its called George walker (think they are part of walker love group)

Thanks for the advice sidewinder! I stuck with it insisting and basically it got to a point nobody called me back, my line manager referred me back to income sundries and now a letter had hit my mums door step from george walker recoveries claiming I have 7 days to pay or else if they take court action then I may have problems with my credit rating etc...clearly scare mongering as it is definitely not resolved to me! I will send a letter to them stating that its in dispute and refuse to acknowledge any further correspondance with them, only the council and court papers...been reading up other forums so gathering this is the jist of it! Incompetence shines through yet again, corresponding to my mums address when the council sent almost all the accounts to my address for the past 20 months! completely incompetent!! I wish I had dealt with the one person throughout as this wouldve made my case easier to deal with but its a bunch of 'not my responsibility dont have a clue' nobodies Ive continually banged my head off a brick wall with!! Ahwell lets hope someone from the council who knows how to do their job gets in touch or else Iam better off seeing them in court! Thanks again!!

Hi I wondered if you could help me...... I have posted a thread on here a couple of months ago so apologies if Iam repeating stuff here! 2 yrs ago I qualified from uni, got a job and moved to another city. I continued my part time job for a few months extra as left my job 2 yrs ago, I moved to another city and commuting back every weekend to continue the part time job with the council, as it was working with children with learning difficulties so was part of the adjustment process for them. It meant I basically had NO contact what so ever with my council office/line manager (which I never had anyways I had set hours and clients and nobody really knew what I did as my job had trasnferred depts several times!) Anyways when I left I handed in a pack with my annual leave outstanding request, my notice (which was already discussed and agreed on the phone with my line manager who I had met once!) my claims for mileage and expenses etc I had incurred over the couple of months I had been living away as I was 50miles away and couldnt even attend the office in person, but the line manager etc knew this. So a few months passed and I was still getting paid, not so surprised was owed 4 weeks annual leave then had all my mileage and expenses however on the next month I called them and said and payroll basically said they didnt know I'd even left! Great considering they had paid me for 4 months!!! I got an invoice through 6 months after leaving to my mums address back near the job NOT taking into account any expenses holidays etc. I called the council told them my new address and all this about what I was owed before they could then recalculate what I actually owed!! spoke to a different members in the sundry income dept and eventually one said they would sort it, they immediately took off the annual leave amount, got a letter (to the new address saying a new invoice would come through....a yr later heard nothing, I'll be quite frank due to the gross negligence of them not processing my annual leave expenses and notice I presumed someone had wiped it! But then I got a credit note saying It had been cleared...result! afraid not! couple of months later I got billed for the amount again!!! Back through trying to speak to the same people, nobody even knew who I was someone dealing with it was on long term sickness and another maternity! Eventually spoke to a guy who directed me to payroll, then my old line manager for all of them to tell me its not their place or problem to process the expenses and credit it against my account...Everyone accepts I got mileage monthly, and there mustve been some sort of expenses incurred like there was every other working month of my 4 yrs working there!! But basicaly nobody seems to take responsibility! and the paper work appears to be lost so Im told I owe them £550...yet they wont credit any mileage or expenses for 4 months (£350) I was passed pillar to post, I offered my diary, my workings out of the expenses etc nobody was interested without the necessary paperwork! and now its nearly 2 yrs later still dragging on, I cant even rely on clients to back me up, and my line manager was very unhelpful and cheeky I had 'left it for so long' despite me thinking it had been dealt with a yr ago!! Anyways now they have passed it to a debt recovery agent George walker, who say Ive got 7 days to pay or might take legal action and it might affect your credit rating etc. Best part it they have sent it back to my mums address despite correspondance coming to my new address for 18months now!!! Its complete incompetence, completely negligent, no addmitance of responsibility, nobody interested in negociating or resolving it, everyone has a I cant do anything for you attitude! Anyways Iam Just wondering what do I do now, are this recovery team the real mccoy or cowboys like the council! Do I reply or refuse to correspond with them as its in dispute with the council? Eve though Ive told the council I dispute and nobody had an answer to resolve for me! So it seems they have just forwarded it! Iam also worried I dont have much written correspondance with the council except their letters and accounts as I have always telephoned!! (esp with the paper work being lost initially) realise now this may not help me! But I assumed eventually someone would know how to do their job!!

