Ah thanks so much dx100uk, Bless you , I didnt expect to get a reply so quickly,thanks very much for your time. Would like to say my house is not mine its rented, i own very little, no car, nothing of value, no jewellry those kind of things, this is why i thought about bankrupcy and went on the stepchange quiz thingy. Does the default note and the debt collectors letter mena that tehy will now take me to court, and if they did would the court not think well this person has offered to pay a reduced amount, so not refusing payment, and allow me to continue?

QUICK UPDATE: Well my 6 months of offerring to pay £5 a month off each card is up now. I have made all the monthly payments as I said I would. However I have not filled in any of the SOA forms thay have sent to me. I have had loads of several- times- daily phonecalls from all of the cards companies I decided I would communicate by letter and have done this and stated this. However, they still phone. I dont pick up. They repeatedly phone my old job despite being told I am not there, and despite them (management) saying they will not enter into any discussion about me in any case, as its contrary to the data protection act, but they still continue, and refuse to give their names. Is this what normally occurs? I have a couple of queries, 1. would it be possible to write again say my situation hasnt improved and I am willing to continue my payments for a further 6 months - or less if my situation does improve? Having asked that, in the meantime despite me paying the £5 monthly sums, some have referred me to their in house debt collectors, and one natwest has sent a letter to say the debt is with a debt collector now and i think they are a independent not from their offices. I ahve also got default notices from most of them, I didnt think they would do that as I have kept up the payments although a smaller sum than what they had wanted monthly. Should my next step be to file for bankrupcy now before they do it to me? Not sure which is the best way forward and becoming anxious.

Aha! - I'm pleased to say that with help, today, I managed to roll it up into a large bag it came in, and its box, get it back to the shop, with the receipt, I politely and calmly told them exactly what the fault was and at first the young assistant said "no you can't fetch it back -it says on the sticker", then I said "yes, but it is not fit for its purpose," told her of the large hump in it, i showed her a printout of the SOGA section 14 - (many thanks to steampowered for this very helpful info)- then she called the manager, who shouted at her to move it immediately out of the gangway as he was sick of them all coming back and said that the store should never have accepted them to sell in the first place in his opinion, I showed him the printout of the SOGA as well and he agreed, I said that I didn't even mind a credit note as I shop there rather a lot, but he said "no you can have a refund., not a problem" So, I was pleasantly suprised. I will be shopping there again and was pleased with their service. However I was disappointed at the unhelpful response from the trading standards dept who should have known about section 14 of SOGA and so should have CAB - then again I have never had any meaningful/helpful response from either in the past come to think of it...I shall continue to come on here as it is far superior advice, many thanks for the invaluable help., am really happy with the result.

Oh by the way it was one of them stack em high sell em cheap stores with no room to get it out, and inspect it, then also not in its compressed state it would not have gone in the car - probably why they are compressed to get them home easier...a bit tricky isnt it...

Thanks for replies, I had assumed it must have been a minor fault like a flaw in the material pattern or suchlike, not something that it is - (a huge hump preventing it being used,) but thanks for replies and I will go and ask them on monday, and state SOGA relevant section because it was not made clear 'specifically' what the fault was. I would have a credit note to the value - that wouldnt be a problem at all...

Hi everyone, I have this week bought a matress, reduced price. It was a memeory foam one. The sticker on the box said 'non returnable' and 'sold as seen' and 'factory fault'. It did not specify what the factory fault was...Well without being able to unroll the compacted matress take it out of its box and inspect it in the store - I bought it. Then when I got it home, first it was not kingsize as stated, but worse than that it had a huge hump across the middle of it, it had not gone down in two days, have had a weight on it to try it, and looks like it will not do either, obviously there is no way on earth that a person can sleep on it, so it is not fit for purpose I would have thought? I contacted my local council trading standards who have said 'you bought it knowing it had a fault it was marked as such and you don't have a leg to stand on, and the local cab who have now partnered up with them have said the same, adding a helpful "sorry"...oh and paying 50p per minute for the privilege of speaking to them too, each ... Matress - surely this cannot be right? what I have been told? that i am stuck with it? to my mind, 1. it is not fit for purpose, 2. sold as seen - but you are unable to inspect it as it is compressed into a box and rolled up tightly. How do I stand on this one it doesn't seem right what I have been told here at all.... and can ill afford to lose this money...

Thanks for replies slowly going through stuff, there are two other cards which i had completely forgotten about and missed a £5 payment on each, and I havent done their letter yet explaining my intentions. Also I have had from 3 or 4 of them, a letter saying they can't accept the £5 payment and would like a breakdown of my outgoings, I havent managed to do this yet, but whilst I am paying the £5 I am at least paying something, so it should keep them off my back whilst i compile the list shouldn't it.

Thanks Dan cannot PM you as I dont have enough posts, you have to have made 30...and I havent. If you could advise me on here or PM me yourself? Perhaps a good idea to reply on these boards as anybody else with same problem may read it and benefit also? Thanks again.

Sorry if this is a little complex, but, I have had credit cards to meet living expenses, for several years and have managed on minimum repayments never missed any. Then interest rates have rocketed. I had been working but had my hours greatly reduced in order for the business to continue operating (all of us had to do this) then due to an accident had to then go on benefits. A few times I have had my benefits stopped but appealed and got them reinstated. This has taken its toll. Currently I am in 20 thousand of debt to credit cards, I had repeatedly changed them to a 0% to try and make the money go further but now I have had them all on 0% and the offer has ended. Therefore I have written to each credit card to explain that I will be paying a small amount per month until my position improves. now, I think it won't, because i have to have an atos assesment to take me off my benefits and I know I can expect to have to appeal and live on an even smaller amount., if indeed anything at all. i dont own my house. I don't have a car. During a discussion with a friend, I am worried incase I should have told the credit card companies that I was no longer working as she says that this will be classed as fraud and if i havent told them of periods of time I claimed benefits I can be prosecuted. Because when i first got the credit cards i was working full time. Although I have never missed any payments, so havent breached my contract. ? Would they contact DWp at all? I can't see I have done anything wrong? What should I do? I feeled very stressed now. Thanks.

I have received income support for about a year, and then I got a visit from an officer from the dwp who says its about the fact that the inland revenue have told them I have a bank account or savings which I havent declared. Apparently all the government departments tip each other off. I told her that I havent, just my post office card account which the IS goes into which they know about. Halfway through the interview it dawned on me that I had an old income bond with £1,000 in it. I think this can only be what it is. I have also an account with a pound in it, I had to open it and used it only for when the dwp owed me a large backpay, as they sent a cheque instead of putting it into my PO card account. That account has remained dormant, so not been declared as such. I said that I would like to take further advice on this allegation and would postpone signing anything until I have done. The officer did not seem keen on this, but I insisted that I would be happier doing this, I was unsuccesfully persuaded to change my mind a few times before she left after calling her office to ask what to do. Now I am wondering, what will happen, will I be prosecuted despite the saving being under the £6,000 threshold?