a Malaysian who ordered a penis enlarger online was stunned when he was sent a magnifying glass. At least it came with a useful instruction: 'Do not use in sunlight'. The victim-who paid £100 for his £5 magnifier-later reported the internet [problem] to Malaysia's customer complaints bureau. Its chairman, Seri Michael Chong, said: 'As you can imagine, he is feeling rather disgruntled.'

Hi Not sure what advice anyone can give me and sorry it is long winded. Over a year ago my partner and I advertised for a part time admin person and were approached by a recruitment company who had obviously seen us as a possible lead! We are only a small business, but my partner decided to allow the RC to come to our house and discuss if they could help. I was not keen and left it to my partner. The result being she agreed to meet 3 applicants. She did not sign any terms and conditions, nor was she given any at that time, cost was not discussed at any time. An email from the RC asked us to return and sign them but none were attached. We then went away on business for three weeks. However my partner decided to try one applicant and informed the RC by telephone that she could start 4th Jan 2013 for one day a week. (During the time we were away an email was sent with the costs, which my partner did not pick up due to work etc) We then received an invoice for £980 dated 27th December payable immediately. I was a bit shocked by the cost (as was my partner) and was reluctant to pay as I had no idea it would be this much. I wrote and said that i would pay monthly ( as I believed that should she stop working I would not have to keep paying) We sent a payment and also said that no terms etc had been signed and costs agreed. The RC refused and started legal action and during this period the admin person informed us she was going to do her own freelance work and stopped any more work on 2nd April having completed about 6 or 7 days work in total. I received a court claim form etc. I lodged a defence and after agreeing to mediation I was told they had refused that, and a court date was set for October 14th. The RC replied to the defence and I replied to that and sent copies by registered post to the RC and the court. Now a week before the hearing I was given a date 14th October for an operation, that I had been waiting for, two years waiting, that's why I was on a last minute list if a space arose. I emailed the court and informed them of the operation and apologised for the short notice. I did hope that it would be postponed and foolishly said in the email that if they had to hear it in my absence I would understand believing if that happened they would look at my defence. I got an automated response, and heard nothing more and was out of action myself for nearly 2 months. To be fair I did forget all about it until March when I received a letter from a claims management offering to help after the judgement against us. I immediately tried to call the court and could not get through and emailed again on the 5th march asking for details and why we had not been informed of any judgement. Again I had only an automated reply. We then went away for work for another 4 weeks working and just after arriving back had a visit from the High Court enforcement Officer demanding £1908.35 and giving 4 days to pay. I rang the court again and after a fair wait finally got through and was abruptly told that my defence was dismissed and a letter of judgement had been sent out. I have never received any letter of judgement and would have acted if I had done so. I then applied to the High Court for a Stay and the County Court for a hearing to set aside, and was granted both. In my defence I thought I had a good chance of judgement in my favour for the following reasons. 1.The claim and judgement were not made out to our partnership, which they started with originally but in the name of our other business which is similar in name, but is a ltd company that trades under owns a cafe with different premises and registered office (my old accountants who were still listed on the Companies house website. I imagine they may have been sending stuff there mistakenly, and the HCE officers actually told me that they had gone there and were given my home address by them. I did send proof to the RC that it was the wrong company they were claiming against, in the form of separate headed paper and separate cheque books and accounts. We also have separate VAT and HMRC accounts and they are totally different types of business. 2. We never signed any agreement and only saw any terms and conditions when we were given demands for payment. 3. The RC had two of their employees, who were writing to both my home and my previous accountants. 4. The 'admin employee' had ceased any work after hardly any time at all and why should we pay any more than that. 5. There are other points I raised but those were the main defence. today at the Set aside hearing the DJ was not interested in any of this and stated that the original judge had dismissed my defence and any counter claim. I am certain he did not have any of the original documents from my reply to the RCs reply. I believe he was only looking at my application to set aside which had the email informing of my op, and the follow up email. He said 'what does it matter if the Ltd Company had the judgement as opposed to us personally' he also expressed doubt that I had not received the judgement, and I should have known that it had gone ahead in my absence. He was not interested in my email asking what had happened, or any info from the hospital. He would not let me explain anything, and he favoured the RC solicitor and I got quite upset as he would not listen and refused to set aside the judgement and said I should pay the original cost and court costs so about £1150. He also said he would not allow me to appeal without applying for permission. I am really angry and feel that it was already decided before we entered the room. What can I do now. Any help appreciated Jaw

