Monopoly chiefs have set up a Christmas hotline to prevent board game bust-ups over the festive period. The helpline is to open in light of a survey that found 51% of Monopoly games end in a row. The most common cause of quarrels was due to people "making up the rules as they go along". The hotline will open from 24th - 26th December, when families will be able to get mediation on any game-based arguments. http://www.itv.com/news/2016-12-19/monopoly-christmas-helpline-opens-to-prevent-boardgame-bust-ups/

I recently took out a new contract with Dialaphone. Checked my bank account and was amazed to see that £20.94 had been debited for 'Gadget Helpline'!! ??? So I decided to contact this 'Gadget Helpline' which I apparently had "signed up" for! Received the WORST EVER customer service from a so-called Helpline Administrator going by the name of "Nadia", (second name not given)! My story is as follows: Email from me to "Nadia" On 8/6/2013 a direct debit was taken by TMTI from my current account. I have no knowledge of ever wanting or hearing about this service and demand a full refund of £20.94 be given to me. I have not had any correspondence from TMTI or given any permission of a Direct Debit to be set-up on my bank account! Please rectify this matter and advise of same. Regards, Response: Thank you for contacting Gadget Helpline. Unfortunately you did not provide any details for us to bring up any account. If you could please provide us your address and postcode or direct debit reference number we can confirm if you have an account with us. Alternatively please call 08444 772 995 (national rate) to speak to an agent. We are open Monday – Friday 9am – 6pm and Saturday 10am – 6pm Regards, Nadia | Gadget Helpline Administrator | TMTI Group | Corsley Heath, Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 7PL (UK) T: +44 (0) 844 499 4744 | F: +44 (0) 844 499 4733 | E: enquires@tmti.net My Response: Direct Debit Ref: DL************ I hope this information will help you to solve this matter as I have not received any communication from yourselves and was not aware or authorised this payment of £20.94 to be debited from my account. Regards, Nadia's Reply A welcome letter was sent by email to ***********@**** on 8th May 2013 regarding your account with us. Unfortunately we have no record of any request to cancel your account. In order to fully refund your payment made to TMTI Ltd we would need confirmation that the account was previously cancelled (cancellation email, call reference number etc.). If you can provide us with this confirmation we would be happy to fully reimburse you. I apologise for the inconvenience. Many Thanks My Response: Hi Nadia, I can definitely confirm that I did not receive a 'Welcome Letter' in question on 8th May 2013 and also that the email address you say it was sent to is an incorrect address! Hence, I was unaware of having to pay any payment(s) for an alleged account with 'Gadget Helpline' nor did I enter into any agreement as such! I would appreciate if you could rectify this error and refund immediately the amount of £20.94 which was debited from my account (Direct Debit Ref: DL********).on 8th June 2013. I look forward to hearing from you in response and receiving this payment. Regards, Nadia: Our service is explained in the following places. · The shopping basket (before you agree to the order) · The terms and conditions of the order · The order confirmation that Dialaphone send out to you · The paperwork that is received when the handset is received by Dialaphone · The welcome email we sent you directly from our company. (email addresses are not case sensitive) Regards HOW IGNORANT!!! So, I replied: Nadia, I am writing to advise of my intention to reclaim monies totalling £20.94. According to my Bank Records, the aforementioned sum that was taken out of my account on 8th June 2013, on the pre-text of 'Gadget Helpline' service. This payment is unlawful as they were not agreed to by myself. The disclosure of my bank details to a third party company without my authorisation is unlawful practice, to which I take great exception to. Furthermore, I did not agree nor accept any terms which would have initiated this direct debit process. Having researched this situation in greater detail, it would appear that this is not mentioned during purchasing or on any itemised bills or contracts as it is a 'free trial' which automatically rolls into an unlawful direct debit being setup. As the mobile phone contract was obtained through Dialaphone, the onus of responsibility in law was unlawfully distribution of my account details to the third party 'Gadget Helpline' company. It is my wish that this situation can be resolved amicably, however, as prelude to this not being resolved suitably I have prepared documentation to pass this claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service. I would be grateful for the name and contact details of your superior as I would like to make a personal complaint about your customer services and also your full name. Yours sincerely, Her Response to that was: The postal address can be found below if you wish to make a further complaint. Regards Began to loose my patience here, so responded: I don't think you are hearing me here, I am DEMANDING you give me your full name and superiors name! To which I got: "My name can be found below, and my extension is 424. Our managers name is Jon." Regards Nadia | Gadget Helpline Administrator | TMTI Group | Corsley Heath, Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 7PL (UK) T: +44 (0) 844 499 4744 | F: +44 (0) 844 499 4733 | E: enquires@tmti.net Now how unprofessional was that response?? A) STILL did not receive her full name! B) All I got for her superiors details was "Jon"!! ANY ADVISE GUYS ON WHAT MY NEXT PLAN OF ACTION MIGHT BE?? NB: Just read on Dialaphone website that they no longer provide new customers with the 'Gadget Helpline' service as of May 2013. My contract began on 10th May 2013!!

Hi All just wanted to tell you all about a very strange call I just had from a company called PPI Helpline.. ..the lady was foreign but said that she was ringing to tell me that I was going to be repaid £1100 that I had paid in PPI on a loan I took out in 2005 plus interest and a total payment of £3300 was coming to me!!!! I knew right away that this was a con and just said I deal with all my own PPI reclaims which abruptly ended the call! Now the thing that worries me is that this is not like normal calls as she was quoting dates, amounts etc and to someone that didn't know the cons out there they could be fooled.. .so just wanted to warn everyone about this [problem].