Personally I'd send them a letter before action, advising that if the cheque they have advised is due to you is not received within there most recently stiplulated timescale that you will take legal action without further notice. If the cheque doesn't turn up submit a Money claim online for the refund, plus fees, plus interest at 8%, you should also be able to seek a small sum in recompense for Voda wasting your time e.t.c, keep your claim reasonable and I'd be astonished if they didn't settle promptly.

Return their completed paperwork with a letter/note telling them that you've already sent payment for £10.00. As they've offset your payment against the balance which was clearly not what the payment was for, advise them that your not sending another cheque as you've already paid the statutory fee, you shouldn't have a problem, basically it's there issue not yours if they've incorrectly used/allocated the payment.

It looks like genuine letterhead to me, with Orange's registered office address details and France Telecom's logo on it, although it's quite small blurry and difficult to make out. If you suspect a forgery ask Orange if the document is genuine. I wouldn't have thought they would supply their letterhead to a debt collector, this could have all sort of negative reprucussions if the DCA misused it. Its probably has just been printed by someone who hasn't bothered to setup the printer correctly at Orange, this would seem to be the simplest explanation, rather than a sinister plot involving a DCA forging documents.

No there is not a conflict of interest.

Did the goverment actually pay £300 to anyone? If you were able to get confirmation that your data had been affected by this breach then I'd have thought T-Mobile could mitigate any potential identity theft by applying a CIFAS flag to your credit file, this would cost them £12 or £13 quid and could prevent identity fraud for 12 months from the date of its application. The other problem is T-Mobile haven't specified what data has been stolen from them, they've confirmed that millions of pieces of personal data may have been stolen from them by a former employee in relation to thousands of customers, but they have 15 million + customers, the maths would suggest not everyone's data has been disclosed. If its just your mobile number, name and contract renewal date then the risk of identity theft would probably be low, if their employee has stolen your full name and address, plus mobile numbers and other data held by them the risk would be considerably higher.

The answer is that you can seek compensation under the Data Protection Act, however, you have to be able to prove damages. The questions then become: 1) Were your details disclosed? (Not everyone's were apparently.) Can you prove your details we disclosed by T-Mobile, or will they confirm the breach applied to you? 2) What damage has this disclosure caused? And I mean damage in the legal sense. If you've suffered damage and this has caused you distress you also can claim for this. You can't usually claim solely for distress in DPA related litigation unless the data is being processed for special purposes and this wasn't the case here. You could theoretically start litigation against T-Mobile for compensation, however, you'd have to prove the breach and the damages. In my view any damage in relation to this breach is likely to be minimal, the odd annoying phone call from a salesperson isn't likely to result in any substantive damage to you, however, I'm open to suggestions as to what sort of damage you think T-Mobile may have caused you as a result of a breach in relation to this matter. Generally I think it would be time consuming and difficult to prove that you were subject to this breach, it'd also be tricky to prove damages in relation to the breach, so any legal action would probably be very speculative.

You'd only have legal grounds for an action under the DPA if you'd suffered quantifiable damages as a result of T-Mobiles breach. As you've presumably no idea whether or not your data was involved in this breach I'd suggest you need further info from T-Mobile, even if they did confirm that your data had been disclosed without your consent, you still have to prove damages, so I'd suggest any legal options you may have would depend on you finding out further information.

O2 aren't losing their right to sell the iPhone, Apple have chosen not to renew their exclusive agreement with 02 to sell the iPhone in the UK when this contract ends on 9 November. 02 will still be able to sell the iPhone but they won't be the only operator in the UK able to do this, Orange start selling it on 10 November, Voda have confirmed they will be selling the iPhone from early next year - I think I've seen Feb 2010 mentioned somewhere.

Actually they've got 40 days from receipt of the completed form, the form serves several purposes one of which is to ensure that the data subject identifies themselves to the satisfaction of the data controller. You would do this by filling out the form, providing info to identify yourself, showing that you are the subject of the data and providing proof of ID if necessarry: The ICO's legal guidance on the act says: A data controller must comply with a subject access request promptly, in other words as quickly as he can, and in any event within forty days of receipt of the request or, if later, within forty days of receipt of – (a) the information required to satisfy himself as to the identity of the personmaking the request to enable him to locate the information which that person seeks; and (b) the fee. What they've done by sending the form is press reset on the 40 day period and pause on the SAR until they get the info they want from him. As he's already paid the fee he just needs to send the form back. Just because he's paid a tenner doesn't mean he has to ask for everything they hold either, if he wants everything he can ask for it all, on the other hand if he wants something in particular he should ask for it. Asking a large company to send you everything they have on you can end with them sending you reams of paper that you neither want or need, which you then have to spend your time sorting through. It also delays a response as well as they've got to go searching through the large amounts of data they hold for everything they can find in relation to you.

