Our UK registered Mitsubishi Shogun broke down, in France mid November 2013. Problem was a failed fuel pump, without which the vehicle was immobile . Quoted 6 weeks delivery for a new part and a charge of 5500.00 euros to supply and fit. We waited 6 weeks and then some more. My partner relies upon the vehicle as she lives in rural France and the nearest shops are more than 4 Km away. We have always had the Mitsubishi serviced by a Mitsubishi dealer in line with the service schedule. The Mitsubishi Shogun we own is our 4th Shogun in the past 10 years. Regular attempts to contact dealer were stonewalled. Eventually "escalated" things to Mitsubishi Europe who in turn referred us to Mitsubishi UK who in turn referred us to Mitsubishi France. Also contacted our MEP as we consider a manufacturer approved to sell their product in the EU market should adequately support their product, 6+ weeks for delivery of a part is unacceptable. Rattling the tree appeared to help, a bit. The UK dealers we dealt with were very helpful, their investigations in mid January indicated the pump had no availability in the foreseeable future. We had to hire a translator to liaise with the French dealers who continued to be uncommunicative. No courtesy car was offered or any other attempt at appeasement made. Last week Mitsubishi Europe advised us that Mitsubishi France were expediting the issue, the pump was on its way. We were assured our car would be repaired and roadworthy on Wednesday. This was adding insult to injury and we were disappointed that the dealers had only one competent mechanic and also that our repair did not appear to be their top priority. We contacted both Mitsubishi Europe and Mitsubishi France, no replies or acknowledgement of our emails. Miraculously a mechanic was found to work on our vehicle and it should be fixed and ready today 31st January. We have been without our vehicle for 11 weeks, given that it is a 2007 model we find it unacceptable that it should be out of action for this length of time for want of a spare part. It is not a luxury but a necessity in this day and age. Question is what re-dress do we have - Mitsubishi France are allegedly offering compensation but have not indicated what this would be. My partner has had to rely upon friends giving her lifts to the shops etc. We have been frustrated at the time it has taken and the diffident approach to customer service exhibited by the French Mitsubishi dealers.

Thanks for the more detailed spreadsheet and advice, I will compile the info and let you know what the spreadsheet suggests as a figure.

I think I used the simple Spreadsheet as it does not require prevailing interest rate to be entered against each date entry: The info starting in cell A1 is as follows: DESCRPTION OF CLAIM HERE e.g Credit Card Charges COMPOUND INTEREST CALCULATION SCHEDULE OF CLAIM BANK/LENDER BANK NAME GOES HERE (D5) CUSTOMER NAME YOUR NAME GOES HERE (D6) ACCOUNT NUMBER ACCOUNT NUMBER HRE (D7) START DATE OF CLAIM 10/07/1995 END DATE OF CLAIM 11/07/2006 ANNUAL INTEREST RATE (APR) 18.00% DAILY INTEREST RATE 0.04536% I hope this helps.

I have had an offer to settle 2 PPI claims from BOS - in true Banking style they have made a bit of a mess of things sending me two letters referring to the 2 PPI claims but merging the information in one letter and excluding half the information in the other. They have offered a final response settlement but I cannot figure out how they have arrived at any of their figures. The PPI was applied on a monthly basis to the two credit cards I had with BOS. The cards were taken over by MBNA in 2006 who settled my claims on both cards swiftly last year and with figures that equated to what I was expecting courtesy of the Spreadsheet provided in the forums. I have copies of all my statements going back to 1992. On the first card the first PPI payment is on 5/3/92 and on that card up until 15/7/06 I paid out a total of £572.12 in PPI payments. On the other card the first PPI payment is on 10/7/95 and on that card up until 10/7/06 I paid out a total of £457.56 in PPI payments. BOS have offered me £2380.14 in total to settle both these claims. If I enter a notional interest rate of 18% (my guess at an average APR over the time-span of the claim) the spreadsheet shows total figures of £2419.01 and £1637.05 respectively which is a higher figure than that on offer. Does the 8% interest get added to the figures I have calculated? If so does this interest rate apply from the start of the charges to the current date or up to the date when MBNA took over the cards? BOS have not provided any of the information requested in the standard letter I used to initiate the claim. Any advice gratefully appreciated.

I have followed the advice provided on CAG and found it really useful. I contacted First Direct about mis-selling of PPI and got a very detailed reply from them rejecting my claim which included a transcript of the phone conversation I had when arranging the loan on which PPI was levied. Having read the CAG advice on PPI it clearly states that PPI is mis-sold if sold to someone who is self-employed. I was self employed when I took out the loan, does this "trump" First Directs assertion that I was provided with all the information required at the time that I took out the loan?

