This sounds terrible, I'm sorry. I don't have anything to add except that it seems you've been treated very badly.

Hi there Does anyone know what HMRC's small business record checks involve? I'm considering doing some tutoring (cash in hand) but would like to declare the income (it probably won't be more than £5,000 per year) but would like to get a sense of what types of records/checks I will have to start keeping. Apparently HMRC will be introducing new 'risk based' BRCs especially for cash businesses soon... if anyone knows anything about these that'd be helpful! Thank you Christa

Munksey - I don't know anything about these matters but have you got a reply / reached a final resolution? If not, it might be useful to post an update with where you are with each of the PCNs/notices and clearly summarising what help you still need. Good luck! I think you've done incredibly well actioning all the advice so far, which is far from easy!

Four years! Wow. Thanks for the heads up. Today I described bailiffs as like a bad virus because once they take hold you can't get them to go away (however mistaken their involvement), but I wasn't quite prepared that this could be a four year sleeper. I'll make sure we keep the paper copies and make scans as well in case we lose the hard copy. Thanks!

Hi there My mother has dealt with Lewisham Council Tax office's negligence for 2 years running. I think we are sorting it but I wanted to post so that others in the same position see it. Last year: she was a couple of weeks late paying council tax (literally) and they summonsed her to county court. She paid at a Direct Pay Point the day before the hearing and went down to the court with the receipt. Lewisham had sent one employee from the Council Tax department, who, when he saw a member of the public had arrived at the Court, delayed proceedings until another colleague could join. Weird. During the hearing, the Magistrates were very nice, inclusive and happy that a member of the public had shown up to speak for themselves (note - always show up to court! The Magistrates are really keen to help people when they are there). She was told everything was fine, no judgement would be entered and no further action would be taken. This was all entered into the court record. My mother was asked to confirm some details with the two council workers after the hearing. When she did so, my mother got an antagonistic feeling from them, but she ignored it. Lo and behold, a week or two later she gets a letter from Lewisham Council saying a judgement had been entered against her at the Court. This was utter b*llucks - but she only knew that because she had attended. She wrote in to confirm what had happened at the court. The Council ignored this letter and proceeded to refer the 'debt' to Bailiffs! She then kept writing letters sent by registered post to the Council and to the Bailiffs informing them of the mistake. Eventually the Council changed the record on the system. This year: 3-4 weeks ago ago my mother got her council tax bill of around £750 to cover the next twelve months. She is applying for benefits and, after witnessing Lewisham Council Tax office's negligent incompetence last year, she decided to write in to the Chief Executive or Head of Revenues informing him that she had submitted a claim for benefits and therefore the tax bill for 2012-2013 was not owing. (I actually think it was a bad strategy to just write in to him, because evidently his office simply ignored it, but she doesn't trust the honesty/lack of corruption of the Tax Office and wanted to go straight to the top.) She then heard nothing. No notices, no demands, no summonses. She actually thought her letter had worked, or perhaps that since her benefits claim was being reviewed, an automatic hold had been placed on her council tax bill. Unfortunately, not. She has now received a notice from Whyte and Co stating that a court debt order has been made against her and that Lewisham Council had passed the debt to Whyte and Co. My mother rang Community Legal Advice. A lawyer from that office called Lewisham Council tax office, with my mother on the line, and asked them to put a stop on the 'debt' (a tax bill for the next twelve months) for 21 days. Then, when my mother's benefit application is processed, the debt (and all bailiff's charges) will be removed. The Lewisham employee is also going to contact Whyte and Co. We are going to stay on top of this though. Because I know from this forum that bailiffs frequently act outside the law/their duties, we are going to send a registered letter to Whyte and Co saying that a stop has been placed on this for 21 days and including the solicitor's advice note, and we are also going to stay on top of Lewisham council that they actually do delete the tax bill from my mother's account. We are also going to check whether what Whyte and Co say is even true, that an order was entered against her, because I know from this forum that Bailiffs often send out letters like these when in fact there is no order at all. The lack of any paperwork from the Court (either before the supposed hearing or since) suggests this may be the case. If it is, we will complain officially about Whyte and Co. For any journalists out there, there may be reason to believe that there is corruption going on with Lewisham council's tax office. They move to court processes within 4 weeks of the first bill, do not send out notices (claiming postal error) and then Lewisham council employees do not properly record what happened at the court. They are therefore passing accounts on to Bailiffs without authority. The Bailiffs then charge Lewisham council debt collection fees. A quick check into connections between Lewisham tax office employees and Bailiff employees could confirm whether there is corruption here.

