I needed to return a substandard item to HoF [House of Fraser - online] and being housebound, the item had to be collected. It was booked for Thursday this week ... the courier being UK Mail. They never turned up. HoF didn't know why. UK Mail didn't know why either. I was told to phone this morning to find out when [or if] they would collect today. HoF couldn't contact UK Mail from 9am until 1pm. When they did finally get through to them, they were able to let me know that a driver would pick up between 1pm and 3pm today. Driver arrived at 3.20pm. I asked for a receipt. He didn't have his receipt book on the van. So I said I'd need to phone the company as I wasn't handing over a valuable item [worth £160] without a receipt. He took off and never came back. I phone HoF who initially told me ...'they don't do receipts'. That fact seems to change with each person at HoF I've spoken to since. One of their reps at one point, when they couldn't organise the collection suggested that I leave the parcel on the front door step if I didn't want to be further inconvenienced and 'someone' would pick the parcel up eventually. I asked the rep in question if she would be willing to leave something of value on her doorstep for collection ... to which she answered 'no she wouldn't'. So was I right to insist on a receipt? I order online all the time and I would never dream of returning an item with a courier if they didn't give me some sort of collection acknowledgement. Because if the item went missing in transit, I'm sure neither HoF or UK Mail would take responsibility and I'd be left out of pocket by £160. The final phone call of the day was with someone from HoF's 'Customer Service High Level Complaints Team' who again stated that they didn't do collection receipts. However on this occasion, he said they would be willing to give one to the driver who was apparently going to pick up the item on Monday and he could hand it in to me. It's an ongoing issue. God knows when it will be resolved. I've made a formal complaint. But I wanted to know if others feel I was right to refuse to hand over the item when I wasn't given some form of receipt for same. The item in question was a canteen of gold cutlery btw.

I recently took advantage of online offers on Asdas home page. Felix cat food was showing as boxes of 12 pouches, 2 boxes for £3, this was a huge saving, I buy this all the time for my 3 cats. I ordered 36 boxes = £54 plus delivery. I ordered these on 7th Sept and arranged delivery on Monday 10th. Delivery arrived and I noticed the invoice showed £110, I realised what had happened so rejected them. Asda Terms & Conditions show that if items are marked at a different price when picked they will be charged at that price and a box had to be ticked to show this. I ticked the box, I really didnt think that 3 days later it would be changed. I dont understand the logic in this, Im sure there will be customers caught out who dont notice and will be charged differently, what is the point in paying staff to pick, pack and deliver for goods to be returned. The amount of £54 was allocated to Asda on the day of ordering, today, 5 days later that money is still not in my account, it shows as being suspended, its neither mine not theirs, but I cannot spend that money so in effect I havent got it. This is a good ploy from Asdas point of view, the interest on this money is a good earner and it shows total inconvenience for the customer, Im really not happy about this. I emailed the CEO of Asda to be told to read the Terms & Conditions, well I guess this was my stupidity in believing an offer was going to be too good.

Hi I wonder if anyone could help My daughter was involved in a caravan fire (suspected arson) whilst working abroad this summer. She basically lost everything apart from the clothes she was standing in and her laptop and phone which were still one her lap when she woke up by the fire! She had travel insurance purchased through the company she worked for. A number of electrical items I had bought her over the last couple of years were lost (tablet, camera and ipod). I still have the the original emails sent from these companies when these items were purchased. I have printed these emails off but they are saying they want original receipts. I still have the boxes for two of the items and the only paperwork that came with them were paperwork for returns. Can anyone offer any advice? Thanks

Hello all I am currently on jsa and thinking about going self employed, My idea is to sell things on ebay. For instance phone covers and this and that see gangs of other's doing it so thought i would give it a shot. I live in a 1 bed house alone, I plan to use my desktop in my bedroom as my base of command! So to speak, Stock will be limited to a few box's as i plan to get involved with drop ship rather than carry a lot of stock, My question for you guys is will i be liable to pay Buisness rates for my bedroom? This will be my full time ocupation sharing my bedroom with a desk and pc to opperate from the rest of the home will not be associated with the online buissness. HELP As if i am liable for buissness rates its going to be a non start as it will wipe out any profits i hope to make, As i will be building this up from the ground, slowly slowly catchy monkey!