Brigadier, thanks for your continued assistance and words of wisdom, i look forward to any more news

Thanks for your advice - checking my records the course I booked would have been held 6 years ago this month. I have also found a letter I sent to the credit card company. I was looking to claim under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 as the contract was induced by misrepresentation. I note your advice about the passing of time, is there a limitation on the time that a claim can be initiated, the credit card company is still in existence although the trader has undergone several incarnations in the intervening years.

OK, a bit more detail. The company/individual in question have traded under various guises. They offer investment training and I attended one of their courses, on reflection the main purpose of which was to entice participants into buying more from the provider. They are quite canny and manage to engineer an environment in which people are highly suggestible. I trusted the claims made by the principal and was persuaded to sign up for a further intensive course. I paid up front and the booking form included cancellation terms which I interpreted as being "n" days before the event rather than "n" days after signing up. Not long after signing up my circumstances changed and I sought to cancel and obtain a refund, this is where the alarm bells started to ring. A flat refusal was provided. I tried to get them to demonstrate material loss, I run training courses myself and the economics are quite simple, beyond a certain number of participants any additional bookings are nearly all profit as they do not represent proportionately increased costs in running the event. It was after this refusal that I started digging a bit deeper and uncovered less than flattering articles in the national press and Investors Chronicle. I also wrote to The Times who had run adverts for this outfit, I was seeking advice from their personal finance section, but got short shrift there and suspect there was a conflict of interest, consumer advice against one of their advertisers! This situation is now nearly seven years old but it still grates with me that a trusting member of the public can be defrauded with the assistance of the banks in allowing them to process credit card payments.

I am seeking some advice on a claim to recover monies paid by credit card to a fraudulent trader. I tried to reclaim monies paid from the trader directly but was fobbed off. My claims were for their use of unfair terms of trade and fraudulent misrepresentation. My own research indicated that they had been the subject of innumerable court actions from similarly dis-satisfied customers, perversely as a member of the general public I was told by my local court that the results of these actions were confidential. The company in question has had a chequered history of failure and resurrection. The company/individual in question had been the subject of a forensic dissection in Investors Chronicle. I would never have entered into an agreement with this company had I known the full facts at the time, I was guilty of trust in entering into the agreement. The fact that they were able to take payment by credit card to my mind gave them a veneer of credibility and respectability that gave me the confidence to enter into the agreement. I contacted the credit card company seeking a refund and was fobbed off by them, I cannot remember exactly under which legislation I thought I could claim from them. Do the CAG think I have any chance with this?

I have taken the advice offered on the CAG and had success with Santander and MBNA in reclaiming mis-sold PPI. I employed the same approach with Barclaycard and got no response whatsoever. My first letter and subsequent letter were sent recorded delivery and I have signed proof of delivery for both letters. I have had no response whatsoever from Barclaycard, is this a standard tactic on their part? What should my next step be in such circumstances?

Update, we finally agreed on £150.00 compensation and covering full costs incurred. Thanks to all CAGers who contributed their experience and wisdom to this thread

Santander settled and I accepted their offer - they responded swiftly to my approach and all told I am happy with the offer they made. I also fired off PPI mis-selling claims to MBNA, First Direct, Honda Finance and Barclaycard - all have responded apart from Barclaycard, is that standard? I have receipts for postage and also signature for accepting delivery @ Barclaycard Leicester. MBNA responded swiftly and settled, offer made was acceptable. Honda Finance have passed my claim to the dealers and I am waiting to hear. First Direct responded with a long letter explaining that they had followed procedures as scripted, apparently I declined a full explanation - I was sent documentation which I had the choice to examine but still signed up for PPI so they are saying it is my responsibility. I guess if you don't ask you don't get. Not impressed with Barclaycard and from reading this Forum think a letter to the FOS is my next step.

BP's agents have eventually come back with an enhanced offer of £100.00 compensation - I hope to have some legal advice on whether this is acceptable shortly and will update this posting when I have more news.

Latest news, the agents acting on behalf of BP have offered to refund all our costs and have offered £50.00 as compensation. Given the nuisance this incident has caused us and the fact that BP have admitted liability we intend to pursue them for breach of contract under the Sale of Goods Act, for negligence and for breach of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 for supplying a defective product.