Good news. And it only took issuing court proceedings and publicly shaming PC World to bring about this resolution. Enlightened customer service in action, as ever

Wow, seems like Paul wants to make PC World Famous for being the most antagonistic company in Britain! T&Cs don't matter, the law does. Keep fighting these guys Andipandi. They clearly haven't got a clue about customer service, basic decency, or basic PR! Maybe as the recession continues to erode PC World's profits, Paul and his employer may begin to wake up to modern retailing and good corporate citizenship.

Hi HughMilliated My friend has just had a similar experience boarding a Ryanair flight at Stansted in December. She was standing at the boarding gate when a Ryanair employee asked to see her boarding pass and informed my friend that she needed to [move something in her luggage / do something to her luggage - I need to check the details with my friend]. Whilst the Ryanair employee had the boarding pass in her hand, they closed boarding. It sounds like something out of a bad dream - she was literally standing right there leaned over her bag (with her boarding pass in the hands of this employee) as they closed boarding. She was then told that she could not board the flight. She was told she could get the next flight but would have to pay a sum of money in the order of 40 EUR (I can confirm the exact sum with my friend). My friend maintained that this was clearly unreasonable since she was at the boarding gate at the time of boarding and was in the process of trying to board the flight when they closed boarding without notifying her. By this point she was getting upset and was asked by a Ryanair employee if she had any medication to calm her nerves; as it happened she did have some over-the-counter calming tablets for flying, which the Ryanair employee advised her to take. The Ryanair employees continued to demand payment of [40 EUR] and, by my friend's account, were exceedingly rude in their treatment of her. My friend continued to become upset by this behaviour. Ryanair employees then told her that, since she had taken calming tablets, she would need a doctor's certificate to fly, but that that offer would only remain open until 6pm that day (after which time she would have to purchase a whole new ticket). Ryanair informed her she would have to travel back into central London to see a doctor to obtain this certificate. Finally, a member of Stansted staff arrived, who acknowledged the huge number of complaints against Ryanair and problems that Stansted have to deal with in relation to Ryanair, and was generally sympathetic to her. He said that in cases like this they call an ambulance and the ambulance staff can issue the certificate. So, he called an ambulance, who certified that my friend was fit to travel, and my friend eventually flew on a flight around 12 hours later than the one she was scheduled on. As a side note, my friend told me that she witnessed a similar thing happening to lots of people at the boarding gate (she had time to observe this!), where at the very last minute - at the boarding gate rather than check-in desk - passengers were informed that their baggage was overweight and that there was a fee to be paid, or that there was some other luggage issue, and whilst the passenger was trying to find the right currency or a card that Ryanair would accept, Ryanair would close boarding. I'm actually wondering if whether, because they don't allocate seats, this is a way for Ryanair to over-sell flights and effectively 'bump' passengers to the next flight. I would love to keep up-to-date with whatever you decide to do with your case, and I'll update you with how my friend proceeds. She was soooo upset by the whole thing that she's not sure whether to pursue it, but I'm hoping to help her through it and eventually get to a good outcome. I'm not sure whether she would be entitled to pain and suffering compensation? In her case, because there is evidence of the upset caused by Ryanair (the necessity of calling an ambulance) maybe she would be? Any thoughts / advice would be very welcome! Thanks Christa

Definately do not take the word of the solicitors - seek the court's confirmation. But well done! You should be happy so far Christa