Hi, I'm really not sure how to fix my problem with Talk Talk and am reaching out to people here in the hope you might have a few ideas. I recently switched to Talk Talk after I was promised a "seamless" switch and no interruption to the broadband service in my house. I specifically asked this question during the sales process and was assured this would be the case. An engineer visited my house 8 days ago and since then the internet hasn't worked. I have repeatedly contacted Talk Talk and they have said (every day for the last 8 days) that the service will be restored in 3 to 5 days. I'm obviously deeply unhappy about this and have asked for my complaint to be escalated. Unfortunately, however, this has just provided them with a get-out-of-jail-free card because now, every time I call, they simply say the issue is being attended to by senior management and they can't interfere in that process. It is impossible (I've tried repeatedly) to be connected to this so-called senior management. I've now discovered that I'm still paying the previous internet provider (PlusNet) even though their service hasn't worked since the Talk Talk engineer visited my house. I honestly have no idea what to do now. I simply can't live without internet access and the last week has seen me camped out in coffee shops and similar. I'm considering buying a MiFi device but really don't want to enter into a long-term contract for something that Talk Talk promised to provide over a week ago. Any ideas will be gratefully received.

This is the situation. We were mis-sold an EQUITY RELEASE MORTGAGE by a broker. The Broker has paid us compensation but we have a short fall on paying off the mortgage. This is our only asset we have and like any other family we wanted to leave it to our children. My daughter is selling her home to raise as much money as possible, but we still have a shortfall. We are trapped in this high rate rolled up interest only mortgage which is increasing by a £1000 per month and by the time we die, there will be nothing left. Nationwide are saying it is nothing to 'to do with them and that we can stay in our home until we die'. The Nationwide have not offered any help whatsoever. We asked if the Nationwide could freeze the interest whilst our daughters home is being sold and they refused (the mortgage has increased by a further £12k since we started communicating. We have offered a reduced lump sum payment to clear the mortgage and the Nationwide refused. The Nationwide still would have had a very healthy profit for its members, easily above regular interest rates In error Nationwide sent us 'confidential emails', which were utterly shocking and mocked our children. The emails also included confidential and sensitive information/details about other clients who had been mis-sold the same product!! We wrote back to Nationwide informing them of the emails and pointed out 'why should Nationwide members benefit from an expensive product that had proven mis-sold' and that they are exploiting our unfortunate situation. The response from Nationwide was very negative and wanted to give us £350 for the distress caused by the emails and for us to return them to them in a pre-paid envelope, and again no offers of any help to resolve our situation. We are utterly disgusted at their cold attitude by their Members Relations Manager and lack of morals on what is reported as a 'bank that is trusted and respected by people'. Please can anyone advise is there anything we can do. We can’t seek help from the Omsbudsman as this the mis-selling took place prior to 2004.

I am a victim of Scottish Power since I moved into this property in Dec 2013. First I was stuck with that horrible prepayment meter, which to me is as backwards as can get, as I find it just ridiculous having to run to the shops to buy more electricity, also costing times and times more than it would do with normal meters. after several arguments with Scottish Power, they finally agreed to change my meter to a normal one, charging me £50 for changing it, and telling me that yes, after the swap I would be able to change my supplier as well. The meter was changed at the end of January, and now a month later I am still no closer to changing my supplier, as it turns out Scottish power has changed one of the useless meters to pretty much another useless one.... I have been in contact with a few other suppliers, and they say that this 3 rate meter SP has installed in my property now is pretty old and hardly any companies would supply for these meters these days.. ..So that was my £50 well spent? I feel completely trapped now and don't know what to do ...it is near enough impossible to contact SP, as they have made it impossible for me to have an online account (again - how backwards can one company get), they have ignored every email I have sent to them, they ignored the letter I sent, last month it cost me £20 extra on my phone bill trying to call them, and asking for a callback took me 3 attempts and about 4 days to actually talk to someone last time.. .also every adviser has so far told me a different story so I find it pretty pointless trying to talk to them now as I cant trust what they say anyway. can anyone please help - tell me how do I get rid of Scottish Power? Or have they actually got a legal right to keep people on their supply like this?