Hi does anyone have upto date bank details please for myjar?? no debit card at moment and want to pay them something this week but don't want them to know just yet I cant pay in full. many thanks

New debt new story, as follows. Not mine This is a bank account debt IRO £750-00, CCA req was sent 03/01/2014 acknowledged on the 06/01/2014. No return of CCA. The account was then closed on the 11/01/2014 and returned to the OC NOA issued by the bank 17/02/2014 to Westcot. Contacted Westcot and stated still have an outstanding CCA request, why are you involved? they say I now have to resend the CCA req to them with the fee of £1-00 again. My understanding was as the original CCA request has not been dealt with the enforcement can not continue until it is. This account with Westcot is on permanent hold until they can look into this from their end, had to get DPA for this debt all over again, to remove all telephone numbers from their systems, which was requested by me to Moorcroft, this again was not done. All info suppied to Moorcroft has not been forwarded to the OC so will I have to start this again? There are far to many charges on this account, but will deal with that once the CCA request is sorted in sent to me. I will then will have to digest the info for several weeks, then send off a SAR to Santander as she no longer has all of the statements. but only at the right time. I was lead to believe that by OFT guideline's a debt can not be pursued whilst it is in dispute and a valid CCA request is not forthcoming. This to date still this has not ben sent to the debtor? A formal complaint has been issued for non compliance and the debt in dispute letter was sent at the same time, but these went to Moorcroft. Since they have sent it back to the OC do I now have to start all over again? MM

Hi all, I have been on a temporary contract with my current employer since June 2013. The contract is to expire in December. The employer changed the way we provide the service which involved creating new teams, change of responsibilities and teams for all employees. All permanent employers were offered an opportunity to express 2 preferences which team they want to go. Every staff group (admins, support workers, managers etc) were asked to express their preferences in turn. Temporary workers were not offered the same opportunity. Instead, we were offered internal interviews (if successful, to be upgraded to permanent posts) and then allocated to vacant posts. I expressed my preference during the interview, but was told in feedback that there were no vacancies in this team (which I know is not true as someone is leaving in November) and, subsequently, I was offered a job, which I would never consider applying for if I had a choice. I was very surprised with this choice as there were emails exchanged and discussions on a senior level that I could (not would, though) be allocated to a team of my preference. The job I'm doing now is making me stressed to the point that I had to take two days off. I am meeting a senior manager tomorrow for an informal discussion to talk about who, why, and how it was decided that I would be allocated this vacancy. I am going to tell them that it is making me stressed to the point that I cried first two days at work and I am considering handing in my notice/not signing a new contract after my temporary one :???:expires. My question is - under the 12 week rule, shouldn't the temporary workers be offered equal treatment and therefore the same preference exercise? We were not agency workers, but working for the same employer, but on temporary contracts. Legally, have I got any leg to stand on?