Hi guys I bought a bed back on ebay about 11 months ago i have tried over 4 months now to switch the card board not satisfactory bed i was supplied. I went to the local CAB and they said i could fill out a county court claim form online for about £5 they said. I cant seem to find the information online can someone help me by submitting a link cheers

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

I have just received a letter from Ikano charging me £12 arrears fee for receiving their payment on the 17th when it was due on the 16th. I had paid on the 16th using their new payment facility which I initially struggled to get through but did. They are trying to charge me because they claim to have received it on 17th. I offered them the opportunity to reverse the charge and the person I was speaking to said he would only offer to return half of the amount. The strength of his argument is that on the statement it has a small line underneath where it says "Payment to reach us by" saying (allow 5 working days) in brackets. I drew his attention to the fact that it says nothing of this on the information they sent regarding using their new payment facility and I advised him of the basis of the rulings under UTCCR. As he does not seem inclined to remove the charge I will first write a complaint to them as part of my pre-action protocol then happily sue them for £12 plus costs of action. Should anyone else run into the same problem I hope you follow the same route. Service Charge Support LLP Ps I hope this can be tweeted to them.

Anyone else?

Despite being told by two advisors that standing orders are available, I am unable to set up standing orders from my new "online saver" account. The online help pages also state that this can be done - quote "You can also make payments and set up Direct Debits and standing orders from your account statement page." I was able to do this from the old "Web Saver Reward" account. The bank should re-introduce standing orders for this type of account. I used a standing order to maintain the reward status of my current account to avoid having to do this manually.

Does anyone have any information on this company? I ordered a bed form them online a month ago, paid through WorldPay and there has been no sign of it. All their advertised phone numbers are now unobtainable and no-one replies to emails. Not sure what to do next !

Hi guys, I've posted on the forums before but only in relation to debts and banking so I hope I'm posting in the right section now. A few months ago I listed a pair of tickets for sale using a well known ticket exchange company (online). I received email notification saying they had been purchased and only then did I realise that I had (very stupidly) listed the wrong date). I scoured the website for company contact details and the only option was to submit a FAQ form. I did so within an hr of the purchase. I explained what I had done and that the tickets advertised were for the day before but I also had some tickets for the date I had incorrectly listed but they were in a slightly different place in the arena. I was very apologetic and asked if either I could contact the buyer or they could to let them know and see if they wanted to cancel or take either set of tickets. I was then told that they won't contact the buyer until just before the concert (early 2013) and that I am advised to keep all tickets in case the buyer wishes to use them. Obviously this is ridiculous and is going to only lead to disappointment for the buyer. Additionally, the contract states that if the seller doesn't deliver the tickets then the company will find a replacement and the seller is liable. I was selling for the face value but they sell tickets for £500-600 on there so I could end up with them saying I owe £1,500+. I appreciate that this was my own stupid mistake but it seems their 'policy' is somewhat ridiculous. I have emailed and asked for a member of management staff to contact me but have heard nothing back. I'm about to start doing some research and see what can be done, find a phone number etc. I believe they are owned by a very well known ticketing company but you know what it's like trying to get through to someone via the standard 0845 numbers! Any advice or opinions very welcome, thanks for reading

Evening Gaggers Today I was going to check my bank balance on the web and when I've done this previously I always have to click on LOG IN button on the top right. However today it went to another page,it was still the NatWest 'page', requesting personal information, name, address etc as it stated my details was out of date!! Of course I didn't continue as I suspected something 'fishy'...have any of you experienced the same?

Hi Interesting article from the mail online re: Corrie star & B/R http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2148555/Bevs-bust-Corrie-barmaid-Liz-McDonald-bankrupt-broke.html The section relating to the interview she gave in March is perhaps a little poignant and probably strikes a chord with others who are suffering or going through similar problems with debt, bankruptcy etc I suppose a message out of all this is...don't suffer in silence, you are definitely not alone, get advice as soon as possible, there are solutions and help is out there (preferably free of course)

