thanks for your reply. personally i believe it is fraud but then again i am not a lawyer. i know i should try the small claims court but as i mentioned once i won the case i cant instruct bailiffs or apply for an attachment of earnings order because she doesnt seem to be living at her old address anymore. the courts will only try to contact her at her last known address and if she doesnt respond then its tough luck for me. thats why im thinking of filing criminal charges as the police will then search for her (as far as i know anyway). but you seem to know more about this. could you tell me why it isnt fraud? im obviously not very objective in this case but surely she has commited a crime. thanks.

Hi all. My case is long and complicated but I try to keep it neat. I have been living in a shared house for two years. Moved out June 06. Landlady didnt return my deposit claiming she had to pay over 800 pound for cleaning. I left the house spotless and did take pics but unfortunatelly my laptop got stolen so I dont have those pics anymore. However, she does not have pics of the state the house was in when I moved in so its her word against mine as far as I am concerned. She never sent me a bill of the cleaning only a break-down of the costs that frankly could have been written by anyone. Since Aug 06 I have been writing to her to send me copies of bills and proof of her payment to a cleaning agency. - no reply. I sent her two letters - nothing. I have been in touch with an advice agency who have been trying to contact her for almost 4 months via phone and mail (recorded delivery and normal post) - again nothing. Now, the agency is advising me to leave matters as apparently I dont have a strong case. I dont agree with that but I suppose they have to say that because we dont know whether the landlady could provide any bills etc. Anyway, my question is: can I go to the police and file charges? I know I can go ahead with the small claims court and assuming that she will ignore those letters too will win by default. However, this will not help me in getting my money back as they will not actively try to find her. I think the only way to find her would be by filing charges at the police. I am German and understand that in Germany you can only file fraud charges if it is in the interest of the public (which it would be since she is a landlord and could rip of other people like me). ALso, once you win a criminal case you can then claim your money back by the civil rights courts. Can anyone tell me whether these proceedings are similar in England? What are my chances? Is there any other way to get in touch with her? (she is not a registered landlord, all I know is that the address I had was that of her mother and that she has not sold the properties she is renting in Manchester, therefore I am assuming that she is still the landlord). I hope you can help me because I feel ripped off and its my money. I cant believe that it seems so easy to get out of your responsibilities as a landlord by just ignoring the issue. There must be a way. Please help. Thanks.

graham no, i havent taken them to court yet. a few months ago i have passed on the case to trading standards but so far they have not been in touch for me (so they are pretty much not helpful at all). i had to spend the last few weeks abroad so i dont know whether they may have been in touch via post. will check next week and if not give them a call. should they really be as incompetent as they seem at the moment i will write one more letter to curries and then take legal actions. have you written to them yet about your claim? i hope things will go better for you than for me. please let me know if you have any success and advice. good luck. x

i have a similar problem with my laptop that broke after only 1 month. bookworm has already given you the ins and outs and was really helpful. but you are definately entitled to a repair or even refund. the tv broke after less than 6 months in what case currys need to prove that the fault was not present at time of delivery. you can probably demand a refund on the grounds that they have been extremely unhelpful and might even be entitled to compensation because of the excessive delay (if it does go to court). if you like you can PM me and i could send you my letters i have sent to currys. however, be prepared that you have to go to court. also, currys is liable and not the manufacturer (they even confirmed that in their letter to me). let me know if i can help you in any way.

its a packard bell (piece of ..... - two of the keys from the keyboard just fell off) thanks, bookworm. i think i needed to hear something positive to feel more confident. will send them another letter and go to court if necessary.

hi all, i have just joined this forum and am very excited about this site. anyway, in august this year i purchased a laptop from currys. it broke after only a month. i wont go into details about the incompetence of curry staff but bottomline is that they wont fix it or give me a refund. i have researched consumer rights and know about my right to claim a refund as the product was less than 6mths old and the trader has to prove that the defect was not present when the laptop was sold to me. i have already written to the customer service deparment and they claim that i must have caused the damage. the psu socket is broken and apparently that can only happen if i misuse the laptop. they call it accidental damage. i know thats pure nonesense but im not sure if i have a chance in court and whether i need to prove that i havent damaged the product. i would appreciate if you guys could help me. thanks.