Hi all, thanks in advance for reading and any advice. I'll try to be as concise as possible. I have an iPhone provided by my work. It states on the iPhone Policy that if you lose the phone or it is stolen, you will have the price of the iPhone taken off the next payslip. The only exception is if you can provide a police certificate that it was stolen, but there is a sub-exception here that states you still have to pay if the theft was facilitated to clear negligence on your part, e.g. leaving it unsupervised in a public place. In November 2015 there was a fire drill at work. I immediately left the building. When the drill ended and I returned to my office, my work phone had been stolen off my desk. When I informed Asset Management of the theft, the person at the desk seemed understanding and stated verbally that this should be OK and I shouldn't be charged as when there is a fire drill, you must leave immediately and not stop to pick up personal belongings. I was provided with a new work phone a few days later and there were no other comments made by them. Come end of November, I have £300 taken off my payslip for the cost of a new iPhone 5. Before even considering whether they can do this, the price is not right. They currently retail on Amazon at £251, and I strongly suspect my employer gets them at a far lower price seeing as they order hundreds for their employees. So they are making a profit on this. By email, I questioned the deduction (and the price). In their email reply, they didn't dispute my story but said I was negligent as I should have taken the phone with me. I pointed to the fire regulations, which state, word for word: "...evacuate the building immediately and do not stop for any personal belongings. Delaying the evacuation to gather personal belongings risks the lives of you and your colleagues and may constitute gross misconduct." Their reply to this was that it was "obvious" that small items like your phone don't count in this rule, as your phone will be sitting on your desk (where we have a dedicated power cable for our phones) and so you will lose no time in picking it up. And they said making a police report for theft is pointless as it was now "too long ago" and in any case I was negligent (see 1st para.). I also raised the fact that there is CCTV - not in my office, but in the hall adjoining it. I.e. my office door is in clear view of the camera, so can see everyone who enters or leaves the office. This is the only door to the office. Even if the phone isn't recovered, I told them they can at least find out who stole it, on a matter of principle/ethics. They replied "data protection" and were extremely obstructive. What's the point of CCTV in this location if not to stop things being stolen from the premises or find the people who do steal? I issued a written reply by recorded delivery, challenging the deduction by quoting the fire regulations and stating that no exceptions are listed. I received no reply. I waited for my December payslip and there was no £300 refund. Where do I stand here? I was simply following the fire regulations. I am not in a trade union. Would CAB be a good start? Could I also claim interest on the money they are withholding from me? I have been careful not to mention legal threats as I know most people who say this never act on it. I am now at the stage where I would be happy to leave/lose my job to fight this. Threatening with going to the press would be futile as they are a very large company that has had a few controversies in the past and couldn't care less about negative coverage. Even if I can't get a refund on the facts, can I challenge the amount that they deducted as it is considerably more than the retail value of the phone? Thanks in advance, sorry for the long post!

Hi everyone. I could really use some help with this nightmare. I opened a GymEtc membership about 4 months ago. Somehow during the process the membership application got duplicated and i ended up being double charged for 2 accounts. I stopped the duplicate account direct debit, then get an aggressive letter from Harlands. I called them, explained the situation and they said they would close the duplicate account and refund the 2 payments. 4 weeks went by and I got no refund. When I contacted them again they said it had been initially rejected by GymEtc, then processed but still didn't make it to me or my bank. At this point I said i would collect the refund from my bank and contacted them to reverse the 2 direct debits on my duplicate account. I was very specific and gave the references and dates. They instead reversed 3 payments on the active direct debit then cancelled it. After this happened I called the bank and they admitted the error and reactivated the correct direct debit. I then called Harlands to pay the 3rd payment which should not have been refunded but they told me they could not take payment as this was not showing on the account. They told me they would watch the account and now call me when they could take payment. They also stated they would mark the account to not be charged. Another couple weeks go by and Harlands send aggressive correspondence. I call again to ask if i owe them and am told again that I don't own any money. Today they send me a letter saying I owe 2 admin fees of £25 each plus a membership payment. If i don't contact their customer care then my account will be sent to debt collection. I'm on my lunch hour, I have called them 7 times. I waited 20 minutes at one point for them to pick up, when they did, the person cut me off just after I finished the above long explanation. I am at my wits end and I now want them to terminate the contract with no fees. What are my options for resolving this now?