Hi, I wonder if anyone could help with advice regarding the above debt my husband has. Financial problems arose through genuine circumstances around 8 years ago. There were a number of creditors, most of which were very helpful in agreeing minimal repayment programmes, to which we have gradually increased payments as circumstances improved. Total debt has reduced considerably but, at current levels, still a few years to go before being 'free'. Recently, my husband unexpectedly came into a small sum, so he decided he would try to get one of the creditors to accept a reduced payment in full and final settlement, so that it was one less to deal with. This was a Morgan Stanley Card from around 2003 with agreed repayment programme that went to Cabot (received a few Goldfish letters in between). Cabot declined what was a fair offer (with this they would have had in total over 80% of the original cabot debt figure repaid) which means that, assuming we continue to pay at the current level there will still be over 4 years left. As we know Cabot would have purchased the debt for such a small amount and we've already repaid that many times over, he was naturally a bit put out. I did try some time ago (2009) to SAR Morgan Stanley but, after receiving responses from Barclaycard, I only got old statement copies, nothing else, then a letter saying the account was transferred by Morgan Stanley to another creditor prior to MS business being sold to Barclaycard so they hadn't owned it. Would it be too late to query the debt now, as we've been paying for so long? I've looked at old paperwork more thoroughly and, we received no written letter from OC to say Cabot were taking over the debt, only the Cabot 'hello' letter (p1-3) with a page supposedly from Goldfish but clearly annotated down the side as p4 showing no card number or balance on this 'Cabot' NOA. We just never queried it before. Could we at this late stage withhold payments pending proof of legal right to chase the debt and ask for the CCA agreement to show they have the right paperwork to claim on? Do you think it would be worth the hassle? Any thoughts on the SAR fiasco?....Can't get info from OC as they pass to Barclaycard, who don't want to know? Any thoughts/suggestions apreciated.

British Gas broke into businesswoman's home over an unpaid bill despite not having any gas appliances in her flat Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2431864/British-Gas-broke-businesswomans-home-unpaid-despite-having-gas-appliances-flat.html#ixzz2gMoyfcLV I would hope they provided this poor woman with more than just an apology !! This is not a one off situation, there are many similar stories on CAG

Hi Second day of my new part time job in retail (first day was spent setting up retail outlet and visual merchandising with Directors) and a few hours in I am pulled to one side by a Manager who works fir another store who is helping out and she is with the new store manager whom I have only spoken two words of introduction to. Telling me I am need to calm down! I am making the other staff nervous and this can make the customers nervous. I cannot think for the life of me, what they are talking about. I actually am really dopey today full of cold and just getting over a gastric bug. They said I was too chatty, yes I give my full attention to the customer and this ha resulted in multiple sales today from my efforts whilst they are busy stock ticketing. I hve just emailed the HR and explained all the sitation and I am resigning. Maybe I was just not a good fit. I will concenrate on building my business instead. Has anyone ever had this I never ever have. I have always been told how professional and having been in field account management I am fully aware of my deliverey in communicating with people.

Hi all, I was wondering if anyone could offer some advice. A few weeks back I got an NIP in the post asking me to name the driver for a speeding offense, (79 in a 60 zone), which is fair enough. My car could have been speeding. However, the problem is I don't know who was driving! It could have been me or my wife. We're named on each others insurance and often share the driving. I'll drive there, she'll drive back or vice versa. The thing is, we don't know the direction of travel when the offense took place and given we'd been on the road where we were caught several times that week, we genuinely can't remember who was driving as we have no set pattern. Sometimes I'll get the car keys first so I'll drive, sometimes my wife. Other times we'll ask the other to drive there and I/she will drive back. Neither of us saw anyone at the road side with a speed gun and we didn't see a van parked up so nothing stands out to identify the driver. We both accept that we could have been speeding but it boils down to a question of who was driving at the time. Even the direction of travel wouldn't help as neither of us can distinctly remember who drove there and back. Add to this we both carry our keys on us which on the bunch has keys for her car and mine so having possession of a key doesn't help either. I've filled out the NIP naming my wife as the driver and offered a covering letter explaining the above. What's the likely outcome of this? I know this could be used as an excuse but at the end of the day my wife and I do share the driving a lot and the road we were caught on isn't an unusual road for us to be on, we're on it several times a week and have been known to travel to that town two or three times in one day sometimes. What's the best course of action to take here? I'm happy to take the points and fine if I was the one driving as is my wife if she was driving. But we honestly can't remember who was driving.

