Every time we have tried to order goods on line the bank refuses to conclude the transaction saying they are looking after our money and will contact us later. Totally useless as everybody knows that on line lasts for so many seconds. Bank then does not contact us and can not explain the situation. Cards are OK when on the telephone when ordering. Anyone else suffering this ridiculous situation?

Hi CAG. My brother works for a company in London selling training courses, and has decided to leave in order to pursue a post-grad course. He's worked there 9 months, and accrued approx 14 days holiday, of which he's taken 7 days, so should be paid 7 days holiday upon the expiration of his notice. The employers are saying that it is forfeit as he's handing in notice. I sense they're trying it on to save costs - can you refer me to any legislation he can quote? Brother is directly employed, pays tax and NI via PAYE administered by the company.

On the 12th of June 2014, we made a purchase for the installation of a tracking device on a new caravan on 24th June 2014. Approximately 24 hours prior to installation, we contacted the supplier by phone to cancel as we decided not to purchase the caravan. The supplier refunded the money less £25 stating that the installer would bill them the £25 for the time booked. Surely under the new Consumer Contract Regulations the retailer has to give a full refund. I have contacted by email regarding cancellation which triggered the partial refund. I contacted them again for the balance of the refund through the "Contact Us" form on their website but no response. In that communication I advise them that I will pursue it under DSR as I was not aware at the time of the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 replacing the DSR. I have since without luck tried to raise an official complaint with Trading Standards but I cannot find a link for sending email or written complaints. I have also checked the Citizens Advice Bureau for an email address or physical address where to send a complaint, but no luck. Previously you completed a form online and submitted it, but that is not available either. Seems they are making it difficult to complain in writing? ease advise how I woulddl go about raising an official complaint about the retailer. Thanks.

I am a 53 year old woman.live alone, working 20 hours a week on minimum wage. get a small amount of tax credits ..Pay full council tax and only get £19 of my rent........after i then pay all my other bills and monthly bus fares I know i was definatly better off on benefits... However i need to work for my sanity Back to the original question I suffer with Restless leg syndrome and take Topamax and Zopiclone... Do i qualify for a perscription excemption certificate and if so how do i apply.. At the end of the month i have barely enough to eat let alone get my percription,but without them i would be in trouble!! And i wear glasses and have a nhs dentist that i am happy with both of which i would be unable to affored were i not helped in some way... Thankyou for advise.

Hi Guys, long time reader and first-time poster. I got into a lot of trouble with pay-day loans and have almost paid off all of them. This, as you know, has ruined my credit rating making my chances of a mortgage etc in the future nearly impossible (i'm 25 so have little chance of getting on the property ladder until i'm into my 30s) - this all despite me being in a well-paid(ish) job etc. I had a payment plan set-up with lending stream - after taking advice from this site i set it as a standing order - this was to end in April. However, RL got in the way of a few things and i forgot to cancel it - i noticed in early June and they refunded the first overpayment. Unfortunately, a further payment was sent in June too. When i called them, they said they couldn't find any overpayment on my records and said they'd give me the benefit of the doubt and refund based on a copy of my bank statement being sent showing the payment. I obliged and i got some BS back saying they only had payments until April and that i should send a picture that hasn't been edited (it wasn't). The amount isn't massive, but its more the principle than anything else having paid them well over the odds already. Any advice? TL:DR - paid LS too much, now they won't give it back

Good afternoon, I have served notice to my previous landlord that I intend to take legal action to recover my deposit and a penalty as decided by the courts. I gave him until 23rd June to respond, which was 16 days. I got a response today (24th) saying he has responded within time and that he is going to use a solicitor to defend this action. I am concerned that if I take him to court and lose I may be liable for his legal fees on top of costs. How would I stand with this? I don't have a receipt for the deposit but do have the following: 1. Deposit protection certificate showing it protected late 2. Letter from him offering to use the deposit in lieu of rent 3. Further letter from him saying I hadn't commented on 2. 4. Schedules of payment showing the deposit amount 5. Letter from him saying "this will negate the general cleaning requirement for which we are entitled to deduct sums from the deposit". In total I have at least 9 documents detailing a deposit. I also have a large pile of correspondence from him denying we paid a deposit, Facebook posts calling me a tw@t, sod and idiot regarding the deposit and a letter saying he will deduct 50% of the deposit unless we agree to his offer. We have tried to reason with the LL regarding the deposit and its return but just get arrogant responses to the effect of "sue me if you dare!" Any advice gratefully received