Agreed, however, the Data Protection Act makes several requirements of data controllers one of which is that they have to be satisfied that you are the subject of the data you have requested before they disclose it to you. The ICO's Guidance on the act also allows data controllers to ask that you narrow the scope of the data you are requesting, however, if you want all information they have to provide it to you. All of the Subject Access Request forms I have seen have at least 3 clear purposes, one is to ensure that you are the subject of the data you want by asking for proof of ID and confirmation of which account or accounts specifically belong to you, the other is ensure you are aware you have to pay £10.00 (not everyone is) and the third is to ask for clarification on exactly what information is required. Clarification is presumably important as if the company know specifically what you want they will be able to provide this information quickly, if you ask for all data held by a telco or any large company I'd imagine it takes them longer to complete the relevant data searches and collate the information.

Otelo have agreed to accept the wiring related aspect of your dispute? Thats weird - their own guidance to customers states that: What kind of complaints are excluded from the Service?... Otelo may not handle complaints involving: Cable and wiring inside your premises Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman - By customers of public communications providers

If you agree the money is owed your options are limited. If you pay the money now the credit file will be amended to show as settled, which means that although there was a default which will usually remain on the credit file for six years after the default date, payment has now been made and 3 consider the matter resolved. You could also offer full and final settlement of the debt specifically on the condition that the default is removed, however, 3 would be under no obligation to accept this offer. Your going to be heavily reliant on there goodwill regarding removal of the default.

Your contract was a service agreement not a credit agreement, Orange does not have a legal obligation to provide you with a default notice, I wouldn't refer to the lack of a default notice in written statements or verbal statements in court. My understanding of the county court process is that you have to outline the particulars of your claim in writing prior to any hearings so that Arrow Global and the Judge can see how you plan to present your arguments. I don't think you can just turn up on the day of the hearing and present a whole raft of new arguments or points on which you intend to rely - it would probably be classed as an abuse of process. Check the Civil Procedure Rules and speak to a clerk at the court for further advice or seek the advice of a solicitor. CPR - Rules and Directions - Ministry of Justice

You could also complain to Phonepayplus they regulate this sort of service: PhonepayPlus : Consumers : Make a complaint

Orange does not offer a capping service.

Yes their agents lost the phone initally, they should replace with with a device of equal or higher specifications. If they aren't able to do this this then they need to offer you a cash alternative to allow you to purchase a replacement device of equal or higher specification. If they aren't prepared to do this send Samsung your LBA, setting out what is an acceptable resolution to you, give them a reasonable deadline, if they don't reply then proceed with a claim via money claim online for a refund.

12 Rights in relation to automated decision-taking (1) An individual is entitled at any time, by notice in writing to any data controller, to require the data controller to ensure that no decision taken by or on behalf of the data controller which significantly affects that individual is based solely on the processing by automatic means of personal data in respect of which that individual is the data subject for the purpose of evaluating matters relating to him such as, for example, his performance at work, his creditworthiness, his reliability or his conduct. At which point I'm fairly sure Voda could say, we've had a person review the data, its accurate and will stay on the file. All it does is guarentee you the right to a manual review of the data as I read it. If a person manually reviews the data and agrees with the computer, the information can stay on your file.

From what little know of IVA's don't they remain on your credit file for six years anyway...which is exactly the same as a default anyway. Your best bet is to probably contact the person/company who arranged the IVA for you and ask their advice on the default. I don't know whether the IVA restricts your creditors rights to update your credit file.

As its not a credit agreement they are not legally obliged to provide you with a formal notice of default in the same way that a lender under the CCA would be. Busby is correct, what are your grounds for seeking removal of the default? If you genuinley didn't pay your bills, with no underlying cause other than you didn't want to or couldn't afford to Voda are well within their rights to default you and you've got very little chance of having the default removed.

You can appeal Otelo decisions on certain grounds, i.e. that there is some sort of fundamental flaw with the decision or/problem with the legal reasoning used in reaching the decision, you'd have to check the Otelo website for full details and read the decision carefully to assess whether this was the case, disagreeing with a decision because you don't like the conclusions reached isn't grounds for appeal. If there is some sort of fundamental problem with the decision you can ask Otelo for the right to appeal, I believe they can refuse this right if they don't agree with the basis for your appeal. If there is no fundamental problem your options are simple. You can either let the matter rest or take legal action, when independent arbitration of your complaint ended you finished the final stage of BT's complaints procedure, they are unlikely to entertain any further complaints/contact from you in relation to this matter. In terms of your prospects in legal proceedings, civil adjudicators use the same criteria used by judges in small claims for making rulings, i.e, the burden of proof lies with you and to win your claim you have to prove your on the balance of probabilities to their satisfaction that your allegations against BT are true. You may find that a small claims judge would reach the same conclusion as the adjudicator, so if you do plan to take legal action take independent legal advice on the merits of your claim.

