Energy companies have drawn up a list of pledges aimed at helping customers to shop around for the best deal. Energy UK, which represents the major suppliers, has launched its Energy Switch Guarantee - to make it easier for customers to know how to switch. The switching commitments are: Your supply won't be disrupted. Switching is free. Switching will take no more than 21 days from the date your new provider receives your application. Your new provider won't need to visit your home to complete the switch (unless you agree otherwise). Your new provider arranges the switch, including contacting your current provider. Your new supplier will send you details of your new supply agreement for you to check. You'll have 14 days to change your mind. Your new and current providers will work together to ensure you're not charged twice for the same energy. If there are any problems with the switch, your new provider will contact you as soon as possible and will be responsible for resolving problems. Your current provider will send you your final bill no later than six weeks after the switch. If your current provider owes you money, it will refund you no later than 14 days after sending you the final bill. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36501605

Hi, I'm looking for general advice and a heads up on what the outcome might be of my issues with nPower, based on the experience of people who know better! I've lived in my current (rented) property for almost 4 years in that time I've lived with 5 different flatmates; flatmate A from August 2013 to March 2014; flatmate B from March 2014 to September 2014; flatmate C from September 2014 to March 2015; flatmate D from March 2015 to February 2016 and flatmate E has been with me since February (2016). The gas/electric bills have always been in my flatmate's name and we'd been with nPower for both gas and electricity up 'til March 2015 when we tried to switch. The electricity switch went fine, but we were told that nPower were objecting to the gas account move. I phoned nPower and asked what was going on, knowing that flatmate D had submitted a final meter reading before moving out. nPower told me that they did not supply gas to the property and could not find any gas account linked to my address. They recommended I phoned the National Grid to find out who was supplying me, which I did and they too said it seemed that nobody was supplying me (which was odd because I was getting gas). I checked again with nPower who insisted it was not them and was unable to make any progress. We received no gas bills up until October 2015, when I received 13 months' worth of estimated gas bills from nPower, totalling more than £500, along with a letter 'welcoming' me to nPower. This was all in my name, for the first time, when I logged into the account online, there was a new account for me, as well as the old account which would have been in flatmate D's name both attributed to me. I made an initial payment of £155.32, knowing that we were liable for some of the money and set about speaking to nPower to clarify what was going on and to get accurate bills. Within a month of this, nPower has passed my details on Richburns debt collection agency who sent me a letter stating their intention to seek a warrant to enter my property. At this stage, I'd logged an official complaint to nPower and understood that my account was on hold and as such, the collections process should have been paused. I sent Richburns a letter stating this and highlighting the customer service and billing issues it was well publicised that nPower were guilty of, they replied to tell me that they'd passed the matter back to nPower. Following this, I received a letter from nPower again threatening to seek a warrant and also to place a default on my credit record. At this point (25/01/16) I phoned the customer service team who assured me there was a hold on the account and no further bills would be issued until we understood what was going on and that the threats would not be carried out as there was a complaint logged. After this I received a bill and I made a second phone call, seeking an update (01/02/16), where I was told that there was indeed a hold (until 31/05/16) and the bill shouldn't have been issued, as the matter had been passed to the 'specialist' billing team who could generate an accurate bill. I was told that everything would be investigated and I'd receive an email to confirm everything, and to disregard the bill. No such email materialised and the bill wasn't reversed, as promised. I heard nothing and chased with another phone call on 05/02/16 when I was told that the complaint had been closed on 25/01/16. At this point I discovered nPower had raised 3 different complaint numbers and muddled everything up - the one complaint was closed , that all issues were all consolidated into one. After being given the correct complaint number, I was asked why I was disputing the bill. Prior to this call I'd done some reading and come across the backbilling policy that nPower were signed up to and knew that some of the bill should not have been chased I raised this, and explained that I was seeking an accurate bill as opposed to ridiculous estimates (we had given a meter reading