Hi, I have been receiving letters from a debt collection agency on the back of a parking violation in braehead retail park Scotland. I have been given a last opportunity before court proceedings. I have never replied or disclosed myself as the driver. What can I write to make them go away before they raise any court action. Would appreciate latest advice and a letter template. Kind regards Followufollowme

I'm due to visit Glasgow in a few weeks time. As someone who lives in England, I'm not entitled to use my bus pass up there, which means having to buy bus tickets for travel. Anyway, I'm flying up. I've done some Googling and have a few questions: - Traveline have pointed me in the direction of First who have a selection of daily, weekly and monthly tickets. Do the weekly tickets start on Monday? Or can I arrive on the Thursday (as is the plan) and buy a weekly ticket? - Can I use my weekly ticket on the 500 service which takes me from the airport to the city centre (ish) ?

I was amazed when i got a fine through the door about July time, i had parked in the retail park at Anniesland Glasgow, i had no idea there was any kind of restriction on the time you can park there, i thought it was a free car park as there are no ticket machines. to get a fine for exceeding the time limit is incredible. No doubt there will be signs posted around the car park but i never paid any attention to them as i just assumed it was free. I ignored the first letters hoping they would go away. Now i have a letter from DRP a collection agency asking for £135. Im unemployed, i have a massive overdraught, i have so much financial problems just now, i dont need this crap. Is there anything i can do to make them go away. The letter i have says it should be paid by 16th of sept or it might go to court action.

This week, Glasgow councillors are expected to agree to a new partnership with Glasgow Credit Union. The two year pilot Partnership Mortgage Guarantee Scheme will provide house hunters who can afford to pay a mortgage but cannot raise the necessary deposit. At present, lenders are demanding deposits of between 5% and 25%, which for many people on low incomes is impossible to raise. Glasgow Credit Union will allocate up to £4million in mortgage funding over the period. The council will act as a guarantor for the loan over a maximum five year period, up to a maximum of 20% of the original mortgage amount in the first year, reducing to 10% by year five. READ MORE HERE: http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/13584721.Deposit_scheme_boost_for_first_time_buyers/

The car park for the Maternity Section at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow was full on the 20th April this year when my daughter went to give birth. Part of the car park was closed for maintenance work and the workmen pointed us to an area where other cars were parked on a side road within the hospital. When we returned there was a notice on my windscreen from CPPlus notifying me of a £40 Unauthorized Parking Notice reduced to £20 for immediate payment stating I was not parked in a designated parking space. All the cars parked in this area also had similar notices. Another driver who was there advised me not to pay and to ignore any follow up. I then received a letter dated 4th June 2015 from PCS Parking Collection Services advising that they had obtained my details as the registered keeper/owner of the vehicle and stating that full payment must be made within 28 days to avoid further action. As originally advised on the 20th April in the car park I continued to ignore this letter. I have now however received a follow up letter dated 3rd July 2015 from DRP Debt Recovery Plus Ltd demanding payment for the unpaid parking charge of £40 for their client otherwise they will recommend their client that court action should be taken. I'd appreciate any advice on what action I should now take. Thanks

Caledonian Removal Company Hi brand new to these forums and would appreciate any help/advice how to rectify this problem... I am experiencing issues with this company and would advise anyone NOT to use there services... Some items are lost and despite endless phone calls and communication with them not once have they responded and most of the time he ignores talking to me.... would appreciate any updates on any success anyone may have had in getting their goods back from them.. David Howie who operates this outfit thinks he can treat people and there storage in any way he likes, then ignores all attempts of communication. Hopefully by exposing there behaviour other people will not use them.

