OK - here's what I'm going to say. Many, many thanks to all who have drafted previous LBA's re deposits - I've nipped and tucked and adapted them to this particular situation: Dear Mr X (evil grin 8-) ) I am writing to you with regard to the deposit I paid, in the sum of £606.66, at the start of my tenancy of XXXXX. On many occasions since my vacation of the premises I have requested the return of this deposit from you as the landlord of that flat but as yet you have not repaid this sum or shown any intention to do so. A deposit should not be regarded by a landlord as an extra payment to be returned reluctantly, and as it is the tenant’s money it has to be accounted for properly. The deposit that I paid does not belong to you and your withholding of it without proper validation is illegal. Bearing this in mind I expect this money to be repaid into my bank account, the details of which I sent in my email to you of 27th October 2006 and which I have given again below. If you do not repay this money by close of business on Friday 10th November I shall have no alternative but to instigate court action.The court can then order you to pay the deposit back and the proceedings are very straightforward. I would also advise you that any delay in the repayment once court action has been instigated will incur interest on the sum due at a rate of 8%. I would sincerely advise you to repay this money before I take further steps to recover it. The courts are very sympathetic to tenants whose landlords do not follow good practice guidelines and who do not fulfil statutory requirements regarding issues of deposits. I look forward to hearing from you on or before Friday 10th November 2006. [insert details of bank account] Yours etc There's no excuse for him to say that he was 'away' until 10th November and didn't receive the letter - as I'll be sending it to his accountants as well as the other two addresses I now have. His accountant no doubt has his mobile number and can contact him urgently - if the ex-landlord is actually away ... I doubt it, don't you. Probably out swilling beer tonight and thinking I'm a softie. (well OK I am, but .. that's not the point hehe) Thanks again for everyone's help. I really appreciate it. Incidentally - I just tried to buy the books on site but a message came up saying the site couldn't accept purchases - is this a blip do you think? Oh, and one more thing - this 8% interest I'm going to slap on him. Is this compound interest? And is it charged at a daily rate? 8% interest on the basic amount is £48.54 and it's going to rocket up if he doesn't cough up ... !!

Thank you Cillitbanger In fact I spent quite some time trawling through various directories to see if I could find this 'business' listed - guess what. Nada. Zilch. Not a sossidge. I'm going to send the LBA to his previous company's registered address (his accountants), the pub he manages, and to this 'address' of this 'company', plus email him a copy. There is absolutely no way he can't see the letter after that. I'm also going to buy myself those books on site re the small claims, as I'm determined to get this money back. It's not as if he's skint (although that would be no defence since it wasn't his money to play with in the first place .. grr!), as he has his fingers in a lot of property development pies and is a ducker and diver. That's why he's going to be so hard to pin down to serve any court letters - that's the only thing that worries me. Anyway - off to draft the LBA and shove all the letters in the post TERMORRER! (or rather, today!)

Back again! I know it will sound barking mad, but due to some rather difficult life situations since June I didn't get around to sorting this mess out. I did speak to him then but he said he was going away for a couple of weeks .. and then everything else took over and I let it slip. (Smacks own wrist) However I am back on track and am going to nail that ahem basket for my deposit. I still don't have a permanent mailing address for him but managed to get a hotmail addy for him from a guy who now runs the pub he was managing. Sent off a very polite but firm email yesterday, setting out the problem, explaining that I had been more than patient, but saying that I now expected him to pay this money back by close of business in 14 days' time i.e. 10th November 2006. Reply came back today from someone called Jenny (could be him of course!! haha) saying he was away on a 'charity event' and wouldn't be back until 10th November, and giving another business address (nothing to do with his old property company). I'm itching now to send the LBA, but do you think it's wise to leave this until 10th November, or should I email back, issuing the LBA and saying that as he is 'away' (ahem) until 10th November I have extended the period of repayment until the Tuesday following (14th November) ? Whether I wait til November or send it now, I will send copies of the LBA to the pub he occasionally goes back to oversee, his accountants (see previous post) and the new business address I've been given. What worries me is whether the courts would still find him liable for repaying the deposit, seeing that he apparently has another business, although that's not to say he's not still connected with the old one. I wouldn't like to start court proceedings and then find it falls because he's no longer liable. (I'm sure he must be though. Isn't he??) I'd be grateful for any thoughts. Thank you

A figure of £1 trillion was mentioned in the programme for the debt burden in the UK, and the RBS alone made £8bn profit in 2005. I don't see the repayments to personal customers affecting their business activities and support though - we're small fry in comparison - although as you say, martin3030, I'm sure it won't stop them trying to use them as a means of political leverage. The more I think about it the more determined I am to find alternative means of money management, and only use a bank account for the most basic of transactions if there is no other way of doing something.