to bring everything up to date 02/02/16). The guy on the phone said as far as he could see, I'd been contacted to say everything had been investigated. This had not happened; no letter, no emails, no missed calls. He went on to say there was an accurate bill which had been recently generated, which I logged into my online account and saw, but I'd had no email to alert me to it before this phone call. At this point the bill had ballooned to £625 with costs from debt collection visits and calls. I again raised the fact that it was not accurate as they needed to remove the 'backbilled' amount and he said they'd investigate to write off that one month. I told him that I wanted to go away and check that this latest bill was indeed accurate, given that I'd only just seen it and that I wanted the charges removed because they should never have passed the account to collections, which he did actually do after the call; crediting that £57.50 to the account. He said he'd get the backbilling team to investigate the outstanding amount and come back to me with an up-to-date bill. During this phone call I said I'd be seeking compensation given their failing to bill me for over a yea r and then seeking 13 months' of bills in one go, as well as their abysmal customer service given that Id had to do so much chasing and been kept so misinformed. The guy said he'd note that I was seeking compensation but warned that I couldn't claim for phone calls/time; just the backbilling and the customer service. He asked if I had an amount in mind and I said I'd wait to see what they offered. I heard nothing from nPower for the next two weeks and having given the compensation some real thought, I sent an email to nPower informing them that I was seeking £400 compensation. The email was as follows: To whom it may concern, On Friday 5th February, having spent 40 minutes on hold, I spent 20 minutes speaking to Sam, one of you customer service advisors, seeking an update on billing issues with my gas account (ref. XYZ). Sam assured me that he'd add a 'miscellaneous credit' to my account to reimburse me for fees relating to debt collection agencies - who should never have been approached. This has now happened. He also said he'd pass my account onto the back-billing team to remove a bill from September 2014, which was only actually billed in October 2015, and that I'd receive a new bill taking this into account. I am still awaiting any update on this, some 15 days later. I also made Sam aware that I would be seeking compensation for the total lack of customer service I'd received and for the fact that I'd been billed 13 months' worth of bills in October 2015, having received nothing for over a year and despite me trying to make payments. Sam asked if I had a figure in mind and I said I would wait to hear from you. Having heard nothing, and having spent time over the past two weeks reflecting on the impact of this saga on me, I am now writing to inform you that I seek £400 total in compensation, for the reasons outlined below. I expect a prompt response outlining what is going on with my account and when and how I should expect to receive compensation from you. Yours faithfully, MY NAME 1. Billing delays Your website states: We will provide compensation to any customer who we incorrectly back billed from July 2010 to 31st December 2015, to a value not less than £100 per customer We will provide compensation to any customer currently affected by late invoice for 12 months or more as at 31st December 2015, to a value not less than £100 per customer I received 13 months' of bills (from September 2014 to October 2015) and an immediate demand for payment in October 2015 having received no bills, and even being told Npower didn't supply my gas, throughout that period. Given that I meet both your criteria for redress, I am seeking compensation from Npower for billing delays. TOTAL SOUGHT FOR BILLING DELAYS: £100 2. General customer service My issue was not resolved within 10 working days as per your complaints policy [here I included a link to their complaints policy page] to-date it has actually taken more than 90 days since first contact and I have not been informed of progress throughout; rather I’ve sent 2 letters, countless emails and made 3 phone calls (spending more than an hour on hold) to chase updates and unfulfilled promises Such chaos has there been around my account, that even when I've tried to make payments in the past year, I was told I was not on your system and had no gas account with you; I was not receiving bills and it was impossible to make any payment given there being no account according to your team You state [here I included a link to their page which details what they're doing as of the latest December 2015 issue] We will identify and repay any customer who we incorrectly back billed from July 2010 to 31st December 2015 and yet I had to point this issue out to you; you did not identify any issues with my account until I raised the back-bill in my phone call with Sam on 05/02/2016 - in fact you were still seeking payment for the out-of-date bill at that point, contravening the Energy UK guidelines which you signed up to You raised multiple complaints (X, Y and Z) and made no contact to let