

I am having a terrible time with Kwik Fit. I had an issue with my car pulling a little to the left on motoryways. My usual garage was too busy to do my tracking and alignment and stupidly instead of waiting I popped into Kwik Fit on Cheltenham Road, Bristol. They told me my car was "seriously misaligned" and showed me a graph to show the before and after of resetting my tracking. The graph had text highlighted in green where the setup was good, and red where it was not, detailing several measurements of suspension and wheel settings. The only thing was, the after graph is covered in red, and the guy told me that the two graphs had printed the wrong way around, so my car was now perfectly set up. Anyway, I drove home through traffic at 10mph and didn't notice and issue, but on my way to a client in Bracknell the next morning, the car was terrifying. I had set off in rush hour, during the recent storms, so again, I was crawling from Bristol until nearly at the M4 turnoff to Bath. The car was squirming when I braked, pulling constantly to the left, so much in fact that to change lanes all I needed to do was let go for a second. The car was not safe, the Bracknell Kwik Fit refused to assist, saying the car was fine after checking it but refusing to give me a computer readout of whatever they had found. I called head office, was fobbed off. I had to trailer the car home at great expense as it wasnt safe, and then pay a real mechanic to fix the car. They told me it was seriously dangerous in its state and that I was lucky to have not crashed. They also got another garage to give me a second opinion, they agreed. I have sent several emails to the idiots at Kwik Fit, called as well. They seem intent on ignoring me after acknowledging the complaint. Emails copied below. I am posting these both as a warning to others as well as a cry for help. I could have had a crash and hurt or killed other people, and in the opinion of the two independent garages the Kwik Fit technicians at Bristol and Bracknell were both incompetent, they may have fancy kit, but they dont know how to use it. Can anyone help? They even ignored a "Letter Before Action" making me think I am totally wasting my time complaining. All emails below have been anonymised... Email One, Sent 11:26AM 11/2/14 Hello I had the misfortune of using your Bristol Cheltenham road centre yesterday. Your guys allegedly found my tracking "seriously out" and said this was causing a pull to the left. I had not noticed this, the car was largely fine. When I took the car home, just around the corner and didn't notice anything untoward. However when I took the car in the motorway today it was terrifying and frankly dangerous. The car was pulling to the left badly, putting me and other road users in danger. You have made my car much much worse than it was before. I went into your Bracknell store where the centre manager didn't even know what basic steering components were. I explained I had a new drag link and trailing arms, he asked what they were. They had a look and claimed the car was safe despite admitting it was pulling. They refused to assist, refused to give me the customer service number and refused me any help. This was despite your own Hunter equipment showing red out of alignment readings on the front camber. I am shocked and disgusted at the lack of service, lack of care and unprofessional attitude of your staff. I now face arranging a trailer to get my vehicle home at great cost, and a repeat cost of taking my car to a real mechanic who actually knows their way around a car. I want to know what you intend to do about this. I am considering legal action against your firm for my costs, time and any damage caused to my car by your apparent negligence. Email Two, Recieved 13:28 14/2/14 ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: customer services To: "> Sent: Friday, 14 February 2014, 13:28 Subject: RE: Complaint regarding Dear Mr your concern was registered on our systems following your contact to us by phone. We have engaged our Operations Managers with responsibility for the Bristol and Bracknell garages to look into the background of the visits and work done at our two centres and will contact you in response when we have an understanding of the situation, Thank you for sharing your concerns with us and allowing us the opportunity to investigate. Our reference is 979377 Kwik-Fit Customer Service Email Three, Sent 14:41 19/2/14 ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: To: customer services Sent: Wednesday, 19 February 2014, 14:41 Subject: Letter Before Action - Complaint regarding Dear Sir/Madam It has now been 8 days since I raised a complaint with yourselves, despite a promise of action I have had no response from your firm. I find this unprofessional. I have had to spend time and money rectifying the damage caused by mistakes made by your technical staff and have evidence and independent testimony to verify this. You have until the close of business (5PM) on the 26th February to contact me by phone and arrange a solution to the issues caused and my out of pocket expenses directly caused by the work you did, to be backed up in email by the close of business on the 27th February (5PM). If contact and resolution are not forthcoming I will pursue legal action against your company and will seek to recover: 1. My costs 2. Compensation for my time and inconvenience 3. Significant compensation for the danger caused to me and my passengers from your faulty work. Sincerely, Email Four Sent 26/2/14 ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: To: customer services ; Sent: Wednesday, 26 February 2014, 15:33 Subject: Re: Letter Before Action - Complaint regarding Dear Sirs I write with reference to my claim against your company. Please can I have a response to the letter I sent you on the 19th February? Kind regards