Here’s some notes I made on tonight’s Panorama, in case anyone finds them useful. The Whistleblower is a top senior executive in banking and credit cards and is breaking the banks’ code of silence. She said she cannot overemphasise the [banks’] focus on profits. Banks do not want their internal procedures exposed, and they actively push borrowing. Every bank and every branch has ambitious sales targets to make the customer borrow. There are bonuses on every product the bank staff sell, and there are tailored, tested marketing pitches to customers who don’t understand what is actually going on when they’re being sold these products. The marketing department of each bank is the engine of that bank, and has targets for attracting new customers and aggressive targets are set at sales meetings to maximise profits. There was discussion about banks upping people’s personal credit limits and issuing credit cards to give the illusion that the customer is valued and has status in the eyes of the bank. If people are offered the money they believe they can afford it – why would the banks offer it to them otherwise. Upgrading a customer’s credit card limit is seen as increasing customer loyalty, and the customer has no say in these limits being increased – it didn’t appear from the programme as though they were consulted at all. Some banks and credit card companies will send up to 20 packs of unsolicited mail to a customer per month, each “selling” a different product; customers are also invited in for ‘financial health checks’, ostensibly to have a look at their current finances but actually to set out more products, tie them up in yet more debt if they’re having problems, and again increase profitability from them. The whistleblower’s opinion was that banks were putting profit before human life (particularly poignant, given that there were dreadful instances given of people who had taken their own lives because of their crippling debt) and that there should be laws to prosecute banks for neglecting their duty of care to their customers. She said “The Banks cannot be trusted to self-regulate. They know they can get away with it.” The term “Revolver” is used for a customer who [having effectively been sold a hill of debt] borrows heavily, can only make the minimum repayments and will likely not be able to pay off the whole amount. These are the customers most likely to be retained by the banks because of their high profitability, and who have been sold products intended to maximise the profits to be made from them. The conclusion of the programme was that overindebtedness has become a cancer in this country. Banks are very aware of the problems faced by their customers but they turn a blind eye. Consumers should be very wary of their banks. (Too damn right)

Posted in another thread about this programme - thanks to both OPs for the Panorama heads-up. I too am disgusted. And as I said in that other thread, I shall be paying off everything I owe, stinging them for what they've ripped off me, taking my business elsewhere and finding a way of managing my money and my bills without their "help". Those personal stories wrung tears out of me.

Yes I heard that. The customers they consider the most profitable and the ones they want to retain at all costs are those most seriously in debt. And that it's irresponsible lending that has made the banks their profits. Lots of talk about extremely aggressive tactics to recover money owing, as well as similarly aggressive sales targets. Nothing to do with respecting someone as a loyal and valued customer and all about making profit on the backs of those least able to afford repayments of the huge amount of credit thrown at them. Yes it's up to the individual to restrict their spending and cut their cloth accordingly, but there is so much aggressive sales marketing in the guise of 'helpful advice' and 'financial health checks' that a customer gets swept along believing that the bank must know what it's talking about. After all if you're in a vulnerable position and the bank tells you that in order to get out of it you can do a, b and c, you're going to take their advice more often than not, rather than risk being hit by other forms of their aggressive debt recovery. Even more determined now to clear everything I owe, sting them for what they've ripped off me, and then find alternative means of keeping my money safe and bill paying.

Yep I'm tuned in. Will be taking notes.