Slick, Thanks for the pointers on interest calculations and the spreadsheet, most useful. I used the monthly APR rate provided on my statement, 1.597% per month- my beef is with the fact that I was quoted a figure which was used to calculate the interest and it was a figure higher than the highest balance on my statement over the statement period. I queried the calculation and was given 3 different conflicting figures none of which resulted in the same interest charge figure as I calculated using the monthly APR rate. As I understand it the information provided by the card providers should be transparent and easily understood, at present this would not appear to be the case. I have checked my statements and in a lot of cases there have been no transactions over the statement period so using opening and closing balance and averaging the figures which takes into account payments made and interest applied should be close to the figure they use as the basis for calculating interest. However my calculations consistently deliver a different interest figure to that shown on the statement. As your WIKI indicates the impact of interest being calculated on figures which include previously charged interest can see the balance due "mushroom" in pretty short time. Thanks for all your advice so far, will be making a contribution to the Forum when I receive my compensation as you are doing a valuable job on behalf of the consumer.

Thanks for the Spreadsheet, very useful - being a bit thick here but what should the interest rate be, is it what I was being charged for PPI or for the credit balance on my account?

IMS, Here is a breakdown of my claims so far where there has been a reply Debenhams Card £182.19 charged £302.44 offered as settlement - in this case I did not sign up for PPI but it was charged to my card anyhow NCH Card £181.88 charged £253.16 offered as settlement CFW Card £569.81 charged £830.11 offered as settlement I am reasonably pleased with these outcomes, how do they compare with other peoples results? I am still gunning for Barclaycard on several fronts, they have not even responded to my first letter even though it was sent recorded delivery and I have proof of postage and proof of it being signed for.

This is my first claim and I am not sure of the procedure - any advice tendered is appreciated.

Update - BP have admitted liability and passed the claim on to their insurers. Given the circumstances and their admission of liability we are considering court action as they are dragging their heels in settling the claim.

Good news, received a letter in the post today dated 3rd November offering a sum nearly double what I paid in premiums. The letter looks fairly standard and I am pleased with the speed of response but not so sure about the outcome. I am not sure if continuing to pursue the claim is worthwhile or not. The letter states that this is their "Final Response".

Does anyone on this Forum have any experience or insight into the following? I was checking my Barclaycard statement and thought the interest charged was higher than I would expect. Being a sad soul I keep a record of outstanding balances and interest paid each month. I phoned Barclaycard and asked them to explain. During the phone call the person on the phone provided 3 different figures that were used to calculate interest, none of which delivered a figure equal to the amount of interest on my statement using the monthly rate quoted on my statement. They explained about opening and closing balances and the average daily balance. However the figures they quoted were all higher than even the highest figure on my statement, I asked how come with an opening and closing balance they arrived at an average daily balance figure that was higher than either of the opening or closing balance and they could not provide an answer. They sent me a nice letter re-iterating what I had been told on the phone. I have been back through my statements for the past 2 years and on only one occasion has the interest figure charged been close to the rate quoted on my statement, I appreciate that my methodology has not been absolutely scientific - calculating interest on an average of the opening and closing balance figures but I figured it would be pretty close. The results were interesting and sometimes suggested I had been undercharged, however unsurprisingly the nett result worked out in their favour by 7.19%. I think I am reasonably intelligent and I have read and re-read the information provided but whichever way I look at it I cannot reconcile the interest charged by Barclaycard with my own calculations. I am not at all happy about this and regard it as yet another example of how Banks rip off consumers. I think it is appaling that they cannot make adequate or sufficient profits legitimately or efficiently and so elect to boost their profits through unfair charges, mis-selling of PPI and deliberately opaque calculations on interest. I would be interested to learn from anyone on this forum who has had a similar experience.

The process of extracting suitable compensation is in hand - it made the local papers courtesy of the guy from Wrong Fuel Solutions getting in touch with them, he got several good quotes and a bit of free publicity for his service, he helped us out big time so pleased for him. Will be posting updates as they become available.

Here's a good one. My partners son filled his car up to the brim at our local BP Garage and then experienced problems in that his car would not start. He had filled up with BP Ultimate Unleaded or so he thought. Turns out it was diesel in the tanks @ the garage. We had to call out the RAC, get another company to empty the tank, drive to the next garage to get enough fuel to allow him to continue his journey and of course spent nearly 4 hours of our Sunday evening dealing with the problem. BP have confirmed by email that it was their error - we have asked them to provide this admission of liability in writing which they have promised to do. We are looking at our options and have had good legal advice so far: Breach of contract under the Sale of Goods Act Claim in negligence or for breach of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 Just in case anyone else has encountered the same problem I thought I would post this. I will let the forum know of our progress in this matter. Has anyone on the forum ever encountered the same problem?

Thanks for your further advice, I will update this forum with any news of my claim

Thanks for the advice - I have sent a letter today to Santander Card Services and will see what happens. Am I unique in being charged for PPI when I have an agreement where I have not signed up for it but have had it applied to my account?