Hi Honeybee He's bearing up OK thanks, its me who's in bits, we have a four year old son and an 11 month old daughter and I'm currently staying home to look after them, so his dismissal means we have no income. I have no idea how we'll pay the mortgage, let alone buy their christmas and birthday presents this year (have just cancelled our daughter's first birthday party next month and am plucking up courage to tell our son that he won't be able to have his 5th birthday party in November - he was so looking forward to it as it would have been his first "proper" party". I have no idea what will happen about Christmas!). He's going to do all he can to get another job asap but of course it could take a while theres not much out there at the moment it seems . . . I'm guessing he'll have to sign on for JSA on Monday although I am not sure if his being dismissed will stop him getting that and I know we won't get any help with our mortgage for several weeks. I know nothing about the benefits system as we've never claimed before and its a horrible feeling. He's desperately trying to find a job over the weekend, going round all the local Dominos and other fast food joints to see if anyone will take him on, anything will be better than claiming benefits!! He's a qualified HGV driver but needs to do his CPC before he can get HGV work. I have no idea how long it will take him to find another job and I'm utterly terrified! Literally haven't stopped crying since yesterday! I have no idea what to expect out of claiming benefits and the idea terrifies me! I hate the idea of having to claim. Am so angry with the company, I honestly feel it was very unfair of them to dismiss him - a final written warning would have seemed a much more appropriate sanction, given that no harm was actually done and someone who did something much worse (as in swearing at a customer) is still working there (and had been promoted!). I am also angry with the TL who assured him (prior to the hearing) that he was sure it would just be a final written warning as he was a "good agent" and they didn't want to lose him.

Hi Paul Yes he was given all the usual rights, sent a letter notifying him of the hearing about 2 days before. He's not a Trade Union member though. Also there seems to be a bit of a problem getting any of his colleagues to formally support him (including the one who swore at a customer but was not sacked) because they are fearful for their own jobs. He works for a very major Satellite/TV/phone company owned by a certain Mr Murdoch, I'm sure you can all guess who . . . I am utterly not convinced by the way they are handling things. We're just shellshocked by this decision given that someone else who committed a far worse offence was not dismissed and my hubby had no other disciplinaries on his record. He suffers from IBS and has occasionally had to take take off or spend a bit more personal time than is considered desirable (with frequent trips to the toilet!) but this had never been an issue - or at least not formally. He's had snidey remarks from his TL about "spending all day on the loo" but there has never been a previous disciplinary for attendance issues. So I can't see that they could have used this as an additional reason to dismiss him. And am I right in thinking that they can't use extraneous reasons to dismiss someone, it has to be the offence for which they are being disciplined?

Hi Really hoping someone can advise me. After a long and stressful two week suspension, my husband was told that he was being dismissed today for alleged Gross Misconduct. This has left us in dire straits as I'm not working and he was the breadwinner, so we now have no income, two small children and a mortgage to pay . . . I have no idea how we'll cope. He has worked for the company for two years as a CSR in a callcentre. His record is spotless and he has had no prior warnings or disciplinaries. All that happened was that a couple of weeks ago, late one night after a run of unpleasant, rude customers, he got fed up and after the last customer slammed the phone down on him he uttered a swear word. It was not heard by the customer (who had hung up), or any of his colleagues (who were all on calls). He had not, unfortunately, disconnected the call and it WAS heard by the person who was monitoring/recording the calls. He was suspended, summoned to a hearing on Wednesday and told that the outcome would be communicated to him today. Which was dismissal. We're quite shocked, as we never expected this. The team leader who originally dealt with it said he imagined the outcome would be a final warning as my husband was a good agent who they "didn't want to lose". It seems very harsh to me - my husband apologised at the hearing and said that it wasn't something he would ever do again, it was a moments loss of judgement. To dismiss, despite the fact that there were other "reasonable" options (ie giving him a final warning) seems unduly harsh. Also, a colleague of my husbands, was also disciplined for swearing *at a customer* (ie during a live call and the customer actually heard it!) and yet she was not dismissed. So to me there seem to be two issues here - I don't feel they looked at other options before considering dismissal and there seems to be inconsistency in the way this matter was dealt with with my husband versus this other colleague. Also another colleague told him last week that he'd seen the rota for the next two weeks and my husband was down as "suspended" for the whole period. Given that in the company handbook it says that suspension will last for "no more than 5 days" and the decision would be communicated "within 12 hours" it seems very odd that they blocked him out for two whole weeks so early on in the process. I totally understand he was out of order to swear at work like that and deserves to be disciplined but I honestly feel the company are out of order to simply dismiss him like this, when there were no other issues on his record, and they had let another agent who did something *worse* (as in swearing at a customer) keep their job. He has 7 days to appeal and then I guess it goes to tribunal, but I need some guidance about whether he has a good case and what he will need to do to ensure a fair hearing. Thanks.

