Hello good people of Consumer Action Group, thanks for having me! I find myself in a work situation that I'd really appreciate some legislation-backed-up fact. I've been working for my company manual work minimum wage for nearly 4 years, never rocked the boat, always did my best to keep everyone sweet and help out where I could when people called in sick with management. However, I now find myself in a quandary where I need to take a few days off that have been expressly disallowed by da boss. Our rota goes up a few days before it starts for every two weeks going forward. The boss still finds it acceptable however to change it willy-nilly as the needs of the business dictate. Fair enough if it's a small one-man show, but this is a multi-national. So near Christmas it becomes problematic when people with children suddenly "discover" a once in a life time children's play, or family emergency, I've always tried to help out as I'm a single childless guy. But I have something I must do on Friday 14th that demands I take the day off. I asked the boss, immediately I saw the rota go up today. NO! I said, sorry but YES!! He said review your position, I'll make you work it or give you a disciplinary. I WILL be taking it off, morally and actually. What can I do to avoid the inevitable storm and bad feeling that will result despite me giving him nearly 3 weeks notice about it? It's unfortunate in that unusually this close to Christmas there is no-one else who can cover this specific shift, but I feel given my track record of always covering everyone else with their "sudden child sickness/need to go shopping" issues, etc, that I'm morally in the right to ask for this one little day off. I am prepared to die on this hill. (I'm looking for a new job already for new year), but I don't want to leave on bad terms by just handing in my one week notice now. And then get a bad reference. Especially after 4 years of actually quite enjoying the job and feeling a mutual respect with the boss. But he's dug his heels in with this; and so have I! Any legislation to help me with my stand? Thank you. Pg

My ex employer (LTD Co) has found a novel way to avoid the companies debts. The director dissolved the company while still trading, without informing employees, or any other creditor, until after the strike off. Redundancy notices were issued, but now the director is trying to avoid paying. any suggestions welcome. Thank you!

I am a vulnerable person having suffered a violent attack for which I am receiving counselling for and has left me with anxiety problems, at the time this led to me leaving work which in turn led to me running up rental arrears and a possesion order granted ( I moved out before the date ). The vast majority have been paid off and I am now in a new place, at the time of the hearing I offered through his solicitor to pay £200 per month which was accepted via the solicitor in writing and I have kept paying to this arrangement. I have today been informed that a letter has arrived to my old address ( even though my old LL has my new address ) for which I have not been in for over 5 years to say a baliff ( High Court Sheriffs Office ) will arrive after the 11th - I know the person in there now luckily! I have a few questions on this: - Am I right in saying that if my friend ( who lives in my old place ) states I am not there then I will have to be re-notified at my new addy? - which gives me some time to sort something ( as they will not know I know ) - Is there a court route I can go through? - Is this allowed when I have a written agreement on repayments? - The original order is for 2 of us and the action just lists me ( not sure if it makes a difference?) - Why would he put the wrong addy on? - I am not sure if it makes a difference but it was seen at Eastbourne County Court on September 11th and the paperwork from Bailiff states it was seen at Manchester County Court on September 11th What information would my friend need to provide to show I do not live there anymore? The total remaining on the form is £2600 ( which is after the £200 per month payments I have made ) I obviously have medical/counselling/doctors notes I can provide that support my anxiety and people turning up to the house will obviously set this off