me know anything had been resolved (even if it your ‘resolution’ was just consolidating two complaints into one), leading to total confusion and delaying communication with customer services about my issues A pitiful level of care and attention has been given to my communications as is evident in your reply dated 20/01/2016 , when the copying and pasting of my email was blatant (you failed to replace ‘my’ with ‘your’) and you mis-spelled basic information such as the address [i copied and highlighted the errors here] All of the above suggests my issues have been handled with nowhere near the level of care and importance they should have been, especially given your repeated promises to the Ombudsman that you will handle and resolve complaints more effectively. TOTAL SOUGHT FOR ABYSMAL CUSTOMER SERVICE: £150 3. Inconvenience and stress Such was the stress of this episode, and particularly the threat of entry to my property from Richburns (acting on Npower’s behalf) to seek a disputed debt, I spent several months taking high value items including a MacBook computer and family heirlooms including jewellery to work everyday to avoid them being taken away in my absence I have experienced serious anxiety, triggering asthma which I have not suffered from since childhood, which has massively impacted by wellbeing and quality of day-to-day life TOTAL SOUGHT FOR INCONVENIENCE AND STRESS: £50 4. Failure to uphold the Data Protection Act and unnecessarily passing my details into Richburns Debt Collection agency The Data Protection Act of 1998 states that: Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date In passing inaccurate data on me on to Richburns and wrongly seeking payment for a disputed debt, I believe you contravened this act and risked damage to my reputation I am aware that following intervention by The Guardian's Consumer Champions, [here I inserted a link to a Guardian Consumer Champion's article] you previously awarded £100 in compensation to a customer who wrongfully received a visit from a debt collection agency acting on your instruction and I expect the same in this instance TOTAL SOUGHT FOR MISHANDLING OF DATA: £100 TOTAL SOUGHT FOR ALL OF THE ABOVE: £400.​ The week after this, I logged into my online account and saw lots of 'transfers' and 'reversed bills' applied, making my balance £0. I submitted a meter reading and it became approx. £19. As expected, nPower failed to reply to my email within the 7 working days they state they will. I received a voicemail from a different customer service team member on 01/03/16 asking me to call back, which I did today, speaking to someone who had no idea what was going on. He informed me that the backbilling team had sent the query back to them because they weren't sure which account the questions were around; but I only have one (gas) account with nPower! He agreed this was odd but explained that they wanted to just credit the account with £60 to save the backbilling team investigating, but hadn't done so yet because of the 'goodwill gesture' of £400 that I was seeking. He explained he could do the £60 reversal for the backbilling and give me a goodwill gesture of £30, to which my response was 'Are you joking?!'. He claimed it was a reasonable amount. I told him that the nPower website states that in response to the latest (December 2015) issues with the Ombudsman, any customer still affected by backbilling would receive no less than £100 in compensation, and he told me he wasn't aware of it but could offer £40 to make it £100. I told him this would not do, because the backbilling is seperate to the compensation; as I understand it they CANNOT charge me for that month that they billed me for some 13 months later. Any compensation I seek should be seperate to this. I also highlighted the issues I'd experienced (he hadn't read the LONG email i sent) and explained why I was seeking £400; it not being some random amount I'd plucked out of thin air. He said he'd log that I wouldn't accept the £40 and that now the matter would be passed on to Stage 2 for the complaint to be reviewed and I stressed that they need to look at my email again. As I understand it, the bill is going back to the backilling team to figure out what needs to be written off and I have to wait to hear regarding my complaint. I also asked him why my account went back to £0 and he said it was because they'd credited payments from old accounts to the new account so it was up to date. I presume he refers to payments flatmate C and/or D made before they stopped billing us. Is it not ridiculous that they've just figured out we might not even owe them anything!? I'm still not clear whether we do or don't, because billing is still on hold given the lock from the complaint. I'm utterly exhausted with all this. All I want is some fair compensation, and the mess to be resolved so that I can switch suppliers. As I understand it, there's every chance that Stage 2 will involve another laughable offer and then it'll likely go to deadlock and I'll need to complain to the Ombudsman. I guess I'm looking for advice - have I done everything I need to? What else can I do at this point? Also should I expect to have to go to the Ombudsman? Any help very much appreciated. Thank you!