Quick story: Bought a ASUS laptop last year for £700 from an online retailer. Out of the box all seems fine and shiny, notice something on the cover around the screen but not very noticeable; looked and felt like glue and dust residue from the protective film. On the second week I went on a business trip with the computer and during the trip someone noticed that the 'something' were very minute scratches and not glue/dust residue. The computer also started to act funny, so as soon as I got back home I called the retailer about both issues (the laptop acting funny and the scratches) who passed me onto their repair agent and the laptop was sent for repairs. The repair agent found an issue with the motherboard and that was covered by the manufacturer's warranty but the scratches were not. I discussed with the retailer but they insisted that I accepted and inspected the laptop in the 7 days given and if I did not spot the scratches then it is my problem. What I have done now: Since the retailer will not budge, I considered going to the small claims but instead I used Section 75 of the Consumers Protection Act with the credit card company I used. However, they have just replied back saying that no contract was broken...!?!?! What I believe the law is: Distance selling rules - I like the item and kept it after inspection period given, so no help here. But if the DSR period is over then the SOGA comes in to force. Sale of Goods Act - (1) The goods are 'faulty' and are not of satisfactory quality. (2) The fault was discovered and realised within the first month, in fact, only two and half weeks so well within the 6 year period. (3) I do not have to prove the fault was my doing as the goods were within 60 days - as I only wanted a repair. The scratches are very minute and hard to spot on the glossy frame and you need to be really close to it and tilting it at an angle to actually see it let alone notice it, therefore it was ignored in the first instance. I asked the repair agents for a report of the scratches who also mentioned that the scratches were not 'noticeable unless you are looking for them'. I wish to contact the credit card company once more before going to small claims, so I need help and practical advice. Please, please, please help me to find similar law cases, especially discovering faults after a time period.

Hello all, I am new here and registered in the hope you can help me help my friend. She is a Mother of various aged children, is married, he is working, she is not. Approx 3 or 4 months ago she recieved notice that money had gone missing from her account. Various sums from £300-£500, totalling £1900.00 She was asked to fill out various forms, etc and they investigated her and her family etc. They came to the conclusion that no one in her family had anything to do with the theft of money and decided it was somehow stolen online. She was advised tthat the money would be refunded to her, and was asked to fill out a claim form. Now, this money, or a large part of it was rent money, and as such she couldn't pay the majority of her rent to her landlord. Her landlord was not sympathetic at all and put pressure on her to pay her rent. This she simply couldn't do, as funds were very limited, she has kids and other bills needed to be paid also. Needless to say, her kind landlord served an evitction notice on her due to non payment of all her rent. So, her bank keeps telling her she will be refunded but they do not know when. "it takes time". My friend has since moved out, into another house, has had to borrow off friends and family, (inc me), to live. She has been in finanical dire straites since this money has gone. The bank, STILL are saying it could take a few more weeks yet!!! This has been at least 2 months, probably 3, since the money was first discovered missing! What are the rules for banks to have to pay back money that was fraudulantly removed from an account, unknown to the account holder, and proven NOT to be the account holders fault? Is there are time limits? If there is financial hardship as a direct result of the loss do they have to help? Should they have paid the money back earlier? I hope you can advise please, as my friend is pulling her hair out and this is making her ill. As you can apprieciate, £1,900 is ALOT to have stolen! Thank you in advance. I see from the page on the FSA site it basically says the money should be repaid immediately? **above reasons

Hi I bought a necklace for around £120 from this website. I made the order on 15th July and didn't recieve item until 27th/28th. My girlfriend doesn't like it so I sent an e-mail asking about getting a refund and I got this reply: As this is out of our refund policy, as a gesture of good will I would be happy to exchange it for anything on the site to the value of the original order. I checked their refund policy and it states: Under the Distance Selling Regulations, if you buy online or by phone, your consumer rights entitle you to a full refund if you request one in writing within 7 working days of receipt. Is this legit? Because it seems like an AWFULLY short time to allow for refund of such an expensive item. Could really use some quick info on this thanks. Dan