Let me start with a little back story. My son is 3 and disabled I am his sole carer 24/7 without a break or sleep most if the time. I have no problem with this as he is my baby and i love him. But it gives context. About a month ago it was in Tesco shopping i did self scan and after half an hour of my son having a melt down because of the noise we finally got to the pay bit. I had just got my card out to pay when a security guard shot over and asked if I had paid for the £4 toy my son was holding. Now if you have ever experienced a meltdown you can understand I was all over and stressed I had forgotten however I accepted my mistake payed for the item and that was it. after this I started using the normal checkout so that I have to check everything. A few weeks later I was shopping with my son again and he picked up and opened a toy. I put the packaging in the trolley to be paid for. My son dropped the little toy i went to the toy part and picked up a new one and put the old one back. I admit this was stupid but he had screamed for about 20mins about the missing one and my brain was in overload close to tears myself. I'd paid for the toy and my shopping the guard (same one) pulled me and my disabled son back to the front desk. They had spotted me do the swap (pretty sure he was watching me all the time I was in) I apologised and offered to pay for the old toy and that was it over. Oh and another guy walked over and threw the packaging at me aggressively. Safter this I stopped taking my son shopping. I have my dad drive him around till I'm done. I'm making the effort. I've been in everyday since the incident today a snotty manager pulls me up when I'm put my stuff on the conveyer belt and ask me if i should be in store. I have him a confused look and he said I had been asked not to return. This was not the case and I told him I wouldnt have come in if I had been told this. He called me a list. i had some nappies for my son and milk for him. I asked if I could just pay then go. He said no. Then threatened me with the police. After leaving the store my mama bear kicked in as i felt he was attacking my son. I explained that they are the only store that sells the things my son needs ( he will only have certain milk nappies and food which I can get anywhere else and i dont drive) he said he didnt care that it was my problem. I explained about my son and that i had made of not taking him in (which is very hard for my son) and he threatened me again. i said he was discriminating against a disabled child and walked out. Now I know they can ban whoever they like. But im sat here terrified I'm going to get arrested and taken away from my son. He seemed the type totty to be a ... and the security guard is a guy i went to school with who use to bully me. If the product never left the store can they so anything? And i paid both times. Also are they discriminating towards my son? Im prone to panic attacks and I've had 7 today.

Hi, I hope this is in the right section. I was looking to hire two butlers for an event phoned around and got a quote of £184 for two hours which I thought was okay. The company emailed me the quote and told me to fill out a booking form which I did and then they would send me an invoice. I got the invoice a few hours later and realised they meant £184 each so with vat the bill was over £400. I emailed back and said sorry thats way too much please cancel. Received an email this morning saying I cannot cancel without paying £100 plus vat for the considerable amount of time they have invested(?). If I dont pay in two days it will go up to £184 plus vat. I have not signed an agreement and there are no terms and conditions on their website (they did send me them after I filled in the booking form online). Any advice please?

I'm aware that this is a really old chestnut so I apologise in advance. If the last payment in an unsecured loan was in June 2008. Then the account was closed by the bank in October 2008 (I had no and at all in the account being closed). Can someone confirm that the Cause of Action was one month after the last payment and NOT when the account was closed? Replies very much appreciated and any evidence or examples to prove the above would be fantastic. M...

Bit of an odd one, curious if anyone can help I had a holiday day for one week of work, i didnt work the other shifts as it was unpaid. They put 6 hours basic, then somehow i got -32.00 in tax which made the total to 75. The original payment for 6 basic hours which was wrong anyway only equated to 42.00 So my question was instead of holiday would it be put like that?

Hi Long story but the short version is. I owned a Cockatoo (Parrot) Had to rehome him as my dog had terminal cancer and needed constant care. Finally decided on a small sanctuary that had a small enclosure of animals. Sanctuary was owned by a couple that owned/run a pub/restaurant in a quiet part of the world. Have a contract drawn up by them that states if Cockatoo ever needs to be rehomed we would have first refusal and would be contacted to discuss. Have just found out today that the couple sold the pub in April and all animals rehomed to another sanctuary, one that allows large scale visitors and is open daily to the public. Sanctuary is not a charity. No contact was made with me to discuss this or my Cockatoo, he was just passed on without my knowledge. I am not happy with him being at this sanctuary and id prefer to have him back here, as stated in the contract. This contract was the only reason I parted with him in the first place, as I wanted him to have a secure home where he wouldn't be passed around to others, and in the event that they could no longer look after him, I wanted him back here with me. I have contacted the new sanctuary, but no response as yet. Do I have any rights? Thank you.

