Thanks for the reply! Yes I think that's the problem as I did acknowledge the invoice by e-mail originally it is only since we've had complications with the purchase that I feel that paying them is unfair given they introduced me to this particular agency in Spain, and it is that introduction I am paying them good money for. I thought this may be the case, very frustrating.

Hi all This is a bit of a strange one but hoping someone can give me some advice. Last year we enquired about a property in Spain via Rightmove the agency "introduced" us to a local agent in Spain. They did nothing but forward our e-mail as far as I can tell. During the purchase of the property the agency told us that a 3% fee was payable to the Rightmove agency. I did think that was a bit steep for doing nothing but the deal was a good one on the property so we didn't say anything. I transferred the 3% along with the rest of the money to my new Spanish bank account and our agent and solicitor handled the purchase. Long story short, we ended up paying more tax than expected, and the funds for the 3% were used by the solicitor I did not know this until afterwards when the Rightmove agency started chasing me for payment. I queried it as I thought it had been paid then found out that actually it hadn't and was no longer available. Of course I was annoyed neither the agent or the solicitor informed me of the change. Another long story short, the agent said the builders would give us the choice on the apartment and solarium we wanted as we were the first to make an offer and it was a distressed property. We told the agency what we wanted fast forward several months we find out that actually, due to the deeds we could never have had a different solarium and therefore ended up with the right apartment but wrong solarium with no warning at all. The agency told us complete nonsense, probably to secure our sale, and simply didn't do their homework first on the property. Of course we were livid and also very upset end result is we owned the apartment and after discussing with our solicitor they said there was no way to change anything. The next thing is I get an email chasing the 3% I felt that was outrageous given the huge mistake made by the company that the Rightmove agency introduced us to so I've refused to pay it. The Rightmove agency tell me that all they do is introduce and have nothing more to do with it, so will take me to small claims. I should point out I've never signed any contract with the Rightmove agency at all. Personally I feel that for 3% (around £1200) I should get some value from the service they have provided and if they are introducing surely they have some responsibility to ensure they are introducing us to competent professionals. Am I mistaken, can they get away with this ?

Hi Everyone, I've just had a read of some of the sticky threads - really useful. My situation is much like everyone elses - I've paid a deposit, it wasn't put in the protection scheme, I moved out and I've had to fight to get my deposit back. The current situation is this.....(there is no agency involved) 1) I gave my 30 day notice to the landlord in writing and asked if we could meet up to sort out keys and deposit 2) I phoned him on the day I was moving out to ask if we could meet up to sort out the deposit. He told me he was in Spain (although there was no international dial tone when I called) and that he'd call me in a weeks time. This didn't happen. I kept calling and sending him texts, but no reply. Eventually I got hold of him and he said he was busy with a VAT return and would call me in a week. I waited a week and called him, nothing. I eventually got a text late one night saying he was too busy to visit the property and would put a cheque in the post. I waited another week and still nothing. 3) Totally frustrated by the run around I researched what I could do legally. I found out then he hadn't put the deposit in a protection scheme - bingo. I therefore drafted a Letter before Action and sent it to him. 4) Within about 2 days he sent me a cheque for £485 after taking out £150 and he listed in his letter various reasons which I'm not happy about: - he says the shower was "dirty". Well, it wasn't, it was cleaned twice. I suppose I can't prove this as I forgot to take pictures - he says I should have power washed the decking outside and cut back the trees and shrubs. There is nothing in the tenancy agreement about the garden and he didn't provide any tools. Am I responsible for this ? - he says I didn't clean the flue for the log burner. I used the log burner 3 times, again there was no mention of this in the tenancy agreement. - he says I left the towel rail on and it cost him extra electricity - he says the position of the sky dish is wrong and needs to be taken down - he says the carpets needed cleaning although I hired a Rug Doctor and cleaned them before leaving All of this really annoyed me because had he arranged to meet me at the property we could have gone through all this and I would most likely have said fair enough. But he didn't, he's just messed me around, and its been 8 weeks since I left the property during some of the hottest times of the year so the garden will have overgrown and I don't know if the property is even in use by someone else now. I don't have an inventory. He may have taken one, but I certainly don't have a copy and I'm fairly sure I didn't sign on. I'm not 100% on that as it was a few years ago but surely it would be with the tenancy agreement if I did. So I wrote back to him saying I didn't accept his claims and I wanted my deposit back in full or I would proceed with the court claim for the 3 times deposit. He's written back again saying that if I pursue this, he will come after me for "loss of rent" due to him being unable to rent the property. Can he do this? I'm so angry because I've never not had a deposit returned in full and if he had just met up like any normal person we could have sorted it face to face. Now I don't know whether to proceed with the claim or just accept the £150 loss, but its becoming more of a principal thing now. Everything I've read suggests I shouldn't have a problem claiming the 3 times desposit, but I'm just unsure if he can then counter-sue me for anything? Thanks for any advice Tim

This is the code of conduct they are supposed to obide by as a member of the RDO http://www.rdo.org/sites/default/files/RDO%20Code%20of%20Conduct%20&%20ADR%20Scheme%20Jan%202010.pdf They fail incredibly well

It seems Club La Costa is a member of the RDO (Resort development Organisation) - Club La Costa Resorts & Hotels | Resort Development Organisation I suggest everyone sends a complain to them - contact details here Resort Development Organisation It's shocking that companies like this (and there are a lot!) are allowed to trade within (or on the fringe of) the law....

