Anybody...please?!

I work as a manager in retail. A few weeks ago I signed for petty cash (£10) to get some stationary for my department. I totally forgot about it, and realised and repaid the money as by the time I realised we had the stationary delivered. I thought that was the end of it, however on Monday I received a letter saying: I have an investigatory meeting to "...investigate the alleged offence of your failure to produce a receipt for money given to you to purchase products on the company's behalf in accordance with company policy." That's fair enough, but what is annoying me is another manager took money to get something and he also forgot. However, nothing is happening to him - he's simply repaid the cash. Is this allowed? I thought that it should be fair and consistent - i.e. one rule for everyone? A few weeks ago there was also a till shortage of £100 which I, along with two of my supervisors were investigated for. I worked a later shift after the money had gone missing, so I don't know why I was investigated - but I was. However, the above "other manager" was on the till when the cash disappeared, however, he was exempt from that investigation too!!! My meeting is on Friday...I want to bring up the fact that it's not "fair and consistent", however I don't know whether I should or not. Should I wait until I know the outcome (i.e. if a warning is issued etc) then appeal it on the grounds of fairness & consistency. Any ideas guys? Thanks in advance!

So I take it what they are saying is correct...?

Thanks for your advice so far. I bought a Dyson vacuum around 8 months ago, it's totally broken now...won't turn on. I took it back for a replacement/refund, to be told they don't take them back. I was told to contact Dyson direct and they would arrange to repair it. I said I wasn't happy with that, my contract is with them, not Dyson. That is when they started saying consumer law doesn't apply. They said that "to make it easier for customers, with certain products, we will direct you to a helpline who will either repair, or if it is uneconomical to do so, will provide you with a reference number to bring to Makro and we will replace/refund". I think what they were trying to say that as they are a business to business wholesaler, that as far as law permits, their Terms & Conditions state what the policy is in the absence of consumer laws (i.e. SOGA).

Hi, Just looking for some help here...I've just tried to demand a refund at a wholesaler...to cut a long story short I started talking about SOGA etc, however, was shot down and told that "as we are a business to business wholesaler and you have signed in your agreement upon opening an account with us that you are only buying goods on behalf of the business, and not for personal use, that consumer law does not apply..." What they have said is right - they don't deal with people wanting to buy stuff for themselves, only companies buying on behalf of the business. It is in the T&C of the makro card I signed for... Is this right though?

Hi, Just looking for some help here...I've just tried to demand a refund at a wholesaler...to cut a long story short I started talking about SOGA etc, however, was shot down and told that "as we are a business to business wholesaler and you have signed in your agreement upon opening an account with us that you are only buying goods on behalf of the business, and not for personal use, that consumer law does not apply..." What they have said is right - they don't deal with people wanting to buy stuff for themselves, only companies buying on behalf of the business. It is in the T&C of the makro card I signed for... Is this right though?

My partner recently had a very serious asthma attack which was very nearly fatal and was in intensive care for over a week. He has been signed off by a doctor who has said that he must not work until he has a detailed meeting with a respiritory consultant team - not until middle of September. We were originally told this would be within 6 weeks, however have just had the date...and it's away in September. (This happened end of May). He had just recently left his job, and was about to start a new one so there is no sick pay. We've been told we're not entitled to any help...and well, just told to basically sort it out ourself. There is no way I will allow my partner to get a job until he's had this assessment - it's just not worth the risk. However, we desperately need some help - we've borrowed from family to tide us over, but it's getting to the point where we can't ask them to help anymore. I earn around £1100 per month after tax. Our rent is £750 per month (private tenant), council tax £150 electricity and gas about £150. We have a few other small bills, which mount up to more than the income we have for the total month. This is before we even factor food (around £200 per month for us both). Is there any form of assistance we will be entitled to? I don't even know if there would be any point if we were entitled to benefits - by the time we applied and received any money, he'd probably be working again!!! Hopefully he will see the specialist and everything will be fine and he can get back to finding a job, but until then we're absolutely stuck! PS - we know we're not entitled to Housing Benefit assistance. We have tried that but been told that I earn enough for the both of us and can afford to pay the rent. Grrr! Please help! Thanks!

I just checked my bank account earlier and luckily the full amount has been credited as an "interbranch payment" via my bank. Nothing to do with Uncle Buck - they said they weren't going to refund the money...blah blah. Luckily, my bank has done something to get the money back! Thanks for your advice!

Result! The money has appeared back in my account as an "interbranch payment". Thanks for your help guys!

I tried that yesterday, but as Uncle Buck never showed as a direct debit on my account, I didn't cancel it with the bank...only Uncle Buck. Does that mean they are entitled to take it and i've no chance of reclaiming it?