Hi a week before xmas 2012 my mom was diagnosed with cancer and within 12 weeks she had died,leading up to her death we had discussions and she told me she had left her house to be divided between myself,my brother and my sister. When we finally sold her house in December 2013 my share was £34,060,the money was put in an executors account,myself and my brother being executors. The money was never released to me by my brother as my mom had said in the family discussions that I had to do her and my dad proud (also deceased) and inprove my life and buy my house and get off benefits which I promised I would. At the time I was claiming housing benefit and council tax support and working 16 hours a week I never declared my inheritance as it was never released to me, August this year I bought my house for £34,030 from the council I would have bought it earlier but I had a serious problem with my roof(it was raining in my house ) it took the council a year to fix (cowboys) I have now received a letter telling me I have an interview under caution,it can be proven by bank statements that I have never had any money released to me but I now feel at a lose as I feel as though I am being accused of fraud by not declaring a change of circumstance but I didn't have one, worse still I feel as though I have let my mom down and I have relived my moms death all over again .Can anybody please give me some advice did go to cab,not much help. Paid a lawyer in London £245 turned out to be a [problem],just wanted more money,sacked them!! thanks kathy

Well, the revelation that British airman are active with American forces bombing targets in Syria despite the UK commons vote against this, and Cameron saying 'he gets it' is a real eye opener for me. My recent softening of opposition to the Tory 'ethos' and suitability to govern a democracy has taken a major nose dive down below where it was before. Whats your views? http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jul/17/mps-demand-commons-statement-over-uk-military-action-in-syria That UK forces are embedded with other troops is simply not an excuse. Many forces have other countries forces embedded, but they ARE NOT sent on duties which there own Governments have NOT APPROVED.

Hi, I'm new here and hoping for some help. I have been dealing with a certain technology company (don't want to name them at this point) regarding a TV problem I have had for months. It came to a point where I was receiving so much confusing/differing information that I decided to write to Head Office to get my issue resolved (faulty TV). The next day after sending the letter, I received a call from their consumer relations group apologizing for all my trouble and they told me they will definitely be sending me a replacement - they used the word definitely at this point and said the replacement was confirmed by head office. They told me that they just need to see whether I would get the replacement before pick up of my current TV, at the same time etc. Next day I was called by another person, apologised to and told that the TV has to go to an assessment centre first as they didn't realize it hadn't so far (even though this was clear in my complaint letter and all communication with them thus far) before applying the appropriate remedy. I was incensed, because this was a classic example of the type of confusing information i've been given so far. There are many reasons it hasn't gone to an assessment centre so far, but my question is, was the original agent's promise/agreement binding? They told me in no uncertain terms that I would be getting a replacement and it was already approved by head office. I am seeking a recording of the conversation at the moment. Thanks for any help.

DFS v me (won). STAND UP TO THEM Hi all, I order a chair from DFS in November 2014 and paid a deposit of £100.00. DFS promise to delivery my chair for the christmas period. They failed to deliver the chair and informed me that the chair will not be ready till around the end of feb. 2015. i made a complaint to the store and they refused my cancellation and my refund of the £100.00 deposit. I wrote a final email/letter to the manager of the store and to the head office and gave them 14days to refund the deposit if not i would sue them in the local court. I also enclose in the email information about Unfair trading practices – buying from a trader and make them aware of this new rules. Today i received email from DFS now agreeing to refund my deposit after reading the new rules for UUnfair trading practices – buying from a trader . I have attached letter from DFS for viewers see and take note. Dear manager Regarding my complaint . Below, i have attached information for your attention. Please read carefully and take note. Unfair trading practices – buying from a trader If a trader misleads you or behaves in an aggressive way you can report them to Trading Standards, who may decide to take action against the trader. From 1 October 2014, you may also be able to unwind (undo) the contract and get some or all of your money back. This page tells you what action you can take when buying from a trader who misleads you or acts aggressively, and how much you may be able to get back What action you can take If you bought something, on or after 1 October 2014, from a trader who acted unfairly when dealing with you, you may be able to: unwind the sale and get a full refund or have a discount, and get compensation for your loss or distress. You may be able to do this where the trader’s practices or