Trusty Paws Clinic Glasgow Simon Community has announced a new partnership with 4th year Veterinary students to provide a free monthly clinic for dogs belonging to homeless people at their RSVP Advice and Information Hub. This is a fully equipped/professional “pop up” clinic overseen by a qualified vet and the clinic will take place on the first Wednesday of each month from 2-5pm. RSVP Advice and Information, 72 London Road,G1 5NP. People who are homeless can contact the RSVP service on Freephone 0800 027 7466 This service only deals with Dogs not other pets. http://www.ghn.org.uk/node/168 http://www.facebook.com/trustypaws

About 1430 hours today, Monday 22 December 2014, a Glasgow City Council bin lorry was travelling north on Queen Street when it appeared to strike pedestrians outside the Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) before continuing to travel towards George Square, when it crashed at the Millennium Hotel on Queen Street at George Square. Read More Here: http://www.scotland.police.uk/whats-happening/news/2014/december/264461 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/11308468/Glasgow-bin-lorry-crash-live.html Very sad news especially at this time of year. I would like to wish those injured a speedy recovery and my heart goes out to those that sadly lost loved ones condolences.

Hello, I have received a final reminder letter from UKPC (offence in May 2014) as I was "not parked correctly within the markings of the bay or space". The letter is addressed to my personal name and a photograph of the parked car. I have not replied to any previous letters. They are requesting an £80 charge. Can you please give me some advice?

Hi there, a couple of friends who use this site recommended I make a post about a problem I am having with a brand new motorbike I bought. I bought my new bike on the 6th of November from Honda dealership Victor Devine in Glasgow. 3 days later I was proudly showing it to friends and almost instantly one of them (an ex motorbike mechanic) pointed out a rough patch on the top of the fuel tank which turned out to be rust coming from the inside of the tank outward. He said not to delay but to get in touch with the dealership and get it sorted, he also said to get the full thing checked out as something as apparent as that should have been spotted on the PDI check and if its been missed or ignored the rest of the bike needs looked at. I had a quick look around the bike myself in more depth later and found the tax disc holder was also rusted right through. Having had the bike 3 days out of the showroom alarm bells started ringing. I emailed the dealership and they said to bring it in to check the problems, I did this and their camera wasnt up to the job of getting proper photos so while there and to avoid a wasted journey I asked if they could give the bike a once over to see if there were any other faults. They said they didnt need to and when it came in for a new fuel tank they would look at it then - a bit odd I thought as any problems found would mean another visit for me to get the next batch of issues resolved. When I got home I decided not to wait and looked at the bike myself with a torch. It was at this point I found a whole batch of problems with it including : - The fuel tank had corrosion on the top area, having started from the inside of the tank outward. - Corrosion was dripping down the white side panels of the bike from the side of the tank. - The tax disc holder was corroded through. - There was corrosion on the bottom of the yoke plus impact damage from being hit with something repeatedly during installation. - The paint had cracked and peeled off from the welds on the frame/chassis. I have some photos but can't link them as I'm a new user. But you can paste them into your browser here: setcompanyglasgowltd.com/bike/bz1.jpg setcompanyglasgowltd.com/bike/bz2.jpg setcompanyglasgowltd.com/bike/bz3.jpg setcompanyglasgowltd.com/bike/bz4.jpg setcompanyglasgowltd.com/bike/bz5.jpg setcompanyglasgowltd.com/bike/bz6.jpg setcompanyglasgowltd.com/bike/bz7.jpg setcompanyglasgowltd.com/bike/bz8.jpg setcompanyglasgowltd.com/bike/bz9.jpg setcompanyglasgowltd.com/bike/bza.jpg setcompanyglasgowltd.com/bike/bzb.jpg setcompanyglasgowltd.com/bike/bzc.jpg setcompanyglasgowltd.com/bike/bzd.jpg i.imgur.com/BEyFiMo.jpg i.imgur.com/M7eCOB8.jpg i.imgur.com/zas69GW.jpg i.imgur.com/Clbfres.jpg Finding all these problems on a brand new bike shattered my confidence in the vehicle totally. Im not a mechanic and I dont know anything about bikes, so what other nasties could be lurking under panels or in areas hidden from view? I asked the dealer for an exchange of another bike that had been fully checked or a full refund and they lied to me and said I wasnt entitled to that, all I could do was speak to Honda UK about warranty work as my contract is with them and the Victor Devine dealership is only an agent. I explained I had paid cash to them and hadnt bought direct from Honda or got finance but they still refused. The dealer did tell me of another customer who had the same issues (with the frame corrosion) and that they (Victor Devine & Co) got a new frame from Honda, had it powder coated locally and the customer went away happy. I didnt like the sound of this but relented during the call as I just wanted to get out there and enjoy riding. A few days later the dealer calls back and says they are no longer offering a new frame and that all Honda and themselves would do was - to quote "touch up the paint on the welds". With a sizable list of defects on the bike and having bought it brand new from a dealer and from a company as big as Honda I thought this was a really bad way to treat a customer who had just bought a fairly expensive product (though of course not expensive in terms of bikes). Added to that I'd already had a chat about upgrading to a bigger bike after winter with the guys at the dealership which would have meant more money for them plus I spent hundreds of pounds more on the day of bike purchase on winter jacket, winter trousers etc in their accessories department. I spoke with the Citizens Advice Bureau and they told me I had been lied to when I requested to reject the bike, I also spoke with my lawyer who confirmed exactly the same thing that under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended) goods supplied must : - Be fit for purpose. - Be of satisfactory appearance and finish. - Be free of minor defects. Victor Devine & Co Ltd refused to accept the rejection and told me to speak to Honda UK who admitted that yes my contract is with the dealer and they are the ones that by law have to give a refund. Back to the dealer and they say they will replace the fuel tank, replace the bottom yoke and touch up the paint on the welds and tell me I am being unreasonable asking for a replacement bike or a refund as the bike is 99% perfect and has only "minor bits and bobs wrong with it". I've sent a letter to the dealership but don't really know where to go from here now and was looking for any advice as everything seems to be going from bad to worse Many thanks for reading and any help you can give me. Rikki