I absolutely refuse to give out my details - any details - on the phone if I'm called by anyone claiming to be from some company I'm with. Some time ago I had a call from my bank (or so they said). They wanted to talk about an issue and started asking me my name, address, date of birth etc for security reasons - thank heavens a bell went off in my head and I said i wasn't prepared to carry on the call but that if they gave me a number to ring I would call them back. Miffed they were. So I got this number to call back (trusting of course that it wasn't going to be a [problem] mumber as it was an 0845 number - perhaps next time I should insist on a freephone number or ask them to write to me instead). Got through to a number for the bank (ok) but then discovered that no-one had any record of making a call to me, that no call needed to be made, and they couldn't think why I'd been called. They did an investigation and called me back too, to confirm that no-one had called me and hadn't needed to. D'you know, I'm getting less and less trusting these days. Just because someone tells me telephone banking is safe - is it? And if something goes wrong - who picks up the tab? Muggins the Customer. They've become so automated and impersonal now there are far more chances for things to go wrong, mistakes to be made, and security to be compromised. Maybe it doesn't worry those with squillions in the bank and accountants to manage the finer details, but for the poor old schleps like us who have to watch every penny like hawks, it's back to the High Street Banks and the personal Bank Managers please, although I'm seriously wishing there were good alternatives - any suggestions? (apart from money under the mattress ) It would help if there were enough High Street banks of course but they've all shut down now. Miles to walk to find one. [edit] - about to start a thread on alternatives to banking. I've had enough!!

HOOOOOOOOOOORAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY :o :o Finally I've had an email from their customer services department saying they are passing my enquiry to their credit referencing department. Someone has read my emails properly!! That, or they're getting sick of me writing although, I'm getting sick of repeating myself over and over again .. as pleasantly as possible .. Do you think this happens so much that the staff lose the will to live and just keep sticking stuff in the filing tray, hoping either it or the client will go away? In which case how much management of client issues actually goes on? Note to self: keep on keeping on.

Sensible, and fair thinking, Giveitback. I worked in a bar when I was a student many years ago. I could never understand why I had to take part responsibility for mistakes someone else had made - we all had to cover the shortfall between us and wages were low. Those were the days before bells-and-whistles tills that did all the adding up for you, and you needed to be able to do mental arithmetic or at least have a pencil and pad handy to add a large order up. There were staff taken on who could barely add two orders together let alone six. Why they got taken on beats me. Made me wild, especially as my maths was good! So I left.

Inching on slowly ... After asking yet again, they're going to write confirming that my account with them is now closed. As far as the credit referencing issue is concerned they still appear to be 'misunderstanding' (ahem) what I was asking them to do - i.e. to pass on the file and all the correspondence to their credit referencing department rather than me having to copy everything, send it myself at my expense, and have to go through the entire story again so as to make sure they remove any strike against me with any credit reference agencies. They're reading it as though I'm asking the customer services department for information on their credit referencing. Looks like another email explaining myself yet again. Sigh.

You're right, Bookworm! I really do want to settle this amicably, but I refuse to be intimidated into paying for things I'm not liable for. I'm just so grateful for all the help and support here.

OK we have developments. This is what I wrote to them in my last email: Letter with cheque has gone. Today I have received a further email: They haven't said that the admin charges and interest have been removed from my account (which I want to close), but if they are still there I shall be disputing them of course. Much as I appreciate their having finally taken off the extra delivery charge, although they haven't admitted liability for having charged it in the first place, i don't owe them anything apart from the cost of the goods I ordered. Thanks for all the help and support. I shall keep you posted.

Aside from anything else it's unforgiveable that someone doesn't wash their hands properly just before doing a dressing or afterwards, or use a special hand gel instead of washing (and that has to be used properly too). These days there's a big campaign throughout UK hospitals for patients and families to challenge staff who they think haven't washed their hands before attending to a patient, although I must say some people practically have to be dragged to the sink. For the GP not to wash their hands when dealing with an open wound of a physically vulnerable patient who already has heart problems just makes me gasp in astonishment. You have every right to insist that any attending physician or nurse washes or gels their hands before going near your g/f's mum, and that they wash or gel properly afterwards. If she has MRSA then they should have taken special precautions with particular care paid to the disposal of the used dressings, too. Time for my little rant (or another one)! In the hospital where I was working up until recently, you could go blue in the face getting teams of doctors to wash / gel when entering or leaving a ward, let alone when attending a patient. I'm not saying that's how MRSA is spread specifically but it doesn't help. And because some visitors could see that some staff weren't scrupulous about washing / gelling, they didn't either, saying "well they're not doing it why should I?" The Infection Control Specialist Nurse used to do her nut. Thing is, "in the olden days" when I was a young trainee, you washed your hands as instinctively as breathing. You had ward cleaners who were part of the team and yes although matron or the ward sister could sound like a fiery old dragon when it came to cleanliness, it was for a purpose - to try and stop cross infection and to protect both patients and staff. Standards have dropped considerably over the years - I was an inpatient on a surgical ward a couple of times and had a major op; I was quietly having litters of kittens when I saw how lax the standards now are, and had to ask, as diplomatically as possible, for things to be done when they were doing my dressings. Personally I'd be very reluctant to take a newborn baby to see someone with MRSA, or indeed into a ward. Their immune systems can only take so much and you don't know who's wheezing away with flu somewhere or harbouring other contagious airborne infections. I'd certainly take advice - it may be that you'll be told that it's not in your newborn's interests to be taken in. Harsh, perhaps, but sensible. Hope you get somewhere with legal advice, and also that your g/f's mum is able to have her hernia op under epidural if she's fit enough. You haven't said what type of hernia she has - could be one of a number of types of course and it may be a small one or a large one depending on where it is - if you're in talks again with her surgeon then make sure to get them to explain exactly what the situation is if they're not happy to do it even under an epidural. Wishing you all well.

