Hi, Hoping for some advice. After hearing Martin recently I decided to look into my council tax band. Went on the VOA site and my house is listed as deleted. The property had concrete cancer and was going to be demolished which is why I think the band was deleted. The council decided to repair rather than demolish and we became tenants when the work was finished. Been here 10 years and always paid band B rates - every other property has not been deleted and are in band A. All of the properties on the street had the same issues and were all repaired to the same standard so not sure why we are paying band B and everyone else band A. All of the other properties are the same size and layout etc so no difference in value. I want to challenge the band but not sure how to word it so would like help if anyone can please Many Thanks Darren

When I spoke on the phone I told them what I needed and the guy said £184 plus vat and gave me a quote reference which he also emailed me. The email had no prices but did have a t&c attachment and said to fill in the booking form online so they could raise an invoice. They then sent the invoice and I realised the price difference and told them by email that I wanted to cancel as we must have got our wires crossed regarding prices. There were no prices on the booking form - it wanted to know dates, times locations etc and the nature of the event. All communication was through my personal email account but I completed the booking form with my husbands business details as it was for his event. 2017 Envisage Group Terms & Conditions.pdf

The company is envisage promotions. What should I do next - ignore or respond?

Just had this reply: Regretfully you appear to have misunderstood that completing a booking form is entering a contract. Please see attached our agreed terms and conditions, I have also highlighted the relevant section below for your convenience. 6. Cancellation 6.1 Without prejudice to any other right or remedy available to it the company shall be entitled to cancel the contract or suspend any further performance under the contract without any liability on the part of the company or the talent. 6.2 The client shall not be entitled to cancel the contract without the prior written agreement of the company. I am trying to help reduce your costs, and would maintain my offer of a reduced fee if you decide to cancel. If you decide to not respond as detailed in your previous email this will be handed across to our debt recovery team, at which point the full amount will be charged and you will be liable to pay additional fees implimteded by STA Debt Recovery.

Thanks for the quick reply, I thought it was not a contract but its always better to get someone with more knowledges advice. The event is in 18 days and as soon as I realised the error I let them know. Maybe I misheard the guy but I genuinely thought it was a total of £184 plus vat and not double that or I would not have filled in the form. I will let the guy know about the initiation to treat and see if that stops him in his tracks. Thanks again.

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?

All sorted now - paid council direct. Funny how one person says pay bailiff direct and another says yes thats fine and takes payment! I am going to complain to the council and the bailiff company (I called them today to tell them it was paid - they put the phone down on me when I mentioned complaining). I didnt realise complaining to the court was such a formal thing, i just wanted to put a spanner in the works for a truly nasty man (he seemed to get upset when I asked if he had been bullied at school). Thanks for all your help it is much appreciated. Darren

Thanks for all your help everyone. We are going to pay it today (lucky we have just enough put aside which was our rainy day money). I had a look to see if the bailiff is registered and his licence is up for renewal in september - is it worth us sending a copy of the complaint to the court that issued his licence?

Just a bit of an update. The wife has been in touch with the council, they are calling off the bailiff for the ex husbands debt but she is liable for the other (we knew that anyway). Went through and confirmed amount and dates etc (no charges added). She offered to pay them direct but they said gone too far. They also confirmed the bailiff cannot break in. The wife then went to citizens advice, they phoned the bailiff who is being an @sshole. He said he had the power to break in anytime he wanted - the woman from CA said no you cant to which he replied 'i can do what I want!'. He also said he wanted full payment for both debts regardless and had the lady in tears he was so abusive to her. Also phoned his company who where not interested. The woman at CA advised us to contact the police as he is making threats - is it worth us calling them? Jacobs (the bailiff company) have online payment so we are going to pay it off in one go, but can I report this nasty meathead to anyone?

One other thing I forgot to mention - these letters were not in envelopes! Data protection?

Thank you all for the help - it is much appreciated. I cant understand why its taken so long either - just shows how efficient they can be at times! We will be contacting the council first thing monday. Thanks again - I will be able to sleep tonight! Darren

How do I prevent the bailiff from returning while waiting for the info?

The joint amount is £231.08 and the ex's debt is £415.63. We get working tax credit and are classed as low income, we can tighten our belt and pay it in one go - to be honest I dont like having debts and would rather just settle it in one go and eat plenty of beans on toast for the month! I just dont want to pay his debt (last time we checked the CSA say he owes us 5k in unpaid maintainance), he has a habit of avoiding paying for anything. Thanks again

No he has not gained entry and I will make sure my wife knows to speak through the letterbox to anyone. We dont mind paying it if she owes it so should I send the bailiff payment or go to the council? Thanks for the advice - its a weight off my mind.

Yes thats correct. The one with her name has mr & mrs. The other is just mr. Both have the address in Telford they shared before they split up.

Thanks again. I have been doing more reading. It is Telford council and we are down in Bristol. I am assuming its council tax as it says the money is owed to Telford council. Wont know any more until we can call them on monday. I think the reason for 2 debts is because one is probably for him after we informed the council that she had moved. Would I be right in assuming as there are 2 letters (each with different council and bailiff refs) there must be 2 L/O's (one in his name and one joint)? So if we pay the full amount owed on the joint letter that will be settled. As for the other L/O - as its not in either of our names and she can prove they are divorced the bailiff will not be able to take it any further? Thanks again Darren

Thanks for the quick reply. She left 8 years ago and informed them when she left. We have not had any notification of anything until I got home to find these letters. As I said 1 is in both names and the other is in his name. Does this mean she is liable for his even though she has not lived there and is divorced? I can only assume that they assume she is still married to her ex.

