Two days ago I bought a freeview box from Littlewoods but after plugging it in and having a look, it is completely unsuitable, I can't even read the channels in the guide. Can I return this and cancel the order please or will it be refused because I plugged it in ?

I signed a franchise aggreement (unfortunately) and I would like to know if the : personal guarantee`s that was included is legal, if it was not witnessed, at the time of signing, and their is no provision for a witnesses signature, is there a set format for this, and could it be deemed invalid and/or, not binding? when is a deed not a deed? Your advice would be welcome. Thanks!

My JC is about to start electronic signing - they already have the little pads installed but are apparently undergoing 'problems' so it won't be operational anytime soon - no surprise there, then! According to what I've learned, as well as being proof that you attended, signing electronically automatically authorises the payment going through and the clerk doesn't have to do it manually. All well and good..until the damn thing goes wrong and there's no record of you having been there to sign on and your payment isn't put through. Even the advisers are worried about this happening and the mess it will create. I see no reason why they can't also retain the usual signing-on sheet as backup but maybe that's too easy. Yes, I'm being pessimistic but we all know what the DWP is like; if it can go wrong it will. We can't do much about it generating payments except to hope it works but make sure you get something in writing from the adviser to at least prove you attended. I always get them to sign and date my jobsearch, both to prove I attended and to stop them trying to raise any doubts after I've left. I distrust JC advisers and computer systems equally - cover yourself at all times!

Hi all, I'm new here but I'd firstly like to thank those who put the time in to advise others I feel like I'm being taken for a fool by a company after numerous faults to electronic goods I purchased online, I'm based in NI and the retailer is in England. I spent £1200 on goods from the company, only for 2 of the parts to need sent back to manufacturer for repairs within the first 6 months of having them. One of the parts has now been returned 3 times to the retailer, giving a total 4 returns within a 12 month period. The retailer is refusing to replace one of the parts which has been sent back 3 times, I don't feel I should have to settle for repaired goods especially within the first 6 months given that they were purchased brand new. I was given an excuse that because I paid them off on credit I am treated differently. Everything has been paid in full already, so I'm in debt to no-one. Their customer services director ignored my e-mails for 6 weeks despite phone calls and promises of a reply. So far she has offered me 3 months extension on my warranty for these parts which I don't think is acceptable at all given the inconvenience I've went through. At the moment they still have one of the parts and I've been using a loan unit for the past 2 months or more. Could someone advise what I should be entitled to? I don't want to get my information mixed up from what I've read on google. Thanks!

Excellent FOI question asking about electronic signing pads and an equally informative reply from the DWP FOI Team. Download it and use it when you're asked to sign electronically. My only concern about signing electronically is worrying whether it has actually triggered the payment successfully - I'd still prefer to have the clerk put my money through while I'm sat there to see it. Question and response can be found here: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/requirement_to_give_biometric_si#comment-59764 Basically, we do not have to use the electronic signing pad; they can only 'encourage' us. No sanction can be applied for refusal to use it. You can bet that the advisers will not mention this to you. Interesting to note that not only does the pad record your signature, it also measures the angle of the pen, pressure of the writing and speed too. Big Brother knows no limitations, does it. Another request was for all signing pad guidance issued to advisers, that can be found here:) https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/electronic_signing_pad_guidance Had a quick read through - most interesting. If your signatures don't match after 3 tries for any reason, they're going to want to know why AND expect you to provide more ID like driving licence etc. Also there is NO mention of electronic signing not being compulsory (did we really expect there would be!). Even the sample letter they give telling you all about it makes no mention that it's optional.

Hi, Sorry a quick question. My jobcentre has introduced electronic signing and on my next signing day (Tuesday), I need to take in ID and provide six signatures. On my last signing day I was given the copy of the letter, only valid ID I have is my debit card which I have my benefits paid into. However I was told by the person signing me that a copy of both sides of my debit card will be made and kept on file. Does this have to happen? Obviously I am concerned that any copies could get into the wrong hands. The old chestnut of needing to use Universal Jobmatch otherwise payment won't be released was also mentioned. I have been issued a paper book for this fortnight but was told no payment could be recieved if my jobsearch can not be verified digitally. Thanks for the help

Hi all I was given a letter letting me know that from next time i sign, the Jobcentre is introducing an Electronic Signing System. It says next time i sign i will need to provide six signatures on an Electronic Signing Pad and one proof of ID. After this i will only need to provide a signature for fortnightly or weekly jobsearch review appointments. Also as my partner works part time they no longer do the B7 forms, its electronic now. just letting everybody know what to expect.

