CAG, along with many others have been steering people away from Pay Day Loans. Now there is a new tactic from one particular bank. I have personally condemned Vanquis for their high interest rates and being no better than a revolving Pay Day Loan. CAG has seen many cases of how easy it is to get into serious debt with this particular type of credit card. Now Money Mail are on the case....

Any property rental gurus with advice would be most welcome. We (my partner and I along with my 6 year old) rent a managed property through Ellisons and 4 months into our 1 year contract extension (our 2nd extension) they served us a 2 month Section 21 Notice requiring possession dated 4 April.Exacyly 6 months into the extension. The effective notice is 8 June. Our monthly rental due date is the 27th every month. A few days after the notice was served I told them that we would prefer a moving out date in accordance with our rental which is the 27th May as it would cause complications for us otherwise. They refused. Then I requested the first weekend after the 27th to do our move - the weekend of the 1/2nd (to check out on Monday 3rd of June as they dont work weekends)...and they said they would contact the landlord and get back to me if he was prepared to let us leave early. 7 weeks passed and I heard nothing until the Friday of the weekend I was to move. I organised my moving schedule and email the agency the friday before the move that I was moving out the pre-arranged weekend and would be at the check out on Monday the 3rd. They then informed me that I could not check out until the 8th and that i would need to pay extra rent to cover 3 - 8 June, plus any council tax and other utilities. Even though I have cancelled my bills already! i am a bit peeved as I am now sitting in my new place after having moved and having to continue to pay Ellisons rent even though I told them I was moving 7 weeks ago, and also wasted my afternoon today as I intended to check out today and they told me they werent going through with it . Now I have to schedule MORE time off work to check out on the 8th - which is 2 months and 5 days after I was served my notice requiring possession. I am also now likely to lose hundreds of pounds in extra rent and bills and a full day of work (I am a highly paid contractor and stand to lose £300 because of this). Anyone know what I can do to even the score? I told them I was not happy having to wait 7 weeks for a response to whether the landlord would allow me to move out on the 3rd (which as it happens is exactly 2 months after the notice was served and would have worked out fairly for me). I believe that their bespoke notice of the 8th is unfair because it's mid-month and not our rental day, and there are no decent rental properties available on at that time of the month either. To top matters we now have to wait an extra week or so for our deposit (minus the extra £250 in rent and other deductions I am sure)- and I just know they will try and shaft us even though we have looked after the property and cleaned it to a higher standard than it was when we moved in. Please help.

This is warning for everybody who may read this! I absolutely do not want anybody else suffering the treatment and unnecessary stress that has resulted in my dealings from Comet! My advice to everybody is under no circumstances should you buy from Comet! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In September I purchased a laptop (Sony Vaio, for college) from Comet for £519.99 along with an extended warranty plan for £139.99 which I was nagged into buying by the salesguy. One month later the laptop suffered a mishap which resulted in a cracked screen. Submitted the laptop to Comet who assured me it would be repaired and returned within 1 month. They also assured that the Hard drive would remain untouched and unharmed as it contained all my college work. 1 month passed with no word from Comet so I called them up. They were waiting on parts that apparently just arrived the day previous - took a month for parts to arrive? They promised to call me back in a few days once it had been repaired. 1 week later, no call? I am informed laptop is damaged beyond repair and as they no longer stock the model of the original laptop that I would have to choose another laptop. I was also informed that because of Comets decision to replace my laptop rather then repair it that the warranty I purchased it was no longer valid; after two months of purchasing it. I had asked for my HD to be returned to me for which I was told it had been disposed of (I have proof in email form). The loss of my HD resulted in the failure of my college unit and a tonne of unnecessary stress. I have recently discovered that Comet do in fact have my HD and are withholding it from me unless I pay a fee of £10, this I have proof of following an exchange with a Comet rep on moneysavingexpert.com Before this information coming to light I mailed Comet for the 6th time asking why my laptop was disposed of without asking my permission first. They tell me that following inspection of my damaged laptop that the motherboard was found to have fault. The laptop was functioning perfectly before the mishap and an issue with the motherboard is surely something I would notice myself having built my own desktops previously. This was the first time I was informed of the faulty motherboard as they had neglecting to tell me on the phone following my call. So I've been told I'll have to choose a new laptop. I get online and look at their stock and there are NO laptops that match the spec of my original purchase that does not exceed the the £519.99. I inform them of this and ask them what I'm supposed to do but I am responded with a simple "not our problem". A few days later I went in to complain, thinking I could get things moving if I went in person. I was told again that I would just have to settle for an inferior laptop, that it wasn't their problem. The guy that sold me the extended warranty turned round and said to me "Yeah well that's the gamble you take when you decide to buy the extended warranty"!!! Unbelievable! So I stand instore and I say, "Okay, I'll choose a new one today" but no, no. They are adamant that I cannot choose a new laptop until I've recieved some letter of confirmation. Apparently one should have been sent out to me but nothing has arrived. I request them to send another out on the computer at the desk, which they do. Two weeks later, no letter. The first hasn't arrived, the second hasn't arrived. I call up Comet, the woman tells me that there is no record of any letters being sent out to me. I found out through email a month later that I didn't even need this magic letter, that it was only for kitchen appliances such as fridges, dishwashers etc. It has been 4 months down the line now, constantly emailing, constantly phoning, constantly arguing but receiving excuses and lies. They had failed to provide me with a replacement laptop that matches the spec of my original, all others exceed price. Have recently found out this is a breech of contract as in this incident they are supposed to provide me with the same model of laptop even if it means sourcing it at their expense. I was seriously stressed out, failing college so I backed down and decided to accept an inferior laptop. Went into Comet where they refused to hand over the laptop I had chosen despite it being feet away from me in their backroom, insisted I had to go home and order by phone instead. Requested that they make the order since I was having problems with my phone at home, of which they did. Was told to go home and wait for Comet to call. Comet never called so before the store closed I called to arrange delivery myself. Was PROMISED laptop would be delivered on Friday. Came home from college on Friday (yesterday) and they never showed up. It is Saturday today and I have filed report with Trading Standards. The probability of this reaching court is certain. I also want to stress to you that in the 4 months since I placed my laptop into Comets care have I not once received any phone call or email to update me on the situation. Literally not one phone call, even when they assure me. My mother had also been banned from entering our local store following her going in to negotiate on my behalf (I was attending college). So I have an appointment with Trading Standards on Monday. I've been told to bring in printed copies of all exchanges made with Comet so I'm currently typing out a full report and orgasnizing all this paperwork. I think this is probably going to reach court but I've been advised that Comet won't let it get that far, that the furthest they'll meet me is on the court steps and that they'll probably make an offer then. I've already threatened court before, reminded them of it 3 times and they obviously thought I was bluffing. If anybody is interested in how this ends up, let me know here and I'll update with any details when they happen.