Hi guys thanks in advance for any replys, all help appreciated. I received a letter through the post to state that I had been charged with the offence of being the registered keeper of an uninsured motor vehicle. The letter I received was sent to my old address (mums house), stating that I either need to reply guilty or not guilty etc to the above offence. The vehicle in question was my old car that was left at my mums on the driveway for her to scrap/sell, I had moved the insurance from this car onto my new car so at this point the car was uninsured. Due to the car being in the way my mum had moved the car onto the road, I'm not sure whether this is why I have been charged with the offence or whether it doesn't matter if it's on the road etc? Next question is I'm sure I never received a fixed penalty notice for the offence, I pick up my post once every couple of months from my mum address some things I still haven't changed address on, is this a legitimate defence to ask the dvla if they can revert back to this stage as I no longer live at the address so didn't receive notification of the offence and the fine I had to pay ( which if I'm in the wrong I'm happy to pay) If it is not a defence that I am no longer living at the address and the dvla are not willing to revert back to the fixed penalty notice stage what is my best bet moving forward? Shall I plead guilty to the offence and provide this information in mitagating circumstances to the court? If this is the case what sort of punishment is likely for the offence and would this constitute a criminal record. Any help or advice greatly appreciated

As a landlord I am continuously surprised at what tenants will allow them selves to be conned into, this tale hurts my sense of fair play to tenants and I hope you guys can help. My friend is the 4th tenant T4, in a shared flat above a shop in south London (shop also owned by LL). It seems to be on individual contracts. The LL assigned my friend T4 with the responsibility of paying the metered supply water bill to the water company (lets call them WC as I am not sure who they are as yet). She calls WC and they arrange 1/4ly DD of £300. Although they did not change the name on the bill it remains the name of the previous tenant even though now T4 is paying the DD and collecting the other shared contributions from the T1, T2, and T3 At some point it is discovered that the shop below, with a loo and a kitchen, are on the same meter, and that the WC has them on a commercial rate. T4 asked the WC to come and see what was up and they confirmed single meter, commercial rent, and that meter had not been read correctly since june2018 and they in fact owe 2K in back charges. So T4 and her pals have been paying the water for the shop since June last year, the LL knew this but did not tell T4 or her buddies. They have spoken to resolver who have said because the water comes in via the shop, then they must pay commercial rates - its about twice what a normal water bill should be - now I think resolver probably cannot think outside the box here... Anyway what to do? I am tempted to advise T4 to just stop paying and give the WC the LL name and address as the bill payer. I feel like LL has committed a fraud by a) not telling them they were paying for the shop, and b) not paying to have a 2nd supply added to the flat. T4 is moving out at the end of April 19 and wants to try and resolve it so that she does not have to pay these ridiculous water charges. WC seem ambivalent, (as you would expect, they are making the dough right now) LL said tough **** sort it out with shop below. T's 1-3 are spineless and my friend T4 is trying to sort it out. Any advice?

Hi everyone, I've lurked a little through some of the other freedom pass misuse threads but thought I'd make my own, sorry if you're tired of these. Before I get into it, call me stupid (I am) but I really did not stop to think about where the money came from so people who need it can use freedom passes, what I was doing and how wrong it was, I only found out after doing some research and I feel extremely ashamed and disgusted at myself for this. I completely admit what I did was wrong and if worst case scenario I am charged with it, I accept my faults and take responsibility. However, if it can be helped I would really not like to hinder my future career, I really do not want this time of ignorance and foolishness to determine my future. I was stopped by an inspector(?) on my way to my retail job who took my details, I admitted it wasn't my card and I had taken it from my mother to avoid paying the fee and save money, and that I had done this more than this one time. I then got a letter from TfL asking if I accept commiting the offence or not and any exceptional reasons, including evidence, as to why TfL should not proceed with a prosecution. I replied with an email expressing my remose and accepting my actions and how foolish it was. I explained why I did it, I was in a really difficult place with money which had been contributing to my depression so I had been using it to and from work, but I know this is no excuse and I know what I did was completely wrong. I also explained the adverse impact it will have on my future career, and offer reasonable monetary sums equivalent to any related fines and administrative fees incurred by the company to settle out of court. The original email was a lot more thorough and remoseful but that is the main points I had, I'm happy to show the full email if necessary. They did not reply to that email, but a few months later I recieved a letter inviting me to court. It reads: [NAME] You are required to appear on [DATE] at [TIME] before [X] Magistrates' Court at [X ADDRESS] to answer the following charge: That you on [DATE OF OFFENCE] at Oxford Circus did enter a compulsory ticket area without having with you a valid ticket. Contrary to Byelaw 17(1) of the Transport for London Railway Byelaws made under paragraph 26 of Schedule 11 to the Greater London Authority Act 1999 and confirmed under section 67 of the Transport Act 1962. [...] On [DATE] [DEFENDANT] travelled from [sTATION] to Oxford Circus station. At 7:52am she produced a Disabled Persons Freedom Pass of high value that did not belong to her and was not valid for her to use. She admitted the pass belonged to her mum and that she was using it to save money. Further analysis of the recent usage of the pass showed an addition 48 journeys where fares totalling £237.40 has been avoided. An application will be made in court for a £338 contributtion towards TfL... I believe my case will be a difficult one considering the number of uses. I hope to settle out of court and pay any fines, and if they decide not to I will attend the court and plead guilty and explain how sorry I am even if they do charge me. Currently I am unsure what to do from here. They did not reply to my initial email. Should I be contacting the Investigations, Appeals and Proecutions team? Should I plead guilty on the court letters I have recieved as soon as possible? What exactly is Byelaw 17(1)? will I be getting a criminal record, what are my possible outcomes? I assume worst case is I get a criminal record, and best case is I settle out of court, but are there any other outcomes? How much will any kind of record hinder my career, what kind of checks are done? Thank you for taking the time to read and any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Hi there. I'm absolutely gutted I got this through for such a stupid mistake. I have just received a Single Justice Procedure notice and panicking greatly. It says I have 21 days to plead guilty or not guilty. That you on [DATE OF OFFENCE] did enter a compulsory ticket area without having with you a valid ticket. Contrary to Byelaw 17(1) of the Transport for London Railway Byelaws made under paragraph 26 of Schedule 11 to the Greater London Authority Act 1999 and confirmed under section 67 of the Transport Act 1962. On [DATE OF OFFENCE] I attempted to travel from home station to work. At 7:55am he produced a TfL 60+ London Free travel Pass, that did not belong to him. He was not entitled to use the pass and it was invalid for travel. He stated it belonged to his father and admitted it was not the first occasion he had used it. They want £225 + £4.90. The summary statement has plenty of inaccuracies including my and and address that he said he confirmed ITAL but couldn't have as I gave him my driving license. That I walked away from the station when I re-entered with my bank card. Also, that he confirmed everything with me but didn't as the statement provided did not match the conversation or my details. Obviously I'm incredibly sorry and was a very stupid mistake. When I go out with my parents, I hold their oyster card so they don't have to rummage through their wallet or bag. On this occasion, I didn't give it back to him and mistakenly was then using for what I thought was a couple of weeks. As this was back in July, I called up several times to try and sort it and even my dad called up to get his oyster card back and they said nothing was logged against the card. I'll be gutted if i get a conviction as I'm in the process of looking for a property, will be visiting friends in America next year, was very stressed at the time due to work and a kidney condition getting worse and after the event receiving mental support for anxiety. I'm worried this will affect all of the above and negatively affect my mental health after just making progress. Any help on the best way to approach settling out of court would be appreciated. I'm happy to pay costs as I was incorrectly using it for what I think was a couple of weeks but a criminal conviction will hurt me in many ways. Thanks for reading.