That's interesting. So none of the staff have heard him saying what he's alleged to have said? Is this a case of him being deliberately targeted in an attempt to exclude by the other kids when there are no adults to verify what's gone on? or have I misunderstood ..

Hmm. Got an email back from them today, saying the following: Should I not expect the people I've been dealing with to sort this out on my behalf and forward the file to their Park Lane address? I could write enclosing copies of all my correspondence, but why should I go to the expense and trouble of doing that and go through another lengthy correspondence with another set of people, when they can simply pass the file there themselves. After all it was they who got it wrong and spannered up the order, and had threatened me with debt collectors and bad credit referencing. Or am I being picky? humph!

Thank you so much, mjanet, stone and minnie. This is really helpful. That's exactly it - they sent out goods that I didn't want, and which I had cancelled, albeit by changing the size, before delivery. Not a happy bunny. Cheque for goods winging its way with a polite letter setting out my position.

Hi Mike. What a pain in the proverbial. Along with BT blocking premium rate numbers as thewifeandI suggested, there's some software that BT distributes free of charge which will pop up an alert if your computer starts dialling an unknown number - you can download it here. As they say, it won't stop it but will alert you. Which antivirus software / firewall have you got?

Minnie thank you for your reply. I agree, it seems unfair that I'm being charged delivery on an item that was not supposed to be delivered - why did they not just stop the delivery. Even if delivery arrangements are automated surely manual intervention can stop a delivery going ahead. To me that's a bit like the story about a certain well known company who sent books to people, asked them to pay for them or send them back, and when the recipients got these books they hadn't ordered discovered that sending them back to the company was at their own expense. Slightly different but the basis is the same - you're being expected to pay for the delivery of something you didn't want (and in my case, telling them before it was due for delivery that you didn't want it). Here's a paragraph from my letter to them: I do want to resolve this amicably with them, but I'm not impressed. I'll have a check through my phone bill and note the dates and times of phone calls with them - that will tie up my calls with the order revision date. Thanks for the nudge. Re the payment question - I think I should send the cost of the item so that they can see I'm not trying to duck out of payment, and carry on disputing the total cost - which is now £49.25, over double the original bill. And I know the post is awful these days but I just can't believe they didn't get my original letter addressing the problem.

I've had some landlord issues and have received some great advice here, so here's my fourpenceworth. As you have an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Rental Agreement the date for possession of the property has to be at least two months after the receipt of the notice. Your contract runs out at the end of September so he could serve notice now but you would not legally be expected to leave until the end of your contract. If the worst comes to the worst and you are still struggling to find alternative accommodation by the end of September, he cannot throw you out onto the street otherwise he would be committing a criminal offence under the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, and to gain possession if you refused to leave he would have to wait until the expiry of the notice to quit before he could apply for a possession order from the court. I can understand what problems he may be having, as would anyone with any heart, but he has legal obligations as a landlord and he can't duck out of them. His private affairs are his private affairs. Sorry if I sound unsympathetic towards him but it's since joining this site that I've grown teeth and claws and am not going to be pushed around any more. Hopefully someone with more in depth knowledge can advise you as to what remedies you have for challenging his intention to break the contract.

