Now that humidity and temperatures are getting a bit high, I am starting to do my usual impression of a pig in a sauna (sweating like mad). So how do you keep from being sticky all day? Yeah, I shower 2/3 times a day, use loads of deodorant, wear clean clothes etc etc so none of "get a wash" thank you! Fans don't help - either arctic temperatures or like an ant sneezing on you. Cold drinks just make my stomach hurt, and spraying water on myself with a vapouriser means I can't sit down for 10 minutes. And I can't take clothes off in the sun because they have not yet developed SF3000. I just burn, blister then go back to Daz white, even with SF30. Help before I melt!

I'm not a fan of MJ - my flat mate is and it's largely through him that I've heard MJs music (and seen the vids). Still not a fan, but I have to say I can appreciate his artistry. I'm not one for talking about a compete strangers death, but I honestly feel that the world has lost a little something with his death. I'd just wish the news channels would shut up about it and stop treating any tiddy bit of info as though it's groundbreaking. He died. He's gonna stay that way. That's it. If you want to believe all the crap that the media publishes about him and his life, go ahead. But just remember that the only thing anyone knows for a fact is the music and dancing that you can hear and see.he was a great artist who (I am told) made some great songs and vids. Leave it at that and leave the speculation to those with nothing better in their lives to think of.

Ever mark off the wrong amount of numbers on the slip and get asked which number do you want to add on / take off? Do you let the assistant decide or do it yourself? And why do sales increase when it's a rollover? The odds don't change. Do people think "Well, £3 million isn't enough but I'll go for the ten million one". I'll shut up now.

1. A seller cannot refuse to refund just because it has been assembled. They CAN insert a clause of what they consider reasonable care, but that cannot be restrictive to the consumer's right to examine goods. 2. Responsibility for cost of return due to a fault / breach of contract is down to the seller. Nothing can change that - you cannot even agree to it. 3. Your duty will be to take reasonable care of the item. You cannot be expected to return it yourself, though. That falls to the seller. T&Cs that talk of responsibiity for returns will refer to "change of mind" instances, which this is not. 4. They must refund you within 30 max (not a target) of your notice of cancellation (by email or letter, but get it done if you have not). They cannot insist on the refund being dependent on the return of goods. So fire off that email, politely and come back here if you want to know EXACTLY what to say.

Product Bar Code Country Identification That's better.

The first couple of digits do indeed indicate the country of origin, though I am sure UK is 52 - I could be wrong. I remember doing this ages ago for computing. The frist couple of digits tell you the country, the rest describe the product in some way, and the last digit is a "check" number - all the others are added up, divided by something and the result should be the same as the check number - or something like that. The general specs, and more info on barcode (from the organisation that does them) available here: GS1 UK - Barcode, Global Data Synchronization, Supply Chain Standards, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) Tag Solutions

Well, the music started again a few days ago, so I called the housing office last Friday who promptly arranged for an appointment in 3 weeks time. I explained that I have been assured that the housing officer would attend if I called to complain, but they said no. Instead, an email marked "urgent" would be sent to her. On Tuesday, so I promptly informed them of my disgust and put the phone down. Now yesterday as I was leaving the house the neighbours stopped me. She apologised for the noise and said that they can hear everything we do, suggested a time that we could meet to discuss things so as not to fall out, and then her boyf asked "what time would it be acceptable to play music". I wanted to say "anytime - just not at the volume you have been playing it". I was in a rush and completely of guard, so said we would discuss it later. I don't know what to make of all of this. How the hell can they say they can hear everything we do? My TV is on it's lowest volume setting. Their noise drowns out any noise we make. And that f*****g baby is constantly crying - they must be bloody deaf - it's been screaming now, as it normally does, for at least an hour non-stop. I also feel miffed that housing told them we made the complaint - it's not that difficult to assume it's us because there is only us who would be affected - this is exactly the reason why I did not complain about the last druggy neighbour and his gang of crims. I remember a case in the Lords a while ago on noise. There was apparently some legislation that requires a property to be returned to it's original state in these cases if there have been modifications. The guy lost because his property had always been in that state. But mine hasn't. It used to be a full semi detached and not always a town house. So I'm looking at getting the HA to either put it back to the way it was or to put soundproofing in. Time to do some research - if I can concentrate with the noise....

Mine does that, but saves me the worry of forgetting to close it!

Are they using the valuation you gave them when you got the quote (when you were asked the market price of the vehicle)? If so, that question is only used to identify anything unusual about a car (e.g, if you say your 1991 fiesta 1.1 is worth £20,000 then there is something not quite standard about the car that they would want to know about), and is NOT used as a basis for paying out. Otherwise we really would have £20,000 cars. I'd ask on what basis they are valuing the vehicle.

I was just imagining something resembling the end of Italian Job. Those passengers make me laugh though. Do they really think the pilot and crew would fly it if it was dangerous? When the crew refuses to fly, THAT'S the time to panic!

Like I said, no engineer but wtf is that engineer on about? He doesn't sound a good one - one that would explain things in plain English.

I have been making regular payments to a former employer for overpaid wages - this was about 8 years ago for an amount of £900. Recently (last year) I dropped the payments to a nominal sum due to being unemployed. I did contact the employer at the time but they said they could not access my records (changing office) but to pay a small amount until they contact me. Now they have written to me - there is app. £150 left to pay and they are asking that I increase payment. I have emailed them to say I cannot as I am unemployed, and asked that they write it off. Is there anything else I can do or say? They have not contacted me since I initially arranged to repay about 7 years ago, and i have been making payments by standing order.

On the point of MPs overpayments for council tax, can I expect to see the relevant councils taking them to court for the overpayments, like my council is doing for a claim I am actually entitled to? Thought not.