Hi All, I recently had my car breakdown and after being diagnosed by the AA as a fault that needed a garage to repair it the car was recovered to a local AUDI main dealer thinking i would be in safe hands. They diagnosed the car with a sensor fault to begin with and they replaced that at a cost of just under £500 including fault diagnosis, however, this never fixed the fault they said and the car still had the original fault. So they carried out futher tests and then told me after 14 days that the car and a major ECU fault that would cost at least an additional £1500 + vat and 8 weeks to get the part. All this time i required a hire car as they didn't have a spare courtesy car. Not happy with the service or the diagnosis, and the fact that i was expected to pay for the initial repair of £500 that they said wasnt the fault it was the ECU. I also at the time of booking the car in for the original fault explained i had AA repair cover and they said that fine, as this cover provides me with the ability to have upto £500 of repair costs meet for a small payment of £35 excess. but it has to be a reputable garage where to work is carried out, and the car has to be repaired to be able to claim. Having some knowledge of cars and car repair, i wasnt happy with there diagnosis or the initail treatment, and i said i would take the car elsewhere for a 2nd opinion. Knowing the car could originally be driven i aksed if that was possible but they insisted i pay the original bill, to which i argued and they reduced it to a still unsatisfactory £360. I asked if the car could be driven to a garage 3 minutes drive away and they said now, it now wasnt running, so i had to arrange a tow truck to recover it. This i did and when the tow truck got there and i went to collect the car the car did infact drive. We still recovered the car to the garage as the tow truck was they and the other garage started to fault find, and they sent the ECU for testing with a specialist company that after some time discovered infact there was no ECU fault as the main dealer had stated and after the ECU being placed back in to the car some 57 days later the car has run fine since. I would like to ask as i have directly incurred a substantial amount of cost (£2000) due to the inaccurate fault diagnosis which they charged me for, and i would like to find out if it is possible to take action against this garage for failure to diagnose the fault correctly? I havent approached the AUDI dealer or AUDI as yet, as i wanted to find out what rights i have before i go fighting this with them. For armed and all that! Thank you in advance for any advice. Mario

Hi Everyone, I would really appreciate your help here, as I think the Post Office home insurance are mis-advising people. I am moving out of my housing association flat to a house I just bought with my girlfriend. I have a 6 week overlap for the two properties so we can renovate and decorate prior to moving in. I already have contents insurance for the new house. My flat was covered for the last 6 years by the Post Office, I told them I am moving and have to cancel the insurance as there is already insurance at the new house, so they can't insure it. As such they have to cancel insurance at the flat as I won't be living there and can't transfer the insurance to my new property. However, they are still wanting to charge me an £35 early cancellation fee. Surely this isn't right, as they can no longer legally provide a service to me? Are they [causing problems] people like me out of £35? Many thanks in advance!