behaviour are: misleading or aggressive, and the trader’s actions played a significant part in your decision to buy from them. This applies to most goods and services, including utility contracts, door-to-door sales, holidays and holiday lets. It does not apply to financial services the sale of land or social housing credit, unless it is linked to the purchase of goods and services. When can you unwind the contract? You can unwind, or undo, the contract if: you do so within 90 days, and you have not fully consumed whatever you bought, and you have not already asked for and had a discount. You do not need to show any loss or that the trader acted dishonestly or negligently. How to unwind the contract You must clearly tell the trader that you are rejecting what you have bought by saying or doing something to demonstrate this. For example, write to the trader and say that you want your money back because you were misled into buying the item or because the trader harassed you. What happens when you unwind the contract? When you unwind a contract, the contract will end and you should receive a full refund. This should happen, even when you have used the goods or service for a while. If you have been supplied with any goods, you must make them available for collection by the trader when you unwind the contract. Continuous supply contracts If your contract is for the continuous or regular supply of a product, for example, electricity or broadband services, and you have used it for more than one month, you will have to pay the market price for what has been used. This will be deducted from the refund. However, if the trader’s behaviour is particularly bad and its effect on you severe, you will still be entitled to a full refund. When can you get a discount? You will be able to have a discount instead of unwinding the contract if: the product cannot be rejected, for example, a service contract which has been fully carried out, goods which have been completely consumed or digital content which has been fully downloaded, or the 90 day period has passed, or you do not want to unwind the contract, for example, because you want to keep the goods or carry on with the service contract. You do not need to show any loss or that the trader acted dishonestly or negligently. If you have a discount instead of unwinding the contract, the contract will continue but your discount can apply to what you have already paid and also any future payments. How is the discount calculated? If you paid £5,000 or less If you paid £5,000 or less, the percentage discount depends on: what the trader did to mislead you or behave aggressively, and how badly it affected you, and how long ago it happened. The amount of discount you can claim, depends on how seriously you were misled or harassed by the trader: 25% discount – more than minor. For example, the trader misleads you about the delivery date for a product 50% discount – significant. For example, a business misleads you about the health benefits of a product 75% - serious. For example, a salesman visits your home and greatly exaggerates how effective double glazing would be in reducing your energy bills and refuses to leave until you sign an order form 100% - very serious. For example, a salesman visits your home and bullies you, as a vulnerable consumer, into signing a contract for work you do not want and misrepresents that it was required by local council regulations. If you paid over £5,000 If you paid more than £5,000, the set discounts may not apply. If there is clear evidence that the market price was less than what you paid when you made the contract, then the discount is the difference between the two prices. For example, if you bought a car, which you later found out had been clocked, Glasses’ Guide could be used to check the market price of the car with its true mileage when you bought it. Compensation As well as unwinding the sale or having a discount, you might be able to claim some compensation from the trader too. You will need to show that the trader’s behaviour means you have suffered any of the following: financial loss, which was reasonably foreseeable alarm or distress physical discomfort or inconvenience . If the trader can show that they took all reasonable care to avoid misleading or harassing you, they will not have to pay any compensation. But they will still have to unwind the sale or give you a discount. ANSWER FROM DFS TODAY Dear Mr xxxxxx, I am happy to say that we have managed to cancel your order with Furnico; the manufacturer of the chair you ordered. Therefore we will be able to refund your deposit in full as we will not have to sell the chair from the shop floor. From your reaction I am in no doubt that there has been some confusion about the delivery time of the furniture you ordered and that your understanding of the time scale for delivery was different from what DFS could provide. I am very sorry we could not meet your expectations on this occasion. I do not feel that your sales person ...... has used "misleading information" or "unfair trading practices". I do feel you were of a genuine belief that your chair would arrive just after new year. We do strive to deliver clear and jargon free information to our customers so I will be conducting a review of the message our sales team give when customers buy goods from DFS ...... I tried to call both numbers we have for you but was unable to get through. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me on 01463 701290. Yours sincerely, xxxx General Manager DFS Inverness.