Agreed they do owe you something as a consumer, however, its less than it would be if you were registered as a business, they probably owe you something for a failure of their duty of care to you, breach of contract and your loss of enjoyment which could be derived from the use their services, however, unless you can prove a significant loss from a legal standpoint they don't have to compensate you with a huge sum. If the average mobile phone contract is £30.00 a month (I have no idea what you paying) then they've offered you just short of two months charges for an outage which lasted how long? A couple of hours? A couple of days? You haven't said what your expectations are in terms of compensation. If your expecting them to compensate you hundreds of pounds for loss of service over a period of a few hours or days, when you'd have paid then a couple of quid for their service over the same period I think you'll end up dissapointed.

There are standard terms in all of the mobile phone contracts to this effect from memory: Your airtime contract - O2 4.7 O2 cannot set usage limits and the Customer will be liable for all Charges incurred by its use of the Wireless Services. O2 may monitor the Customer’s usage of the Wireless Services for the purpose of controlling O2’s credit risk and the Customer’s exposure to fraudulent usage. 9. Obligations of the Customer 9.1 The Customer undertakes with O2 that throughout the Wireless Service Period it will use its reasonable endeavours to: ... 9.1.3 notify O2 immediately (and to confirm in writing) on becoming aware that any Device or SIM Card has been lost or stolen or that any person is making improper or illegal use of the Device, SIM Card or the Wireless Services. The Customer will be responsible for any Charges incurred as a result of unauthorised use of any Device, or SIM Card, or the information contained within a SIM Card, until O2 has received a request from the Customer to suspend the Wireless Services to that Device or SIM Card... As far as a strategy goes my suggestion is complain first using 02's complaints process, if this is unsuccessful contact their CEO Matthew Key [email protected] and the matter will be referred to a high level complaints department (these departments usually don't take on a complaint unless you have at least made an effort to deal with the complaint via customer services in the first place). If you get no joy from a the high level complaints department then you can seek deadlock and independent arbitration of the dispute (which has to be paid for by 02) as locutus suggested, the final step you could take would be a dispute/reclaimation of the charges through the courts.

Your credit rating would be affected by late or non payment which would affect your ability to get credit on all networks, however, you can't be blacklisted for life, the maximum period a default or entries about late payment can stay on your credit file is six years from the date they were applied. In theory they could instruct baliffs eventually, but this would take at least six months, if not more of non payment from you. Any baliffs they did instruct are unlikely to be court appointed baliffs, they will be employee of a debt collection agency, as such I believe they wouldn't be able to enter your home or remove goods without your permission. Retentions should be able to take cancellation notice from you and they cannot insist on immediate payment of the bill, however, I doubt that any frontline member of staff will agree to waive the disputed charges, the average member of staff in customer services at this type of organisation will not have the authourity to waive £400 worth of charges, most of them have credit limits imposed by management of between £30 and £50, so they literally cannot waive charges as high as £400 without specific approval. Your going to need managment for that...I'd be delighted to be wrong but I think your going to have to fight for a refund of these charges.

It depends on how much time you've got before payment is due to be taken, this may not be resolved immediatley. If you give them notice (I'd recommend by letter or email) before payment is made that your paying under protest to avoid damage to your credit file then it's fine to allow the payment to go through and then dispute liability. If you cancel the DD and this takes weeks or months to resolve then your going to end up with negative entries on your credit file, this is something that you really do want to avoid. In the current financial climate lenders are very wary and if you want credit anytime soon then negative entries or defaults from O2 could have a significant affect on your ability to get credit for as long as six years. Even if you do resolve the issue regarding liability for disputed calls, you'd then potentially have to have a whole other argument with them to get them to update your credit file.

Use the registered office address, its a legal requirement for them to include it any correspondence they send to you, usually its in small print in the bottom corner of a letter, if not then you can check on the companies house website to find the info out. Address the letter to the Data Protection Officer by recorded delivery and include proof of your identity, like a photocopy of your driving license or passport (data controllers are legally obliged to confirm your identity before sending information). I'd also be as specific as possible about the data you require. If you simply ask them for everything your likely to get reams of irrelevant info that you don't want or need, which you'll then have to wade through to find the stuff you do want.