Mornin caggers, I thought you might like to know that I recent had cause to call Halifax about their "new and improved" web site - and the advice they gave me was so wildly ridiculous I just had to let everyone know in case they ever called them: I have banked with Halifax for several years and always use their online website to pay bills, view balance etc. Never had any problem at all. We'd had notice for several months that Halifax were about to "improve" their online banking web site and finally this new and improved version went live recently. The first time I logged in to it, it took over 30 seconds to get to each screen until, when actually clicking "submit" to pay a bill, the screen "hung" - leaving the little hourglass there for over three minutes. So I thought I'd call them and let them know that - in case other customers had complained and there was some kind of problem they were in the process of fixing (which is actually my trade, I test software and web sites for errors and bugs). On calling and explaining to them my problem,the lady I spoke to duplicated my transaction on her screen and she said "well it's fine here, it must be you". I tried to explain (without telling her I do this for a living, I know how that would go down) that the web site on her "in-house" computer would naturally be quicker for her because she didn't have to "go through the 'front door' like all the customers do. So she put me on hold to refer my query to her manager. (and all the while my transaction hourglass was still sitting there) When she came back to me she said "You've got a virus on your computer, you need to take it to a computer repair shop and get it repaired as your account has been broken into" My flast was absolutely gabbered at this conclusion. When I explained to her that I couldn't possibly have "a virus" she said "Yes, you definately do, we've told other customers that they have viruses - thats exactly what happens" - I was even more shocked. I feel compelled to convey to everyone that this advice is WRONG. Had I not been in the industry for 15 years I might well have pulled the plug out of the wall, taken my computer to a shop, possibly lost saved memories and paid out hundreds of pounds for a repair that was absolutely unnecessary. I appreciate that there aren't droves of people doing this - but I think the moral of the story is - banking personnel know about banking, don't take any other advice from them at face value. I'm glad she wasn't a marriage counsellor.

I ordered a pram and car seat from BabyTime in Welling, Kent on 22nd Jan via their website as they don't stock the products I wanted in store (Obaby Zezu Pramette and Car Seat), the wesite states orders usually take around 7 working days but can take up to 28 days. 22nd Jan - Get a confirmation email of my order being placed and that it would be processed as soon as possible, not that it is being processed. 25th Jan - £232.50 is debited from my account to BabyTime, so to me it looked like my order had been processed and should be recieved in the next few days/week. 3rd Feb - Sent an email asking if I could get an ETA on my order just so I knew when I could expect it, they replied within 50 minutes of me sending the email saying they have a buge backlog of order and that mine will be fufilled in the queue but they would push it through on priority basis and let me know when it's been despatched. 8th Feb - Look on website to see if I can find a contact number (they don't have one on there for some reason...) only to find that they have a large red disclaimer stating they have had a warehosue leak and a huge backlog of orders because of it, they hope to clear the backlog by end of the month. This is too late for me as I'm due to give birth at the end of the month and need them before I go into labour. 12th Feb - Sent an email again to BabyTime expressing my concern that my order will not be recieved in time due to the warehouse leak and that if I'd been informed of this previously I would've cancelled my order there and then. I then asked for my order to be cancelled and a refund given as they couldn't guarantee I'd recieve my items anytime soon. 15th Feb - Sent a follow up email asking if someone could get back to me regarding my cancellation. 17th Feb - Sent yet another email stating how disappointed I was with the lack of correspondence and that the money had been taken from my account with no sign of me recieving my order. I demanded they give me a refund or I'll go into the store on Saturday and get my money back there and then. I've also been trying to call the store for the past week to find out what's going on with my order but the line goes dead after ringing for a while and then is engaged when we call back. What can I do to ensure I either get my money back or get my order in the next few days? Surely they can't take money from my account without despatching my order?

Hi! I just joined to ask a question as I am in dispute with the sellers currently and need advice. I ordered some goods on Monday to be delivered on Wednesday between 9am and 5.30pm. I paid £9.99 for this exact delivery slot as it's the last day off I have before Christmas so I really needed it then. It didn't turn up and instead I got an email this morning saying they were delivering it today whilst I was at work. I'm angry because I now cannot get the item as I have no 'safe place' on the property to leave it, it's not suitable to be bought to work as I then would have to somehow get it home without a car and there is no one else around to collect it. All I am asking for is a refund but so far the company have been very rude and unhelpful about the whole thing. Where do I stand on this? Am I right to be complaining to the company who won't even refund my delivery charge let alone the items I now will not be able to get? I know the issue of the delivery lies with the delivery company but the sellers are the ones I paid so it is surely in their hands to make sure their side of the deal is lived up to? I'm getting very confused as I read somewhere I am entitled to a refund if the items did not come within 30 days OR ON DATE AGREED by seller and buyer. However I then read these rules aren't the same for perishable items like food. If anyone can help I am extremely grateful as the customer service of the place is awful, I'd like to know what is right and wrong.