A friend of mine bought a car recently from a very reputable firm After buying the car it broke down within 24 hours, he has then found out that the car was in a previous accident (not recorded) Its a 59 plate Fiesta by the way In fairness the garage took it back and replaced the head gasket, water pumps, cam belts and radiator The problem is the bonnet is still unaligned as well as front bumper slightly off too They said he can pick a replacement car, but how about cancelling everything, can he do that? he took the car on finance through them Thank in advance

I have just received a phone call on my mobile asking for me by name. I asked if they can call me on my land line for which they had my land line number. This person confirmed my address and went on to say they were from the DWP stating that a rebate of national insurance £400 cheque had been returned to them and that they were going to send it out again. Totally unconnected but last week i received a demand of £900 from HMRC ref national insurance contributions as they had me as self employed for some reason He stated that he wanted to send it out again and that i may be due more rebates from 2008, he then asked for my employment details (why does he not know that) i aked him to confirm my employeer from 2008, he declined stating data protection and that he does not have access. I then asked for the recorded delivery number , what he gave me was bogus as the last two numbers end with GB, not numerical. i pointed this out and i was then hung up As alarm bells were ringing, i also asked for his phone number for which he said he could not give it out but gave me the correct details for quarry house LS2 7UA i phoned quarry house and they told me it was a phishing call, the reason being was that quarry house is DWP, national insurance etc is handled by HMRC in a totally different building and has nothing to do with the DWP 1/ Only three people have both my mobile and land line number, my brother, the DWP, and Experian (free trial) 2/ He knew my name and address, looking back it seems he wanted to confirm my address I have two old accounts which the collection agencies are trying their luck, for which i ignore. DLC AND Motormile I also received an email message from mercantile data bureau this morning using a very old email address asking me to make contact Any suggestions, do you think this is a DCA, [phishing trip}con artist, or the tax man

I have received a parking charge notice which states i was parked in an unauthorised area. It is my vehicle reg but i have never visited this city, so it cannot be me. Should i respond and if so how? appeal or ask for photos? I am worried that my car reg is being used by another vehicle!!

Hi all. Looking for some reassurance if thats possible. DMP has been set up and running since August 2012. The majority of creditors have been really positive and supportive through the entire process which has really helped. The only sticking point at the moment is we have had notification from stepchange (cccs) that 2 of our payments have been returned and an ongoing increase in rbs current account balance. 1.Payday UK (approx balance £800) are no longer accepting payments from stepchange on our behalf....and at present my wife is receiving calls from Credit Resource Solutions insisting she contact them asap. I understand that CRS is a DCA working on behalf of/ under the same umbrella as payday uk but we hve had no written communication from payday uk informing us of a change of arrangements. 2.Our payment to RBS personal loan (approx balance £11000) has also been returned, with the account no longer able to view on online banking. 3. Our rbs current account was sitting just below our £600 overdraft limit when we entered into our DMP. During that process we slipped over that limit by £4 or so. I have attempted to write to the rbs to ask them for support with our dmp but we notice now that our current account balance is now approx £1200 ......about £600 in charges. Help?

hello i had a accident in work and my solicitor asked the health and safty executive for a report but was told the accident was not reported but was reported to the local council as i had to give a statment of my accident ,

I had defaulted and been passed over to OPOS with a balance of £668. The loan i took out was for £220 plus interest which came to £275. I got an email off OPOS this eve entitled "Special Offer" which had offered me a settlement figure of £565. I emailed them back straight away and stated i have £275 here to close the account, a couple of mins later i got an email back saying that they chap had spoken to his supervisor and can close for £275 haha. So just arranged to pay this on Monday as a full and final settlement, there was no hassle at all and the chap emailing me was very polite indeed. Thats another one gone now!

Was alerted to this by a member recently. He was notified around March 2011 by letter that because of what they termed a "Systems error"the wrong policy guide was sent out...which assumingly contained the terms and conditions. They later apologised and sent out the correct ones. I am trying to establish how long after he took out the Policy and began using it,that the mistake was corrected. My thinking is that if the mistake was corrected after the period / scope that he had to cancel,then it would fall within the remit of CPUTR2008. It is significant that this was also around the period of the OFT investigation,so it looks likely that it was in consideration of that,although of course CPP made no mention of the investigation,or that they had been found to have mis sold some of these policies. Will update when there is more info on this case.

Hi. I've had problems with a company where they delayed sending a replacement of a newly purchased product. They have now sent me more than one! Can I keep both without paying for the extra item and accept it as a gift? Or an apology for poor customer service? Both items seem to be slightly faulty too.