Apologies… I’ve re-started this as a new thread as the previous one was started by someone else and was becoming more involved, missing bits and out of chronological order. That, combined with the fact that ‘I confuse very easily’, made it seem a good idea! Feb 2007 GE Bank and Paypal credit card account opened…. Two years approx... Later Assigned to Santander Card withdrawn from the market by Santander & Paypal early in 2014 - no replacement was ever provided although initially proposed. Interest rates increased (again) and interest applied monthly to the account balance. Statement always showing the amount available to spend that month. I make payments to pay off the balance of the account (under the agreed credit limit) every month as if it was an active credit card account. I did ask Santander cards about this and they told me that there will be no new credit card issued and that I have to continue to make monthly payments to clear the balance - interest would continue to be applied to the balance on a monthly basis and the terms of the original contract still apply. The only difference being that I could not benefit from using the £2000 + and growing available to spend balance. They confirmed the Paypal card had now been withdrawn and they had no plans to issue another in its place and without a card the account could not be used. Just to clarify - I don’t need or want to use the account I diligently pay, assuming Santander must know what they’re talking about – until I happen upon a thread on the forum of a similar nature. I comment on the thread and on the advice given, request a CCA. CCA duly arrived with a completely different format contract; nevertheless I assume it’s put together, which I understand is legal. However, there is no signature. Just about to send a SAR request to Newday, as advised, and examine the contract a little further. Now I’m not a happy bunny!!!! There is no signature, my address (which is not my current one) is not on the contract, the word ‘variable’, as in rate, is missing and the interest rate stated doesn’t match the original! Now Newday have been assigned the account, they have removed years of online statements and tell me they are no ,longer available! Anything I can do – I’m still paying. In 2013-2014 it cost £1,100 to pay off £900 approx. including late payment penalties (I will check those figures again) Thanks, as always, for your help and advice B

Note, I am unable to post links as I do not have more than 10 posts. I request site admin if they can edit my post to include a link. legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/2705/made This link: legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/2705/made states the following: I contacted Brighthouse on behalf of a friend who purchased a TV for around £800, however, the equivalent product from another high street retailer is just £329.00 Having spoke with the store staff, the store manager and 3 people within Brighthouse head office, it seems that they are unwilling to match this price. They rely on the fact of their store policy which says that the product must be identical.... BUT!!!! This is impossible since I have been told by Brighthouse staff that 'Baird' is exclusive to Brighthouse, essentially it is Brighthouse own brand. I believe that my friend is entitled to this reduction as per their price promise and using The Consumer Protection (Code of Practice for Traders on Price Indications) Approval Order 2005, where it states: 1.5.2. Do not make statements like “if you can buy this product elsewhere for less, we will refund the difference” about your “own brand” products which other traders do not stock, unless your offer will also apply to other traders' equivalent goods. If there are any conditions attached to the offer (eg it only applies to goods on sale in the same town or excluding Internet sales) you should show them clearly and prominently, with the statement. Brighthouse refuse to reduce the price despite being informed of the above. There is a great difference between the prices of 'Baird' and equivalent products from other retailers. If anyone can help with this or provide guidance as to what to do next, please let me know! It seems that the only way I can get Brighthouse to acknowledge consumer rights would be to take this matter to court.