Hi, apologies if this is the wrong forum, but.... I got caught driving in a bus lane in Glasgow - hadn't even noticed it was one - and got sent a Fixed Penalty Notice of £60, reduced to £30 if I paid within 28 days. I went online and paid it. Or at least thought I had. The transaction looked complete, there were nothing to suggest that it had failed. I have sufficient funds to pay. You can guess the rest - I later received a letter saying that I hadn't paid, and that the fine had been increased to £90. I appealed, explaining that it was their system that had failed to take payment, and hadn't told me it had failed, and I said I would pay the £30 again. Much later, I received a letter saying that the appeal had failed, and I must pay within 7 days. I really don't want to pay, when I've done everything I was supposed to do! Any advice? thanks.... Paul

Hi everyone new to the site so please accept apologies if this is posted in wrong thread. I've a potential issue regrading Council Tax in Glasgow. Last year I became a full time mature student (40+) and applied and got an exemption for Council Tax. At the end of that year I realized I was in Credit. I phoned Glasgow City Council to ask for this back. Whilst on the phone they ran some liability check and it came back clear and they put the credit back into my bank account. Last month I had to again put in anther exemption form as I'd been working and paying Council Tax from June to Sept 2013. I rang Glasgow Tax office again to refund credit due to me again overpaying. The lady on the other end said this was being processed and stated that this should be refunded no problem as she noticed a liability check had been done and wouldn't be required again. Last week I received a letter stating I was indeed £98 in credit but would not receive this until I gave then information of where I've been living since 1993!!!??? I can account for and have provided the last 8 (now 10 years) years of previous addresses in 2011 but my issue is that from 1993 to 2003 I wasn't registered at any address as was flirting in between staying at my mothers, friends and then girlfriend, the girlfriend stayed with grandparents whom both paid council tax. The thing is I can't use that address as the ex will deny I stayed there. I can't say my mums as she''ll get hit with a bill and friend is a no go. Advice i require is does anyone know of this situation and the processes/consequences involved? Will the Council start hounding me for Council Tax if I can't prove where I lived? Is there anything I can tell them which will keep then from asking again? Are they allowed to tell you that you had no liability then the following year change the goalposts and ask where you've been the last 20 years? I'm very concerned on how I should play this or what information I should provide. Do i by law have to provide information? I do my council tax online and the letter isn't there yet although it did arrive by post. Can I phone up and play dumb and ask if the £98 credit now showing in my account can be transferred into my bank account? If they say they want to lnow previous addresses can I say that you've already ran a liability test and refunded me before so why should I do it again? Any advice much appreciated as very worried!!