Hi as a further follow up I have contacted my old work and asked for a break down, I got passed between several different members of staff, apparently who originally dealt with it has left and another person who was informed on the case is on maternity leave. So nobody knew what was going on but a couple agreed that it appeared the situation had been resolved as there was a credit notice to the full amount but I got another notice in saying I still owe the lower amount. I again contacted the income sundry dept who said they appreciated the fact I shouldve had mileage and expenses for the last few months of my employment but as the paper work was lost couldnt account for it, they passed me onto payroll whom said the same. Finally I got in tough with my old line manager who gave me into trouble for taking so long to chase it...even though I pointed out I tried to resolve this a year ago and due to the sundry income/debt recovery teams incompetence it only came to light as being unresolved a year later! She has said as she has no record she will seek advice from her line manager but is unsure what she can do...its 16months on from leaving so I can hardly rely on the clients I worked with as evidence for the miles and expenses incurred....however if this was pursued properly back last yr then I probably couldve used this!! The only saving grace is I still have my old diary detailing visits/traveling/expenses and how much it all was but with no receipts and nobody apparently willing to authorise it, it appears the council will continue pursuing me for the full amount without any re-imbursement! A glance at my previous payslips proves Ive always been paid mileage and Iam sure the office will have old expenses too to prove this also! So I dont understand how I can be forced to pay out my pocket when Iam not being reimbursed and will end up out of pocket for working!! I have said Iam willing to pay the amount I believe I owe but will not pay a penny more, and will not pay towards the invoice while it is at this 'full amount' incase this is viewed as me accepting the terms of the invoice which Iam not! Can they still pursue this when they are being so unfair! I get they are reluctant to process claims however all the facts point to the fact I would have incurred expenses during my employment, that I wouldve been entitled to during this time! I have now been given a letter stating I have 10 days before it is sent to a debt collection agency even though it is clearly being investigated and dealt with! Iam finding the whole situation very stressful and upsetting.

Hi Slick, Thanks for the info a several weeks ago! I have again been tracking some the other threads so glad to see some people appear to be getting results! I called head office and said I wanted to put a complaint in writing to them, they told me the correct protocol and complaints procedure was to contact the manager of my local gym, even though I explained I had already asked this of the membership manager and she informed me there wasnt anything that could be done at club level. However the operator gave me her email to send it to her, and she would forward it to the manager. I asked both the membership manager and the head office sales person to put a hold on my account. Since the email sent 9/3/11 I havent had any replies from the operator or the general manager! I then received a letter saying I had 10 days or it was being sent to ARC....appears this is the tact used reguarly! I have emailed the same sales person again stating the email is still not been dealt with and I would appreciate it either escalating to head office or being chased up but nobody has got back to me for that either! Iam patiently waiting and if I hear from D.L or ARC I will send a recorded letter with full copies of the emails, copies of my phone bill confirming the telephone call took place in December and a letter of dispute to head office with a c.c to ARC. Is there any legislation to say if the complaint isnt dealt with properly (i.e ignoring it for 27 days) then can you take action or use this are part of the evidence to what a joke of a 'customer service' they supply! thanks!

Hi! Yeah afraid it is rather confusing but yes you seem to have picked up the right details. I have notified them of the error that I believe i dont owe as much and explained the expenses claims are missing after handing them into their offices and they losing them. I have also asked where they got their calculations from and they didnt reply for a year and now requesting it under this new account no. with no reference to my previous letter or the expenses claims. I live in scotland so I assume it too would go to a local court? would they pursue this for £570 should they continue to ignore my expenses claims? They are horrific, losing paper work, not acknowledging letters, forgetting about it for a year then pursuing it again. I tried calling and got a young girl who was incredibly bitchy and condescending she claimed I was trying to [problem] them and refused to believe I was entitled to any holidays or expenses, at least now they are recognising iam entitled to some holidays. I worked in a position I wasnt trained for, never had a proper point of contact (i basically did social worker duties without any training or qualifications) there was several months that my old boss left and nobody even knew I existed until I contacted the aarea office to ask who I reported holidays to!!! nobody regulated me. Think their way of handling this just signifies how disorganised and unprofessional they are! complete farce and what is terrifying is the same departments are in charge of welfare for children in vunerable positions (which was part of my job)......no wonder we find horror stories in the papers when they can even run their own department, think there is a revision of the protocols required! esp as within my paperwork were confidential reports on children whom I had contact with, which I can only assume have also been misplaced! Very worrying and frustrating.