Hi Guys, I've got into a right mess with loans/payday loans...I know i've been stupid, but i've learned my lesson now! I won't touch them again. I probably owe about £2000 to the various ones, but over the last year have paid many times this amount in their extortionate interest payments! I knew I had to get out of this mess, it was getting worse each month so I cancelled my debit card, got a new one (so they couldn't take sneaky card payments) and sent letters to them all explaining I couldn't afford to repay. I offered payments of £30 a month to each of them, which I would increase to £100 a month in a few months once my partner is back to work (he's off sick just now). I cancelled all direct debits on online banking, and everything was fine until yesterday. I came home from work at about 6pm, checked my bank and the balance was £0 with 3 direct debits been taken out from Uncle Buck. I checked in my "Direct Debit" section and sure enough there was a direct debit for uncle buck there - but it wasn't there the previous night as I had double checked i'd checked all my direct debits were cancelled. I took this loan out way back in 2008 so why have they waited until now to register it? Do you think they just registered it before they took money so I couldn't cancel it? Anyway, uncle buck was closed so I phoned the bank and asked them not to pay it. They said it was too late (it was 6pm, but if i'd phoned before 3pm they could have not paid it). They said they would dispute it and reclaim the money from uncle buck which can take 5 days. Not great, but at least it's better than nothing! When I phoned uncle buck this morning they were pretty...well...rude! They said they were within their rights to take the money as I'd signed a direct debit mandate. I told them i'd written to them last month - they said I couldn't prove that so they won't even have to pay the money back to the bank!!! I challenged them on the 3x direct debit - I said I only signed one direct debit mandate form, not 3, so you can't take 3 payments out right after each other. She just didn't seem to care and said the matter is closed, they have recovered their money. I don't know where to go from here...I really need that money back, my rent is due today, which is now going to be unpaid as Uncle Buck have taken the money! Any help would be great guys!

Thanks for your reply guys. They have taken the payment by direct debit - I cancelled my card last month and got a new one to stop them taking money - another company tried this last month, although not so much. I had already cancelled all the direct debits/standing orders. I came back from work abuot 6pm, checked online statement and 3 direct debits had come out (all from the same company - uncle buck). I checked in the direct debit and, it had suddenly appeared as a direct debit in my direct debit section. I don't know whether they (uncle buck) had just registered it with the bank before they took the money? I signed the original direct debit mandate ages ago when I took the loan out (way back in Octo 08). I've paid the loan back 3x over with their interest only payment each month ! When I called the bank they said that there was nothing they could do to cancel the direct debit - it was past 3pm which is the cut off point. They have said they will put a dispute on it and will try reclaim the money back from uncle buck within 10 days. I've emailed uncle buck telling them to refund it immediately. I wrote to them last month telling them of my situation and that I could not afford to repay it, i'd have to make small monthly payments of £30, yet now they seem unhappy with this! I'll await and see their reply! As for the other issue with the debt, i've called payplan and they are going to help me sort it out. I just hope I get this money refunded from uncle buck so I don't get behind with my rent. Thanks for all your help guys

We are in a complete mess financially, absolutely desperate, and really need some help/advice on how to try get ourselves back on track! I work full time and earn around £1200 each month after tax. My partner currently does not work due to illness, he's just out of hospital and won't be able to start working again for at least another 6 months. His income is £0. Our total monthly income is £1200. We are not entitled to any benefits of any kind - we've tried that already. Our outgoings for the month are as follows: Rent - £750 Council Tax - £150 Gas & Electricity - £125 TV/Phone/Broadband - £30 Grocery shopping - £200 Travel (to work) - £60 Total - £1315. Overspend of approx £115 per month. We've had a terrible last year, we've ended up with lots of debt on credit cards, now maxed out, a few loans, and now, about 5 payday loans! In total we probably owe about £20,000. It's pretty rubbish that we're in this situation - we don't currently earn enough each month to even break even! There is no help from the government available, so we don't know what to do. We really want to get our debt under control so we can start to relax and enjoy life (we're only 23 after all!), but we can't see any way out. Once my partner is working again, our income will basically double, and we'll know what to do from there on in...but just now we're totally stuck. We have sent letter to all the debt companies telling them of our situation etc, including payday loan companies. However, this month, just after pay was in bank, one company has taken £600 out of our account! Another has taken £300. This is £900! It's left us in a bit of a mess - unable to pay rent. We really don't know what to do...we've tried explaining to our landlord, but he's not bothered at all - he just wants his rent paid, which is fair enough, but we have no money to pay it this month!!! We can't ask family for any other cash as they have been great helping us out recently... I don't actually know what i'm asking...just if anyone has been in a similar situation, and any advice? How did you guys get out of it? It just seems that we have no way to get out of this mess! We would love to be able to get a big loan to consolidate everything and tide us over until my partner could return to work, but our credit rating is now shocking, so no chance!