Just a question really, under the new Taking Control of Goods: National Standards dated April 2014 in the Complaints/Discipline section it says: "The debtor should be able to easily find out how to make a complaint and obstacles should not be placed in their way." I know I have looked on the Bristow and Sutor site for their Complaints procedure in the last 24 hours and found nothing, and I just wondered if the others had hit the same brick wall with other Enforcerment Agents.

Goodafternoon Was wondering if anyone could offer some clarification I have had several bank loans of which I defaulted, they are all now in the hands of a debt collection agency which have been now for many years. They have bought the debt. I would like to make a complaint about ppi on these loans by contacting the banks. I believe due to the DCA purchasing the debt, in effect the bank sees these loans as paid? Or will the lenders take the redress and use it on any losses? Or wil the redress come direct to me as opposed to the 3rd party (dca)* Has anyone been in the same situ as myself, and what was the outcome? Thanks very much in advance.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?421564-I.C.O.-inform-us-what-we-knew-already-lenders-rank-highest-for-DSAR-complaints

Skiworld seems to be unacceptably reticent when comes to dealing with customer complaints and indifferent to the seriousness of issues. We may need help to encourage action from them. Is there a forum, or a customer action group for fighting travel companies like Skiworld? Anyone else out there dissatisfied with them?

Dear All I've been reading the various forums regarding this company from afar for the last few days. I have two payday loans which have been passed to MMF on 13 February and so have a personal interest. To give some background, I worked for a debt management company for ten years and so have relatively strong knowledge of the tactics employed by DCAs. This company seems to have stooped to new levels in terms of blatant disregard for acceptable debt collection practises. This morning I emailed the OFT summarising the complaints highlighted in this forum in the various threads. I have asked them for advice on the best way to proceed with key questions as to whether it is 'safe' for me to (1) communicate with them and (2) send payments to them. To be very clear, I want to pay my debts back, but at an affordable rate and in the knowledge payments will reduce my debts. I expect this will be the same for most people who are experiencing problems with MMF. I will try to upload the email I sent to the OFT onto this thread for evidence of action - my simple request is that all of you people who are suffering at the hands of MMF take action and register the Complaint with the OFT - it is a numbers game, the more complaints they receive, the more they will listen! I would ask anyone who has made a complaint, or is considering doing so, to post on here.

Hi all, I'm not getting anywhere with dealing with Vodafone so thought someone here may have some advice. At the beginning of December 2013 Vodafone requested that I needed to have my SIM card replaced as the old one would expire at the beginning of January 2014. The new card arrived (after asking them again) and I wanted advice in transferring my number and the PAYG credit. The nightmare began with being passed from department to department (they had a special number set up to deal with this, but they only had five members of staff and only open office hours, so the phone was seldom answered). Eventually Vodafone suggested I take my phone to a Vodafone shop and they would do a SIM swap. I did this, but now my number doesn't appear to exist at all. Also, the temporary number issued on the new SIM no longer exists. I wasn't allowed to talk to a supervisor and only one of my letters of complain has been answered - they said that they had tried to contact me on the temporary number but it would not connect and that they would investigate. I'm not a massive user, but I certainly used to use the phone to make chargeable calls regularly and, more importantly, receive calls related to my business. I have had to remove my mobile number from my websites, social media and my business cards all need to have the mobile crossed out prior to giving them out (very professional looking that is). I'm appalled by the customer service from Vodafone and completely at a loss as to how to resolve this. I tried the ombudsman, but they wouldn't help before Vodafone had been given two months to resolve it from my first complain. One of my letters was addressed to the CEO, the other addressed to the Customer Relations Manager (same address). If anyone has any suggestions that may help, I'd be very grateful. Thanks in advance, Dayve