Hi, I’m desperately in need of any advice as I can’t find any help at all. Barclays bank have executed a warrant for possession due to a possession order granted on August 16th 2011 which was dated for 31st Oct 2011. I made every effort to negotiate with Barclays prior to 31st Oct to try and come to some agreement but all offers were rejected. In fact, during one telephone call the person I was speaking to was so condescending and patronising I felt completely humiliated. Our problem is that we are stuck in a fixed rate mortgage until 2017 at an interest rate of 5.24%. The bank took it upon themselves to change our mortgage terms and increase the length of the mortgage and add another 13 years which reduced our payments by less than £200 but almost doubled the length of our mortgage. After many request the bank finally changed the terms back to the original agreed terms, but to date that is the only option that the bank have offered us in terms of finding a solution. In one conversation I asked whether it would be possible to take a break form the fixed rate period for a year and add a year to the term but I was told, quite harshly, that we had signed a contract and that we can’t just chop and change when we felt like it! To rub salt into our wounds when the bank wrote to us advising us that the terms had been changed and that our mortgage had been extended for another 13 year they informed us that “after 30/04/2017 a variable rate, which is 0.95% above base rate (currently 0.50%) to give a current rate of 1.45% will apply to this loan and assuming rates do not change (our) new payment would be £674.42”, our current mortgage payment is £1503.89 a month. I asked the bank if there was any chance that we could take a break from our fixed rate mortgage for a year but they said NO and to date they have not offered any solution to try and help us other than we need to pay the full amount each month plus a bit towards the arrears, which we can not do. We are currently receiving income support and I am in receipt of carers allowance as I am the main carer for my 18 year old step-son who has a rare chromosome disorder, is autistic, and has severe learning difficulties. My 13 year old daughter is also registered as a young carer with Surrey young carers, therefore we are in an extremely vulnerable position. I wrote to Barclays solicitor on 31st Oct as I was extremely concerned that eviction from our home was imminent. I expressed my concern for my family and once again asked if it was possible for a break from our fixed interest for a year. I also told them of my disgust at the way I was treated by one of their employers but to date we have received a reply or even an acknowledgement back from the bank. I did receive a short email from their solicitor’s saying that the file was now closed and my email had been forwarded on to Barclay’s, but that is all. Since August my mum has been kindly paying £800 straight into our Barclays mortgage account and since Jan 24th we have been in receipt of mortgage interest support which pays £496 directly to Barclays. My mum however, has missed two payments as we suffered the devastating news my nan had taken a turn and she would not recover. My mum was understandably distracted for a little while. Unfortunately my nan passed away at the beginning of Feb, and I explained this to the bank on the 9th March but they seemed uninterested, as well informing them they would receive payment within 3 days for £1100. They received payment of £1100 on Monday 12th March. Since December we have not received any correspondence from Barclays bank, not one letter, in fact I only realised last week that we haven’t received any bank statements either since November. When I told Barclays that we hadn’t received any letters from them since late November I was told that letters were sent out and that there must be a problem with royal mail. When I asked if someone could check to see if the letters had definitely been sent, the woman I was talking to replied “I can assure you they were sent” to which my reply was “I can assure you we have not received anything. I was told that the letters would be resent but we still haven’t received anything and that was two weeks ago. We had no idea that the bank were starting action again and we we have no way of knowing how the bank have calculated our arrears. What I find hard to understand is that although we are unable to meet our mortgage repayments at the moment we don’t expect to be in this position for long. My husband has a plot of land that is in the process of getting a change of use certificate, and the decision date for the application is the 26th March. If a certificate of lawful use is awarded then my husband has a contract in place with an asset management company who will attempt to get planning permission to develop the land and sell it to a developer, but whilst planning permission is being sort the asset management company will pay my husband money per month which will mean we will have enough to pay our mortgage The bank are fully aware of the situation with the land but are still going ahead with the warrant for possession. The effect this is having on us on a personal level is becoming extremely hard to cope with. Our family life is extremely difficult on the best of days as my step-son has quite complex behavioural problems that dominate our every waking moment. Having to deal and face the reality that we may be loosing our home is so stressful that it is effecting how we are able to cope with my step-son’s need causing everyone’s stress levels to be raised. The worry is becoming a strain on everyone’s wellbeing that I can’t seem to be able to focus on there being any sort of positive outcome. The thought of loosing our home is unbearable. My step-son will soon be leaving the safe environment of his school and this is a dramatic change for him. He is very anxious about his future and if we were forced to move his anxiety level would become extremely high which is not good for him or us. In order for him to have any chance of adapting and having a successful transition to adult life he needs stability in his home life. Any disruption to his life now could have a detrimental effect on his ability to deal and cope with the already anxious time he is going through. I’m so sorry for such a long winded letter but I thought it best to try and give you as much information as possible and to see if there is any advice you can give me. Thank you in advance,

Hi All I have never used one of these forums before so please bear with me. I have managed to get myself trapped with 5 payday loans - Wonga, Quickquid, Mr Lender, 1Month Loan & Payday Express. My husband lost his job earlier this year and as a "temporary" measure we stupidly took out these loans to make sure all of our priority outgoings were covered, ie. rent, council tax etc. It has got the the stage where I am rolling over each loan which is costing over £700 per month and leaving us very little to live on. All in all I think the amount of debt is around £3000 My credit score has improved slightly since it was very poor last year but it is still not high enough for me to take out a personal loan. I am worried sick at the amount of money we are paying out, especially as we are not actually reducing the debt, just prolonging it. Is anyone else in this situation or has anyone managed to overcome it? I would REALLY appreciate any advice you could give me to escape this payday trap. I am aware that I have been overwhelming stupid in taking out these loans in the first place so please don't criticize me too harshly! I have learned my lesson and hopefully if I can ever get out of this position I will NEVER touch a single payday loan with a barge pole. Any advice/help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated