That makes me feel a whole lot better, I'm sure I've paid this charge before also, when I first raised a complaint with SSE, Ill have to add this info to my case with the ombudsman.I wonder if Ill be able to get this refunded?

I've had the same charges from SSE which I am contesting.

Got hit with that visitation charge, I then paid £100 off of a £180 bill,

then they came back a few days later and charged me another £49.87

I have a complaint open with the ombudsman of which these charges are part, amongst other on-going issues.

I've gone out on a limb because I'm waiting on the ombudsman to arbitrate my complaints,

so I've simply told them they are not to contact me at all apart from by email,

that I dispute all my accounts and im not paying anything at all

(as my account is in complete disarray with historical alleged amounts owed, visitation charges and current usage estimates all rolled up into one big bill)

until the ombudsman has investigated as they keep sending me texts and calling me at work.

Hopefully the ombudsman will help me out, we will see..

Hi,

Thanks so much for the reply,

To answer your questions:

Are you definitely sure that it was issued because you missed September's payment, and not August's?

Ive noted down references of all the online payments as I've gone along, april, may june, july, and august all paid up, september is outstanding.

I live on my own in a cheap house, so my bill is £74.91 folllowed by 9 x £70

April payment -on april 12th

May payment - on 2nd June

June and July payment - on July 17th (two payments to bring me back up to date)

Aug payment on 20th August

September - not paid yet

Stop Press: I've just figured out looking at my recipts, I only paid £120 in July instead of £140, thats where the arrears has come from, i've basically been £20 in debt since July 17th.

I ignored the last warning letter as it didnt mention this, it just mentioned that I was late paying, so I assumed it crossed over in the post after I had paid the normal instalment in August.

Oh well, I guess I'm stuffed and will have to cough up the £430 for the remainder of year and the £60 costs:| this will be fun.... looks like my gas/elec company is going to have to wait a while...

Thanks anyway, I think I will take your advice and try to pay in advance next year, so at least theres a buffer if I miss an instalment.

Hi all,

Ive just had a summons through as I've not paid this months payment yet (September), its only the 2nd today, and I dont get paid until the 12th-ish if im lucky.

I have had a previous warning, followed by a demand for the full ammount.

I only settled what I owed according to the instalments at this point, due to cash flow problems, had to pay £1000 for an engine rebuild on my car (no excuse I realise) but I'm basicly fully up to date.

Just wondering what my options are - I know theres not much leeway with council tax but to pay the reamaining years amount plus £60 costs to keep it out of court is seriously going to break me financialy until at least christmas, not to mention cause late payments oand nasty letters for other bills.

Is there any way I can persuade them to carry on with the instalments, or at worst, pay the outstanding and get rid of the costs? technically I'm only 2 days in arrears, I know how strict the rules are once a final warning has been issued but it dosent seem right.

Any advice welcome, thanks

Hi Just an update, success at last!

Recived an email from the 'high level complaints team' at CPW stating that the will credit my account. It only took about 30 emails and a meeting with a personal banker!

I did go to the bank to gain thier official view, but to be fair, they had the same view I did.

It just re-enforces my view that customer service these days is not customer service at all, its just a layer of bureaucracy implemented to put people off making a fuss.

I had intended to give them a final month to pay up as buzby suggested, as although it would be frustrating, I wanted no holes in my case.

Final email&reply is below, for info: Thank you for your response.

I'm sorry our previous correspondence has not fully resolved your query and for any inconvenience this has caused you.

I'm afraid our banking team have been unable to locate the payment you have made to us using direct banking. As you have provided proof of payment for the £42.02, I have arranged for this to credited to your Carphone Warehouse account. This will show on your August 2010 invoice.

Please be aware that any future payments can not be accepted by this method, you can still pay by direct debit, in any of our stores, using your credit or debit card or by cheque.

If you would like to arrange a refund of this credit, rather then it be deducted from your next bill, please call our customer services team on 0870 111 7200, this call is free of charge from your O2 Carphone Warehouse mobile.

Kind Regards,

Victoria Griffiths

High Level Complaints Team

Customers Message Follows: ------------------------

Hi,

I have today had to time off work to attend a meeting with a representative from the bank to discuss this issue.

I advised them of your request and proposal as a way forward with this issue, but I was advised they do not recognise your intended process.

It appears they share the same stance as myself, as in, I paid the money to the CPW, and if CPW cannot locate the payment then it is the sole issue of the CPW.

The bank had simply followed my instructions as I was advised by the (flawed by your own admission) advice from the CPW regarding the transfer of funds.

I have provided you with evidence of the transaction, and I have warned you repeatedly that failure to return the money would result in further action.

My view has not changed and my deadline for legal action remains: 12th August 2010.

I most strongly advise you return the money to me promptly, as you will incur further costs if I am forced to escalate this matter.

Regards,

Well I've been to the bank and they pretty Much confirmed what I thought. Cpw are basic talking nonsense. They advise I contact the online bank team to obtain concrete proof of the transaction, and It is for cpw to refund the money.

In the absence of a refund by the 12th, should I just go ahead and file at court? Or should I alow them more time as I don't have a formal statement of transaction from the bank yet, just a regular statement showing the transaction.

Thanks

Hi,

Just a quick update,

Not had chance to get to the bank yet, will try to make it today at some point.

I'll post up the lates emails below - does this sound reasonable?

Thanks.

................................................................................................

Thank you for your email.

The banking team can't trace the payment you are referring to, the procedure now is to complete a payment release form and send it to your bank so that they can credit your account with the missing transaction.

Please reply with the information to the previous email, so that we can do this for you as soon as possible and progress to getting the matter resolved.

I look forward to your reply.

Best Regards

Kerry White

Carphone warehouse customer services

Customers Message Follows: ------------------------

Hi,

In a previous email I was informed your banking team was already investigating this issue - they should have located and refunded the money by now.

As previously stated, I am not going to call you as it costs a fortune and I have no proof the converstaion has taken place.

If you had taken the time to look at this complaint properly, you would also know that this money was paid by bank transfer on the advise of Carphone warehouse, not by debit card. I paid AGAIN by debit card because you disonected my service. This is why I have been demanding a refund of the bank transfer.

You do not need my account number and sort code as I am already a customer who pays by direct debit, so you alredy have these details.

I do not need to make an indemity claim via my bank as they are not at fault here - they simply carried out my directions, as supplied by the carphone warehouse, to transfer the money.

I remind you that you have 6 working days remaining to recify this situation.

Regards,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 10:06:20 +0000

From: [email protected]

To: XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Subject: RE: Carphone Warehouse- Complaint case id: XXXXXXXX refund complaint (XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX)

Dear XXXXXX,

Thanks for your email.

We still have not been able to trace this payment, however I will send a request to our banking team, to see of it is in our holding account.

To do this I would need to take a few details, however if you prefer not to put these in email, I would advise you to contact us on 0870 111 7200.

We need the following details,

Your full card number which was used to make the payment

The sort code

The account number

The transaction number or auth code ( you can get this from your bank)

Your banks fax number

If this payment still cannot be located, you will need to discuss with your bank to see if an indemnity claim can be done.

Kind regards

Jennifer Osborne

Ok thanks for the help! I had a feeling I would have to get the bank involved, would rather not, but needs must.

Oh well, there goes my lunch break tomorrow!

I will post back how it goes, of any one is interested, thanks.

Your situation is not uncommon - they're following the 'Sky' approach, where they don't want customers to control the payment process, THEY want to control this, and often say the only way to pay is by giving theem a DD or plastic card number, which allows them the ability to take the money they want, when they want it.

 

Clearly you've been given the information details, and another department is unawarew this has been done. By hiding these details, it is safe to assume that they do not get paid this way often, since it usually means their IT system is not automated to allocate inbound BACS to customers accounts, and has to be done manually.

 

If you don;t want them to take subsequent payments from the card you provided, you;ll need to either tell them you've cancelled that card or tell the bank it has been compromised. As they will retain the details for future use.

Hi, thanks, but thats not really the issue, they owe me money and they wont refund it/credit my account as they say they have no record of the transfer.

I paid again by debit card as I needed to get my phone back online. I pay by DD normaly, but this situation arose as i didnt have funds a few months ago so I first settled the balance by bank transfer, then got cut off, and had to pay again to resume service.

So im basically about £40 out of pocket.

The BACS transfer may well have gone to CPW, but the reference number on in inbound payment either incorrect or missing. You can give them the date and amount of the payment and the sending bank, and then ask them if it wasn't credited to your account, what did they do with it.

 

There's no need to pay them twice.

Thanks for the reply, Ive already paid them twice, as they say they have no record of the first payment (by online transfer) so i called them up and had to pay again by debit card to get my phone re-activated ( they were very quick to disconnect me despite my assurance the bill was paid).

They then informed me they dont accept payment by bank transfer, even though I have an email from them with thier bank details to allow me to transfer funds for this purpose.

I have given them all details of the transfer, date, scans of my bank statement etc. and they appear to be saying they cannot locate the money so basicly they cant help... I stupidly didnt put a reference number on the transfer, but then they did not advise me to either in thier instructions.

I have a string of emails as this has been going back and forth for about 2 months now, all fully documented, and I have emailed them a LBA stating that I will recover the money through court if they dont refund it, the deadline expires on the 12th August.

They just keep asking me the same or irellevent questions over and over again.

Thanks for any advice.

Hi all,

I'm In a bit of a dilema, my dd bounced for my mobile contract,

So I called them up and advised I could settle by bank transfer. they emailed me the details and I paid, plus la late payment fee.

Two days later my phone Is cut off. I call them again and they say thet have not received the payment. I paid ahain via debit card over the phone.

Now they are saying they cant locate the payment and I will have to peruse my bank to get the money back. Now my bank, for a change, has not done anything wrong here.

I lba'd cpw over a month a go and they are still giving me the run around. I have extensive email history with cpw regarding this Issue, scans of bank statements sent to them etc.

My question is, to I now approach the bank who may not be keen to help, and prolong this further, with their process, or should I simply file a claim against cpw? I just want my money and I have cpw banged to rights.

Any advice appreciated.

Bitty! lol!

Urinating is a big part of my life, but I do not expect other people to take interest in my amazing natural ability. In fact I belive I can be put on the sex offenders register if I demonstrate my bodily functions in public.

It's not a big acheivment, its just part of life, part that most people really don't care to see.

Any one or more of the following:

 

1. The expense of defending the claim exceeded the claim.

 

2. A refund was justified because the charges had been unfairly applied.

 

3. The arguments now defeated were being shouted from the rooftops so loudly that the banks' in house lawyers began to worry there might be something in them. I am sure there was a fear that a key case would be lost and a precedent set.

 

Ironically, I think the success of the campaign led to its downfall. So many claims were being made that the banks just had to do something. If the number of claims had been kept to a number that the banks considered reasonable and controllable they would probably still be paying out.

Are you saying that law is an opinion rather than a consensus?

I've Just spoken to (Halifax) County Court, they say they have had nothing news wise yet and my case is still stayed. (phew)

No strike out application from the bank and no orders from the Judge.

The lady said if the bank goes for a strike out, I will have chance to object - she seemed to be aware of the possible POC amendment and the Supreme courts 'suggestions'.

She did say she couldn't advise what my options would be if the Judge decided to strike me out, but surely I would have to be notified so I could object/appeal...?

I asked if the the case had been resolved (as in the terms of my stayed case) and she said no.

I'm not sure wweather she was refering to the test case or my individual case.

Bear in mind my notice of stay simply states

'until final resoloution of the test case'

I would advise anyone with a stayed case to ring the court, especially those with limited days, to get some clarity.

Keep the faith people!!

Just phoned the county court and the judge was handed my case on 1t December for deliberation.

 

Presumably the court has to notify me that the stay has been removed? A

You would think so, but I have a sneaking suspision that they may just start striking stuff out if they do not hear from you (if you have a time limit imposed) just to clear the caseload.

Or maybe i'm being a pessimist...

Any news on the amended POC templates anyone?

If there's an open ended timeframe, I suspect they will allow a reasonable time to pass before striking you out, or trying to.

 

What is reasonable will depend on the Court, though.

 

I'd suggest ringing them to ask if there's any guidance they can offer based on what they know at that time. They'll soon get sick of that, though.

Thanks for that

I guess I'll be calling the CC then... I bet they are suddenly getting lots of phone calls

This had occured to me before (to ring the court) but I wasn't sure weather a clerk/receptionist would be well placed to offer reliable advice with something potentially so critical (for me!).

But a phone call certainly would not hurt... watch this space...

So if like myself, we just have a stay which stated 'until conclusion of the test case' without a specific time limit, does this mean the courts will wait for an OFT response, or am I in immediate risk of the court/bank dismissing my case?

I want to buy Tune up Utilities off Amazon. 2009 is very cheap but this is because 2010 version is due out on 30 November.

 

Would you just buy the 2009? The trial of that was good.

 

Thanks

Jan

I would just use Ccleaner, its free, very effective and has a decent reg cleaner tool built in also.

Just Google for Ccleaner.

Window washer has a tool to overwrite 'empty' drive space, you can choose between a standard 3 pass sweep, right up to a military grade 32 passes.

Webroot Window Washer - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

Hi guys just a quick one -

My stay letter simply states - stayed until conclusion of test case, thats it.

Would that allow time for the OFT to respond, or CAG to make some new templates, or should I try to get my own stay in place to buy more time?

Why can't the OFT take this to Erope despite appeals being barred? after all, the banks did it at the lords...

Also, if that does not happen, will county courts be allowed to blanket dismiss cases based on todays ruling?

My case also includes Barclays additions fees which are charges for extra services that I did not ask for, nor agree to - surely they cant just thow the stayed cases out?

Don't forget, if you have the right version of Windows 7 you can get XP mode for it which is like a virtual PC version of XP running inside your Windows 7 installation (for those who don't like Mars speak)

I don't know much about the xp mode, but I understand it does not run in a true sandbox mode like you would expect a VM to, as in you have to keep the xp security patches up to date etc. so I guess is runs almost like a native OS, rather than as a self contained virtual environment which utterly defeats the object from a security point of view.

I too thought it was an awesome feature untill I dug a little deeper.

I will be staying with vista x64 for the time being, I would like to upgrade but from a gamers perspective, being a rebuilt version of vista, windows7 does not bring anthing to the table to justify me buying a new licence.

I do feel slightly ripped off though, what should have been a service pack for vista turned into a whole new OS, but due to the major overhaul it's had, a service pack is not possible.

Ive just built a new PC for my nan, which ive put XP home 32 on, and it runs like lightning, which is good - I was looking to put win7 on it but I think she will be better off with xp for now, at least until support for xp stops.

I can see business running XP/server2003 for a long time to come, as Vista/win7 does more to complicate the existing IT infrastructure than it does to simplify it, due to the cost of implimentation- licencing, rollout and re-training - but that is a little different from the home user market, home users do not have the protection offered by domain servers and hardware firewalls etc. and so cannot be running 'out of date' software to the extent that business can get away with.

Windows 7 and MS office 2007 massive discount for students offer:

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/education/studentoffer/

I'm sorry but you can't claim speeding, it is only an opinion and not backed up by anything. Just because there is suspicion that everyone speeds down that road does not make it that this driver was.

Hmmm, popping a tyre on a kerb in a residential street? they were not doing 20, thats for sure