Hi all, Having read advice regarding similar situations regarding X4L and Harlands I am really hoping you can lend a helping hand. This is the email which I sent to the manager of my local gym. I understand from a phone call with the citizens advice bureau that some of my points do not apply, specifically those to do with not being shown a contract at the time of registration and also what I thought to be an improper method of registration. I would like to draw your attention however to the paragraph about item 16 in their terms and conditions as shown in red. The situation I am in now as stated by the 2nd letter from Harlands is that I owe something in the region of £165 comprising of 'administration fees' and membership arrears. The most I am willing to pay is the monthly membership but based on my argument regarding item 16, I am hoping I can get out of it all together. In addition to the above, after a pathetic response from the manager I was going to write a second email. I have refrained from doing so for now in favour of seeking advice on here. In summary he did not address any of the points in my email so I was going to write the following:- What are the thoughts of the wise people on here? Let me know if you require any more information. Many thanks in advance.

ive had a letter today about my wifes loan account which has 7,291.54 remaining outstanding I have requested the CCA and also wrote to Lloyds tsb and requested the SAR. these are still in process at the moment. cabot have received my letter about cca but ive had no reply but they did reply to the other 2 credit cards which I requested the cca for which they said they would hope to have the info within 40 days. t for the loan today I received this odd letter Dear Mrs S****** Contacting Cabot please call 0800 328 0708 (minicom: 01732 524630)urgently, and speak to one of our helpful customer advisors about your account. our aim is to help customers get their accounts cleared so do contact us soon. yours sincerely Chris lambert that's exactly as its been written on the letter it just seems really odd theres no reason why they want to speak to me or anything any ideas peeps?

Hi All, I've received paperwork for a county court claim dated 9 Oct 14. Claimant: Cabot Address for sending documents and payments: Restons Solicitors Particulars: The claimant claims payment of the overdue balance due from the Defendant under a contract between the Defendant and Hitachi Nova dated on or about 31/04/06 and assigned to the claimant on 30/09/2009 in the sum of £417.86. I have absolutely no idea what this is for. Cabot sent a couple of standard threat letters in the past I refused to engage with them as I'm familiar with all the Cabot horror stories. On receiving this court paperwork I've looked even more closely at all of my records and have also had my bank on the phone for almost an hour going back over my finances & there is no record whatsoever of any dealings with 'Hitachi Nova'. Absolutely stumped here. I'm sure I'd remember if I'd taken out credit as it's not something I do very often plus I'd be able to pay off £400 if I did owe someone that. None of it adds up at all. Also, on top of the mystery creditor there's the question of dates. They haven't provided a date for the alleged default & as my records show absolutely no payments going to this company within the last 6 years (the time my bank keeps records for) isn't this statute barred? Are they just chancing it here & hoping I won't respond so they can send in the bailiffs? Surely no company would stoop that low? Thanks in advance, Suki

Hello, I do not wish to sound crazy but here goes. I recently applied for a Budgeting Loan from the Social Fund as I am working part time and in receipt of JSA. I received a decision letter today. The problem is that all of my previous correspondence with the DWP has been on their headed paper with codes and barcodes up the sides ect. This letter has no heading, barcodes ect and looks like anyone could have typed it. It also has a sticky label on the second page asking me to "confirm the account details for payment purposes" in the box below. It doesn't look like anything I have ever received before. One of my friends had a Budgeting Loan a few months ago and my letter looks completely different to theirs. Sorry if this doesn't quite make sense and thank you for help!!

Hi everyone. I finished working for a company the middle of august. I had a hire car from just before christmas until April when i got my company car. I have today received a letter from the company with a copy of an invoice from the hire company saying they want me to pay £36 for a speeding fine. It does not say when or where this happened. The company i worked for want me to send £36 by cheque as they say they have paid the fine on my behalf. They quoted the company car policy which says all employees must pay for any motoring fines promptly, which I am happy to do but isnt a speeding fine £60? I thought I would have received a NIP? The hire car i was apparently caught in was handed back mid April when i got my company car, so this is 4 months down the line, and I dont even know when the alleged offence took place. Any advice? I can phone the hire company tomorrow and get more details, and am happy to pay any fines incurred, but this seems very odd to me?

