Hi, yes we have seen a lawyer today and he's made contact with her solicitor who's amazed at what she has done. Hopefully we shall reach an agreement tomorrow, however, we've lost a day of business and looks like the same tomorrow. I'll keep you posted. Regards Alex

Should we pay an estimate? Also, the rent for the building is only £130 per month which is why I wasn't happy about the gas and electric amounts

hi Goldlady, the utilty bills are via the landlord - I can't put into word the total shock of the situation. Thanks for your comments I'll be speaking with a lawyer tomorrow. Alex

Hi All I would be so grateful for some urgent help re a matter of the locks being changed to my business premises as my landlord believing I was moving the company out of the due to non-payment of rent - this is so far from the truth it’s unreal. The facts are this, I and my business partner moved into a 3 floor large office block taking up 2 of the floors, we spent a couple of months modernised the place costing around £9,000 and because of this the landlord said she wouldn’t charge us any utilises for a 12 months. After about 5/6 months the business didn’t take off as expected and we asked to downsize due to costs, the landlord was fine and allowed us to start moving thing the very same day. We now (did) occupy two offices (office one 216sq feet, server room 70sq feet). We pasted our 12 month agreement in July last year but didn’t receive any new terms so continued under the same terms, however, in November we received a back dated invoice for service charge of £900. We paid this but in Jan 09 we received a bill for £343 for electric for the period of Dec, we raised this with her as all we have in the office is a server and a couple of PC’s. I couple of days after the electric bill we received a gas estimate for £1960 for 4 and a half months (£430per month) and an electric estimate for £518, I emailed and called the landlord and to ask what was going on and she told me as we’re the only company in the build we have to pay it. I told her I wouldn’t pay an estimate and the estimate was extremely high for three rad’s. I also mentioned the fact I’d emailed her in the past as the heating and hot water hadn’t been working properly during the winter so understand the electric may be high as we’d been using electric heaters. I decided to stop paying the rent until this was sorted out, however, I’ve since paid the rent but I haven’t paid the gas or electric of about £2800. She has tonight without any notice changed the locks to the front door and broken into my service room and office and concluded that I’m trying to move out without paying her. Today a truck smashed the aircon fan off the side wall and ripped the unit from the server room wall. We cleared the cardboard boxes from the server room and tidy our office so we could get the unit replaced. All our equipment and pc’s are still in the office and we have no intention of moving out. The alarm was raised to my business partner as the server stopped responding so he went to the office to sort out, however, the locks had been changed and upon call the landlord was told the news she “kicked us out” due to us trying to vacate the premises without the rent. She told him that once we paid we could have our equipment back and that she wouldn’t be switching it on until the electric is paid. I’m now totally perplexed as to what to do as we haven’t received any bills only estimates and I’ve raised the amount as is stupidly high and the fact it’s not individually metered. What should I do – please help Alex

Cheers Chesham - It just hacks me off the fact they offer the same service for less and then give a cock and bull story of they can't run the business for less than £100. Anyway, I'm going to do just as you say and vent my anger in a letter and maybe the press - Sunday express love this kind of stuff! Cheers again

You will not believe this!!!! Dear, We are aware that you placed a call to our sales line this morning enquiring about the tariff that you have set up on your 'second line'. We have checked our records and note that you do not have a second line. We are now in a position where we feel that that we have no alternative but to take action in accordance with our terms and conditions of service. Office Response is, with immediate effect, exercising the right to terminate this Agreement.This action is being taken with reference to term 7 clause a. Please be aware that we are levying the agreed three calendar month's notice period and will provide telephone answering services during this period as agreed. Therefore, your current agreement with Office Response will terminate on 28th February 2007 and as such you will be invoiced as normal until your termination date. A letter confirming the above has been posted out for your attention. Our intentions have been made clear on several occasions with regards the matter of your agreed tariff. However, your recent actions have led us to decide that our business relationship is no longer tenable I just can't believe a company operate in this way and really want to take this further...legal if need be. Any advice on the next step? Thanks again.

Hi Chesham, Thanks for the reply. I have any email advising me I can upgrade and downgrade - would I be able to use this? I'm concerned they will not enter into conversation if I state it's being recorded. I will give it a go however. Here go's

Hi guys I recently took out a contract with a company called Office Response, it's a virtual office telephone service. When I spoke with the sales lady she advised I could upgrade or downgrade the service at any point, however, she suggested starting me on 100 calls per month for £112, not knowing how many calls they would answer for me I agreed - I was comforted by the fact they would downgrade the services to to meet my requirements. I received two bills from them with no delayed start date having asked to delay it by 1 month, I emailed the customer service department and after a couple of email back and forth I asked to be downgraded to the minimum package and this way they get to invoice me and I don't get charged for a service I'm not using and the also credited my account for the first month. This month I received a 3rd invoice at the 100 calls per month, I resent the email agreeing the downgrade and I received this response back. "Dear, Following on from our correspondence this week, I can confirm that our minimum tariff does not appear in our terms and conditions. As previously explained, it has become necessary for Office Response to review our pricing structure across the board. It is therefore not commercially viable for us to offer call handling services for anything less than £100 Monthly Facility Fee. Your argument that our sales person advised you in August that we could offer a lower priced service holds no relevance in this matter - our costs as a business have since changed due to a underlying increase in staffing, telephony and ongoing training and development and no contractual agreements have been made with you with regards to minimum charges. With reference to your comment about reporting us to the FSB I must advise that we also reserve the right to report your company to the relevant body as you are continuously trying to renege on your contractual obligations with Office Response. We feel that other service providers should be warned of this matter. We have made our position clear on the matter and will not be entering into any further discussion on the matter." Now, I have a second company with a different number so I called office response to enquire about the services and was told the same as when I signed up " I can upgrade and downgrade at any point" I was given a pricing structure of £65 for 30 calls and £85 for 60 calls. I really need some help on this as to what the pricing structure this company sets and why I'm being charge and told it's £100 minimum per month. What is the legally stance on this as I want out of this company and to ensure no-one else is being mis-sold a contract like mine. Thanks in advance for your help. Regards