Hi apologies this is a long one! I left a part time position within a council dept. I worked at wknds and only had phone or paper work contact with my boss. I had the job for nearly 4 yrs and over time had 3 different bosses and was transferred between two different area offices. it always felt poorly organised and never felt fully supported! Eventually I qualified from uni and handed in my notice to my boss over the telephone in sept 2009. I then handed in paper work along with a holiday form (i hadnt taken any holidays and wished to take what i was entitled to at the end. Within the envelope I left in the main office for my boss was the recent hrs worked and reports, receipts and expenses for a couple of months, petrol receipts and mileage claims and a letter of termination pending the end of my annual leave, which me and my boss had agreed. I last worked in nov, got paid nov dec and jan (dec and jan I assumed to be holidays and expenses i had moved house so no longer getting pay slips) But I got a phone call from my boss in feb 2010 asking if I had been paid which I checked and I had and we were both confused as she knew I was due to leave bk in november, and payroll had flagged this up to her. I explained about the expenses and hols so why I hadnt realised I was being over paid. She agreed and said she was fully aware I was leaving and I had handed in my notice etc. However she didnt know where my pack with the letter for her and payroll was. she said she would speak with payroll. I then got a letter demanding nearly £800, claiming nov, dec, jan and feb they wouldnt process any holidays as my holiday card had also went missing with the paperwork! anyway fast forward a phone call to my boss she called payroll to have holidays processed, and they deducted about £230, despite me believing I was entitled to more than that in holidays as I hadnt taken any public hols in lieu and my annual leave. In addition I also explained with the missing paperwork there was several hundreds of pounds of expenses and hols still missing. I believe its closer to £200 I owe them than the £570 they are now claiming I dont even know where they got their calculations from! After my last letter last march explaining about missing paper work and expenses I got a letter saying it would all be recalculated and they would be in touch but I heard nothing for nearly a year. Then I got a letter saying I still owe £570 under a new account no. another letter came through crediting the original invoice account then debiting a second one, which is now an outstanding account. Because of this I wondered if there is a time limit from it being brought to my attention and contested to trying to recover it before it is invalid? Because I cant understand why they have closed the original invoice and opened a new one, and they have never responded in regard to the missing expenses and to how they have calculated this amount. I have always maintained I dont owe them as much but dont wish to pay anything until its resolved incase this is viewed as accepting the current invoice which I dont. What is likely to happen next and what can I do to avoid paying something I dont feel I owe? Do I have any legal cover with the timescale and the way it has been handled?

Iam unsure of the english NHS but in Scotland pension credit entitles you to complete free treatment with an NHS dentist although you may need to give a ref: no of your benefits. Iam sure in England there will be some sort of financial help for pension credit but unsure what.

Hi Ive been reading through the recent david lloyd disputes and would be interested where it has led to. I signed up with david lloyd at the end of jan 2010, I too was under the impression it would be a 12 month contract. I actually called at 10 months (beg nov) asking to reduce my payments or cancel as I was changing jobs and not using it as much and due to my new 60mile commute each way to work was struggling more with money. I explained this situation to a membership sales staff (I know exactly who I spoke to and can work out when the call was made as it was an hr after my last visit back in november) I was informed I could neither reduce my membership nor cancel until 12 months. So I called back on 2nd of feb (contract ran out last wk in jan) to give my one months notice and was told it was 3 months which I instantly contested as I wasnt informed of this, and I HAD spoken to a member 3 months prior and had been told that my notice couldnt be accepted at that point?!?! 'theres nothing you can do until 12months' I was instructed to email the membership manager which I did, on the 2/2/11, no reply asked for confirmation on 7/2/11 no reply called on the 10/2/11 and emailed this day again, and another follow up phone call on 15/2/11. Eventually I got an email today 19/2/11 . But in the meantime they took the feb payment. She said I would have to give 3 months notice after the 12months period and copied the t&c to me....and I was shocked to discover if you give 1 months notice prior to the 12th month (i.e the 11th month- december to me!) then 1 months notice will be accepted. Now why wasnt I told this when I called in november? I specifically asked for information regarding this in the telephone call and explained my situation. If i was fully aware of the situation I can guarantee I wouldve had the notice in December as I havent used the gym since the beg of nov! They are also claiming when you give notice its effective from the 1st of the following month....so feb doesnt count?!?!? so they say I should pay march april and may!! so if I obliged will pay 4 months in addition to what I should on top on my yr. I think its absurd I was literally given false information on the telephone in nov (during one the follow up phone calls I was told it wasnt logged - surprise there) I can identify who and roughly when I spoke to them and Iam sure they can use rota's to confirm he wouldve answered the call to me. I have emailed today and said I have cancelled the direct debit and have no intention to pay any further payments as I feel I shouldve been given opportunity to give notice in November and as a direct result of the misinformation have been committed to further unwanted contract by default. I have also stated I consider the account to be closed and contract terminated as of immediate effect (with feb payment serving as the 1 month notice) and have asked them to contact me to dispute it or refer me to an another manager or head office should they wish to pursue it. I think to give the 1 month notice within the 11th month and there after need to give 3 months when the initial contract is a 12month contract is completely misleading and unjust. Another thing I noted is if your job moves so far away there is a clause that allows you to give 3 months notice within the 12months.....again the staff member failed to notify me of this in november despite me explaining this to him as the reason for wishing to terminate or reduce the contract. Do you have any advice for any other steps I should take to try protect myself legally/financially (credit ratings) apologies for the rant but I can see david lloyd are particularly frustrating in this matter! Thanks!