My partner ordered some branded USB drives (credit card style) from a reputable printing company. She has used them before for other products, and to be honest, the quality has always been reasonable. However, the quality of these USB drives is terrible. The 'printing' bit is ok, but the base product is awful. They look really cheap and nasty. The material has a poor finish and there is a small gap where the USB section swivels around. Also the USB section doesn't fit snugly into the rest of the card when closed, which means the printed image is not lined up correctly. We would like a refund if possible. A replacement would be ok if the quality were right, but I suspect this is a standard base product that they use and that any replacement would have the same defects. I spoke with them on the phone, and they have requested photos, which I am sending now. But I didn't get the impression a refund would be a likely option. And as mentioned, I'm not sure a replacement would be adequate. I'm not sure what our rights are here. The goods were ordered online (which would normally allow a return period after inspection). But I have read that normal rights are not applicable when ordering 'customised' goods. Nevertheless, the Sale of Goods Act does state that the quality of any goods must be satisfactory. Can anybody offer some advice as to the best way to proceed?

Dear all, I've just discovered that the sub-floor and joists that were replaced only 6 years ago in my Victorian house have rotted again, I'm told by an independent building contractor, due to inadequate damp protection. A master carpenter/joiner replaced joists/sub-floor and oak flooring only SIX years ago, due to the originals rotting. My question is can I reasonably expect the carpenter to contribute to the cost of this new work, which will essentially be to rip up what he did 6 years ago, beef up any existing damp protection and then rebuild the floor from the ground up? I feel he bears the responsibility for not highlighting the need for adequate damp protection in the first instance. Many thanks.

Hi not sure if this in the right forum. Thanks in advance for any help or advice people can give. I have a 9 year old Combi boiler which for the last 5-6 years has been serviced annually by one of the large utility companies under one of their boiler care schemes. Prior to this the boiler was maintained annually by their main competitor. I have just had to call them out due to the boiler failing to work and dropping into the protection cut out mode when heating or hot water was operated. On inspecting the boiler it was found there were multiple minor leaks from pipe work around the combustion chamber and possible minor leaks from the primary heat exchanger within the combustion chamber. The gas rail attached to the burner is corroded (but not perforated yet) and the bottom of the combustion chamber is extensively rusted to the extent it falls apart when touched. The company have condemned the boiler and disconnected it. The boiler was serviced 12 months ago and they were out to fit a new diverter valve to the boiler about 4 months ago. I cant see how the corrosion could have become so extensive in just 12 months given the steel is galvanised and I have had sheets of mild steel sat outside my house for the last 3 years that have only suffered surface corrosion. I am therefore somewhat concerned at the level of care they have been applying to our boiler service and repair. I have raised this as a concern whilst enquiring about booking a quote for a replacement boiler. The response was simply “We did not fit the boiler so how can you be sure the leaks and corrosion are down to a lack of adequate servicing on our part and not an issue from how the boiler was installed.” I reminded the lady that they had been maintaining the boiler for the last 5-6 years and they only repaired it 4 months ago. At this point she refused to discuss this aspect further and advised me to write to them. Do people think I have any grounds to argue that the company should offer a contribution towards a new boiler or a partial refund of the annual fees (£300 a year) I have been paying them for 5-6 years to keep the boiler working. Alternatively do I need to accept the boiler is dead and pay to have it replaced and hope the new one lasts much longer. All advise gratefully received.

Need some advice on an Insurance issue guys. My son was stopped for a routine breath test which he passed no problem, he was driving a friends car, he has his own fully comp insurance for his own vehicle which is part of a multi car family policy we have. However on subsequently checking the small print it appears he was not insured to drive 3rd party on another vehicle, despite the insurer verbally telling us this was ok. As he is still in his 2 year probtion period I am assuming he will get 6 points for this misdemeanor and therefore automatically have his licence revoked?? Anyone got any ideas on how he might avoid this.

Hi, I sar'd Barclaycard for 2 credit cards I had with them and they have sent an inadequate response. I have now sent another letter telling them so but I have a quick question They did tell me in their vague repsonse that I paid PPI on the Visa yet I have a few of the latest statements here and I can see no mention of PPI on the statements so I am assuming that they stopped charging me it at some point? My other question which I know really is in the wrong forum but hoping someone can answer is that I defaulted on the card 2 years ago because they allowed a transaction to go through taking me over my credit limit (my fault for going over but surely they should have declined it!) and for that privelage of them allowing the transaction they charged me a £12 Over Limit fee. Since that charge I had to pay more to cover the minimum payment and I simply didn't have it that month so the following month they added more charges £12 O/L fee (because previous charges had taken me over my limit again) and £12 Late payment fee so although I stopped using card they kept on adding and adding until eventually it had reached £200 in charges before they defaulted and sold to a DCA. Regardless of my begging and pleading they wouldn't budge. I'm now paying the DCA (Lowells) £1 per month (although my Mum did offer to pay the balance in full less the £200 charges in full and final settlement but they declined and accepted the £1 per month instead!) Can I reclaim these charges or is the £12 L/P and £12 O/L acceptable now? just thought I'd ask because I'd love to get them back, use it to pay Lowells off then I'm one step closer to being debt free