Hello all, sorry, but this will be quite long post, because there is no other way to explain the whole situation in detail, I'll try to be as brief as possible. Over a year ago, I decided to put SKY TV in my kid's room, so I upgrade to SKY Multiscreen. Because I'm in flat, the sky box in my living room is connected to the communal satellite dish. So, the SKY so-called engineers mounted with my permission second satellite dish, run two feeds cable from the dish to the sky box, connected sky box to TV and everything seemed normal to me, except the sky box they connected, was about two times smaller than my original sky hd+ box. So I asked them if I can record programs and they said that this is not possible with this box. Anyway, I did not pay much attention to this then, because my original intention was just to have Sky TV in the kid's room, my kids were happy, so everything was OK. Recently, however, the sky box in my living room start to clash when try to record 2 programs at a time, so, I started to think to buy another SKY HD+ box for the kid's room, to be able to record some of the programs there, in order to prevent these clashes. So, I log on into the sky website, to check prices of SKY HD+ boxes, but then something else caught my attention. Under my "My Sky>My Account>My Package" is a section "TV>Sky Boxes". In this section are described the sky boxes that I have or supposed to have. The first one, my initial sky box, is described correctly, even the picture is fully relevant, but the second one, my multiscreen box is totally different from what I have. Is described as follows: "Your Sky+HD box with built-in WiFi comes with all the features of Sky+ and will enable you to bring your HD ready TV to life as you enjoy the UK's widest range of HD channels, when you also have the HD Pack. Sky+HD box Features of your Sky+HD box: Pause and rewind live TV Record up to 185 hours of standard definition TV with no tapes, timers or fuss Built-in WiFi with even easier access to On Demand Record an entire series at the touch of a button Remote Record from your mobile or online Ready for Sky 3D" This seemed very strange to me, so I researched my sky box, and I found that it is actually a model DRX595 and there is no built-in hard disk, so, there is no option to record, pause and rewind live TV, and also, there is no built-in Wi-Fi. So I decided to clarify this, and here where the problems started. Here's my letter to their Customer Support: "Dear Sir or Dear Madam, On your website in My Package/Sky Boxes is stated that I have two Sky+HD boxes who have the opportunity to record, pause and rewind live TV and one of those are even mentioned that it has built-in WiFi. When I first became your customer, I had installed Amstrad DRX890 which can record, pause and rewind live TV, but there is no built-in WiFi. When I signed for Sky Multiscreen, I had installed DRX595 and there is no option to record, pause and rewind live TV, there is no built-in WiFi, but the biggest problem with this Sky box is, that although I have two feeds from satellite dish, this Sky box have only one dish input, so, whenever the weather is bad, thick clouds or heavy rain I have no signal. So please check, why the information you have is not correct and what can be done about this. Kind Regards" Here's their response: " Thank you for your email. I understand that you wish to know regarding your Sky Box. Having checked your Sky Account details, I see that you have one primary Sky Box in your main Room. This Sky Box have Sky Viewing Card number *********. This Sky Box is not Wifi enabled Box. However, this is Sky+ HD Box. The second Sky Box in another room is Sky+ HD Wifi enabled Sky Box with Sky Viewing Card number *********. Both your Sky Boxes are compatible for Record and Live Pause/ Rewind. I would request you to confirm the exact error message with you try to record any Live content on your Sky Box." Very interesting response that has nothing to do with my question! So, my answer: " Thank you for the fast response, but I guess you did not read my letter carefully. Please leave aside the standard procedures for technical illiterate people in order to save time. I'm technically proficient, and as I wrote in my previous letter, the second device fitted by your engineers is model DRX595. This model doesn't have an internal hard drive for recording, for the same reason also cannot Live Pause/ Rewind and there is also no Wi-Fi. That is why I ask you to check why information held by you is different from reality. Regards" Their response: "Thank you for your email. I am sorry to her about the issues youve been experiencing with your Sky+ HD box. In order to rectify the issue with the Live/Pause and Rewind, I've now made changes and it will take 2 minutes to 4 hours for the issue to get resolved. If the issue still persist, please reply to my email or you can contact our Technical Team on 08442 41 14 11 for further assistance." As you can imagine I'm already pretty ****ed, so, my answer was not very polite: " Dear *****, under no circumstances I want to be disrespectful or rude, but you do not leave me much choice. I know that my English is not very good, but I'm pretty sure that my message is written on pure English. So, please find someone who can read my original message, to probe into what I have written, to verify the facts and to give me a satisfactory answer, thank you!" Their response: "I am sorry to hear that you are unable to use the Sky + features (Play Pause Rewind) on your Sky Multiscreen Box. I have confirmed the details of your Sky Box used in the Sky Multiscreen subscription, having checked I confirm that your Sky Multiscreen Box has a capability to Record,Play and pause features. My colleague has made changes to your account to fix the problem however if you still continue with the same problem, I request you to please follow the steps below and the issue will be resolved: Using your Sky remote control: 1. Press services. Services menu with Options highlighted displays. 