I cancelled a standing order payment to them over a month ago. They have still taken money from my account! Anyone else any experience of them? How can they do this? I will be contacting them and my bank about this. Just wanted to know if anyone else has had to deal with them.

Hi, I recently hired a car through Right Cars (right-cars . com) through a broker (Argus Car Hire) for a few days in Glasgow. When I payed for my car hire, there was a £350 deposit added. Now, normally when I've hired a car, they do not add the deposit to the hire bill but treat it as a separate 'holding deposit' transaction (i.e. hold the balance on the card but do not immediately claim the funds). I have returned the car, at which point I was informed that everything was fine and that my deposit refund will be credited to my account the next working day (which was also what I was told when I hired the car initially). However, a week has passed and there is no sign of the money. At which point I discovered this website: www . complaintsboard . com /complaints/right-cars-rental-cars-at-glasgow-airport-no-refund-deposit-gbp350-c671730 .html It seems that a lot of people have been caught out by this. I contacted Right Cars (whilst recording the conversation) and they assured me that I have had the full deposit refunded the next working day after the car was returned, and provided me with a 10-digit reference number (which is not recognised by the bank). They also confirmed that I should receive the full amount. The staff member said it can take up to 14 working days! for the deposit to reach my account. She verbally confirmed the credit card number with me, so there are no mistakes there. I also asked for the authorisation code, so I could trace the transaction with my card company but I was informed that there was none as the refund transactions were processed in bulk. Now, at this point I contacted my card company. They said that they had no records for any pending refunds, and normally they would know about pending transactions almost immediately after they were processed. It is normal for refunds to take a few days to appear on an account, but 14 working days (3 weeks) is ridiculous! I really hope I do get my money as I really need it. They also advised me on the chargeback process if it were to come to that. Worryingly, a few people have had threats of being sued for libel by right cars for posting bad reviews of them online. I know that these claims shouldn't amount to anything, but it is worrying all the same. There's also an online portal which acknowledges the credit card refund delay and provides a not-so-helpful wikihow entry on why credit card delays can take a while. Screenshot at postimg . org / image / jo3asfwpp/ The link goes to this page: www . ehow . co.uk / info_8511456_do-credit-cards-long-refund . html