Hi all, asking for some advice on behalf of a family member. She moved into a council flat 6 years ago and has never paid for her gas. It is a pre paid meter setup, the meter is turning (quite fast) but the screen is blank. I She has been given annual safety inspections by the council but nothing has been said and also received a yearly cold weather voucher from British gas! I asked why she has never mentioned it and she said after she left it for a year she was scared of getting a massive bill, silly really as she now probably faces a much much bigger one. But anyway that is the situation at present. Does anyone know what is going on and why she isn't having to top up the meter? Also what is she likely to have to repay, from looking online it seems they can charge back 6 years? Thanks for reading

Hello, I owe service charge backpayment to my management agent for my leasehold property. They took it to county court, then fast tracked to high court without informing me. I only knew when I received a demand for £2100 from the Sheriff's office. I offered to pay in instalments but they said their client wanted full payment, which I could not do. I sent them a copy of my Debt and Mental Health Evidence Form, they said their client rejected it. A Baliff visited my property when I was not in. I submitted an income and expenditure form (both mine and my wife's)to the sheriff's office, which clearly shows a minus. Even so I offered to pay £50 a month. I have now had an email saying they will forward this to their client and if it is rejected I will receive a visit from the Baliff without any prior notice. The amount has risen from £2100 to £3700 in just over 6 weeks, with interest at 41p a day. There is also a charge for a Baliff visit that never happened. I am worried sick. Please, if you can, please advise. I feel due process was not followed regarding the secrecy in taking this to court. I suffer from depression due to my debt issues and this is really affecting me

Some confusion about this It seems, so I thought I would just post a quick guide. The three stages of enforcment for none HCEO debts are outlined in the taking control of goods regulations. The compliance fee stage is due on the receipt of the warrant by the EA or on the date of the NOE depending on the type of debt The enforcement stage fee is due on attendance of the EA at the debtors "relevant premises" The sale fee is due as per section 5 of the regulations: “the sale or disposal stage, which comprises all activities relating to enforcement from the first attendance at the property for the purpose of transporting goods to the place of sale, or from commencing preparation for sale if the sale is to be held on the premises, until the completion of the sale or disposal (including application of the proceeds and provision of the information required by regulation 14).” John Kruse explains the situation here as follows "As fees run from the “first attendance at the property for the purpose of transporting goods to the place of sale” various predicating factors seem to be indicated. Of course, there must have been previous levy by which goods were secured on the premises: only ‘controlled goods’ can be sold" This is clear from the legislation and means that whilst goods can be removed at first attendance(for storage) they cannot trigger a sale fee, as the action would still be at the enforcment stage. The sale fee can only be applied to goods which have been previously taken under control

A week or so ago a regular contributor on here (Dodgeball) started a discussion thread on the subject of when a bailiff should legally be able to charge a 'Sale Fee' of £110. The importance of this subject prompted me to approach CIVEA (The Civil Enforcement Agency) and yesterday they provided me with a copy of their official Guidance Note on the subject. A copy of this should be featuring on their website this weekend. Dodgeball's important and interesting thread on this subject has run to 5 pages and with 100 replies, I thought that this Guidance would get better publicity if it was posted on a separate thread. The original discussion thread can be found under the following link: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?453200-Removal-for-sale-fee-when-can-it-be-charged

Can the terms of a repayment mortgage contract that was a fixed rate for 5 yrs be altered during the 5 yr fixed term to a SVR? Does a fixed rate mean the amount to pay each month would remain the same for the 5 year term and not go up or down? Would that be a breach of contract if it's altered? Is it lawful? When mortgage interest is charged daily, how would that appear on a mortgage statement, each month or once a year? Thanks

Hello I have recently moved so didn't get my renewal documents. I have been a bit sloppy with my emails as well unfortunately. I received a text today from my car insurance co asking me to call them urgently which I did right away. It was from the collections department. They told me my card had bounced so they was unable to collect my premium. They had subsequently spent ten days trying to contact me to no avail so my policy had been cancelled. They told me I had to start a new policy which I have done and paid in full. I did this all at the office whilst at work and was panicking that I wouldn't be able to drive home. I have subsequently came home and started to research my situation. It seems I should have tried harder to reinstate my policy and I also didn't declare that I had had insurance cancelled when filling in the form. I'll call them tomorrow to correct this mistake. I want to know whether it is likely I can get the policy reinstated? I have been with that insurance company for several years, not that will count for anything I'm sure. Also, will the authorities catch up with me for the time I have spent uninsured? I'm worried I will be punished for not having any insurance. Any advice/opinions appreciated Thanks

Despite the new bailiff regulations having been in force for over 18 months, it is very worrying to see that a number of the 'Beat the Bailiff' Facebook pages continue to advise the public that if an enforcement agent is enforcing a judgment that has been transferred to the High Court, that the agent cannot charge VAT on bailiff fees. Such information is inaccurate and highly misleading. In April 2014 the Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 were introduced and provide for statutory fees that can be charged by enforcement agents. In relation to county court judgments transferred to the High Court for enforcement, the statutory fee scale provides that the enforcement agent can charge the following fees: Compliance fee: £75 First enforcement stage: £190 (plus 7.5% on amount over £1,000). Second stage enforcement: £495 Sale or disposal fee: £525 plus 7.5% on sums over £1,000 The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulations 2014 were laid before Parliament on 4th January 2014 and came into force on 6th April 2014. It was not until shortly after the regulation had been laid in Parliament that HMRC finally resolved the issue as to whether or not VAT should be added to bailiff fees. On 26th March 2014 (two weeks before the regulations came into effect) the Ministry of Justice released their official guidance on VAT. This followed official HMRC approval and agreement. HMRC amended their internet guide a short while after.