Tesco has launched a new price comparison and voucher scheme to ensure customers are automatically compensated if they could have shopped at a rival for less. The new 'Price Promise' will compare the overall cost of a basket of shopping against the same or equivalent products sold by Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons. If the products could have been bought elsewhere for less, Tesco will automatically issue a voucher at the till for the difference in price, up to a maximum of £10. Tesco: Newly launched 'Price Promise' which will compare both branded and Tesco's own-brand products to those of its rivals. If it finds they would have been cheaper elsewhere will refund the difference to customers up to a value of £10 with an immediate voucher to spend in store. To qualify, customers must purchase a basket containing a minimum of 10 different products, at least one of which is comparable. Asda: The 'Price Guarantee' scheme offers to refund customers if an independent price comparison website does not show they are at least 10 per cent cheaper than their rivals. Customers must buy at least eight different items, one of which must be comparable with Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Waitrose. Customers must check online to see if they are eligible for a voucher. Sainsbury's: The 'Brand Match' scheme promises to refund the difference on branded products to customers if its own database finds another supermarket sells the same product for less. Customers must spend £20 or more to qualify, and buy at least one branded product. Prices are compared with Asda and Tesco. Morrisons: The 'Price Crunch' campaign focuses popular products that are typically part of the shopping basket. It 'crunches' those prices by up to 50 per cent, sometimes more. It also focuses on reducing the prices of bulk items around pay day when families want to stock up for the month. Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2291439/Tesco-offers-vouchers-worth-10-customers-shopped-rival.html#ixzz2NFt9c2eb

Hi, first post for me, so apologies if I mess something up. I went to wickes in Ealing today to have this Messina tap (sorry can't post links) Product code 410705 on wickes.co.uk website price matched with this toolstation tap Product code 50262 on toolstation.com website The lady at the till said she was calling the store manager. A older lady appeared and said that she was the manager. I tell her about the price match, she looks at the toolstation catalogue and starts laughing at me. I ask what's so funny and she says that they don't price match with postal catalogue. She explains in a patronising tone, like talking to a mentally ill person, that toolstation don't have shops and warehouses, so they don't price match. I point out that at the back of the catalogue she can find the addresses of all the stores, including the one a mile away from where she is standing. She looks at the back of the catalogue and drops silent for a minute or so. Then she looks at their tap (in the box in front of her) and the toolstation catalogue. She says that the two are different. I ask to point out the difference and she says that one is wickes and the other is not. LOL on my part and the entire queue in the store. I explain that of course the toolstation tap is not wickes, but is an "equivalent" product as required by their terms and conditions which I am showing to her on their catalogue. Another long look at the catalogue and the boxed tap. She says that the price is different. Another big laugh. I explain that there would be no need for a price match if the price was the same. She then gets on the phone with toolstation. She writes down all the technical info and puts the phone down. She says: "I got you!" and explaines that the wickes tap requires 0.5 bar pressure or above, while the toolstation tap requires 0.5 bar minimum working pressure. By this point my eyes have rolled so many times that I feel them at the back of my head. I explain to her that the two concepts are the same, but she says that because the description is not identical they cannot price match it. I point out that the goods descriptions might be copyrighted and therefore not identical, but they have the same meaning. She says no. At this point I ask to speak to someone above her and she says that she will get the manager. "You said you were the manager" I say, and she says that she is only a cashier and she is not trained on technical stuff. She runs away. 10 minutes later she comes back and says that the manager said no, no way we are price matching that. The price is too different so the taps must be different. As the manager cannot be bothered to come to the front desk (probably having a nap), I call the head office. A woman called Deena hears (but not listens to) my reasons and calls the store. She speaks to the older woman for a couple of minutes and then the phone is passed to me. This Deena says that the taps are completely different in design, material, specification and they don't even look similar, so they will not price match and that is it. I leave the store with my list which would have made them a couple of hundred pounds. I go to toolstation and the chap in there tells me that the tap is the same one they sell in wickes, just in a different box as they are all sourced through travis perkins group (I didn't know this). If they have a price promise, they should honour it, not try to find any excuse to not apply their own terms and conditions. I have always been appalled at the extremely poor attitude of wickes workers compared with all other diy stores, but this is the worst I have seen and for once it affected me as I had to get in heavy traffic to get to toolstation. Dirty uniforms, shabby looks, unwashed hair, patronising and careless attitude, one person at the till and 6 outside smoking (BTW I saw this today) etc. etc. it's all too familiar with wickes. I will take my business elsewhere, but they don't care if they lose 4-5 grand a year (I'm a handyman). What do you think about this price promise? Should it be reported to trading standard or am I being unreasonable and the two taps are really completely different? Thanks for the replies

Hello, Currys who offer a price promise whereby they will not only match the price but beat it by 10% of the difference. I am posting the following legislation within this section of the forum in the hope that it will help any Currys customer who have purchased 'own brand' products. Consumer law: www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/2705/made states the following: 1.5.2. Do not make statements like “if you can buy this product elsewhere for less, we will refund the difference” about your “own brand” products which other traders do not stock, unless your offer will also apply to other traders' equivalent goods. If there are any conditions attached to the offer (eg it only applies to goods on sale in the same town or excluding Internet sales) you should show them clearly and prominently, with the statement. I hope that the above helps you save some £££s if you have purchased or about to purchase an own brand product. Any success or failure in using this law with Currys, please post to this thread as it would be interesting to see if Currys would abide by this law - especially as Currys terms re price promise states that it must be identical! (The law states equivalent, NOT identical) Another retailer has failed to abide by this law and it seems I have to take Court action against them. After I have done this, I will be in a position to help others concerning the price promise if needed.

