I’ve never needed a mobile phone except when travelling up north to see my mum who’s in a care home. Just before Christmas 2014 I got a mobile phone from EE so I could stay in touch with work, etc., while visiting my mum. When I set it up it was clear that it didn’t work. I tried all sorts of things and it still wouldn’t work. But I forgot about it for a few days. When I got back after Christmas I decided to phone EE and tell them that it didn’t work. The problem was that they said I didn’t pass the security questions; as a result I could not speak to anyone. Couldn’t report that my mobile didn’t work! The weeks went on and I made other calls to EE, but was told each time that I had failed the security questions. Meanwhile, of course, I was paying for this non-working phone every month by direct debit (or standing order, I forget which). This went on for month after month, and still I was paying for a service which didn’t work with no way of getting the issue resolved. It was such a small matter (as I never need to use my mobile except at Christmas when I am away with family) it was out of my mind for 99% of the time. Eventually I reasoned that I was going to be paying for this broken thing for years – and they were never going to listen to me because they would always say that I had failed the security questions. I took the only option which was then open to me. I cancelled the monthly payment to EE. Now things actually made sense, and at last I was not paying regularly for something that had never worked. At this point let me be clear about something. I could install apps on the phone and I could use it for playing solitaire and other stuff like that. But I could not do what you are expected to be able to do with a phone, i.e. communicate. EE themselves will be aware, as they would have access to such data, that: Number of phone call I made while in that contract = 0 Number of phone calls I received while in that contract = 0 Number of text messages I sent while in that contract = 0 Number of text messages I received while in that contract = 0 That is the level of service I was getting from my EE mobile phone. In the meantime I had paid over £650 for this nonsense. I phoned EE again. again I was told that I had not passed the security questions. But by this time I was aware that the operator at the other end was reading a large amount of text which had been written on my account, EE was obviously well aware of the issue. Also EE would have been aware of the 0 calls and 0 SMS aspect of my strange account. It’s just that they obviously didn’t give a monkey’s. I asked how I could resolve this. How could I prove my identity? I was told to go to my local EE store with some ID and I would be given a password which I could use in subsequent phone calls to the help centre. I did. I phoned EE with my new password and asked for my money back. I was put on hold for several minutes and then told that the account had been passed to the Collections department as it was in arrears (of course they would have been flagged as in arrears: the only way to stop being mugged every month was to cancel the monthly debit!). (Oh yes, and to add insult to injury, because of the misperception that I was in the wrong EE was allowed to put a black mark against my credit rating. I also had debt collectors writing to me. But I was able to explain to the debt collections agency what had happened and they just dropped the case against me immediately- no excuse with security questions there: I just TALKED to them and they LISTENED! It's what people do.) The person I spoke to in the Collections department acted exactly as Collections people behave and said that I could not have my money back. When I explained that consumer law was on my side he said that I had “failed data protection laws”. I reminded him that data protection laws were there to protect consumers, not corporations who sought to rip consumers off as EE was obviously very keen to do to me. I also said that I wanted EE to delete the black mark that they had put against my credit rating. Characteristically he said that he couldn’t do that either, again, because I had “failed data protection laws”. EE is yet another company who uses data protection laws to their own advantage; to clobber consumers with them! I wonder if anyone else has been treated in this way by EE or another supplier. I’m also wondering how to get my money back – and to clear up my credit rating – from such a bunch of intractable people.

Hello All , I have a problem at work with overtime payments This months wage,i have not been paid any overtime I have spoke to wages department.,who informed me that the Director has told her to not to pay overtime but to add hours worked to my holidays . Can he do this?? He did not speak to me about it No notice -nothing ! In the 3 years that i have worked here never had any problems . The Company is Global having sites all over the world ,and has a yearly -turnover of £200 Million ++ Thank you Evo123

Hi , I am posting on behalf of a friend , they have been in a IVA, next year it comes to a ends after 8 years, the company they are with have send that when it comes to a end they will have to take out a loan to pay off out standing amount left over, I thought if you went in a IVA after you have been discharged all your debts where write off , the original time for the IVA was 5 years, but after he split with is partner he was left with the mortgage and bills to pay on his own so they extended the IVA , also is ex partner has made him put the house up for sale her name is still on the mortgage. The company dealing when the IVA is X Debt.

I came from EU to London in November last year, 2015 and i was working as self employed for 1.5 months in that year. I was waiter through an agency working for minimal wage, now i am employed already but I am concerned about those several weeks that i worked as self employed last year, i haven't submitted any documents about the salaries i received and i don't know if i should and what documents i need to have, i don't have all of my pay slips either. Today I was in the agency that i worked for to ask these questions, and they told me not to worry about that, since I worked for a short period and for little money. I haven't received any letters from HMRC either so what do you suggest i should do ?