Hi hope someone can help? My mum has dementia. Last year she telephoned BT to get her internet and home phone bills reduced as she was being charged for services she wasn't using and she was out of contract. They signed her up to a 18 month contract which has increased her bill plus the stop nuisance call service she pays extra for hasn't stopped the calls they have in fact increased sometimes calling in the early hours of the morning. I have telephoned BT who have apologized and agreed to lower her tariff but we are not happy with the service especially as she has been paying so much more then she needed to for all this time. The first time I telephoned they agreed to 1/2 her tariff or she could get out of her contract without charge. I said we wanted to think about it but when I next spoke to them having decided to leave they said she would not be able to leave the contract without charge after all. Is there anything we can do? Thank you

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jun/20/sfo-charges-barclays-bank-executives-ceo-2008-qatar-fundraising I reckon they will get off with a slap on the wrist and a fine.. this after the SFO will have spent £thousands if not £millions of tax payers money trying to make a case against them.

Hi I have been reading the following thread forum thread 353395 - Letter-to-send-if-you-are-being-charged-bank-fees-whilst-on-benefits (Will not allow link) and have been trying to locate the initial letter sent to the bank, before action However there is a link at the first comment at the top of the page yet it simply goes to the forums titles and no letter I wonder if anyone can help at all as i wanted to send to my bank to see if i could stop monthly overdraft fees occurring which because i seem to be in overdraft most of the time, i always receive at least £33 in fees every month from their £1 per day overdraft fee and is quite a chunk from my ESA payments i receive Any general advice will also be greatly appreciated Many thanks for your time Regards

Hello fellow forum members: I’ve just received a Country Court Claim form : I’m a complete novice at this, I’ve never been to Court before - or posted on here before. I hope someone can give me some advice. The claim is from a gate installation company who have done part of a (verbal) contract made 18 April 2016 to make and install an automated sliding gate, around £5,600. I haven’t received any paperwork from the company (Contract, T&Cs, design, safety and compliance etc), nor have I signed anything. They laid the track for the gate in concrete on 01 June 2016. The ground works were done by a freelance carpenter. My builder who was present raised concerns with him about how the work was being carried out, and was told ‘this is how we do it’. There was no quality control during the installation and no supervisor visited the site during or after the installation. The owner told me they were very busy, I’d have to wait for the gate. My husband agreed “as long as it’s in before winter”. 15 July 2016 I received a new quote by email for the gate and installation for a 28.5% price increase. I did not agree to a new price. If I had known they intended to change the price part way through the contract I would not have agreed to proceed. 03 Aug I got a statement for just under £918.00, no invoice. I queried it (nicely), saying I had not received an invoice, what was the charge for. I was told it was for some work which I had commissioned my builder to do ie they did not do this work. I wrote to them. They then said the charge was “for site visits and a track ordered but did not go ahead”. I had asked only for a sample of the track. This is not an order. They said they had sent an invoice 27 July (not received by me). I wrote a nice letter back disagreeing, but suggesting we just continue with the work and contract as originally agreed. They wrote back to say they would take this amount off the final price on completion. However if I paid this I think it would mean that I had accepted their new higher price. 16 Sept 2016 email - the owner changed their description of the work they were charging for again: now it was for the installation of the track and wiring. Still no invoice. I asked them to forward the invoice. They did so 27 Sept . It’s now 2 months since the date they claimed it had been sent. The construction of the header (date, time of sending, subject etc.) of the forwarded email does not match any other forwarded emails and additionally shows the last (Sept) description, not the one given us in July when it was supposedly sent. So it seems the invoice was never sent, and that this 'forwarded' email is a fraudulent document. I was still waiting for a response from the owner to the letters I had sent. 25 Oct I received another threat of county court action. I wrote back 06 Nov, acknowledging the threat and telling them we had lost confidence in the company and would not continue with them. 15 Nov I received an invoice for 10% ‘late charge’ i.e 10% of their invoice +VAT. I wrote back 16 Nov confirming that the charge was in dispute and I would come back to them in a few days. 18 Nov received County Court claim dated 16 Nov. They have ignored all the questions and points raised with them, and have just continued to stick with the new price quoted after starting the contract, and this later demand for payment. They haven’t started making our gate, it’s well into winter. We called in another gate company to quote, they have told us the track laid is not straight and not flat and will have to be removed and replaced. I sent photos to the Gate Safe, an independent charity/training/industry oversight body. They agreed the track had to be removed. The job is difficult and complicated and may require removal of newly constructed landscaping and may affect the foundations of a wall. It will be highly disruptive. Gate Safe has safety concerns about the claimant’s work, as do we. I wrote to the claimant 17 Nov 2016. The claimant has offered to have “an independent company’ assess the track” (23 Nov) and say they ‘will put right anything that is incorrect’ if necessary. We have no confidence in the claimant’s ability to do the work, or their contact’s independence. We would like to get the track removed and go to someone reputable. If the claimant relays the track we won’t get a warranty from any gate manufacturer/installer as they won’t have laid it. They really have put us in a difficult position in addition to holding up our landscaping works still further. What am I reqd to do? Have I got grounds for a defence and maybe a counterclaim? Any advice or help would be gratefully received. I’ve looked at the Consumer rights Act 2015, is this the (only) legislation to quote?