2. Press right arrow, highlight Settings and press select. Settings menu with Picture highlighted displays. 3. Press 0, 1 and select to access the hidden installer setup menu. Setup displays. 4. Using left or right arrows, highlight Rebuild (which will become Sky+ Rebuild once highlighted) and press select. (OSM): “This will take a few minutes to complete. The rebuild will stop all recordings and reboot your Sky+” displays. 5. Press select. (OSM): 'Housekeeping please wait' displays and may take up to 2 minutes to clear. 6. Once Planner Rebuild complete, box will reboot and display a standby light. Your Sky+ HD boxes will display an amber light for standby and a red light for off-mode. All other box types display a red light for standby. 7.Wait 2 - 4 minutes with the box on standby then press Sky to switch box back on. Green light displays After performing the above steps if you continue with the same problem, I would request you to please speak to our experts in our Technical Support Team by calling on 08441 41 14 11 and we will be able to fix the issue. As you mentioned that the DRX595 Box has just a single feed going from in from the Sky Dish, we will need to investigate on this and it can happen only when you speak to our Technical Support Team Alternately, If you wish you can follow the link below..." At this stage I am now in a position, where I do not know to laugh or to cry! My response: " Dear***** I am grateful that you try to help me. But I am also very disappointed, that my question has passed through three persons, and so far, none of you managed to understand the real cause of my problem. I'll try one last time to help you help me, before move those things at a higher instance, so, please read carefully the following: The Sky box fitted by your engineers as my second box when I ordered my Sky Multiscreen is NOT suitable of recording, for the simple reason, that there is no built-in hard disk. This box, as I have already mentioned, is model DRX595 and doesn't have an internal hard drive for recording, for the same reason also cannot Live Pause/ Rewind and there is also no Wi-fi. So please carefully examine my issue. Thank you!" Their response: " Thank you for your email regarding the issue with your Sky Box. In order to use record and live pause/rewind facility you need to have 2 Dish Input Cable at the back of your Sky Box coming from your Sky Dish. We need to arrange a service call for a Sky engineer to visit your place and get this sorted. Having looked at your account, I can see that your equipment is no longer under warranty with us. If you do need to book a service call, we can arrange this for you for a fee of £65. This one off payment also covers the cost of a refurbished replacement box if the engineer can't repair your existing one. Your refurbished box will also have a 90-day warranty. If you wish to book a service call then reply to my email with a convenient date and time for the engineers visit." let's remind you, what exactly was my initial question and summarize what actually I ask. My initial question was why the information held by Sky about my Sky box is different from reality, or in other words, why their engineers do install a different model sky box from that stated in their website? You can see for yourself what answers I got! So I made a complaint, in which I note how I am disappointed by their Customer Support, explain in detail the case, quote all communication between me and their Customer Support,( the same which I have quoted above) and finished as follows: "Now I hope you understand my frustration! But due to past experiences, just in case I will explain below what exactly my problem is: When your engineers arrived to install my multiscreen subscription, they installed a small satellite dish, from which come two cables, two feeds. They also installed Sky box model DRX595. This box is two times smaller than the model DRX890. This model doesn't have an internal hard drive for recording, for the same reason also cannot Live Pause/ Rewind. There is also no wi-fi. Although I have two feeds from my satellite dish, only one is connected to this box, because this Sky box have only one dish input. On your website it is shown: "Your Sky+HD box with built-in WiFi comes with all the features of Sky+ and will enable you to bring your HD ready TV to life as you enjoy the UK's widest range of HD channels, when you also have the HD Pack... Pause and rewind live TV Record up to 185 hours of standard definition TV with no tapes, timers or fuss Built-in WiFi with even easier access to On Demand Record an entire series at the touch of a button Remote Record from your mobile or online Ready for Sky 3D When you also have the HD Pack: Access to over 68‡ amazing HD channels Get closer to the action with up to 5x more picture detail and superb quality digital sound" My question is, why your engineers have installed this old and already discontinued Sky box, instead of the one that is shown on your website with the above specifications?" Here's the answer to my complaint: "Thank you for your letter enquiring about your technical problems with your boxes. I understand that you're facing technical problems with your Sky+ boxes. You can contact out Technical team on ******, where one of our advisors will be able to help you to resolve your issues with recording and pause facility on your Sky+ boxes..." So... I do not know what to say!!! If anyone can tell me how I can explain to those clowns the core of my problem, so they finally be able to understand me, please help! I have my theory about what happened, but I do not want to speculate, but I'm ready to do everything possible to get to the bottom of this case, so I accept any advice and suggestions of what to do further. Thank you for your patience.

Anyone heard of this? I received a reply via my MP from the DWP's operational correspondence unit with regard to my ongoing complaint against Seetec, the letter ends with 'If Mr Osdset remains unhappy with any of the services provided by Seetec, he can use the strengthened complaints procedure that has been introduced for the Work Programme', no reference as to how to access this procedure though. I can't find anything much on the net.

I have an address which I got off the net for the above. I have: Santander Complaints Department, Santander UK plc, Po Box 1125, Bradford, BD1 9PG Can anyone tell me if this is correct? I have written to them twice recently and got stony silence. Thanks David

This has just been on Radio 4. it seems to have fairly and squarely stuck a stick into a hornets nest. The solicitors are trying to get it taken down and its only had a few thousand posts This is aparrently the only way to high light under-performing solicitors apart from complaining through a solicitor hope it helps someone and helps to improve a sector that is largely unregulated thus far Fwog

Hi, long story short on here, i took out a loan with CFO back in September. I realised that i couldn't afford this so set about a repayment plan, eventually sourcing one with them (with much pain!) Since then i have been continually sent various text messages and emails from them. 1. Offering me more money!! 2. Threatening me with phone calls to my office and home (even though i have arranged a plan!) 3. Offering me a CFO Resolve loan/ repayment plan( which obviously i already have) I'm not sure the best course of action here, i'd like to raise this to a higher level as this is incredibly poor from this company If i complain to them direct i'm sure it will fall on deaf ears, any ideas where to go from here? Thanks for everyone's help!

email: executive.complaints@npow er.com [no spaces] dx

Hello all, I hope I've posted this in the right place. I need some advice/general pointers on an issue a friend is having. He's Autistic (Aspergers syndrome) and has been a BG customer since May 2010. So it's a rather long story but I shall try to give the key points as best I can, if more info is required then I'll be happy to fill in the blanks best I can. He switched over to BG on to a 'web saver' price plan on moving into the property. Web saver offered online billing, energy monitor, was slightly cheaper deal than his current supplier. All seamed well he received the usual welcome letters and confirmation of switch over. However two weeks later he received a phone call from BG stating that they could not be placed of this 'web saver' tariff dual to the type of electric meter - it's a dual read Day/night meter. So was being placed on their standard tariff. Energy monitor was never received and his online account was deactivated. (Now I fail to understand why this wasn't noticed at sign up and I think it a bit dodgy that they waited until after the switch to tell me, but there we are.) In September 2010 he received 'notice of disconnection' letters and demands on payment for electricity used. However he hadn't received any bills for electricity use. He paid and told BG that he hadn't had a bill they claim they had sent one. He thought it might have been his mistake. January 2011 another notice of disconnection followed by multiple calls, actually and excessive amount of calls, from the BG collections debt. Again he had not received a bill. Outstanding balance was paid and and a complaint was made to BG by his mental health worker who explained that he has Aspergers and letters of disconnection and the like can and is causing worry. Yet again no bills and the threats of action moved on to visits from debt collectors, Richburns visited 4 times, B.C.W visited 3 times and Power2contact sent 3 letters and may have visited once. This was all in the space of a month. This course of action has continued. Attempts to switch have failed due to blocks being placed on his account. This repeated, No bills but Notices of disconnection, applications for warrants of entry, calls from BG collections. Complaints were ignored. This all came to a head in January this year when during a compliant to BG they admitted the reason that no bills had been sent is was due to his account being set to paperless billing. This is an after affect of the cancelled web saver plan. He was assured that this was now corrected and he would be placed on a cheaper tariff and would be set to paper billing. September 29 (2013) he received yet another notice of disconnection. His mental health workers stepped in and spoke with BG on his behalf. To find he was still on paperless billing and still on the standard tariff. All the stress of calls from BG collections debt, threats of legal action, debt collectors letters and visits has taken toll and he is currently rather unwell. And is currently being seen by a mental health crisis team. BG have contributed significantly to this due to the course of action BG have taken and their failings in customer services. My question is.. where to go from here ? 3 years of complaints to BG have gotten nowhere. I'm a bit lost as to where to go next in terms of making a complaint or taking legal action (if there are grounds). Thanks in advance.

Looking for clarification concerning how banks handle customer complaints. 1. Am I correct in believing that a bank has to acknowledge a complaint, in writing, within 5 working days, regardless of whether that complaint is made in writing or verbally (e.g. during a call to phone banking)? If so, where can I find the relevant regulation or code of practice? Looking about online I can only find reference to the bank having to investigate and respond to a complaint within 8 weeks.

I have written to east coast on a couple of occasions recently to complain about some shocking staff behaviour which, in view of the fact that many of their staff are excellent, I am not going to describe here. However, I have not had anything other than holding responses to these letters / e-mails. The question is what do I do next - no response from Passenger Focus either! East Coast need to be freed from the control of the DfT as soon as possible in my view as, although better than when they were part of National Express, they are not a patch on GNER. Thanks in advance.

Hi I'm new to the forum and would like to know which area to post a complaint about a company in?

Apologies if this is not the correct forum for this but would appreciate the CAGGERS' responses to the complaint that I wish to make about the dentist I have been seeing. The complaint letter would (I hope) explain all. Dear Sir/Madam I wish to lodge a complaint against the dentist supplying my dental treatment. I first saw (name withheld) at the end of May 2013 when she examined and took x-rays at which time I paid the initial fee of £18. She explained to me that I would need all my teeth removed and have dentures supplied. She also explained that it would need a number of visits as I am on warfarin and there would be a risk of excessive bleeding. The number of visits would be approximately 8 – 10. This I agreed to as she suggested that I make a series of 3 bookings at a time which would shorten the waiting period between visits. I made a series of bookings over a month which took care of 5 bookings and so expected only 3 further visits to complete the treatment. On the 3rd June she removed some teeth and I paid a further £39 to cover the extractions. On 24 June she removed a further 3 teeth leaving me with only 3 teeth left at which stage she told me that she would leave the last 3 teeth and have impressions made so that I would have some teeth until I could have the intermediate dentures which would be approximately 2 – 3 weeks after impressions. At that time I paid the final £165 to cover all the treatment at Band 3. The following appointment on 1 July was cancelled by the surgery due to (name withheld) ill health. Unfortunately I was unable to make the following appointment on 8 July due to my own ill health. When I attended for the next appointment on 24 July I was advised by (name withheld) that although she could take impressions on that day, it was unlikely that I could get another appointment until November and she suggested that I go to a general practice dentist to complete the treatment. This would, in effect, cost me more as I would have to pay the full Band 3 cost again. There is also no guarantee that a dentist in general practice would accept me as a patient with my medical condition which would mean further delays. Due to complications over many procedures for heart by-pass surgery, TIA’s and finally cancer surgery I have been having problems with losing teeth and therefore trouble eating for some 2 years and had to wait until my INR was in an acceptable range to attempt dental surgery and even then had to be referred by my GP to the (name withheld) and waiting some time for an appointment. I am unable to go out and socialise without teeth and also find it extremely difficult to chew and have to be on a soft food diet. I do not find it acceptable to have to wait a total of almost 9 months to have treatment. I was also advised that I could not get a refund of any money without going through a lot of red tape by filling in forms, submitting them to another department and waiting (for what I consider) quite some time for a refund to my bank account. The payments were made by credit card. Should I not receive a timely and suitable resolution I will have no alternative but to escalate my complaint to the relevant authorities. I would be grateful for your early response.