A 2-yr probation period is unheard of. Additionally all employees have an entitlement of sickness absence accounted for. I do not believe a two-week sickness absence in Oct 2015 and a further 2-week sickness absence in March 2016 can lead to a dismissal. They can and may discipline you for absence periods. You say you had no contact from your employer? Did you not contact them advising them you would be off sick? Employers have a duty of care so if you are sick they can insist you attend an independent doctor for assessment. No biggie if your genuinely off sick and is normal practice from employers. You should only be contacted in a formal professional manner. Its unusual that you have been unable to contact the attendance manager. Will your employer believe you tried on four occasions but could not speak to anyone. You are responsible for keeping your employer up to date, failure to do so can result in dismissal. You do not need to attend the workplace for a site visit, you can have staff visit you at home or in a close location. Its a hope you are well meeting. Its unlikely they would withhold a bonus payment but if from the employers perspective it appears you have made no effort in keeping them informed of your health issues they may be able to give you problems, warnings etc. I do not think they would have the right grounds to terminate your employment. Good luck. If I was you I would be at the workplace Monday morning demanding to see the attendance manager to resolve and put your mind at rest. But that's just me buddy

Hi Looking for some advice i returned to work on Friday 16th October after 2 weeks of paternity leave and every day from then to now i have been working over 14 - 15 hours a day due to poor management skills, lack of communication between other engineers and contruction issues on the job, your being told to wait for this person they will be this long you're waiting over an hour for them to do the job then 1 hour and 30 minutes for your job which you cant start until they have carried out their job im on pay per job and being told to wait around or get disciplined Last night after another 14 hour day i was on my way home joining the motorway from the sliproad completely my fault which ive already admitted to my company i was not concentrating was looking to the right to see if any cars was coming from the round about and didnt see a ford mondeo in front of me went right into the back of her, my van which belongs to the company i work for is a write off and her car is being repaired, I phoned my company to explain which they have been very reasonable about up to now been told ill have to pay the £1000 excess for the van which will be taken by installments on a monthly basis surely the excess cant be £1000 wasnt a bad accident everyone was ok apart from my back throbs from time to time since the crash People keep telling me to put a claim in but im not sure if you can when the accident is your fault need some advice please many thanks My misses is blaming the hours they are making me work and not having enough sleep

Hi all Thanks for taking the time to look at my question. As stated in the title I've requested my holiday allowance from my employer and have received a response stating my allowance so far this year is 6 hours a week as per my contracted hours. I work on average 25 - 30 hours a week shift work and have done for the entire year and previous years too. So far this year I have been paid for 544.5 hours of work Here is quoted from my contract under the headline "holidays" "In each holiday year you are entitled to 5.6 weeks paid holiday pro rata to your working week ( the holiday year runs from 1st April to 31st March)" The rest of the information under the same heading is unrelated to my issue ( notice period, can't carry over to the next year etc) I've worked for this company on and off for the last 8 years but this current contract was signed on the 11th of June 2012 Last year I had a similar issue trying to get holiday pay out of them and ended up getting my previous 8 weeks average for the 2 weeks I requested. This year they are using the excuse that last year they couldn't find my contract but now they have, my holiday entitlement is 16 hours based on the 6 hour contract x 5.6 weeks pro rata. What advice can you give me to help me fight for my right for fair holiday pay, please provide references where you can. Thanks again for looking and for your responses Jez

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-29452980 This sounds a very good article but fails to tell you how to go about getting it

Post Deleted Speaking with HR about the issue on Monday. Thanks for the comments

My lad graduated smack in the middle of the recession and rather than going on the dole has been supporting himself by working in various hotels and inns in very low paid jobs. He is rather too willing to please and not ever so good at asserting himself, as a consequence he has always co-operated with requests to work extra hours and has come in at very short notice for late shifts. He has been working 70 hours a week for the last 22 months or so for his current employer. In January his manager told him he would be promoted and go onto the 'staff' of course no contract materialised and nothing was put in writing, but he worked the hours for effectively no pay. He has now exhausted all forms of 'problem resolution' and has been told no pay and no promotion. He is absolutely gutted, but not having 2 years service cannot go to tribunal for constructive dismissal. Neither is he in a union. What are his options? could he file a claim for the money he should have been paid in the magistrates court?

FOS Ombudsman upheld a very tricky complaint against Manchester Building Society, resulting in a liability of £37,000 being discharged and compensation of £1,000 being awarded. The adjudicator had turned it down, but the Ombudsman disagreed with that decision. It did take 12 months and 200 pages of evidence though!! My mum acted as guarantor for my son's first mortgage. Some years later it was changed from repayment to interest only (therefore bearing different risks and a different financial product) then later again to a buy to let mortgage. at no time was my mum advised by the Building Society of the change of product and risk, nor given the opportunity to object to the changes. When the house was repossessed (the full payment for the three months arrears having been returned!!! by the BS as my son was querying the arrears charges) It was deemed unreasonable of the BS to send a letter threatening then to repossess my mum's house unless she paid £37,000 immediately. This was the first time in a year of difficulties with the account that they had contacted her. It was adjudged that, since they knew she was his grandmother, they should have made sure that she not only took legal advice before agreeing to be a guarantor (which she did), but that the solicitor was given sufficient information about my grandson's credit status to be able to give informed advice(which he was not). Well worth the effort - but the extended worry did make my 77yr old mum very unwell.