Hiya all, Have a massively odd situation, Had a total bill for bailiff dated march of £6818.68 ( including costs ) Then in April of a total bill of £5649.28 I then questioned these and got a bill yesterday of £6303.40 And today a bailiff turned up ( they know I am on vulnerable list ) and the total id £6301.40 So my question is what do I do, every time I ask for clarification it changes price - and its a flip as to whether it is up or down I will be in a position to pay in full next week but dont want to pay and find that I have either paid too much or that they come chasing in a few weeks time I cannot understand how if the figure in March is accurate how it has gone down and how if the figure 2 days ago is that the bailiff has not added additional charges Any help appreciated

Had health and debt issues in 2006 which caused me to put my head in the sand and ignore them all. Now they should all have been statute barred and gone from my credit file by now. But i have not checked yet. Still unable to work and now on ESA. I opened some of the threat letters demanding money or else. to sort them in neat piles ready for the bonfire. I opened one dated almost a year old which had my parents address on it. This was from Lloyds TSB and states they are changing my credit card agreement and that my account is currenty in default. Err i have not been with the Lloyds TSB since it was just the TSB. I left that address some 25 years+, My parents still live there though. This is the 1st i have heard of any balance owing and a default. It says i need to quote my CC account number with most of it masked out. As its so old should i just file it on the bonfire pile? Also as my current financial situation has not changed, No job no money etc. Is it worth getting my credit report and cleaning it up? Or just ignore it, I am very good at ignoring stuff. Just wondering if it could affect any future job applications? Thanks

Can anyone advise me on this, I have a evening cleaning job which I do with my son, it is 1 1/2 hours a evening, a few weeks ago the boss phoned me with a couple of complaints she had from the company, then went on to say she didn't think my sons cleaning was up to standard and she would have to eventually replace him. Then I had a phone call yesterday saying that they want to make today my sons last day. I said to them they would have to speak to him personally as it was not my place , they had tried to phone him but his mobile is broken. They have still not said anything to him, not been in to speak to him, he has been given no warnings and no notice. She has not even been in to see his work so she is making assumptions that he is not cleaning properly , I did point that out when I spoke to them . Any one any idea where he stands legally! I think talking to his mother is a little spineless and a total cop out as he is a fully grown man of 22!

5 years ago was called into branch and was talked into converting my credit card balance which was at the time £9,800 into a bank loan, at that time i was classed as self employed and 63 years old without saying a single word about ppi they tried to sneak it in , i spotted it the next day and duly cancelled the ppi out of the blue i get a letter telling me that i would not get all the benefits on offer with ppi on my 65th birthday relating to my credit card which i had been talked into converting to a bank loan, i had been paying ppi for over 10 years on the card without knowing i had it, to cut a long story short i put a claim in for this missold ppi on my credit card they have done nothing but lie and used delaying tactics since at last they admit it was misold and they say they sent a letter out on the 18th march still not got it despite at least 6 calls to the help line am being ignored by all i speak to and send emails to managed at last to get the man on the help line to dictate this letter over the phone was told that they had put 173 pounds into my account as due to the passage of time they have no record of this credit card and they consider this to be a fair offer still not had this in writing but told him over the phone where he could stick his offer am still awaiting anything in writing where do i go from here

Just thought I'd share that I've had the ODDEST morning ever... Last night I dreamt that I married Jennifer Lawerence.. How odd.. guess watching Hunger Games last week had something to do with it... Weird tho hw dreams can affect your daily lives... I've been in a bubble all day... A good one at that... Very odd tho how I've got this feeling.. lol, I looked her up on google and... I dont even think shes the kinda gal for me... life is weird... very weird!