HOMELESSNESS INFORMATION GLASGOW ONLY Document Source: Glasgow Homeless Information Page EMERGENCY ACCOMMODATION Community Casework Teams You can make a homelessness application at any of the Community Casework Teams in the city. You do not have to make your application at the office closest to where you would normally stay: whichever Casework Team you go to, they must allow you to make your application there. There are a number of them across Glasgow, and they are open Monday to Friday 9.00 am to 4.00 pm or you can phone them between 9.00 am and 5.00 pm. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ North West Community Casework Service 30 Mansion Street Glasgow G22 5SZ Phone: 0141 276 6169 Fax: 0141 276 6172 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ South Community Casework Service 1st Floor, TwoMax Building, 187 Old Rutherglen Road, Glasgow G5 0RE Phone: 0141 276 8201, Fax: 0141 276 8278 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ North East Community Casework Service 33 Burnmouth Road, Glasgow G33 4ST Phone: 0141 276 6153 & 0141 276 6160 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Asylum and Refugee Support Team The Hamish Allan Centre, 180 Centre Street, Glasgow, G5 8EE Freephone 0800 838 502, or phone 0141 287 1800 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Prison Casework Service Social Work Unit, HMP Barlinnie, Lee Avenue, Glasgow G33 2QX Phone: 0141 770 2123, Fax: 0141 770 9808 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Hamish Allan Centre - Out of Hours Service 4.00pm to 9.00am Mondays to Fridays 24 hours on Saturdays and Sundays 24 hours on public holidays Between 4.00pm and 9.00am, you can still make a homelessness application at the Hamish Allan Centre. During office hours, you will be redirected to one of the Community Casework Teams (see above). The Hamish Allan Centre is at 180 Centre Street, Glasgow, G5 8EE Freephone 0800 838 502, or phone 0141 287 1800 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ FOOD City Centre ChananGlasgow Tower Block, 162 St Vincent Lane, G2 7LQ Tel: 0141 243 2336 Email: [email protected] Monday 7.30-8.30pm Free food from mini bus at corner of Blytheswood St/ Cadogan St _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Glasgow City Mission 20 Crimea Street City Centre G2 8PW Tel: 0141 221 2630 Email: [email protected] Evening Drop In, 8pm-10pm, Monday to Friday Foodbank, 10am-12pm, Monday & Wednesday _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Glasgow Asylum Destitution Action Network Tel: GADAN on 07961 098430 Email: [email protected] Tel: Night Shelter 07929 852264 Email: [email protected] Open 7 days, 8pm-8am NOTE: Destitute asylum seekers and refugees who cannot access other services - referral only _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Loaves & Fishes Oasis Cafe Renfield St Stephens Church Centre 260 Bath Street G2 4H2 Tel: 01355 224 375 Email: [email protected] Sit down hot meal, Monday & Thursday, 6pm Food parcels distributed on a Thursday night only _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Lodging House Mission 35 East Campbell Street G1 5DT Tel: 0141 552 0285 Email: [email protected] Free & Low Cost Meals, Monday to Friday, 8am - 10am & 12pm - 2pm _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Wayside Club 32 Midland Street G1 4PR Tel: 0141 221 0169 Email: [email protected] Open 7 days, Hot food & drinks, 7.30pm-10pm Saturdays, 1pm-4pm _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Anniesland Glasgow Vineyard Church (Also Storehouse Foodbank) 4 Linden Street Anniesland G13 1DQ Tel: 0141 237 1370 Email: [email protected] Saturday, 10am-12pm, Food & toiletries (Voucher Needed) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Bridgegate The Frederic Ozanam Centre 9 Bridgegate G1 5HX Tel: 07940 311 340 Sunday, 12pm _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Broomhill Glasgow Northwest Foodbank (Also Broomhill Foodbank Centre) Broomhill Community Church 1 Norby Road G11 7BN Tel: 07787 334012 Email: [email protected] Monday, 4pm-6pm (Voucher Needed) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Cardonald Glasgow South West Food bank (Hillington Park Church) Berryknowes Road G52 2UD Tel: 07708 504 130 Email: [email protected] Friday, 10am-1pm (Voucher Needed) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Cowcaddens Central and West Integration Network Garnethill Multicultural Centre, 21 Rose Street G3 6RE Tel: 0141 573 0978 Email: [email protected] Friday, 2pm-4pm (Destitute asylum seekers) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Dennistoun The Everlasting Food Bank 12 Whitehill Street G31 2HL Tel: 0798 302 1283 Email: [email protected] _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Gorbals Bridging the Gap Greyfriars Centre 270 Ballater Street G5 9LJ Tel: 0141 418 0241 Email: [email protected] Monday to Thursday, 9am-5pm, Friday 9am-5pm (Local people in need/ people seeking asylum/ refugees) Destiny Angels 37 South Portland Street G5 9JL Tel: 0141 429 8757 Email: [email protected] Wednesday & Friday, 11am - 3pm _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Govan Govan and Craigton Integration Network Riverside Hall 29-31 Clydebrae Street G51 2AJ Tel: 0141 445 3718 Email: [email protected] Wednesday, 12.30pm-2.30pm (Destitute asylum seekers) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ PERSONAL CARE There are facilities for personal care such as showers and laundry at the Lodging House Mission, The Marie Trust and the City Mission. Lodging House Mission, 35 East Campbell Street, G1 5DT The Marie Trust, 32 Midland Street, G1 4PR The City Mission, 20 Crimea Street, G2 8PT _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ RSVP - ROUGH SLEEPING & VULNERABLE PEOPLE Rough Sleeping & Vulnerable People (RSVP, previously called "Glasgow Street Service" and also known as the "Street Team") is a street outreach team which works with people aged 16 and over. RSVP provides advice and support to access accommodation and other services such as medical, addiction and mental health services. They offer practical help and emotional support to those sleeping rough, at risk of sleeping rough or becoming homeless and those having difficulties accessing other services. Where can you find RSVP? ** City centre streets ** Soup kitchens ** Day centres ** Red light areas (male and female) ** Bus stations ** Train stations ** Through other services such as the Hamish Allan Centre You can contact RSVP by calling 0800 027 7466.This is a free phone number - it will not cost you anything to call from a landline, but you probably will be charged by your mobile phone service provider if you call from your mobile phone. The freephone number is available 24 hours a day, every day. It can be used for Street Outreach and Crisis Response. RSVP also provide a drop-in advice and information service: The Hub 72 London Road Glasgow G1 5NP Telephone: 0141 552 4164 Email: [email protected] _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ HOUSING ADVICE Glasgow City Council has a Housing Options Guide available for people to access information about the range of housing available in Glasgow. You can find outmore information on the Housing Options Guide website. Glasgow Shelter Housing Aid Centre works with anyone who is homeless, threatened with homelessness, or has a housing problem. They offer housing advice, advocacy, and legal representation on a wide variety of housing problems. Homelessness Information - GLASGOW ONLY.pdf Before Printing the PDF TIP If you DO NOT wish to print Page 1 (Cover Page) of the PDF, please ensure to do the following: Ensure you go to your Printer Settings and set it to 'Print from Page 2' (this way Page 1 (Cover Page) should not print out). Note: This will save you Ink & Paper