I rented a flat from Alba Residental for 14 months. In those 14 months, the toilet flooded 3 times. Rather than replacing the shredder system they kept sending out plumbers who kept saying that there was nothing they could do to prevent any future blockages. When I moved in the flat was disgusting and nothing had been cleaned. Alba sent two cleaners who surface cleaned the flat. I ended up cleaning the entire flat myself after that. When I moved out, I left the place spotless. Alba came up with a massive list of items which they considered needed cleaning or replacement. The thing which outraged me most is the fact that they charged me £80 to replace a cracked freezer drawer (surely this is part of wear and tear, especially because the drawer wasn't actually broken, it had a minor crack in the handle, which still worked perfectly fine). The other thing they charged me for is "dusting the bed frame." This is ridiculous because I had hoovered AND dusted AND mopped the entire house. They also claimed that I had caused moulding in the bathroom, which was unventilated and did not have a window to air the place. Due to the fact that it is a closed bathroom, it is hard for water to evaporate. I used to leave the door open after having had a shower but minor moulding and minor stains appeared on the white rubbery bits between the bath and the wall. There is absolutely nothing I could do against this because there was no way for me to ventilate the bathroom properly. These stains are part of wear and tear and from time to time, the bathroom sealant just needs to be replaced. They charged me for this as well. There are plenty of other things which I was charged for, in addition to which Alba refuses to refund me the agency fees which they have unlawfully charged me. Does anyone have experience with this? I took photographs when I moved in but Alba is blatantly stating that they got cleaners in after I moved in (which is true) and that it is assumed that afterwards, the flat was in a satisfactory clean state. I would like to get my 25% back and I was wondering if anyone has had similar experiences and took the agency to a small claims court?

Yesterday I logged into the Sky website and went to my account to downgrade. I requested that the HD subscription be removed as with our eyesights, we cannot see the difference between standard TV and the HD channels. I advised that I was aware of the 31 day cancellation period. I emphasise that I was logged in when the email was sent. Today I have received an email rejecting the request as per the following; We have received a request to make a change to your Sky account. Unfortunately we don’t have all the security information we require to be able to process the request. To complete this action we need to speak to you as we don’t recommend providing security details in writing. We need you to contact us on 08442 410 973 to confirm the security information which will allow us to complete the request. If we do not hear from you then we will take no action on your account, meaning all details and/or services will remain unchanged and active. If you do not want us to process any request on your account then no further action is required from you We look forward to hearing from you. Can they reject my request even though I can upgrade without any security checks etc and the fact that I was logged in. We do not want to phone them as the 0844 number is chargeable by the minute and you can spend up to 20 minutes on the phone.

Hi, I just tried to pay off my loan(today,Friday 16th May) in full with pounds2pocket,to be told that their systems are down and they can't take payment,and won't be running again for 24 hours. This has happened before,that time they kept spinning the yarn over 3 consecutive days,and eventually I gave up trying,this time I thought I'd look here to see if anyone could give me some advice. I have the full transcript off the chat available in case anyone is interested.

Hi I have had my home repossessed and on day of eviction tried to get my friend to pay the arrears off for me. company agreed to aceept this but when my friend called to make payment they wouldnt accept, what can i do ??

as my original thread has disappeared I am updating with a new one. Do I just ignore these muppets now, or is there something 'juicy' I can send them to get them to act? thanks, G From the DCA : 'We have received a formal request under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations CPUTR 2008 for a copy of the Consumer Credit Agreement which related to account xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. We can confirm that we do hold a copy of the agreement for the above account; however we have requested on five previous occasions confirmation of any name changes before we could send this information to you. To date this information has not been received. In order to send the document to you, we do require confirmation of any previous names you have had, along with the dates of these changes. As this information has not been forthcoming, we must assume that you no longer require a copy of the Credit Agreement, therefore the account will be returned to our collections team for collection activity to continue.

