Had a call from the garage last night saying that there was a fault on the EMC which they're replacing today (glad I haven't got to pay for that one!) so I'm going to pick it up tonight and I'll drive it around for a couple of weeks without the accessory fitted and see what happens. I don't know if I'll refit the USB reader or I may just buy a new radio for it which has got this facility built in - I know that VW do sell them. However, it looks like the original theme of my thread (being charged for this repair) won't happen so, all being well, my panic is over.

The device I've got plugs into the back of the radio into the CD multichanger port and then, by plugging a USB memory stick into it which contains MP3s, I can play the MP3s using the radio's controls. It's worked quite well. In response to Coniff, this is where things started to get interesting. The fault never happened in the morning on my way into work but always happened in the afternoon on my way home. It also coincided with the warmer weather starting so I think there's something in there that's temperature related. Anyway, I managed to get access to the car over the weekend and removed the device. Interestingly, the fault didn't happen whilst I drove it around for a bit once it was removed. I just couldn't imagine how this little device could cause such terrible problems, I can't see how anything attached to the radio could affect so many other systems in the car. As suggested, I'll wait until the car comes back and see if the problem reoccurs, if it doesn't then, as Crem says, the last "repair" did the trick.

Hello everyone, I can see a problem occurring with my car (2005 VW Passat) that's currently in the dealership being diagnosed. I won't go into the details but the car has being suffering from serious electrical problems for the past 2 weeks. It's been back to the dealers 4 times during which they've replaced quite a few parts (I know the parts bill alone on one of these occasions was nearly £600) which have been covered under the warranty. However, when the car's in the dealers they've never been able to replicate the fault. Same situation today, they replaced more parts and had a really good test of the car without the fault occurring - I picked up the car and I'd gone less than 200m and the fault occurred. The only difference I can see is that I turned on the radio which, from what I can tell, the dealer's driver hadn't done. Just after I bought the car I fitted a non-VW USB adapter to the radio, what if this turns out to be the root of the problem? Admittedly, it seems unlikely that a component on the radio would do this but I can see them trying to charge me for all the work they've done even though none of it was necessary. I was wondering where I stand if they make me pay for work that they thought needed doing but actually didn't. I'd probably end up paying it to release the car but would I be able to claim it back via the Small Claims Court. Not actually seeing the fault in action probably hasn't helped. Many thanks, Jon.

Hi m3rzs, I got mine at Merry Hill, Dudley at the end of November last year and it's still going on. The collection of letters is getting quite thick. However, the debt recovery company changed part-way through from Rossendales to Scotcall so I've had 2 lots of recovery people threatening me with litigation, visits, etc where most people will usually only get 1. The car park there is not the best. Some areas have double yellow lines, some don't. I got my ticket when I parked in an area that wasn't double yellow lines but not a marked bay (it said I was causing an obstruction but you could've driven a juggernaut through there). When I saw the ticket on the car, I photographed the whole area to show the inconsistency with the double yellow lines but, after I read this forum, I never bothered to get in touch with anyone and just ignored everything. Anyway, the last letter stated that they were passing it back to UKPC so I'm hoping that I'm only a couple of letters from the end.

I just wish that they'd send all their letters and get it over and done with. Just to let you know my situation. I had the usual stuff from UKPC starting in November that everyone seems to get and then the Roxburghe letters started. I had about 6 or 7 of them and all went quiet around March time. Then about 6 weeks later they started coming from Scotcall, I've had a couple of them now but it's gone quiet again and I haven't heard from them for over a month. I just find it stupid that they keep threatening and, when these threats are ignored, they just keep on threatening. It reminds me of the London policeman in an old Robin Williams joke: Los Angeles Policeman: BANG! Stop or I'll shoot. New York Policeman: Stop or I'll shoot. BANG! London Policeman: Stop! Or I'll shout 'STOP' again.

First of all, I'd just like to say thanks to everyone who's posted information on this site. My 'offence' with UKPC happened at Merry Hill on 29th November last year and, after it had happened, I was pretty cross about it and took loads of photos with my phone ready to lodge my appeal as to why I shouldn't pay. Then I found this forum and realised that I shouldn't contact them, I've now had 6 letters from them, the last being a notice of visit (sorry, I must type these things correctly - a NOTICE OF VISIT) letter from Rossendales on 24th Feb but nothing since - all I can assume is that they're having trouble finding my house. Perhaps it's finally come to an end - and I didn't even get a Graham White letter... Anyway, the reason why I'm posting, apart from to say thank you to everyone for their stories, is to make a comment about anyone posting a message saying 'we must stop this', 'isn't this illegal' or 'how dare the DVLA give out my details'. I don't want companies like UKPC to stop operating in this manner. If they are stopped by law, all they'll do is resort to clamping or some other nasty way of getting your money off you. OK, I was very frustrated when I saw the ticket on my car but I'm not going to blindly send someone a cheque for £35, £70, £115 or any such amount without a damn good reason. When I got home I Googled 'UKPC' and this forum was 1st on the list (it's slipped down to 2nd now - UKPC's web site has overtaken them all), followed by Money Saving Expert and Pepipoo - and they all said the same thing; ignore it. How much hassle was that? Very little. And after a bit of further reading when each of my letters arrived, I knew other had people had gone through what was happening to me and was confident that I could ignore them and it looks like I've come out the other end now. Again, very little hassle for me. If people are stupid enough to just send a cheque off to these [problematic] without investigating it then it's their money they're losing. While it's still profitable for UKPC to operate in this way, I say let them do it. Like everyone else reading this forum, we've got the brains to investigate this and realise that we can just ignore it. It's a lot more difficult to ignore when there's a wheel clamp on your car and a hell of a lot more difficult to come out the other end of things without having to pay a penny.