Hypozincemia can also be associated with malabsorption, diarrhea, acrodermatitis enteropathica, chronic liver disease, chronic renal disease, sickle-cell disease, diabetes, malignancy, pyroluria, and other chronic illnesses [With acknowledgement to Messrs "Wikipedia", and apologies for the fact that they cannot spell "The Squits", I can't, either] Ladies and Gentlemen of the Forum, from the foregoing, you may have realised that I have come into contact with something called "Zinc" - "Zinc Collections" of Glasgow, in fact. Perhaps the compiler of the definitions above, should also have included, "Lack of brain function". I've been dealing with a debt for well over twelve months on behalf of a friend, the debt is with Barclays, they have not yet produced a CCA. I might write in this thread about them in a few weeks time, another shambles, they cannot even decide what the amount of the debt is, I have been quoted at least three amounts, differing by £500! In February, I received a call on my telephone answering service from "Zinc Deficiency", or " Hypozincemia", of Glasgow, asking that my friend call them. She doesn't live here, but Barclays have been asked to send all correspondence to this address, care of me, [and that only correspondence will be accepted] - she sent them that request in 2010, and they have stuck to it, about the only thing they've managed to get right! Enter "Zinc Deficiency", with their phone call - I ignored it, and several others, until one day I intercepted one. I told the operator that my friend would not be contacting them, and that this was my private phone number, and to delete it from their system - they must have obtained it from my name and address, I'm not ex-directory. They agreed to delete it, and I had no more calls - for seven days - then they started again - I had one during the afternoon - I told the woman that this was my private phone number, and Mrs X does not live here, but correspondence only should be sent here, C/O me. Two hours later - another call, from a man this time! I went a bit hairless - I haven't got much anyway. Then I sent them an SAR, addressed to their Data Controller, plus a £10 cheque drawn on one of my accounts, to ask them for all the information they have on me, especially transcripts of telephone conversations, with me, I modified the standard "CAG" template, to suit the occasion. They signed for the SAR the day after it was sent, two days later they cashed my cheque, and this was over 45 days ago - I've now sent a letter to their Compliance Manager. What happens now I have written unsuccessfully to the two people that one can reasonably expect to be capable of reading simple English? Sam

