Easy way round not having to pay the 19 days, don't pay it and they will cut you off, so they then have to refund you the 19 days of non service, absolutely ridiculous really but they bill you in advance. I think you will still have to pay something but do it just for the hell of it!! I have also claimed back my DD and late charges but got an email saying 'sorry we are very busy etc' and it could be 5 days before a reply, needless to say it is now 7 days!! No problem, will just get back even more!

No problem, not harsh at all. I understood what you were trying to say and on paper it may seem that way. The debt isn't large but I have other debts too. There is just me and my son at home, private tenant £525 per month in rent alone and maximum wage is £14,023 but I only work 30 hours get tax credit which I tend to live on as my outgoings are larger than my take home pay. Moving to full-time wouldn't change anything as the tax credit tops up your wage to a full-time one. I am able to have the calls stopped anyway as they will be stopped by the switchboard so not really worried about that, they must have only just bought the debt as the calls only started this week at home and now at work and I received my first threatening letter as well today!! The truth is, I can't sqeeze anymore money from anywhere. Even thought about a second job but that would mean losing the little tax credit I get and being double taxed, so no better off! Any nice rich men out there??? (Only Joking! )

I have a debt with Argos which I cannot pay at the moment but now a company called Fredrickson International have started hassling me at work!! They didn't get anywhere with me as I realised it was a DCA when they asked to confirm if it was me, I then advised them the call was recorded (which it is) and to identify the nature of their call, they would not respond, so I just said I am terminating this call. However, can anyone tell me if they are allowed to call someone's workplace? I recognise the debt and need to pay it but would a request for the original Credit Agreement be useful. I have done a search on them and they seem an organised bunch. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi Thanks for the reply. I even stated in the letter that if it was ignored that I would contact the Financiall Ombudsman but they still ignored it, I didn't incur any further charges but it left me short nontheless. I will try what you suggest and let you know. Cheers

Well it didn't work for me, I sent in the letter, got it date stamped by the staff etc and they still took charges when my tax credit went in.

I have never had a problem with Paypal until recently. I have an account with them just used to pay for things. The other week I was on a music/dvd download site and was thinking about signing up and paying the low monthly fee for the privilege. I started the transaction through Paypal then remembered that a payment was due out of my account the next day and paying for this would leave me short. I closed the window before completing the transaction, before confirming anything. However, when I went online to check my bank account, the money had been taken by Paypal. I was furious to say the least and immediately contacted Paypal and the site's bankers who use Paypal to collect payments and demanded my money back as they had acted without my confirmation. I had no reply from them but my money did appear back in my account about 3 days later!! Be warned.

8-) Don't worry, I won't throw a brick at you! Yes I agree with what you are saying but why are only two bills sky high in a whole year when the consumption has been more or less the same especially the May one?? I have one gas fire and central heating, no gas for cooking. I haven't changed anything or used anymore and looking at the rest of the bills I would have to live in a hotel to consume that much.

I have both gas and electric with powergen and having the same problems. I am in dispute with them as I received two extortionate bills for 386 and 722!! One was in May? and the other Sept. I am at work all day, son at school, boiler is turned on manually by me in the evenings if I need it but only for a few hours, then off again. My other bills range from 80 ish to 140 ish in winter. I have been here 2 years so they can see that it is wrong, they have taken off 135 but I still refuse to pay these particular bills. I have told them I will go to court willingly but they don't want that, they want to put meters in which I am trying to refuse but the law is against you with this as they can get a warrant to put one in anyway. If anyone has any advice I would be grateful to hear how I can get them in a court room to justify this. I have the meters readings etc but am at a loss at the moment. p.s. the boiler is only 2 years old too!

On Tuesday a cheque I had given to my coal supplier was deposited in his bank, Royal Bank of Scotland (well late Monday night) and I knew that the funds would be in my account by Thursday. Given their own T & As it states that it takes them 2 days to process but will not show in your account for 3, 5 or 10, so by my reckoning it should have cleared with no problem. Needless to say it didn't and they bounced it on the Wednesday and are now charging me £39!!!! I challenged it to no avail even though they know that regular payments are paid in twice a week and twice a month. I was furious to say the least. I have complained to the Financial Ombudsman and today I used the 'Right of Appropriation' letter from this site and as was suggested, the staff didn't have a clue what it was. I will let you know whether they ignore the letter and take the money on the 28/2/07.