Hello, This is posted in another section specific to the retailer concerned. I am also posting it here (general) as I hope that my post will help others as well as others helping this post etc etc......... OK, i am not able to post links, so need to copy and paste: This link:legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2005/2705/made states the following: I have quoted the above to the retailer concerned who have stated they are unable to match the price of equivalent goods as it is not identical to their own brand products. If anyone can help further with this, it would be appreciated! Hopefully, this thread will also help others who have purchased something under the illusion there is a price promise, only to find out that the price promise does not apply since the retailer has their own brand goods making it impossible for the consumer to find an identical product with another retailer. As far as I can see, the legislation makes it possible for consumers who have purchased a stores "own brand" product with a price promise to then seek an equivalent product with same specification, albeit a different manufacturer. Any help or guidance in this would be appreciated! After quoting the above law to the retailer, I was told that it is not their store policy...

My Mum bought a year old vectra two years ago and we have just noticed she was sold a warranty promise....i have asked the main dealer (perrys) what it is and they've gone all shy (it cost £500)...it was for one years cover but we never received any pack and they are intimating that it was a promise to carry out work under factory warranty Can anyone enlighten me or is it as it seems...mums been ripped off ???.....next step is customer complaints me think thanks in advance

My complaint is simple. I needed a gym (York Heritage G102 Multi gym order: 35537822) delivered to my flat on the 3rd floor of a lift-less building and I needed to be called to organise a day, so I could be available. Having never used Tesco before I thought it would a good idea before purchasing to call and confirm if they could meet my delivery requirements. I imagined that would be enough, my gran used to tell me you can never be too careful. Tesco assured me that there would be no problem and that when I got to the order page I would be able to specify my requirements. Great, onwards to my gym. I made the plunge and ordered it. When I got to the delivery specification page I discovered a 50 character long field to specify delivery instructions. Bit short but never mind years of acclimatising to txt messaging leaves me more than up to the task. What do I type ‘Flat H, 3rd floor, no lift, call to set day’. Being a realistic lad though, and mindful of my gran whispering in my ear, I think perhaps just to be sure I should call Tesco to check that all will be well. Which I duly do, hoorah! They expect no problem and I await eagerly the call to deliver my gym. ... 4 days later imagine my surprise to arrive home and on the ground floor of my building my gym, no call and a very very far away from the 3rd floor. Let me tell you a secret....gyms when flat packed into a single box are quite heavy and reasonably unwieldy. Never mind I am persistent man and job got done, although I cursed a bit, sorry gran. You can expect that I called Tesco and had a word with them about their failure to deliver on their promise, failure to collect a suitable signature and failure to call me to organise delivery. I have been have assured though that Tesco has no responsibility and that it is the responsibility of the third party provider or courier company but certainly not Tesco’s responsibility. Interestingly, after I lost my marbles, the Tesco representative asked what I expected from them. To be honest I have no idea, perhaps responsibility or maybe an apology but certainly not indignation that I should even think to complain. I have asked Tesco to remove me from their database and have withdrawn any permission to hold any of my data, which they have agreed to. What a load of twaddle, they couldn’t delete me from their database if the Messaih came again. Still and all when I get a call or email from them offering some multicoloured pants I will at least have the satisfaction of losing my marbles all over again. Don’t shop with Tesco, they think are a bank and are too big to be concerned with the little people. I wonder what Occado is like? I hear great things about them, I think I shall give them a try. Rest assured I will be making a meal of this experience for as long as I can keep people attention. (My only wish is that I thought to check the blogs first) Cheers