Hi all, Just looking for some advice for my brother. He has worked a his place of employment for around 2 years, full time contract. His contract states that Bank Holidays are paid, but taken from his allowance. He had last tuesday off as he fell ill with a sickness bug over the bank holiday and now his employer is saying that he wont be paid for the monday either. It doesn't say anywhere in his contract that bank holidays will not be paid if extra days are taken during the same week or anything like that. Just wondering where he stands on this. TIA

Hi All, Newbie here with a problem. I went into a BMW dealership for a service and got talking about the new 4 Series coupe with the sales guy. I agreed to come back and see him the next day (Saturday the 23rd Nov). I went with my GF and we talked and worked out a deal which was similar to what I want minus heated seats, XDrive and the PRO Sat Nav. He then said he would give me this great deal if I could shake on him ordering the car on Monday. I shook his hand and got up to leave, he said he just needs a quick deposit and we would get all the rest of the details for finance etc on Monday. My missus paid it on her credit card (£1k) and he gave me a document to sign which said new car contract (At this point you can all start pelting me with rotten tomatoes because I pretty much signed it without questioning anything) I then went to visit my brother and showed him the deal after which he advised me to visit his local dealer for a comparison. The local dealer told me the heated seats were standard and he could do me the XDrive and Pro Sat Nav for the same price and APR as the one I had got. I immediately called the first dealer (Sunday the 24th November) to cancel. He told me I can't cancel and I am bound by the agreement. His boss then came on and said the car has not been ordered but I must buy from them as I am tied in. I continued to insist that I did not want the car after which he said I have no option to cancel and I am now tied into a contract which allows them to place the order for the car from BMW which will be delivered in February. I then escalated it to the manager who said I am tied into the contract and will not be getting my deposit back despite numerous back and forth conversations. They then changed tact and said I should come in and we can work something out. I do not want to go in (and have been advised not to) because the current email correspondence protects me as everything is documented. What are my options re: Section 57 of CCA? Can they hold my deposit for costs (they have incurred none as it was 24 hrs....if that)? Finally, the deposit was paid by my GF on her credit card, can she reclaim that payment especially as the service was not for her or in her name an thus has not been provided in full. Answers please and do not hesitate to be harsh because I had a brain fart of a weekend and this needs to be a lesson for me. Thanks in advance.

This is complicated so I will try and make it as simple as possible. My landlady is holding my deposit and every time I answer her questions she changes the reason for withholding it. Firstly I have had confirmation from all 3 schemes that she did not protect my deposit. And my issue may come down to this in the end but I need some advice as I am taking her to small claims court and don't want any surprises once there. She gave me 2 months notice but after 1 week was pressuring me for a date as she wanted to move back into the property. I found somewhere quickly and moved out after 1 month. She claims I owe her that last month's rent as I am contracted to pay it even though she moved in. In effect she expects me to pay for her to live there for a month. Then she changed her reason due to bad cleaning, decoration and damage. Even though she told me not to worry about getting it professionally cleaned, that she was going to decorate throughout any way and all items she claims were damaged are either lies or not on the inventory. I have text evidence for all of this! Now she is saying she needs proof that ALL utilities and loans I had at that address are paid up to date before reconsidering. I told her all utilities are my responsibility and that she cannot withhold my deposit for those reasons and she has now gone back to damage and cleaning/decorating. I have sent her a letter before action for the full amount of my deposit but I dont think she has the money! My next step is to prepare a case to take to court. Do I need to worry about any of this or is the fact she didn't protect it enough? I should also say that we inspected the property together and she raised no issue. She gave me NO opportunity to correct the alleged cleaning issues etc and sent me a fake invoice ( or at least a highly dodgy one) for works she claims she had to carry out. The first I heard of any problem was 11 days after I moved out and after I asked her what scheme my deposit was in. Any advice would be more than welcome.I hope this isn't too complicated there are many many more issues but I condensed it down as much as possible! Thank you!