Hi all, My girlfriend received a phone call a few weeks ago to say that we had won a holiday but we had to attend the 2hr talk. Alarm bells instantly went off, so I phoned back and asked more questions. The woman on the phone promised me that there was no commitment and that the holiday would be to a Club La Costa resort, to "sample" what was on offer. As we were in London that weekend anyway, we decided to go to the meeting at their offices on Windmill Street. I really wish I'd Googled them first as it would have saved what turned out to be more like 4hrs of wasted time - however that's a lot better than some of the stories on here. I must admit I was expecting it to be a hall with a speaker at the front and a load of pretty pictures of holiday venues, but they started to drag people off in couples to their own table. I thought this was very odd, so again more alarm bells. We were first introduced to Gill, who was the main sales person, but she kept bringing over her "managers" to at every opportunity there were two people trying to convince you of their b*llsh*t. I said at the start can we just cut to the chase, what's the amount of money you want? and they said no I had to go through the whole process. So we sat there being patronised about where our dream holidays would be and how they could make it all a reality, etc. We even had to watch 2 DVD's one with Jenny Bond saying how safe and secure an investment it was. Does she even know how much of a con this is ?? They told me that in the room opposite me (I could see people going in and out of it) was where you signed up for the deal and I did see a lot of couples going in there, shaking hands and coming away with a nice silver welcome pack. I thought at the time - poor lambs! There was a big ugly South African bull dog of a man sitting behind the desk - not exactly customer friendly! Anyway the bottom line was they were going to offer me full membership for £10,995. But wait! Today I only needed to spend £3995! But wait! Today only, I could just pay £495 and then spread the cost of the balance over 3 years with BARCLAYS. But wait! They could also knock off a further £400 from the balance. In return, we could be members for 3 years and get 7 weeks of free holiday time. He wasn't interested in selling me the membership he just wanted me to take the loan out. No doubt they're all on commission. I really feel sorry for all the people falling for it on the day. Now the bit that angers me the most, after giving up my time for them, they then presented us with the "free holiday". The free holiday is not with Club La Costa and you don't go to their resort. It has so many T&C's that you're likely to get charged in full for the trip if you go on it so my advice is definitely RIP UP THE INVITATION and DO NOT GO to one of their meetings. Good luck everyone else.....

Thanks Susan, I will look into an S.A.R. That sounds like a good move regardless. Kind regards, Tim

Thanks very much for your reply, very valuable info. I have had a response from NatWest since I sent copies of the e-mail. They say that I was resigned from the account as a signatory, but not as a guarantor. This is because they were unable to get the new owners of the business to accept the guarantee, therefore I remained on. I accept that this may be their terms, but why on earth did no one contact me ? They knew that I didn't want to be involved in the company or the guarantee. Had I known at some point in the 12+ months after I left the business I may have been able to resolve it in some way. When I sold the business, the terms of the deal stated that the new owners would take over the liabilities including the overdraft. However, the chances of me being able to sue them now are very small. I've had no choice but to go to the Ombudsman on this one, so I will let you know what they say after I provide all the details. Very very unfair I feeel. Tim

Hi Guys, I'm writing this post ahead of making a formal complaint to the Financial Ombudsman just to see if I am justified and correct (morally if not legally!!!). I appreciate anyone taking the time to provide feedback. Back in late 2006 I became a director of a Limited company. Upon joining, I became a signatory of the account. The bank manager said I would need to join the bank guarantee along with the other directors. I was happy to do this as I was taking joint responsibility. The company had a 15,000 overdraft facility. In early 2007 I realised the business wasn't for me, although it was viable in my opinion (and that of an external accountancy) I wanted to pursue other matters. I sold my equity and resigned as a director on 30th May 2007. I spoke to the bank manager and told him of the situation and that I wanted to resign from the bank completely. I followed this up with an e-mail a few days later. He acknowledged the e-mail to me by means of a reply and said he would organise a new mandate - and that was that. During the following 12 months I heard from various people that the new owners had made a mess of things and were winding up. I didn't think much of it as it was no longer my concern. About 12 months (almost to the day), I get a letter from the bank - NatWest - calling in the guarantee and telling me I am still responsible for the 15k, along with a fellow director who resigned around the same time as me. I was a bit shocked and wrote back to say that I had resigned. They said I was still a guarantor. I wrote back and said that I had e-mailed our business manager. They did not confirm this either way, so I went on my own mission to prove the e-mail. Thankfully I have an e-mail archiving service at work and the e-mail has been found. It confirms my resignation and that I want to be removed from the account. I wrote back to Natwest and included copies of the e-mail and they said that although I had resigned from the account, the new directors hadn't signed up to be guarantors and therefore I was still liable. This to me seems grossly unfair, given that I have had no involvement in the business for a year (during which they've run it to the ground), the fact that for me to become a signatory I had to become a guarantor (so why not for them?) and the fact that NatWest made no attempt to contact me during the 12 months to inform me of the situation, a reasonable request I would say? Furthermore they were happy to operate the account knowing the guarantors had resigned as directors and wanted nothing more to do with the business and did nothing to effect the change - which I feel is irresponsible and unreasonable for an institution like themselves. I have now had my "final response" from NatWest that they intend to pursue me and my ex co-director for the 15k and my only other option is the Financial Ombudsman. I cannot (morally) see how they can take this stance. Am I wrong? Thanks in advance, Tim