Long overdue. http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/pharmacists/Documents/eps-patient-information-sheet.pdf

Hi, I have a debt to Capquest (owned by them purchased from Vanquis in 2012). I have been trying to sort this out and three weeks ago sent off a CCA because I could not recall signing anything when this was taken out. I spent £500 in total which needs to be paid back but the amount claimed by Capquest is £701, presumably these are credit charges, interest and default fees etc. Because I don't recall signing a CCA what I would like is for the amount owed to be agreed at what I actually spent, which is what I feel comfortable with on moral grounds on repaying. I am still in a financially weak position and the £201 additional fees are more than I am prepared to accept. My "CCA" came yesterday. I expect other people will have had this, it is simply a spreadsheet containing information that was on the web application form. There is no tick box or anything pertaining to being an electronic signature yet the pages are titled "Digital Signature Application details". I happen to know rather a lot about digital signatures, having designed many compliant forms for many organisations in this country and from what I learned is that the burden of proof always lays on the organisation requesting the signature. The purpose of the signature is to provide trust that the document was signed by the intended party and that it has not been altered or tampered with in any way since. While a "tick box" may be all that is legally required to form an electronic and legally binding signature, the person making a judgement on whether it is valid or not has to be assured there is no doubt the correct person ticked that box, and therefore is not really enforceable. Normally you would use a trusted third party such as Echosign or Docusign which would take your document, encrypt it with a unique key and take other supporting information such as IP addresses, the email addresses used, metadata from the browser as well as more advanced forms of ID checking such as automatically dialling your telephone number to provide you with a pin number you need to be able to sign. This provides little doubt that if the telephone number you provided is in fact yours, you more than likely signed the agreement. But nothing like that here, no IP address, no tick box, nothing to rule that I ever agreed to the terms and conditions that are attached. I am confident that if this is all the information they have, that it is completely legally unenforceable. Also the terms and conditions they provided say "The actual interest rate you receive will be communicated to you when we open your account". I am surprised this information is not required in advance to signing a credit agreement. This just leaves me to think that all they have given me is information that would have been presented on-screen at the point of application, prior to credit checking purposes etc. I do remember that I was never asked at any time to go and sign anything after the initial online application process. Capquest are not nice people and will not agree with my point of view, even though I know, based on what has provided, they cannot prove that I have ever agreed to the CCA. The data they provided me is in response to my official and paid for CCA request which therefore I would have thought meant they had to provide everything. If they do happen to have a record of my IP address for example it would weaken my case, especially as the IP address was static at that time, however it still isn't exactly bullet proof on their behalf. What I would like to know is, has anyone got experience in approaching this situation. I will not agree to repay £701 and will not agree to pay anything more than I spent, especially on the basis that I didn't enter a CCA with that company on technical grounds. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

My son bought the e-cig with usb charger ect on Fiday 19th July. Around 6.30pm my son started to charge the device then nipped out to the shops while his girlfriend got in the bath. A few minutes later there was a loud bang then the upstairs smoke alarm started to go off. The exploding device had set two bags on fire in the bedroom, my sons partner tried to throw the burning bags into the bath water but couldnt as they were too hot however, she managed to drop them near the bathroom and doused them with bath water. The bedroom carpet is burnt as well as the stairs. I have contacted the trader advising of potential faulty devices and this morning was on the phone to consumer direct who are treating it seriously. Keep you updated. PW

please delete.

I am new to CAG's but not forums! My problem is this I have numerous PC games that are fairly expensive some of my games have to be registered via the internet when loading a new game onto my PC (I Never Play online games MMO's) you have to put in the CD key code,once you have done this with Electronic Arts and STEAM, then i can never resell my PC game because it is registered to me,so when i have played my games and they become useless to me, in the past up to 1 year ago i sold my used games on Ebay no problem,Now both company's named above have stopped people reselling their games,i find this totally unfair because these games are my property purchased from the High street and via the internet as well,there is lots of legal jargon in the Terms and conditions but that doe's not help me,i have been intouch with Watchdog and i have had no reply this was 3 months ago,i am 65 years old and these people are treating me unfairly because you can resell other Console cd's and purchase these games in the High street store GAME,now game is a great company i have been with them for over 10 years,i have been in contact with Electronic Arts also STEAM but the replies are the same i cannot resell my games if i do i am breaking my Terms and Conditions, also both companys will not let the second hand purchaser register that game, so once again they have closed of the second hand markey for PC games registered to Electronic Arts also STEAM. Has anybody got any answers to this country wide issue..Please do not suggest court action i do not have the money thats why i contacted Watchdog and they have ignored me.

Hi, I am wondering if someone could please advice me on what i can do. This is my story: A few weeks ago my 9 year old little kid collected his pocket money and asked me to purchase a game for him from the PlayStation store, which i did. I paid £15.99 and downloaded the game and all its content, Euro 2012. However the game would not work. Ever time the game was launched it crashes, and he was unable to play it. I googled the problem and quite a few people had the exact same which with this game, so i contacted EA support for help. The emailed me back with a list of suggestions to fix the the problem, i tried all of them but the same issue persisted. i wrote back to them to say it was still not working and they got me to do a bunch of other stuff which unfortunately didn't work either. Two weeks since i bought the game and my son still couldn't play it and becoming increasingly frustrated i contact EA. The response i got was exactly the same as the first they sent me, so the were sending me in circles. Having had enough i called their customer service line, they asked for my sons PlayStation details which i provided and they told me that those details did not appear on their database as having purchased the game so they could not help me and to contact PlayStation for more help, as it was their store i bought the game from. I did so and they confirmed the purchase went through fine and if the game did not work to contact EA directly. The guy on the phone also told me a few people had called them about exactly the same game. When i tried to contact EA again they are refusing to help saying i have not purchased the game!! Is there anything i can do? I know its not a great deal of money but their attitude is unbelievable they have basically took £16 of my/my kids money for something which does not work and they are now refusing to help! Thanks