Hi I need some advice and wonder if anyone can help. November last year Virgin cut my service phone/tv in favour of a neighbour's service and told me they would not put it back on until I paid the bill. Of course I was furious as my bills are always paid and i am never more that 2months behind. Of the 4 years I had been with them they were always paid. So, I decided I no longer wanted their service and wrote 2 complaints to Virgin. They sent acknowledgement letters but no answer to my complaint. I then received debt collector letters from BPO asking for £135. January, I called Virgin and spoke to a woman in Collections who told me that I actually owed £40 to that point. I asked why the Debt collectors letter was asking for £135. No answer. I said I want to escalate my complaint but was told the collections dept was the last port of call. (she did not know I had written 2 letters already to Virgin Head office). To cut a long story short, I was unhappy with the response overall from virgin and wrote a letter laying out my complaints, asking for the actual amount I owed. I then received a Letter from another collection company, CSL, asking for £95 I wrote to them asking them to refer it back to virgin as a complaint is still outstanding. That was in MARCH. 5 days ago I received a letter dated 19th July from HL Solictors threatening court action etc etc. To date Virgin still has not answered my written complaints. Do I have any recourse through the Consumer Credit Act? I was reading the OFT page which indicated I did, but not sure. Can anyone consolidate or suggest action as to how I best respond to HL Solicitors? I need to be able to quote areas of consumer law to them. I am also planning to offer payment of £1 under protest. Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Mumof3

Hi everyone, back in March last year I had an ET hearing for constructive unfair dismissal breach of contract disability discrimination. The case failed on grounds of no discrimination having taken place even though I was found to be disabled! I then applied for review of judgement (not granted) An appeal was submitted to the Employment Appeals tribunal, from a solicitor (not granted) I now have 1 hour, oral hearing in front of the EAT judge (respondent not present) in London early next year (to persuade the judge to allow the appeal in) I have been advised that I need prepare a bundle (much shorter than the previous ET bundle) and prepare a skeleton argument. I have until mid December to get all the paperwork into the EAT. I am not too sure as to the process and preparation of the case and am handling it myself. I would be very grateful for any help from the more experienced Caggers. Many thanks Best wishes BB

Hi Cag Can some one advise me on the following please My partners son is 18 this week and is in part time college studying hairdressing and works 3 days a week in a local salon. His father has stated to the benefit agency he is in full time education which is not true. He failed to get grades at school and did not make the required grades at his first year at 6h form so he quit. Question, does the CSA still require payment ? as it comes direct from a deduction of earnings. The CSA have told us that they are satisfied wih the written response to the RP response but have not investigated the issue fully. Complained to the CSA direct but deaf ears as usual, taken the matter up with the local MP but as arrears are owed the NRP for the years her son lived at home and it is under dispute they are proving a very difficult agency to deal with, CSA to investigate a case whih has been disputed for 15 years, and even though the now RPhad a detachment of earnings srved on him it never came into force. The CSA in a letter we have stated that they apologise for the non payment of 4 years as the request to his employer was not followed up and monitored to ensure the monies were being taken. Cheer for any help AG