Hi all Today I had a moment of insanity, wanted to buy some pants for my daughter, thought £5 was a bit pricey for one pair of pants for a baby and added another pair to the hanger, went to the checkout with my other items paid (only for 1 pair of pants as store operative did not realise what I had done) then left the shop. On leaving the shop saw the security guard and a staff member speaking to him who then immediately looked at me - but no one tried to stop me.. I immediately regret what I did and can honestly say it will never happen again. I would happily go back and pay for the item which is only worth £5. I have a history of anxiety and have not stopped panicking since I left the store. Worried the police are going to turn up and arrest me - that I’ll go to jail and my 3 month old baby will be taken away from me.. I can’t believe I was so careless and stupid over £5! Anyway question is - will the above happen? Am I likely to have the police turn up or will I get a letter with a fine in a few weeks if anything is to come of it? I don’t even know if it was just coincidence the staff member was looking at me while I exited. Surely if it was suspected I would have been stopped then and there? I know it was wrong it won’t happen again just looking for advice Many thanks

Good Afternoon everyone, Like many before me, it appears I have run into a few issues dealing with Harlands and CRS. It all started when I tried to cancel my membership with Xercise4Less. Having naively believed they had accepted my cancellation when I filled out a form in my gym, I got a nasty surprise some months later when I found they continued to take £14.99 a month out of my account. I then found a way to cancel online and cancelled my direct debit too to ensure they couldn't take any more money from me. Six months later, and I start getting emails from Harlands and CRS demanding £186 and, while I have no intention of paying and am well aware of their limited powers. I'm unsure what to do next. I have moved house since i took out the gym membership so I'm yet to receive mail or a phone call directly to my house but I'm quite keen to nip the emails in the bud before it gets out of control. I'd be eternally grateful for any help or advice that could be offered on this forum. Kind Regards, Joshua

Hi All, I was hoping to get some advice on the best way to handle a dispute I have with Virgin Media, which is probably something I should have done a long time ago. About a year and a half ago I switched from Virgin to Sky and informed them in writing (as is their policy) but it they deny receiving this letter. I wrote to the most local office to me and addressed it to Customer Services. Two or three months went by and I noticed that Virgin were still charging me by Direct Debit. I canceled it through my bank and called Virgin up, informing them of the situation. This is when they told me they'd not received my letter and considered my cancellation date to be from that time. Their policy is to be informed a month in advance so they told me they're going to charge me for another month. I told them I wasn't going to pay that, we had a little to and fro in writing and over the phone - I told them if they felt they had a case to take me to court. I heard nothing from them since. Over the last few days I have looked into my credit status using Experian (who have been great) and it turns out that this has really damaged my credit rating. Currently it is ranked as "poor" and I can't seem to get credit from anyone. Experian tell me that this is one of the main reasons but there are a few other very old things that they are disputing on my behalf. I made my point clear to Virgin at the time that I didn't feel this was owed and if they felt otherwise, to forward me some kind of legal case. It turns out that they just decided to hurt my credit rating and never contact me again. Am I in the wrong here? I don't want to call Virgin up at this time because I will only be making the same points again and as far as my credit rating goes, seems like they have all the power. There's nothing new I can say to them aside from please stop hurting me. Will I have to bite the bullet on this and make a repayment offer. It's only over £88 but money's a really serious issue for me right now. What do you think? Am I going to have to pay them to improve my credit rating? Any input would really be appreciated.

Ladies and gentlemen, could I ask you a favour? Over in CAG's Benefits Forum, we have a person who is trying to make a claim for Housing Benefit but is meeting resistance from his or her landlord/letting agent in terms of obtaining a copy of the lease. I'm reluctant to actually move the thread, because it is primarily about benefits so it seems more appropriate to leave it where it is. Nonetheless, it seems to me that the poster should be entitled to some sort of written confirmation of their tenancy and the rent due, and the agency seems reluctant to supply the original documents. If anyone has time, could you drop in on this thread and see if you can make any sense of it? It would be most helpful.