Hi, I paid for a night in a hotel that I booked via hotels.com. The price shown by hotels.com and the paper invoice that I got from the hotel was correct - however I have subsequently checked by card statement and see that a 2% surcharge was applied to the booking. Having checked the hotel listing, and the ts&cs I can see no detail of a 2% credit card surcharge anywhere and have printed out the website details as a permanent record. Where do I stand on this legally? I was under the impression card charges must be clearly stated? Thanks Abe

Hello, I purchased a case for my tablet on 13th January. When it arrived I opened the parcel to find the packaging damaged, on inspection the stand for the case was missing. I raised a query with their customer services and they agreed to send a replacement, they did not ask to see any photos of the damaged item. I found it odd at the time that they agreed to send out a replacement before they had received the faulty one back. The replacement arrived on the 20th Jan. The return of the faulty case was arranged by them to be collected by Parcel Force on the 23rd. I packaged the envelope and wrote the returns number on it and nothing else, no address, no return address, etc as the courier would have a label to attach. It was to be collected from the office at work, the parcel was left on the table where all the parcels are delivered/collected from. I was away at lunch and on my return the Parcel force courier arrived but there was no parcel to collect! It transpired that the postman had picked it up, even though there was no address or postage on it, as it was next to the bag with the franked letters in. I have spoken to my local sorting office, Parcel force & Royal mail customer services and raised a query with the Royal Mail National Returns Center. All to no avail, the parcel must be in the system somewhere. This week Stuff-UK have said they now want paying £47.41 for the replacement as well as the faulty case or they will pursue legal action. I've tried speaking on the phone with them but we don't agree on the situation. They say it's wholly my fault and they sent the replacement in good faith, it was in my possession so I'm responsible even though it was an unfortunate event. Although they are 'sympathetic' to my situation they still want paying. Where on earth do I stand on this? All the information I can find related to companies losing parcels being sent to customers not the other way around! Am I legally responsible? Here's the email I got... "I have just spoken to Annette. Whilst I am sympathetic to your predicament, we are still £47.41 out of pocket. You have received 2 of the cases from us and returned none of them. The onus is on you to look after the product faulty or not whilst in your possession. The fact that somebody in your office allowed the goods to be given to another courier is unfortunate, but not a reason for us to be out of pocket. As this has gone on far too long, regrettably we will be issuing legal action to recover the monies owed plus costs and interest, if you are unable to make payment." I have until 24th March. Any help would be greatly appreciated as its quite a conundrum! I wouldn't even know what legislation this comes under. Thanks Pilau