No we tried asking for the money back, haven't got to the letter stage yet. They are starting to get a bit unpleasant, refusing to take phone calls and generally being really rude, its causing a huge amount of stress . . . we've been told again TODAY, after a promise that the car would be ready this afternoon, that the "wrong parts" were ordered and they can't give us any indication of when it will be ready. I mentioned "further action" to them on the phone today and they got very defensive and hostile - if I did send a rejection letter is it likely to just make things worse and mean that they stop making any effort to fix the thing? We have no savings/credit facilities with which to buy another car and as I understand dragging it through the courts could take months. We can't wait that long.

Have already tried this and got fobbed off. We need a car desperately.

Hi guys Really stressed and want some advice. On 2 July my husband paid £695 for a 52 plate Daewoo Leganza CDX from a local second hand dealer - apparently thats roughly the right price for that make, model and age (Parkers actually quotes £670 so we paid a bit more than that!). He had inspected the car a few days earlier and knew that it had no MOT and needed a little work done both for the MOT and in general (new wheel bearing and plugs etc) - we were told on 2 July that it was at the garage having its MOT and the necessary work done and would be available for collection later. SIX DAYS later and after many phone calls, much stress and anxiety we finally got the car. Half way home the oil warning light came on and we noticed a "tappet" noise from the engine. So back it went to the dealer, on 9 July, who promised to sort it out. We are STILL car-less. All I get when I call the dealer and ask for a progress report is lies and fob-offs. Finally got told last Friday (ie a week after we took it back) that it was the oil pump which was at fault and the parts had been ordered and the car would definitely be ready Monday (today). Today no car. Rang dealers. More lies and fob offs. Eventually got them to give me details of the garage where it is, rang them and asked for their input - car needs several new parts, which are still awaiting order. We've been car-less for two weeks (sold our old one on 2 July), we live in a remote area with little public transport, I'm heavily pregnant and husband is having to spend a fortune on trains and taxis just to get to work. We can't go on like this! What should we do - what protection under the law do we have? I honestly feel like we won't ever get this car . . .

Hubby doesn't want to reject it yet and has agreed to the dealers taking it to the garage to be looked at. They were supposed to be looking at it today but we've not heard from them so will be ringing them tommorrow I suppose. My main concern is we are car-less and living in an rural area, plus I'm heavily pregnant! We can't afford to be off the road for long and if the dealer refuses a refund we will not be able to afford to buy another car . . .

Thanks Coniff, we're definitely not traders, just normal members of Joe Public looking for a cheap family car lol . . .

They're a second hand car dealer not an auction. They call themselves "XXXXXXX Trade Sales" . . . (not giving any names here just yet ) Wasn't sure if Trade Sales and Dealers were a different thing.

Hubby paid for a 52 plate Daewoo Leganza from a local trade sales place - they supplied it with a full and brand new MOT but no tax. This wasn't a problem as we were happy to tax it ourselves (it was cheap for a 52 plate car - at only £700) but when hubby went to collect the car yesterday he discovered that the oil warning light kept flicking on whilst it was running, and the engine was making a rattling noise, despite it having plenty of oil in it. He's left it with the dealers and asked them to check it out and find out whats wrong with it - he expects it either fixed or our money refunded. Is this our right under the law? I mean, given that we paid such a small sum for it and they've already MOT'd it, could they refuse to pay for any further work? And could they refuse to refund the money? Given that the car may well need some work? Its driveable but I know you're not supposed to drive a car with the oil warning light on! Am really hoping its something simple . . . Also whats the position with the tax? I don't want to pay out for tax unless I know we're keeping it but as we completed the documentation yesterday is it now fully in our name or would that take a few days to go through (ie if its not in our name how could we SORN it?) And is it legal to be kept on the dealers' premises without tax? This is all just really stressful!!!

Hi guys New here and looking for some help!! Husband paid for a 52 plate Daewoo Leganza last week from a trade sales dealer. It came with a brand new MOT but no tax - that wasn't a problem as we intended to tax it ourselves as soon as we picked it up - hubby arranged the insurance certificate etc in advance. We had to wait a few days for them to MOT it and prepare it for us. However, on going to pick it up yesterday hubby noticed some problems - the engine started rattling and the oil warning light came on despite the car being full of oil! Naturally he didn't want to take it in that state so he left it with the dealer and asked for them to look into what was up with it (obviously we are going to expect them to fix it or we're going to demand our money back!) My concern is this: its not taxed. Having looked at our bank account today we won't really be able to afford to tax it anyway now until next week, and also even if I had the money to tax it I'm a bit queasy about paying for the tax disc until we know that the car is in a decent condition. So what is the legal position? We have the V5 - not sure if the Dealer has sent their piece off yet as we only did the documentation yesterday, so not sure if its in our name or not yet. Its down at the dealers now but not in their yard, its in a parking bay outside their yard (not "on the public road"), and they will (I assume) l be using their trade plates to take it to the garage to be looked at. I understand that a car won't be clamped whilst on a garage or dealer premises, is that right, as that isn't "public highway" but private land? Do we need to declare SORN as the new owners or wait until we get the V5 through? I'm utterly confused and really worried!! Not doing me any good as I'm 8 months pregnant!