Hello All, I have a little predicament at the moment. I did a house move for a friend a few weeksago with a couple of guys I use on a sub-contract basis. Long and short of it is they are refusing topay me because of the problems they had thereafter. The points are: · My quoted price for the move was £1280 over 3days (Saturday to Monday) with 3 men working (including myself). The old house is a large detached 4 bedroomhouse with a large out building. Bothbuildings are crammed with stuff. She isa chronic hoarder and never throws anything away. There are my friends andtheir 5 children living there. They aremoving to an enormous 8 bedroom house 6.5 miles away. · The new house is down a narrow driveway with lowover hanging trees, therefore a 7.5t lorry was out of the question, so a Lutonvan was used instead, but it was still a tight space. · 2 days before the move, my friend tried tocancel the two guys I use in favour of her teenage nephew (who is mega lazy andonly managed the first day). · I send an email to her stating that 1, I havebooked them in for the move and 2, there is no way I am doing the job withoutthem. I also state T&C’s i.e. boxesto be clearly marked and well packed, pricing breakdown with overtime costs forthe two guys (I said overtime I do over the 8 hours will be free). I back up this email with a phone call. · She agrees to two days for the guys and three ifwe need them. · The old house is being kept by them and beingrented out the following weekend. · We arrive at the house and find that hardly athing has been packed. All the furniturestill has things on or in them. She hasnext to no boxes what-so-ever (50 maybe) and most are no bigger than a shoebox. · We did 18 van loads to the new house. With the exception of two or three loads,each load was half what it could have been because of inadequate packing andboxes and waiting for things to be packed. · At the new house, Nothing is organised andnobody knows where to put anything. So alot of time was wasted waiting for my friend to make up her mind where what wasgoing. And also to unpack some stuff, sowe can take empty boxes back. · After three 12+ hour days there are still 2 or 3van loads to come over, but the van needs to be off hired and a lot stillneeded to be packed into boxes! · At the end of the third day after the last loadwas made (at approx. 10pm), the lady who was packing put a bucket and carrierbags by the van with all the stuff from the fish tank and told us that was allthe fish stuff. We take it to the house,but the fish were not at the new house or in one of the bags we brought over,which we assumed they were. My friendblows her top and shouts and swears at us. As we have finished for the day and for the job, we both leave. I was going to stay and help out, but beingsworn at by someone acting like a spoilt child, I wasn’t interested in helpinganymore. Her husband apologised to mefor her behaviour, but no apology from her. I then get blamed by her for the children not getting to school that dayand also that she wanted to have a meal with her children, but we arrived withanother van load making that impossible (not that she did a thing all weekendbut run around like a headless chicken). · When I get home, I have a shower and in thattime I see that she has called 3 times over 4 minutes leaving messages aboutthe keys for the house. Each messagegetting more and more heated. I get a text from her husband to say he remembersme giving him the keys and thanking me for the help. Therefore, I do not call back as the reasonfor the phone calls was resolved, plus it was close to midnight. · I put an invoice in the post the next day for£1430 including the overtime for the two guys and sticking to my offer of notcharging over the 8 hours for myself. · The following week I get a text from her husbandasking if I can do another van full before the weekend and how much would itcost. I respond saying I can’t fit it inas I am extremely busy. I say I will aska friend if they can do it for them. Ihear nothing back. · I then get a voicemail from them saying that weneed to speak and they have been trying to call for the last week (one missedphone call). They are not happy as theyhad lots left over and that I behaved in an awful way over the move and didn’tact like a friend! · They are refusing to pay me a penny and stillwant me to meet with them so they can shout at me about how I behaved and why Ididn’t help them after the move! · I have paid the two guys and also paid for thevan hire and the fuel, totalling just over £1000. This is all out of my own pocket. As a result, I have been left extremely shortof cash for the rest of this month and have had to borrow money from a friendto help pay my rent. Going through the small claims court is a last resort, butit is looking that is my only option. They are being completely unreasonable in my opinion. The house move could have been completed wellwithin the 3 days if they were organised and had the house packed up ready togo and knew where they wanted everything at the other end. Also having suitable boxes and enough boxesfor the job. As said the van could havemuch more stuff loaded in to it if we had proper boxes to pack and stack. But it was almost as if we were moving eachitem one by one. As it turned out, shereally didn’t want to spend any money on boxes. £200 on packing materials is a drop in the ocean as their new house isvalued at £1.3 million and their old house which they are keeping is valued atjust under a million, plus they have another 3 bedroom house they rent outwhich is worth £400,000. So all in allapprox. £2.5 – 3 million in property assets, but too tight to buy boxes. In your opinions, if I do have to go to court, does it soundas though I would have a good case? The three main points are: 1) Nothing packed prior to our arrival. 2) Not enough boxes and/or unsuitable boxes. 3) No organisation at the new house as to whereeverything is going (very little was labelled). OK fourth point: 4) Been shouted and sworn at over nothing. On another note, I asked a local removal company what theirpolicy is if they turn up to a house and nothing is packed. They state they do not do the job as theirT&C’s have been breached, they keep the deposit and walk away. Many thanks.