Hi Guys, Need your advice on this unusual problem. Sorry story is a bit long. I’ll spilt it by bullet point to make it easier to read: 1. 23 Dec 2016 – went to the store made small purchase requested £50 cashback. Was deep in my thoughts. Felt a bit awkward at the end of interaction with cashier who started behaving strangely by completely ignoring me and started chatting with colleague. After packing few purchased items I was waiting patiently not realising what for. Felt as something did not finish - no eye contact from cashier, no thanks / goodbye. I’ve felt a bit strange and waited for much longer that socially acceptable in such situation and then left the store without exchanging a word with cashier. 2. Few day later realised I did not had my cash. As I was not out of the house since visiting store I could not have spent it or lost somewhere. 3. Waited for store to open again and went to speak with manager on 27 Dec 16 to ask them for my cashback and checking CCTV to confirm it was not given. Duty manager said he cannot view CCTV but checked till for that day and there was no extra cash in the till. He also found small receipt with my signature that confirms I’ve received cash. Signature seemed to be mine but I do not remember signing it nor receiving cash. 4. I’ve got my receipt with cashback on it. I am guessing I was asked to sign small slip confirming I was given cash and then was given my store receipt. That triggered me into thinking I got what I needed and made to forget about my cash by cashier starting to completely ignoring me. 5. I’ve spoken to customer services and same manger again who were pointing at each other saying I need to request CCTV footage and pay for it and that only store manager / area manager can view CCTV. 6. 6 Jan 16 spoke to customer services who then spoke to store manager who then checked till records again stating no extra cash was reported on that day. 7. Managed to speak to store manager in person on 6 Jan 16. Did not get much was just fobbed off making it sound it was my fault and I should have checked cash in store and they conducted their investigation. This person was quite elusive did not wanted to talk. Said nothing I can do. Both managers felt a bit arrogant almost as if they were saying good luck with that! If you know what I mean. 8. 6 Jan 16 stated electronic communication with customer services sending all above information via web form. Starting message with I am making formal request for CCTV footage under Data Protection Act 1998 confirming I am happy to pay for it. Providing all relevant details timing till number etc. 9. 18 Jan 17 sent them all above information in registered letter. 10. Did not get any response for around 10 calendar days and called them again to chase up for reply. 11. Received reply on evening of 20 Jan 17 (Friday) stating they passed for investigation to area manager. Provided instructions for requesting CCTV and how payment should be made. Advised that I need to contact police if I felt there was theft. 12. 20 Jan 17 I replied via e-mail and asked to place hold on the footage to ensure it is not overwritten as I’ve read somewhere that their retention period is 30 days. 13. 21 Jan 17 (Saturday) send request for footage as per their instructions. 14. 26 Jan 17 received letter stating request is outside of system storage capacity. 15. Chased them up for finial outcome of area manager investigation knowing what they will say. 16. 16 Feb 2016 Received response stating CCTV has now been overwritten they conducted till review and no extra cash was found. Nothing else they can do and I can contact the police. My view on that is that they ignored my initial request under Data protection act sent to them on 6 Jan 17. Purposely delayed providing instruction for requesting footage and timed it so that I have 0% chances of making it successfully and that it reaches them before 30 days retention period to cover up for their employees. I’ve seem to exhausted my option to get this resolved with the company and looking for advice on taking this further. I feel up to taking them to small court claiming for postage, petrol cost for number of trips inconvenience and original cashback. Just wanted to get your views on chance for success and some help with small court procedures if will be going that way. Thanks for reading!

Hi, I visited my dentist last year on a requested appointment as I had tooth pain following a root canal procedure. The dentist didn't actually carry out any treatment on me as I just had inflamed gums from lack of flossing. When I paid for the appointment the receptionist charged me £18.80 for a checkup rather than £32.50 for "Urgent Treatment" which they believe should have been charged. Following this I received numerous letters requesting payment on the outstanding balance which I responded with via numerous phone calls and a letter requesting explanation for the shortfall which no one could actually explain (the above only became clear recently). This has now been passed to a debt collection agency who are hounding me for payment. What action can I take to put an end to this? Firstly, why should I have to pay for the receptionists incompetence to charge me the correct amount in the first place? They have applied an "urgent treatment" charge when no treatment was actually carried out? And finally, I believe root canal procedures come with a 1 year warranty so technically should I have had any charge for this checkup anyway? Help!

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice on some fees I was charged in relation to a cosmetic surgery consultation I had back in 2016. At the time I was considering having some cosmetic surgery, so was looking to arrange a few consultations with different surgeons to make sure I was making the correct choices on procedure and when choosing the actual surgeon. I tried to get in touch with one of the practices in question to enquire about a consultation - firstly on the number listed on the surgeons website and then as I couldn't get through on this line, I contacted the private hospital in London where the said surgeon runs his practice - I got through on this number. When speaking to the person at the private hospital I enquired about waiting times and how much this doctor actually charges for a consultation (I had a limited budget for consultations). I was informed of the available dates and I was explicitly told that there would be no charge for the initial consultation - this is nothing out of the ordinary as many cosmetic surgeons offer a free initial consultation. I went ahead and booked a consultation. I then received the booking confirmation through email, again with no mention of any fees. I attended the consultation with the doctor where everything was OK, a very brief consultation compared with some others but I wasn't too concerned as I thought this was a no charge consultation. Again no mention of any cost or taking any payment before, during or immediately after the consultation (the surgeon just said if I was to go with him, we would need to have a second more in depth consultation before surgery) - It's worth noting that I did attend 2 other consultations which we're chargeable, however this was made explicitly clear at the time of booking, and payment was also taken at the point of booking - otherwise the booking would not be made. To my surprise a couple of days later an invoice drops through the post for £215. I contacted the surgeons practice to discuss this and explain the situation, however his practice manager just said I'd been informed wrongly by the private hospital employee, and even though I'd had confirmation and they acknowledged that I was mis-informed, that it wasn't their issue. Which I obviously didn't agree with. I then had a couple of invoice reminders come through the door I got back in touch again to try and resolve the matter. I was then given the contact details of one of the managers of the private hospital and told to try and sort it out with them. Before I'd had chance to resolve this (this was over Christmas so I wasn't able to get hold of said person) I've had a letter through the door from a debt collection services company requesting the money. Now I know these have no legal power as such, but I'd rather nip this in the bud before it goes any further. Am I correct to believe that any charges need to be made clear before a service is provided? Particularly as I explicitly asked before I made the booking if there was any charge (there is also no mention of fees on the surgeons website). If I'd known this consultation was chargeable I wouldn't have gone ahead as the surgeon in question was not my top or second choice. I don't feel like I should have to pay as a result of being provided the wrong information by the hospital. Any thoughts on this? Thanks for the help.

Hi I need a bit of advice regarding trying to get £626.24 from Expedia for car hire which never turned up at the airport. I paid by credit card Halifax hoping this would ensure if anything went wrong - I should have know. After repeated emails and phone calls to Halifax/Lloyds they told me they couldn't claim our money back as the car was waiting for us at the airport (which it wasn't) - they just took Expedia's word for it - what can I do. Below is an email I sent to Halifax outling all the details/times/dates screen shots etc On the 24th May I paid Expedia £626.24 online using my Halifax credit card for 11 days car hire in Corfu from 14th July 2016 to 25 July 2016 with collection at 10pm at Corfu airport *see screenshot. On the 25th May I called Expedia to add a baby car seat to my reservation. I was informed by Expedia to call the Corfu office to arrange this, they gave me their number 0030 2109735000. The car hire company in Corfu added a car seat at an extra cost of £33.00 which I agreed to pay at the airport upon collection. The Corfu office then advised me I would also be charged £18 for a late pick up after 9pm. I told them this was not included in the original price when I booked online and there was nothing on the website to say this was an extra charge. The Corfu office advised me to contact Expedia. Expedia told me to pay the additional cost and email them the receipt and they would reimburse me (see email screenshot). This concerned me so I did some research and looked at Expedia's reviews on Trip advisor with regards to car hire in Corfu which only increased my concerns. I was so concerned that I called the Corfu office a week before we went on holiday to check that they had a 7-seater car with car seat and that they were aware we would be arriving at 9:45 local time. I was assured by the people in the Corfu office that they were aware of my requirements and everything would be fine. They also took mine & my wife's mobile contact numbers. Our flight from Manchester (Flight# LS951) on the 14th July 2016 was delayed before take-off by aprox 30mins. We arrived at Corfu airport at about 10pm local time. We left the departure lounge about 10:20pm local time passing all the car hire companies and holiday reps holding placards with company logos and the names of people they were expecting. I checked each one asking if they were waiting for Mr Ewing regardless of whether they had my name on the card or not. No-one was waiting for me. I left my wife and four children, the youngest only 18mths old, whilst I made inquiries with every single car hire, coach transfer and taxi desk inside and outside the airport to find the car hire company without any success. I called the car hire company at 10:50 local time and got voicemail *see phone screenshot. I called back one minute later (10:51) and this time a guy answered who took my name & number, said he would look into it & call me back. At about 11pm it was clear that everybody who'd arrived on that flight had left and there was just me and my family in a very small, empty airport with one departure exit. Me, my wife & 4 very tired & hungry children stood around the empty airport and waited for another half an hour for a phone call that never happened. At about 23:20, with no sign of any car we decided our only option was to get a taxi to our accommodation at a cost of 101 Euros. At 21.38 GMT (23.38 local time) *see phone screen shot, I received a call from the car hire company wanting to know where I was? I explained that as we had been waiting at the airport with no sign of any hire car for over an hour we'd got a taxi to our resort. The guy took our phone number and said he would call someone and to wait for a return call. The 1st phone call was to see what he could do. The second phone call was to tell us he would ask if he could get the car delivered to us next day at our resort. The 3rd phone call was to tell us to call the office tomorrow morning to see what they could do as nobody was available. The following day they called me at 8:35GMT/10:35 local time *see screen shot, for 14 minutes. The lady I spoke to preceded to argue with me insisting that the car had been available at the airport as arranged. She asked me if I thought they were lying which struck me as odd? The lady said that the car could not be delivered to Sidari and if not collected by 5pm the following day, at the airport, the car would be hired to someone else. As we desperately needed this car I said that I would try to organise transport back to the airport to collect the car myself. I also said that I would contact them beforehand if there was a problem getting there by 5pm as my wife has a disability and is unable to look after all 4 children alone. After trying many different avenues to get to the airport (the local bus service & travel back would have taken about 4/5hrs) I just couldn't do it without realistically taking my wife and four children back to the airport in a taxi at a cost of another 101 Euros. When I called the office they promptly reminded me that they couldn't deliver the car and the order would be cancelled. I asked about a refund of the £626.24 I had paid weeks in advance which they said was nothing to do with them and I would have to speak to Expedia. I called Expedia on Monday the 18th July *see screen shot, to log my complaint. They said they would look into the matter and call me within 24hrs to confirm the refund had been authorised. They didn't call back. At this time I had had enough of the whole disastrous situation that had so far cost me £626.24 plus 101 Euros, numerous international calls from my mobile at my expense as well as taking up the first 3 days of my holiday – we never did hire a car which made everything more difficult as we'd chosen a secluded location because we knew we'd have a car. The day after I arrived home, 26th July, I called Expedia *see screenshot, who told me the matter was still being looked into and that I would receive confirmation of a refund by email. I am still waiting to hear back from them. I want a full refund of £626.24 and if necessary will forfeit the extra costs incurred as mentioned above. Please find enclosed screen shots of all phone calls made, copies of emails and other relative correspondence received from the car hire company.