Hi Welshman, Yeah all the court costs are covered. I'll sign and wait for the cash. Thanks

Hi All, I just wanted to let you guys know I won my case against Barclays and once I receive my bucks I'll be sending over my % to keep this place going and to thank everyone for the help you've shown. HOWEVER!!!!!!! I received the following letter today from Barclays and need a little help on it: I am writing to you in connection with the default judgment which came to the attention of the bank's litigation team today. I believe that you have issued a claim in the *** court and in the absence of the defence, obtained a default judgment on 02nd October 2006 for £*** Notwithstanding the fact that we had not filled a defence within the prescribed time, we are still entitled to make an application to the court for the default judgment to be set aside. However, I am conscious of the time involved for all concerned, i.e. for you to attend a court hearing and the cost of pursuing the matter further. I, therefore, propose to offer to settle your claim in full. However, I would be obliged if you will agree to :- 1. The Sum of £*** is paid by us in full and final settlement of your claim entitled ***** 2. There be a stay of execution pending payment; 3. That upon receiving payment you write to the court stating that you have withdrawn your claim pursuant to a settlement between the parties; 4. That you consent to the default judgment being set aside The sum of £*** will be credited direct to your Barclays account; I trust that you understand that we have reached this agreement to avoid the time involved in making a application to the court to have the judgment set aside. It, therefore, does not imply any acceptance of liability on the banks part. I enclose a draft consent order setting aside the default judgment. Please sign and return this to me and I will arrange for it to be filled at court after your account has been credited. You will see that it makes reference to us filling a defance to your claim within 14 days. This will not be necessary as we intend to pay you in full, but nevertheless needs to be mentioned in the order Regards Now, the order states: 1. The default judgment entered on 2nd October 2006 be set aside forthwith; 2. The defendant to serve a defence within 14 days as from the date of this order; 3. There be no order as to costs. My question is should I sign this order? Cheers in advance for your help on this.

Spot on - I've just recieved my notice of acknowledgement so the court date is set for 01 september - bring it on!!!

thanks for all the comments - I'm a sole trader so I'm putting in a claim as it's for £535 - every little helps. Cheers

This maybe a stupid question but I was under the impression I can make a claim against the bank for my business account, however, I received a letter from BOS stating "I would advise that I am declining your request to refund the charges, on the above grounds, and would also like to point out that business customers are not covered within the above act. I am very sorry you have felt the need to complain”. Is this correct or are they taking the p**s and should I continue with a letter before action? Any help would be welcome

Excellent News

Here you go [your address] [their address] LETTER BEFORE ACTION Dear Sir/Madam, ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx I am very disappointed that you have failed to respond to my letter of the [XXDATEXX]. I now understand that the regime of 'fees' which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations. I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law. I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary. I calculate that you have taken £XXXXX plus £XXX which you have charged me in overdraft interest for the sum which you have taken. Total £XXXXX. I am enlosing a copy of the schedule of the charges which I am claiming. I have already sent you a copy of this in my original letter of the [XXDATE OF FIRST LETTERXX] Additionally you have entered a default notice against my credit record. This default occurred merely in respect of unlawful charges levied by you or was the result of impecuniosity caused directly by the taking by you of penalty charges which you had applied unlawfully to my account. In addition to full payment of the sum mentioned above I require that you remove the default entry from the register. Please note that mere correction or amendment to the entry will not be acceptable. I require repayment in full of this money and removal of the default notice. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus a claim under ss.7 and 13 of the Data Protection Act 1998 plus my costs and without further notice. Furthermore, I shall submit a Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint to the OFT upon the basis that you have failed to comply with the OFT's direction of 5 April 2006 and are therefore not a 'fit and proper person' to hold a consumer credit licence under the 1974 Act. If you do not understand what this means then seek advice from your legal department. Yours faithfully, [name] Red - if you have a default notice issue as well - which has been caused by the charges. Otherwise to not include this part. Blue - only include this if you intend to do it. Don't make empty threats DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR SCHEDULE OF CHARGES WITH THIS LETTER

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1141050760,24632 Follow this link above and the step by step process. Regards Alex

Excellent news - I'm taking these badboys to court myself - Can't wait to unload my "A FEW GOOD MEN" court room scene on them.

Refuse the amount offered. Have read on the link with a step by step guide. Regards