Thank you renegadeimp. I would like to think so but things are moving so fast that we could do with more time to find out. I hope that it might help in some way.

Hello, We currently have a conundrum in our household and would really appreciate some advice. My partner has worked for a certain company for over 5 years now but his contact did not specify particular hours in it, only that he would work a set number of hours per week. My partner is also my carer and before now, this was fine. He would generally work 6am - 2:30pm (in reality until 4:30/5pm as he put a lot of his own, unpaid hours into that place out of conscientiousness). This has been the same since I met him (1.5 years ago) and now that he lives with me, the regular pattern is good as one of my conditions cannot allow me to have a changing shift pattern - it would be highly detrimental to my health and put me at greater risk for things such as heart disease and stroke. As he does the cooking and housework and helps out with medications, shopping and accompanying me on outside ventures, he has been amazing. The problem has now arisen with his workplace moving him to a different location and drastically changing his hours so that he has, for example, worked from 7am-3pm today but they want him to work 3pm to 11pm tomorrow night! He was not informed that the new store had these sort of hours and as soon as he was informed, he put in an official request for flexible working hours - saying that he could be available from 6am until 4pm (5pm in reality for him) but they have refused it and allowed him to be given this shift tomorrow, which they all know is impossible because being a carer is not just a whim and I would not be able to function properly and my health would be jeopardised if he agreed to this. He is thinking of going in at 8am tomorrow, to attempt to work a shift until 4pm, armed with a grievance letter but even with citing 'Customs and Practice' and working so hard for them all these years, I can't see how we can move forward from this because his original contract doesn't have the set hours in it. They don't even need him to be there tomorrow so I suspect they are doing this just to be able to use 'Performance Management' on him and eventually get rid of him that way. This is so unfair on him and I feel terrible that he is being forced to choose between my health and his job. They say they offered him alternatives but they did not - they all had the changing hours in or were a permanent nightshift, meaning that I would have to be in a permanent night shift pattern to and would not be able to attend any of my medical appointments etc! To make matters worse, they originally insisted on having a meeting with him to discuss his request on the day of an important hospital appointment that he had said he needed to take me to - they were fully aware that that was his day off to do that! Even the rearranged appointment meant spending several hours in work on another of his days off. I guess our main question is this: Should he hand in his resignation and if so, should we put anything like 'Frustration of Contract'/'Unfair Dismissal'/'Constructive Dismissal' as our reason for this or should we wait for him to be sacked after loads of disciplinaries for being unable to work their latest hours? Also, how might this affect his entitlement to benefits such as Jobseekers? Sorry this is so long. Thank you for reading this and please advise if you can. All help is greatly appreciated!

Hi san_d, Thank you for your input. That is shocking behaviour for a company! This is the first time I have experienced anything like this and I would certainly agree with you that this company looks like being best avoided! Catwoman A.

Absolutely! :biggrin: Catwoman A.

Update: Paypal have advised me (not thehut.com) that a refund has been agreed but we will see if that actually turns up, at which point I will let you all know. They could still try to cause trouble with making me pay for the item's return, in which case I will also let you all know! Best wishes for a great Christmas and New Year to you all! Catwoman A.

I have now opened a Paypal Dispute. It will be interesting to see if thehut.com bother responding to them!

Hi dx, It was taken from my bank account. Think I will check with my bank too then! Catwoman A.

HI dx, When you have an account with Paypal, you have your credit or debit card details with them. Then you log in to your Paypal account to pay for stuff elsewhere and it stops whoever you are paying from having your card details so it's safer. I used my debit card with Paypal. I will look into Paypal's guidelines for this sort of thing today. Maybe there will be something they can help with. Thank you for your help. It is very much appreciated as it's so confusing - I really don't understand why they are being like this! Catwoman A.

Hi dx, Thank you for your reply to my post. I payed via Paypal. I was thinking that should be the case, with the DSR. I'm just highly irritated that they are now ignoring my messages and apparently, I need an authorisation number from them to return the item! Is there a time limit imposed on them to reply to my request? I've never had this sort of problem before. Catwoman A.

