This is Haart! They are big enough to know better. Thanks for the advice. I just found it it was the Branch manager who paid my deposit to someone else's account.

Hi, Just trying to get some advice really. I moved out of my previous rented property over a month ago and have been struggling to get my deposit back. What happened was my deposit of £1,500 had been paid to a random account, not mine. Nothing to do with me. The estate agent just wrote down an account number. They had the correct information on file, so the mistake was at their end. I've been told each week that I would get it back, but after speaking to Haart today. I have been informed that the regional manager has blocked the request to pay me out of their fees due to her wanting to wait to get the money back from the account they paid it to. It has been 4 1/2 weeks since I was meant to receive the full deposit back. In the mean time I have rent that is due, and bills to pay. I don't know what else to do to get them to pay me back. Please help.

Who did your solicitor send the letter to? Was it to the court or the railway?

Hi I was hoping someone might be able to help. I have received a court summons for the following offence: that you did enter a train in a non-compulsory ticket area for the purpose of travelling on the Railway without a valid entitling ticket. This is under Byelaw no 18 (1) of the Railway byelaws made under section 219 and schedule 20 of the transport act 2000 The letter explains that they are looking for court costs of £100 and the ticket price of £1.75. I have read the following thread on this forum which indicates that I am up for a more serious charge than merely travelling without a valid ticket. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/public-transport-trains-tubes/190520-253-30-rail-fine.html The letter states that I can plead guilty and not attend, plead guilty and attend or plead not guilty. I have never been in trouble with the law before over anything and I am really worried. I entered a railway station with an oyster card ticket (pay-as-you-go). The oyster machines at that station had black cloth over them so I touched in at the next station where after I touched in I was approached by a ticket officer. Due to the way that oyster card works it takes off £4 until you touch out again. After I touched in I only had 30p on the card (so before I touched it I would have had £4.30 on the card). The ticket officer’s statement implies that I didn’t have the full money to pay the fare as there was only 30p on the ticket despite me having just touched in. I don’t think I am guilty of this charge (although I would accept pleading guilty to the lesser charge of travelling without a valid ticket) My question is should I plead not guilty then will the court costs rise as I have only recently started my job and moved into a new flat so don’t have any extra money to spare on hiring a solicitor or extra money for the court costs. Also, I don’t want to waste the courts time. I understand they are busy but I don’t want to plead guilty and then end up paying £1000 + court costs. If I do plead guilty how much is the fine likely to be and will I have a criminal record (for example, will I be able to travel to the USA or will I have to put this down on any job application?) I hope someone can help me as I’m really stressed out about this and fraught with worry even though I hadn’t realised that I had done anything wrong.