Hi Alll, I have read the stickie re bailiffs but would just like some advice on our situation. I might waffle a bit so please bear with me. Basically I met my other half 8 years ago. She was in the process of divorcing her husband and lived in a council house in Telford. They had been apart for about 6 months then when he found out she was seeing someone else he broke into her house and basically moved in (he was on tenancy). She fled down south and came to live with me. She told council she was leaving house etc. Just got home from work to find 2 bailiff letters. First addressed to her ex husband and the other in both their names. We have been married for a few years now so our tenancy is in her married name (my surname). My name is not on the agreement because I always said if we split up she should have the family home. Basically 2 identical letters from Jacobs certified bailiffs for different amounts. It gives a council reference so I can only assume its for council tax and her old address at Telford. The letter is as follows: 'TAKE NOTICE - I have attended your property today to find that you were not in. YOU NOW HAVE 4 HOURS TO CONTACT ME TO CLEAR THIS DEBT IN FULL. If you fail to contact me I will have no option but to make arrangements if appropriate, for Porters and Removal Vans to attend your premises with a view to removing goods. PLEASE NOTE WE MAY EVEN REMOVE GOODS IN YOUR ABSENCE. IF WE ARE UNABLE TO GAIN ACCESS TO YOUR PROPERTY WE WILL UTILISE THE SERVICES OF A LOCKSMITH IF APPROPRIATE. If we do not recover the full amount including the costs, then we will recommend that one of the following proceedings is taken:- APPLICATION FOR YOUR COMMITAL TO PRISON or A CHARGING ORDER ON YOUR PROPERTY.' As one of the debts is in her old name I have no problem paying it, but why should we pay for the one in his name? Also can they really gain entry? It also says to contact them and not the council direct? Its got me worried so any advice appreciated - I dont know what to do. I know not to open the door to them etc but I am worried about them breaking in. Thanks in advance. Darren

Thanks for advice, regarding the pin number - when I first signed up I did change the pin to one I wouldnt forget (not even my wife knows what the pin was as it was before we met). To be honest I never had problems back in the old days, but since virgin took over I have always had issues with the service (mainly internet going up and down like a yo yo at times). I have switched to Sky now so I dont intend to use the services again. I have had a letter from a debt collector this morning. Should I write to them saying the debt is in dispute? My plan was to do that and then put my offer in writing to virgin also listing my complaints - but finding a postal address seems to be difficult. Thanks again. Lost_soul

Thanks for the quick reply, they did provide TV,phone and internet (£46 a month) but all were switched off in the beginning of December so I have nothing. I have paid 2 lots of £50 even though they wanted the full amount. They have since charged for the whole of December, January, and they have just added for next month. It would have been nice if they let me know the pin had been reset, I have never ordered VOD ever. I only realised because they sent me a letter saying I had used more than normal. When I questioned why the pin had been reset they said it was when my services were activated. I then said I want to be disconnected, which is when they said I cant because I am under a new 12 month contract. I asked to see a copy of the signed contract and they said they dont need my signature to agree to a new contract. I accept that you dont need to have it in writing to agree to a contract, but surely you have to be aware that you are entering a contract, and be aware of the terms and conditions. I dont have any objections to paying (my son wouldnt have been able to access VOD but for their actions), but I cannot afford to pay it in one go. Does anyone know a postal address so I can send a formal offer of payment? Thanks Lost_soul

Hi All, Basically I have been with Telewest/Virgin for about 12 years. I moved house about 7 years ago no problems. I have recently moved again and took my services with me. This is when the problems began. When we moved in the line was already active so I plugged in my cable box and modem etc and rang them up to give them new address. They said ok no probs and then switched all the services off? I phoned them back and they said to let them know when I was at my new address, I replied 'I am', so they switched it all back on. Still with me? When they switched the tv back on they reset the pin on the box to 1234 - they did not tell me they had done this. All seemed fine until I got the next bill. My 13 year old had worked out the pin number for videos on demand etc - and ran up a £300 bill by watching music videos etc. I phoned virgin and complained because he had never been able to access VOD until they reset the pin without telling me. They wouldnt budge so I said I cant afford to pay it in one go so I will pay £50 a month. They wanted it all or they would disconnect me. I said go ahead and switch the services off as I can only afford £50 a month max, they also told me the debt would freeze and I wouldnt be charged anything else on top. So the services are all off but they are still charging me for the services even though I am not getting anything. Are they allowed to do this? Also even though I have paid them £50 last month and £50 this month they are still not interested in a payment plan, but i will continue to pay £50 a month. Any ideas or advice? Thanks Lost_soul Ps forgot to mention they also told me I am on a new 12 month contract because I moved - they didnt tell me this at the time and I have not signed anything or even seen a contract. I thought to enter into a contract you have to actually be aware of it? When I previously moved I was not put on a new contract, but that was when they were Telewest.