Hi there My friend has been taken in by someone offering them 2000 custom made luxury bags at the cost of £2352 which she has paid by bank transfer. There was a verbal agreement that the bags would be ready in 8 weeks (I think) my friend paid the chap through a bank transfer and has not received anything and now has found the chap UN-contactable! The chap is in breach of contract (potentially) there is nothing in writing other then the paid invoice (attached). Can anyone recommend what the next steps are? My friend no longer wants the bags as it has been over 4 months and the bags are never going to materialise. They simple want their money back! so far all we can find is as follows: 1. www.luxurybagbox.com 2. http://companycheck.co.uk/company/08845400/LUXURY-BAG-AND-BOX-LIMITED/directors-secretaries 3. http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk//compdetails Any information, help, advice is greatly appreciated Regards BB

My daughter left her bag on the bus last week. Had her phone and PE kit in it. I've got no money to replace any of it, so yesterday she had to go into school with no PE kit. Had to do the lesson in her knickers. She's got PE again on Friday, there's no way I'm going to be able to replace it by then. I don't know what to do

I went into a store in Birmingham today. They are a relatively small store, two or three branches at most. I won't name them at this stage. I've been there many times and spent much money. They are really good value. When I entered today the security officer told me that they have a new policy whereby they take your bag (or in my case rucksack) from you and keep it until you leave. I said "No thank you, I will keep it with me." Their response was "Well, you'll have to let me look inside it then." I refused, I continued to browse the store and make my purchases. I expected to be followed but I don't think I was. I saw other customers carrying their own bags (mainly women with large handbags). I wondered, had they refused like me, or were they not questioned? I completed my shopping trip and left. My reason for posting is to ask: Are they allowed to do this? They had a branch in Walsall a few years ago and they did this there. The fact that I simply refused and still went round suggests that they have no basis in law. Please share your opinions.

I brought an Acer laptop at the end of March from Argos. This came with a free pack that included a laptop bag, speakers, mouse and some software. The laptop has been sat on a desk for most of it's short life, the start of this weekend I decided to take it out, so I placed it into the free laptop bag that came with the laptop and took it around to a friends. While in the bag the laptop was subject to no forces what so ever. It was placed down on the floor gently, great care was taken just as I always do with my electronic goods. Upon opening the laptop bag, I found the laptop to have a cracked screen and a very minor crack to the bottom half of the casing in a corner, consistent with the crack on the screen. Anyone that works with laptops or portable devices will understand that it does not take much force at all the crack or damage a laptop screen, even less force when the force is applied to a corner. I went to Argos. I explained to them the situation, they immediately tried to fob me off that it was accidental damage and therefor it was not covered by their guarantee. I took the laptop out the bag and showed them that the laptop apart from this minor chip and cracked screen (which was caused while in the laptop bag) was in immaculate condition. Not a single scrach, mark or dent anywhere. The lady then agreed with me that if I had not been careful with the laptop then more marks or damage would be visible. She then went to get a manager. The manager came back with a number for Acer, and told me to ring them and then come back in store. He also told me that the laptop bags were sold for transportation purposes only and not for protection. I rang Acer knowing they would be no help at all, seeing that the problem was with Argos who had sold me a laptop bag with my laptop that had damaged my laptop while being transported and subjected to no unusual forces. I then went back into the store, spoke to the manager again, firstly I pointed out that on the card sleeve the laptop bag came in clearly stated on it that it had 'foam protection' so his claim half hour ago that they only sell them for transportation was lies. They agreed to take the laptop away for analysis but I will probably have to pay for any costs. I refuse to pay a penny and refuse to accept the laptop back in its current condition, due to the damage happening while the laptop was in a case that was sold by argos with the laptop as offering 'foam protection' and the laptop was not subjected to any unusual or harsh forces. Can anyone please tell me where I can go from here, thank you.

Seems stores are now going to be charging us for plastic carrier bags. Whilst I have no problem paying for these, I object strongly when these bags are plastered with the logos of the stores. IMHO, they should be paying ME to do their advertising. Anyway.. having a fair old stock of plastic bags anyway, I have knitted/crocheted my own bags out of these. They are far stronger and none of the logos show There are plenty of knitting patterns available if you google them, but these two links have proved to be useful. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-450744/Knit-shopping-bag.html http://plasticisrubbish.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/knitting-with-plastic-bags/ And I have attached a pdf for a crocheted bag. [ATTACH=CONFIG]46859[/ATTACH]

Japanese car recall: how are UK consumers affected? Toyota, Honda and Nissan are recalling 3.4m vehicles worldwide after discovering a fault with front passenger seat airbags Japanese carmakers are recalling 3.4m cars worldwide after discovering a fault with some airbags. Here is a guide to how UK consumers are affected. What is the problem with the cars? The affected models have all been supplied with front passenger seat airbags by the same Japanese component supplier, Takata. Some of these airbags have been found to have safety defects. There is too much pressure in the bag so that when it is deployed it goes off with a bigger bang than necessary. This can lead to bits of plastic and metal flying into the windscreen and footwell, according to a Honda spokesman. All the manufacturers affected are keen to stress that there is no risk to passengers from the airbag if there is not a crash – the bag will not inflate accidentally. There have been no incidents in the UK to date. The problem was highlighted following five incidents in the US and Japan. There have been no reported injuries resulting from the fault. Is my car affected? In the UK there are 76,000 Toyotas affected, 15,400 Hondas and 59,058 Nissans. The Toyota recall involves models produced between November 2000 and March 2004, and includes the Toyota Corolla, Yaris, Avensis, Avensis Verso, Picnic and Camry. These vehicles will have "X" to "54" registration plate identifiers. The Honda models affected are those produced between 2001 and 2003. The bulk of these – around 15,000 – are Honda CRVs. The other 400 are made up of the Honda Jazz, Civic and Stream models. The Nissan models were built between 2000 and 2004. The vehicles affected are: X-Trail, Patrol, Almera, Almera Tino, Terrano II and the 4x4 Pickup. What do I need to do if I think my car is affected? Toyota, Honda and Nissan will all be writing to affected customers within the next 30 days. However, you can check before then. Toyota has set up a facility on its website that allows you to check whether your car is one of those affected. It will be fully up and running from the afternoon of Thursday 11 April. Alternatively, Toyota, Nissan and Honda owners can contact their local dealership now to ask for an appointment to put things right. http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/apr/11/japanese-car-recall-uk-consumers

Hi, My father was in the toilet of a gym the other day. He's a taxi driver and popped in for a workout after his week of work before travelling home (he commutes into London and works 5 nights, then goes home). Whilst at the urinal, his bag was opened and his watch, wallet, cab badge and earnings for the week were stolen. He was using a urinal with his back to the bag at the time. CCTV at the gym showed the guy making off but there was no clear facial. He had "Personal belongings cover" from Halifax, as a part of his home and contents insurance. However, they refused his claim on the phone today because he'd left the bag unattended. He explained that if he'd turned around, he had line of sight to the bag but they just said it should have been in a locker before his used the urinal. I can't see anything in the policy terms about this. The only sentence I could see related to not leaving things unattended whilst abroad (though I can understand that if you just went a placed a load of money in the street and walked off you wouldn't expect to be able to claim for it!). All in all it seems a little harsh. Anyone have the full T's and C's for Halifax personal belongings insurance? All I've been able to find is a 40 page policy booklet, of which the personal belongings section is tiny and wooly. I'm not sure what he earns, they only cover up to £500 cash anyway, but he's very upset about it. James