Hi there, I'm hoping someone can help advise me as to my next move. This is the background:- On 4th December 2012, I ordered an xbox game for my nephew's birthday (December 13th). Usually delivery was stated at between 2-5 business days and they said I should receive my item 'on or before 12th December', which was fine. The 12th came and went and so I rang the head office for The Hut - who took 11 minutes of constant ringing before they picked up! I explained that I was concerned about the item not arriving yet and the lady took my details and said she would get someone to look into it. I thanked her for her time. Later that evening, I received an email. It was as follows:- Hello (my name), Thanks for placing your order with TheHut.com, order number :....... Please do not reply to us at this e-mail address as we will not receive your message. This is an automated response. 'A customer service colleague has sent you the following message: Hi (my name), Thanks for getting in touch to let us know you haven't yet received your order. I am really sorry to hear that you haven't yet received your order. This was sent to you on 12/12/2012 and delivery is usually made within 3-5 working days. Our policy is to allow a full 14 days for the items to arrive. If you still haven't received it by 26/12/2012 please do let us know so that we can investigate this for you. If there's anything else we can do please don't hesitate to get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to help. Kind regards, Amy The Hut.com Customer Service Team Should you have any further questions please contact us through your online account message centre or on 0844 243 9090 and we will be able to help you further. Kind Regards, TheHut.com Team Tel: 0844 243 9090' Sent on 12/12/12? I wrote back, using the messaging system they specified, with the following:- 'To Thehut.com team, After being told that the game I ordered on the 4th December (for my nephew's birthday) had been dispatched on the 5th and should arrive on or no later than the 12th December, I was saddened that it did not and I contacted head office, where I was told it would be looked into. I later received an email, apologising for the non receipt of the item and telling me it had been dispatched on THE 12th DECEMBER and I should let you know if I hadn't received it by THE 26th! This is not acceptable to me and I now wish to cancel my order with yourselves and have my money refunded. Regards, (me). Order number: ............ At this point, I went out and bought my nephew the same game (albeit more expensive elsewhere) and he had his game in time. At 9:24pm on the night of the 13th, I had a response from thehut.com, with different information:- 'One of our customer services advisors has reviewed your query and we are able to confirm the following: Hi (my name) Thanks for getting in touch about your order number ............ I can confirm the order was definitely despatched on 5th December 2012 and delivery is usually made within 3-5 working days. Our policy is to allow a full 14 days for the items to arrive. If you still haven't received it by 19/12/2012 please do let us know so that we can investigate this for you. If there's anything else we can do please don't hesitate to get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to help. Kind regards, Luci thehut.com Customer Service Team' To this, I responded with:- 'Hi ........ Thank you for getting back to me so quickly but due to the amount of stress caused by the earlier message, that said the game I ordered had been sent out on the 12th, I have been forced to go elsewhere for my nephew's present, to avoid disappointment. I see you have now amended the date but I'm afraid the damage has already been done on this occasion and I would still like to persue a refund. Best regards, (me).' I then emailed them an update:- 'Hi, Following my earlier, as yet unresponded to, message to yourselves - I thought I should give you an update. The game finally arrived today and I now require an authorisation number and returns address. I believe you only refund postage where an item is faulty or the incorrect item. This is the case too! The item I ordered was the XBox Live version and I have been sent the Classics version instead. I will attach the screen print I took at the time of the correct item. Best Wishes, (me).' I figured that I might need to show them the screen print that I made at the time of placing the order as it clearly showed that the version shown in the picture was not the version received. I also asked them in a separate message to:- 'Please stop sending me advertising emails but please do respond to my emails about a refund! (me).' After waiting and waiting for a response, I sent the following message to them on Wednesday night:- 'Why has no-one replied to my other 2 messages, sent to the same email you have previously replied from? I want to return the item for a refund, as you well know and it wasn't even the correct item. You have 24 hours to respond or I start making official complaints wherever I can. (me).' It's now Friday night and still nothing. Where do I go from here? Thank you to anyone that takes the time to read this as I realise it's rather more like an essay! Catwoman A.