A situation which is just about resolved, thankfully. Bought an item online, due within next two or three days or so. Didn't arrive. Kept asking the company, still not arriving. Finally one customer care person who was so embarrassed at how badly this was going took personal responsibility for the order, cancelled it and reissued it. It arrived shortly afterwards, although about three weeks after my original order. Sorted. Bill arrives a few weeks later. Another charge for the item plus delivery charge!! Eeeeek! What's going on! After some correspondence between us, with them also throwing in threats about licensed credit reference agencies because I'm not paying the bill, they've just emailed me today to say sorry and that my account is now clear. I'm writing back to acknowledge their letter, but am also going to ask for formal confirmation in writing that they have removed any strike against me with licensed credit reference agencies. Additionally I shall ask for my account to be closed, again with written confirmation from them. Taught me a lesson. Confirm any change or development in an order process, however minor, WITH ANY COMPANY, in writing. You just can't rely on their records. (Better late then never )

Hi all I'm hoping someone can clarify what the position is as I want to settle my bill with Simply Be, but not in full until I've resolved one issue. I'm in dispute about two sets of delivery charges for an order. I placed an order and paid online. However later that day I realised I had ordered the wrong size and contacted them to ask if I could change the size - they said the order had already been processed and couldn't stop it, but that when the goods did arrive I would simply send them back with the delivery person and they would reissue the order. They also said they would refund the delivery charge to my bank. I eventually got my goods and thought no more about it. A few weeks later I got a bill, for the full cost of the item and with delivery charge, and a second delivery charge. I didn't have access to my bank statements at the time to check what had actually happened, but when I did, saw that they had in fact refunded the cost of the original item, but kept back the delivery charge. I wrote to them to try and sort it out. Nothing. Then I get another letter adding administration charges and threatening me with debt collectors. I wrote to them again, explained the situation again and referred them to my original letter. They say they haven't received it. They're now saying that because there were two orders I would be liable for two delivery charges. I'm at a loss to understand how I can be charged for the first delivery, when it was for goods I realised were not the ones I wanted and had changed on the same day as having ordered them and BEFORE they had been delivered. Had I realised they would charge me twice I would have cancelled the whole order before it was even despatched, rather than go along with having the goods reissued. I am of course liable for the cost of the goods, which I'm perfectly willing to send them. I do feel aggrieved however at having all these admin charges and interest thrown my way plus an extra delivery charge (they already have one delivery charge paid for). I'm happy to send them a cheque for the cost of the goods. Or should I pay them the current total, which includes an extra delivery charges admin charges and interest and then try and claim it back?

Nightmare you made me laugh! Rigsby!! Only in this case the damp is falling rather than rising! hahahaha Should I start a new thread? I feel I'm hijacking Jennster's .. As far as the water/electricity problem is concerned, the bathroom upstairs (used only by the tenants upstairs as my flat is self-contained) leaks. Water from the bath has been coming through the ceiling in a weak spot in the false ceiling and soaking my bed, or running down by my windows, and has also been seeping through into the big main light fitting in my room (I can't get the glass lightshade off to have a closer look). I didn't realise it was affecting the light until I had problems turning the light on and just put it down to a loose connection. (I prefer to use softer lamps, anyway.) He repaired (read: botched) the problem, which he said was down to them letting water slop out onto the floor, and 'waterproofed' the floor upstairs. Ahem Over the last couple of weeks more water has been coming through. A small hole has appeared in the ceiling and is letting in water, the other weak spot is getting even weaker and sagging (about 9" in diameter), and water has been draining out of the glass lightshade and soaking the carpet and my rugs. He now says that the problem is down to one of the legs coming off the bath at the back (??? I thought he said he'd waterproofed the floor upstairs). He's coming on Monday to sort it out. Thank goodness it's summer and things dry out!! It is cheap (for London) - just over £400 a month for a self-contained bedsit/flat. But that's no excuse for his ignoring my rights as a tenant. Finances are tight at the moment and I'm struggling, but yes, I do want to move. If I can't afford it by September I'll ask for a six month lease (if he hasn't already asked me to leave) which will give me time to build up a stack of cash so I can go. And then yes, I'm inclined to let him know exactly how miffed I've been. Ya know, being on this site helps you to become much more objective and to see situations for what they actually are. Thank you.

Nightmare, thank you for the advice. I shall hand deliver the two letters. My feeling is that he will just leave it to the very last minute to do anything, but you're quite right - why should I, or any other tenant, be given the runaround. Thank you