Sorry but could someone explain this a little more as I have a CCJ put on me by Next for the measly sum of £175. I have been instructed to pay £50 per month to pay it off which I cannot afford and despite the lovely guy in the court bailiff office ( I know, contradiction in terms for bailiffs but the guys in my local area really DO help people) cannot understand why this has happened as he was with me when I filled in the forms before Christmas to state the above. Please could someone advise, eternally grateful xx

This forum is a godsend to many people but it would seem like the banks are fighting back and it concerns me that many people will have accounts closed simply because they re-claimed unfair charges against their banks. I do not have a good credit background and have spent the last 10 years at least, building it back up again but it only takes one minor thing like a DD being rejected or a cheque being presented before funds are in the account to knock you right back down again. I am a single parent on tax credits and my income is dependant on these agencies who dictate when, how etc and also to banks having bank holidays which as I am sure many have found, the BH can cause havoc with payments, only to find I am penalised for something outside of my control. My fear is that should I claim back charges from my bank then I will be ousted and it would be hard to get another account, how can this be legal? Anyone any good advice?

Thank you Buzby. The letter writer is to be congratulated for their use of English in such a way that its contents are understandable by all concerned. My local MP is Michael Jack and although my background is 'working class' for want of a better word, but even that should be changed to 'work till you drop and we will rob you blind anyway' class, I do respect Mr Jack and I know he will respond to any correspondence sent to him. I cannot say that anything will change and he is unlikely to even have sight of any correspondence but what the heck, if you don't try then don't complain when nothing is done!! Thanks again.

I phoned Virgin/Telewest today regarding what seemed as a new charge, well it is an old charge with a new name, non DD is now a 'payment handling' charge. Anyway I informed them that I would be claiming back all charges as they had given me a choice of payment methods and I had chosen the one suitable for me, therefore they did not have the right to charge really. If, however they said you must pay by DD or you will incur a charge, that would be different. I also asked who I do a send a letter to, to cancel my service and surprisingly I was told to do this over the phone verbally?? I asked her to repeat that which she did, I queried this and said that phone calls are difficult to prove and I would be putting my request in writing! I pay £50 for the bundle I have which was the original price for tv (small), broadband and phone. This is now only £30 for the same and even though I have written to them asking why I have to pay more for the same, only to be told, like the advert: 'its for new customers only'. Anyway I'm going to write and cancel with the above reason and see whether it is reduced to keep me as a customer, if it isn't then I am going to hit them for the charges.

I know that this is an old post from August but I can tell you that 'Legal & Trade' are from my area in Lancashire, they are based I believe in Winckley Square, Preston, Lancs, nasty bullying company as well.

Hi I have been reading through these posts as I am a Telewest customer soon to be Virgin customer. However, copied below is something I am querying: This fee is due to the fact that Direct Debit is the only method of payment which does not involve human interaction, and hence create additional administrative costs. Many companies operate similar systems whereby they offer a 'Direct Debit discount' to customers paying by Direct Debit. However, the net result is the same in that customers not paying by Direct Debit will pay more.═ " I pay by Debit Card on the phone using the recorded method which does not involve 'human interaction', how can they argue that one me thinks!! Would love to know if anyone has challenged this as I am always behind with payments but as I pay a month in 'front' how can I be 'behind' in payments but I still get the charges. Plus I pay for the service which does not allow unidentified numbers to connect to my phone, but only today I had calls made which stated 'we do not have the caller's number', what am I paying for exactly?

This is the first I have heard of this! I have filled in my letter but could someone advise me as to what you do for your children under 18, do I fill in the same letter as the guardian/parent, the letter does not allow for this so am unsure or do minors not have any rights with regard to this? Any help is gratefully appreciated. Mollie

Hi This is my first post but I have been a member for awhile and the information here is just phenomenal and I wish you guys/gals had been around years ago when I needed help. I also have a car with Yes/Direct and have had a little trouble with them over the last 3 years but am now wise to them. I do not profess to have the knowledge of some on this site, (wish I did!!) but I, thankfully, noticed the PPI when I first signed up for the car and told them to remove it as I had not agreed nor asked for it. The GAP I believe is not cancelable and even though you may be 3/4 the way through your agreement and it has been said on here that you can return the car with no further payments, I think that in the small print you have to have followed the agreement which states things like service records etc, if you haven't then you are in breach of the agreement. I know that I could be wrong but my agreement reads this way so am on going by that so please do not shoot me down in flames, am only trying to help. I missed a payment once and they hounded me and were very aggressive in their approach to me but I persisted and simply said 'OK take the car', that is when their manner changed, they don't want the car back with its over inflated price tag, just your money and I was allowed to pay the arrears over a 3 month period at an amount I could afford. Just today I phoned them as I received the usual threatening letter saying I was in arrears etc and they had charged me £15 for the letter, I paid on the 8th of the month as usual but depending on the time of payment, depends on whether it shows up on your account and the letter is automatically generated and sent. However, when I phoned to check this charge had not been put on my account I got a bolchy little s**** so I rose to it and stated that I wanted a statement in writing of every payment made and all charges on my account so that I could check this, this was agreed and I got a very curt 'Bye'. ha ha The moral of this story; 'Don't mess with a hormonal female - I bite back' lol