Terrified British tourists refuse to board 'nose-heavy' flight | Metro.co.uk I nearly wet myself laughing when I read this yesterday. Comments / explanation?

Ah, DL. My fave! Just for info only for anyone else.... The timescale you post is not unreasonable. I've dealt with many that have been much longer. No, it's nowhere near too late, but trainers at DL, when I was there, had no understanding of the insurance policy and put a time limit of 30 days to claim. After I grassed on them to senior underwriting and the FOS (because they just wouldn't listen to me), they changed the training. If it's quite a while, say over 4 months, you may need to justify it, but leaving a claim for a long time without reason may cause deterioration that cannot be claimed for.

Keep at them and tell them the 30 days is a maximum - not a target. The second the deadline is missed, fire off an email giving them 7 days to prevent court action without further notice. You have been patient enough.

Dunno about appliances, but did the engineer say if there was a cause or whether it should happen? What you need is a statement saying the item does not conform to the contract. And remember if that is the case, you can claim all your costs back from the seller.

Well... (spoiler alert coming up - text is white so highlight with mouse if you want to read)... choose Bacteria or Virus If you don' start with Madagascar, start again until you do. Sell any symptoms and wait until you get about 40 points. Buy all resistances except drugs and any that you are durable for. Wait until all countries are infected then buy remaining resitences except for drug level 4. Also buy 2 or 3 transmission methods. Buy symptoms as you like BUT..... If a vaccine is developed, you will need to have points to buy drug level 4 and a symptom or two as well as a transmission. When the vaccine is being distributed, buy the above to mutate. Then watch everyone drop like flies. Mwa ha ha haaaa!

Steven, I just want to point out that quite a few posts you highlighted before are factual. That's why I jumped in to Conniff's defence as it were. For my own tuppence, how many of us who have worked in insurance roll their eyes up when taking details of items stolen from a car or house? Sunglasses are ALWAYS Raybans or some other designer (not £3.99 from the market), the maximum amount of cash covered usually disappears (the £2 in change for emergency coffee at Maccy's drive thru or road toll), jeans and clothing are generally designer stuff - never Primark or anything like that, oh and the new stereo that was bought has also gone, but - darn it - didn't think I'd need the box or receipt so chucked it. When my parents house was burgled, the PC actually said to make sure you claim for everything you can. My mother nearly booted him out. But back to the point, the practice when I was insurance was usually for the claimant's solicitor to have their own panel of doctors sympathetic to their claims. The claimant would state their symptoms and the doctor would duly write up that they suggest whiplash. The defendant insurer is then in the position of either paying out or spending money fighting it at the risk of losing anyway. And how easy is it to do this? When I worked on the coal miners claims for Vibration White Finger, a number of claimants would fake the symptoms by, for example, putting their fingers in a bag of frozen peas to simulate lack of blood flow to the fingers that is common with VWF. And the shaking and lack of dexterity with the condition results in difficulty in performing delicate tasks. It's amazing how many coalminers had matchstick modelling as their hobby that they could no longer do or window cleaning as a job that they had to give up.

If it was ordered by distance then you simply need to send confirmation in durable form (email, letter, fax) that you are cancelling. Homebase then have 30 days maximum to provide a refund of ALL costs associated with the purchase (delivery, admin etc) and cannot insist on the bed being delivered, refused or returned before issuing a refund. If it was bought instore, then it will be a case of looking at the contract. You may be able to reject on the basis that delivery time was a major component of the contract

I think the reason is because you have suggested that you would commit a fraud. The issue here is whether or not the TP has whiplash. Not being doctors, and not having examined her, we don't know, though it is known that whiplash can happen at low speeds. You stated that "anyone who has a bump puts in a whiplash claim". Asides the fact that this is untrue, you suggest that the presence of whiplash is not a prerequisite for claiming for it. Claiming for a medical condition you know you do not have is fraud. Fraud is a crime and anyone who commits a crime is a criminal. So just where then is Conniff's comment an insult? I agree with him entirely.

Oh thank god - now I can go to bed having just exterminated all life on the planet...

It's really a matter of having rules and having the ability to enforce them. There is no point in having one without the other, and in the UK, sadly, we have a plethora of rules with people to enforce them (TS, OFT, ASA, FOS etc etc) but sadly the inability to do so through resources of one type or another. It's a subject I have broached before many a time and often to much disagreement, but I will not labour that point further. I will tell you now that reporting to TD will result in a response advisig you of your rights, but if you make sure your email states that you want it passed to a TSO for enforcement action, it will get passed on. If other complaints have been made, it may be enough for TS to take action. But in situations like this, sellers get away with the very attitude you have - "It's only a tenner". Basically, you are telling sellers that you will let them rip you off and let them get away with it. If everyone complained and took action, maybe sellers will think twice about doing it and the problem will reduce. Please do pursue it. If you don't want to, I'll do it and have your tenner!

3 HOURS NOW I'VE BEEN PLAYING THIS!!!! Thanks Tez - I am now officially an addict as well as a virtual genocidal maniac!

My apologies, I read your post incorrectly. They are obliged to refund ALL costs, including delivery and cannot in any way or at any time refuse to do so. The legislation refers to "any sum paid by or on behalf of the consumer under or in relation to the contract to the person by whom it was made". The OFTs guidance makes it clear, not that it should be needed to be, that this includes postage. Report it to Consumer Direct. They should pass it on to the company's homa authority TS dept who will in turn, hopefully, tell them to change the wording. In terms of taking any action, it is a civil matter and therefore down to you. I can do a letter if you like for you to send to them, but it may be a case of taking them to court for it.