Hello, I am currently under a 17 hours per week contract. However, over the last six months or more, I have consistently worked 6.5 hours extra per week. I have heard that this regularly worked overtime becomes a contract because it was over a period of time? If true, can anyone point me in the direction of UK Employment law that supports this? Thank you

hey CAG, hope you're all doing well! First off I'm in a bit of a pickle just looking for some advice please. I work for a cleaning company inside a retail company; I usually work 7am till 6pm every Saturday. We have a clock in machine that's bio-metric and we're supposed to scan in and out for everything. I clocked in at 7am and out at 6pm but forgot to clock out for my break, it was an honest mistake and it's not that big of a deal; it can easily be amended but the company I work for is refusing to pay me for the whole day. I've spoken with my managers manager and she said she can't do anything, I'm going to lose them. Are they allowed to just refuse to pay me for that whole day? I haven't received any kind of written information stating that incorrect clock ins will result in deducted pay. There's easy proof that I worked all day because I clocked out at 6pm but just forgot to clock for my break. I tried so hard today but my manager refuses to support me and she won't help me try to get those hours paid. Thanks for any advice.

Hi all - just wondering if some-one can tell me how the 8% interest is worked out please? I took a cash loan out for £13,000, with the interest charged totalling £3,884.72. The PPI policy was included in the cost of the loan for £3,571.62, with the interest charged totalling £1,065.18. The total amount payable for the loan was £21,521.52, repayable over a term of 72 months. The monthly payment towards the loan was £234.51 for the capital element and £64.40 for the PPI element, with a total monthly payment of £298.91. The APR of the loan was 9.4% I made my first payment on 26 Mar 01 and the last payment on 4 June 2003 respectively. Upon settlement I was given a rebate of £1,864.68 and an insurance rebate of £1,345.47 which was applied to the account on 5 June 2003. My claim has been successful and this is what they stated in my letter:- As you have already received a rebate of the interst and insurance we will refund the outstanding premiums and interst charged on those premiums of £2,890.07. In addition we will pay 8% simple interest of £149.07. We have received this money but have since had a call saying that the 8% interest has been mis calculated. They have sent a letter stating:- I (The loan provider) have re-calcuted the 8% and it totals up to £2,311.81. I have advised you over the telephone that I will deduct the previous amount which is £149.07 that has been credited to you from the total that is £2,311.81 and this would leave a balance of £2,162.74 for the 8%. Is this correct - don't know how the 8% is calculated - just seems a lot of money to be 8% of something, or does it depend how far back the loan was. Confused.com Appreciate anybody comments Thanks in advance J

Hi guys, I seem to posting all over this website, but will try and keep this short! I am employed by a well known security company (Not G4S!!!) on a 45 HPW contract. Up until the end of November last year, I worked all my shifts, only had time off sick when I couldn't get out of bed and was always on time, unless something terrible had occurred. At the end of November last year, I found that I was without an important piece of kit and utilised what was available in the right possible manner. I can't go into much detail on this, but someone accused me of stealing this item and I was suspended without pay for 5 days. I moved to a different area (This was planned) and continued to work in a new location for 6 months. Towards the end of this 6 months, I over heard a conversation saying that "He's only relief, he'll be replaced soon, I think". I was mortified as I am on a permanant contract and relief guards are usually non-literate and unable to grasp the english language (Although, for all intents and purposes, can fulfill their job role pretty decently). I was pulled from that contract due to me wanting to branch off into a different part of the business and was put forward for work on an MOD site. This requires MOD-SC clearance. I applied for this at the end of May 2012 and still haven't heard back. The real issue is, the amount of hours I'm getting aren't what I'm contracted to and I'm really starting to struggle financially because I'm not working my correct shifts. This week for example, I'm working Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Each shift is 9 hours. Am I entitled to be paid the remaining 18 hours or am I out of luck cos' I haven't worked it? Occasionally, they allow me to utilise my remaining holiday to prop my hours up, but I don't think this is very fair? I'm getting fed up cos' my pay cheques are now £200-300 less than normal. Any advice?