Hello All, I have a little predicament at the moment. I did a house move for a friend a few weeksago with a couple of guys I use on a sub-contract basis. Long and short of it is they are refusing topay me because of the problems they had thereafter. The points are: · My quoted price for the move was £1280 over 3days (Saturday to Monday) with 3 men working (including myself). The old house is a large detached 4 bedroomhouse with a large out building. Bothbuildings are crammed with stuff. She isa chronic hoarder and never throws anything away. There are my friends andtheir 5 children living there. They aremoving to an enormous 8 bedroom house 6.5 miles away. · The new house is down a narrow driveway with lowover hanging trees, therefore a 7.5t lorry was out of the question, so a Lutonvan was used instead, but it was still a tight space. · 2 days before the move, my friend tried tocancel the two guys I use in favour of her teenage nephew (who is mega lazy andonly managed the first day). · I send an email to her stating that 1, I havebooked them in for the move and 2, there is no way I am doing the job withoutthem. I also state T&C’s i.e. boxesto be clearly marked and well packed, pricing breakdown with overtime costs forthe two guys (I said overtime I do over the 8 hours will be free). I back up this email with a phone call. · She agrees to two days for the guys and three ifwe need them. · The old house is being kept by them and beingrented out the following weekend. · We arrive at the house and find that hardly athing has been packed. All the furniturestill has things on or in them. She hasnext to no boxes what-so-ever (50 maybe) and most are no bigger than a shoebox. · We did 18 van loads to the new house. With the exception of two or three loads,each load was half what it could have been because of inadequate packing andboxes and waiting for things to be packed. · At the new house, Nothing is organised andnobody knows where to put anything. So alot of time was wasted waiting for my friend to make up her mind where what wasgoing. And also to unpack some stuff, sowe can take empty boxes back. · After three 12+ hour days there are still 2 or 3van loads to come over, but the van needs to be off hired and a lot stillneeded to be packed into boxes! · At the end of the third day after the last loadwas made (at approx. 10pm), the lady who was packing put a bucket and carrierbags by the van with all the stuff from the fish tank and told us that was allthe fish stuff. We take it to the house,but the fish were not at the new house or in one of the bags we brought over,which we assumed they were. My friendblows her top and shouts and swears at us. As we have finished for the day and for the job, we both leave. I was going to stay and help out, but beingsworn at by someone acting like a spoilt child, I wasn’t interested in helpinganymore. Her husband apologised to mefor her behaviour, but no apology from her. I then get blamed by her for the children not getting to school that dayand also that she wanted to have a meal with her children, but we arrived withanother van load making that impossible (not that she did a thing all weekendbut run around like a headless chicken). · When I get home, I have a shower and in thattime I see that she has called 3 times over 4 minutes leaving messages aboutthe keys for the house. Each messagegetting more and more heated. I get a text from her husband to say he remembersme giving him the keys and thanking me for the help. Therefore, I do not call back as the reasonfor the phone calls was resolved, plus it was close to midnight. · I put an invoice in the post the next day for£1430 including the overtime for the two guys and sticking to my offer of notcharging over the 8 hours for myself. · The following week I get a text from her husbandasking if I can do another van full before the weekend and how much would itcost. I respond saying I can’t fit it inas I am extremely busy. I say I will aska friend if they can do it for them. Ihear nothing back. · I then get a voicemail from them saying that weneed to speak and they have been trying to call for the last week (one missedphone call). They are not happy as theyhad lots left over and that I behaved in an awful way over the move and didn’tact like a friend! · They are refusing to pay me a penny and stillwant me to meet with them so they can shout at me about how I behaved and why Ididn’t help them after the move! · I have paid the two guys and also paid for thevan hire and the fuel, totalling just over £1000. This is all out of my own pocket. As a result, I have been left extremely shortof cash for the rest of this month and have had to borrow money from a friendto help pay my rent. Going through the small claims court is a last resort, butit is looking that is my only option. They are being completely unreasonable in my opinion. The house move could have been completed wellwithin the 3 days if they were organised and had the house packed up ready togo and knew where they wanted everything at the other end. Also having suitable boxes and enough boxesfor the job. As said the van could havemuch more stuff loaded in to it if we had proper boxes to pack and stack. But it was almost as if we were moving eachitem one by one. As it turned out, shereally didn’t want to spend any money on boxes. £200 on packing materials is a drop in the ocean as their new house isvalued at £1.3 million and their old house which they are keeping is valued atjust under a million, plus they have another 3 bedroom house they rent outwhich is worth £400,000. So all in allapprox. £2.5 – 3 million in property assets, but too tight to buy boxes. In your opinions, if I do have to go to court, does it soundas though I would have a good case? The three main points are: 1) Nothing packed prior to our arrival. 2) Not enough boxes and/or unsuitable boxes. 3) No organisation at the new house as to whereeverything is going (very little was labelled). OK fourth point: 4) Been shouted and sworn at over nothing. On another note, I asked a local removal company what theirpolicy is if they turn up to a house and nothing is packed. They state they do not do the job as theirT&C’s have been breached, they keep the deposit and walk away. Many thanks.

I have recently made a claim for misold PPI by Mercantile Credit for a loan from 1998 I contacted Barclays Partner Finance and completed the questionnaire they sent me. I also included a copy of the original agreement which details the loan plus PPI , received a letter this morning to say that they would not be upholding my claim as they are unable to locate a loan account in my name however if I am able to provide a copy of my policy/ credit agreement they may re open their investigation! I have absolutely no doubt that the PPI was misold to me. Can anyone please advise ?

Hi everyone I'm new to Consumer Action Group and found this website after searching for details regarding RLP. I have read many threads on here and so far have found them very helpful I have a question or two for anyone willing to answer them, but it's probably best that I explain why I'm in the current mess that comes with being in the scope of RLP. A few days ago me and my partner were in Boots where I brought some comdons. Whilst she was looking at make up, I got bored and ended up pocketing another packet of 3 condoms and some lube. Although nervous when doing it, I left the store with my partner who was completely oblivious to my crime. Further up the street, I was stopped by security and asked to come back into the store. I apologised to my partner and the store, the police were called, I was in Boots for about 5 minutes before I was handcuffed and put in the back of a police van (my parner in the front of it). The police were actually very nice people and seemed to take kindly to the fact that me and my partner are graduates and that we are both well-mannered and polite etc. I was then told that we would both be interviewed after we were put in cells. I asked if it would be the same cell, which prompted roars of laughter given what I had tried to steal, and was told that I was bound to get "ribbed" for all of this (get it, RIBBED!? ) We then waited around 3 hours each in a cell before being interviewed where I confessed to what I had done and that I was truly sorry (which I am, I will never shoplift again). We were then told that my partner was offered a NFA (No Further Action) notice, and I was offered an £80 penalty, which I accepted (because I believe that receiving a penalty is better than receiving a caution? Could I have this confirmed if possible?). I have paid the notice, and as far as I know, it is all settled as far as the law is concerned. I received a letter from Boots telling me that I was banned from their store (which is fair enough), it also asked for a signature but seeing as they did not send a return envelope and they have banned me, I have chosen to ignore this. I also got a letter from RLP telling me that they were going to demand money (this looked suspect straight away when I read that they would take into account hours security put into detaining me etc. , it's their job and surely a part of an hourly-based salary!) Being completely broke, I do not wish to pay RLP (invoice speculators who recently lost in court), and from what I have read, I am not going to. The one question I really want clarification on is: If RLP go to a DCA to try and get my money and I still refuse to pay, will this affect my credit rating? As I have only just paid off a phone debt from 3 years ago in order to try a nd sort out my credit rating a bit, and don't want to be back to square 1 again. Thank you so much for reading, apologies for this lengthy post, and any help or suggestions whatsoever will be hugely appreciated. Kindest regards Journeyism

Hello I just wanted some advice. I CCA'd RBS Mastercard, who came back and asked for a signature. I looked at a post on the forum with a similar problem to mine and used the letter saying that they had sent my statements to this address etc and included copy of passport (signature blurred) and utility bill. Today I received the letter back saying they still required signature, which is frustrating as I know they are just going to copy and past it onto agreement. I have a very big feeling they don't have a signed CCA. The card was taken out in 2007 so not sure if that's still within the time limit, but regardless, they should be able to provide me with some form of documentation. What's my next step? I really don't want to give them the signature! Thanks, Lou

Hi, I have recently sent a cca request to a solicitor working on behalf of a dca and received an immediate reply that they were unable to deal with the request and returned the £1 postal order because the ccj claim has already been issued, I also forwarded a copy of this letter to Northampton court , please let me know where I stand with this one The debt in question has been dormant since 2008 Many thanks

a year ago we had got one of the new free range cookers from brighthouse but recently the pan storage door kept popping off and we got fed up called the engineer out who came on Saturday i thought would been an easy fix to replace the rivets but was shocked to find out the engineer saying it can not be fixed so they gave us 2 options which in reality enraged me when he left we spoke to the manager of the local store they want to write the cooker off scrap it and they will claim their money back via the insurance they were ever so nice though and offered to collect it asap lol but the situation i am in with having children thats not a viable option meant we would be without a cooker unless we took out a whole brand new contract starting from scratch which meant we would lose the years payments we made well over 800 quid 2nd option was to live with it and not worry about the door keep falling off lol and they would generously deduct 10 weeks off the overall contract ( big wow ) but what had me confused as we all insured via the dlc and osc on their osc doc it claims they aim to repair or replace an item quickly

So my 72 year old mother orders a Sky package. She signs a contract stipulating 25.50 for the first 6 months and 35.50 thereafter. The installation occurred in May 2012 - the installer doesn't connect the TV to the phone line, telling my mother to do this herself. He doesn't check the broadband works, leaving her with the box and telling her to plug it in herself. In fact it was a further 8 months before we had a working broadband connection.... and despite failing to test or connect this service, my mum was charged for it and told that it would be £75 if she wanted one that actually worked. lol Anyway - that's not the real crime here. The initial amount of 25.50 was collected for the first 5 months - then the charge was raised to 43.50/month instead of 35.50/month. Furthermore, no mention at any time was made of the fact that to view her bills she'd need to use the TV (which she couldn't because it had never been connected) or use the internet, which she didn't have the technical skills to do at the time, leaving her unable to easily query the amount going out of her account. Sky are now refusing to refund or even contemplate refunding the excess charged because no complaint was lodged in the first 12 months. Has anybody had any success in small claims court against Sky in this kind of scenario?

I purchased an s3 i while ago on the 3 network pay monthly and had many technical issues with the handset which resulted with the phone being sent away for repair. I was left without a phone for three weeks until it returned. This happened twice and until I upgraded my phone again with three but this time for (stupidly) another samsung, the note2. after about six weeks the phone failed again and i was told i would have to send it away again. I refused and demanded an immediate replacement and was told no the phone would just be sent away for repair continuously until the warranty expired. I refused to accept this and marched back into the three store handed back the product and refused to pay them any longer. I subsequently received a default on my credit file. Is there any way to remove this as it is non payment due to what i believe is them not holding up to their responsibilities in the contract. P.S. will never buy samsung again

Hi, i'm new here and hope someone can give us some advice. I work in a big department store, we are allowed 5.6 weeks holiday a year. We have always allowed to book holidays whenever we want to (except christmas and busy periods) our staff handbook says we have to give 3 weeks notice to book a holiday. Our boss left in September and a new boss started in December. In January she asked everyone in the shop (55 of us) to book all our holidays for the whole year. This caused a little bit of a commotion because no one knew when they wanted their holidays all year, especially all the 16 year olds. Well we all ended up trying to book our years worth of holiday (even though the handbook says 3 weeks). I say trying because everyone who put in holidays for weekends had them declined. The new boss said that we are not allowed to book weekends off and we are only allowed to book whole weeks. So this is why I am here, none of us are happy with this. Some of the people have worked there since it opened 5 years ago and have always been allowed to book weekends with the old boss. Someone else who works there has a husband who works for the same company but in a different town and this hasnt been passed to them so its just a thing our new boss is doing. We all just want to know if she is allowed to do this? Tell us all of a sudden after 5 years that weekends are not allowed to be booked off. Thanks

Hi, I'm looking for a bit of advice about a tenant I have in a commercial property. I'm 19 and a bit of an amateur, about 3 months ago I bought a commercial property in Edinburgh,Scotland. I'm having some issues with the current tenant, and the lease he holds. I have had a consultation with a solicitor and he charged me £320 for 1.5 hours and is asking for another £2000 before doing anything so thought I would ask for some help here. Now 2 issues, the first is that the tenant's lease may not be valid, it is hand written, has only 1 clause and is about the rent. However the person that is written to be the proprietor on the lease has never owned that business nor has he ever held a lease, so it's not a sub lease. The tenant is very unhelpful and keeps saying that was the man he paid and that is all. The second issue is the rate of the rent. It is a 10 year lease, and the rent is £100 a month, but I've spoken to 2 estate agents who says it's worth between £925-1000 per month. Because the solicitor said the lease is not valid due to the proprietor not actually being the proprietor, I served a new lease however the tenant is refusing to sign it, and is quite abusive and has used threatening language. Now I'm not sure if I'm in the wrong or he is, and am not sure if I should go along with the solicitor, as although he has assured me the lease is not valid and that unless the tenant signs the new lease, he is technically liable to eviction, I'm not sure since he wants up front payment. Thanks for reading (I'm sorry it's such a long post) and thanks in advance for any help.

I recently took a shopping trip to USC (aka collapsed Republic, recently bought out by sports direct) on boxing day. I spent roughly £100 on my debit card and bought a number of items. One of which is a Police brand body warmer. I bought it out today to wear it and basically found that two of the buttons were broken and had come off. They are the push in button type similar to here (can't post images need 10 posts just copy and paste please) p.globalsources.com/IMAGES/PDT/B1051895309/Snap-Button-Push-Metal-Snap-Prong-Snap-Spring-Snap-Button-Spring-Fastener.jpg It's clear these were broken before purchase as both ends are stuck together. Anyway, they are refusing to refund me apparently because it's their policy, but agreed to give me a credit note. However, I argued that if they cannot provide me with the product I want / direct replacement that I am entitled to a refund. Basically manager told me where to go and outright refused Am I missing something here? Isn't this against my statutory rights????