I have put myself off from writing this because I am already on this site in regards to another situation I am currently going through, and the two people who have been assisting me with that may well see this and think to themselves: “Oh God - not them again”. I left Glasgow in May 2009 with a council tax (ct) debt of, apparently, £1000, covering 3 ct years and 2 addresses. While at these addresses I spent a vast majority of my time unemployed, only being employed for 2 christmas temp jobs from Nov/Dec 07 and Aug/Dec 08. Other than that I was in receipt of JSA. When I left Glasgow I was only due to pay for April and May 09 ct of £45.58. However, due to the nasty people at the letting agency I rented my flat through I am now, what appears to be, being charged a full year of £395.41 and not £45.58. Apparently, my former letting agency are holding me liable until the terms of my lease agreement (I don't know what they are or what they mean), and because they couldn't rent the flat between May and September 2009, rent they are trying to obtain from me but to date have done nothing about, I am being charged full (no 25% single person's deduction) council tax of £108.72. Now it appears to be £395.41. I received a letter in March 11 from STIRLING PARK informing me I owe GCC £907.98. After getting my act together I started to pay SP £5 per month as from March 12, which was all I could afford as I am on ESA due to having mental health problems and difficulties. In February 13 I received a letter from BPO Collections demanding the full amount of £960 19. I was confused about this as I had assumed that SP were dealing with this debt, and after writing to SP was informed that they are no longer dealing with GCC and BPO Collections have taken it over. To date I have paid them £5 (I pay £2.50 per fortnight), and to date I have paid £65 towards this debt as from March 12. In January 12 I received a letter from GCC informing me of a how much I owe in regards to each outstanding (os) year and address, and it was broken down for me to see. The total was £606. 41. I wrote to both GCC and BPO Collections, with enclosures of this letter, requesting GCC to amend their records and to inform BPO Collections of this amount. I have just received a letter from GCC informing me that I owe £950.19, and that since the letter of January 12 the amount has increased. However, I was not sent any paperwork in regards to this increase or any thing else. Basically I am to take their word for it and pay it. Tough on that. How can a debt go from £907.98 to £960.19 to £950.19 and no sign of the £65 I have already paid? As James Stewart says in REAR WINDOW: “Since when do flowers grow shorter”. I have just written a letter to GCC asking them to send me EVERYTHING they have on these os debts and I will get someone to look over the paperwork, but in the meantime any help and advice will, as always, be gratefully appreciated. Thanking you in advance. Bohomiz

Hi I received a parking ticket from Glasgow CC after the parking sticker I had purchased ran out of time, by 15 minutes. The machine would only accept my £1.00 coin and would not recognise the addition 2x20p pieces that I put in. The machine was marked £1.00 per hour but also showed smaller denomination coins. I wrote to them explaining the situation using the following text: I received a parking ticket on the 19th December 2012, while parked in the car park located at Collins Street in Glasgow. When parking the car I tried to pay the sum of £1.40 into the parking machine (an equivalent of just over 80 minutes), but the machine would only recognise the full £1.00 coin value, and allow for the 60 minute parking period. I believe the ticket was unjustly issued for the following reasons: An hourly parking rate is provided on the ticket machine but this does not specify that parking is to be paid on a flat hourly fee. The location does not allow any form of flexibility if further monies are required and is therefore not fit for purpose in the location which it is located. I would suggest a more flexible system would be a debit card system. I would not have been recorded as staying beyond my allotted time if the machine had accepted the £1.40 payment made at the first attempt. I am a law-abiding citizen, who looked to park his car in a designated parking area, and who has fallen fowl of the inflexibility of the parking arrangements in this car park, and I would ask that the penalty charge notice be waived in this case. I enclose photographs of the ticket machine and other relevant information, and hope for a speedy resolution of this matter. I received a negative reply to my letter today with a demand to pay up by the 03/02/2013 or miss the reduced rate charge. Any help or guidance as to how to fight this ticket would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Hello, I have read many bad reviews regarding Calendonian Removals and am wondering if these people have had their issues resolved? We are having similar problems to those who have previously posted on this site about this company. We have recently moved to Australia from Glasgow and some of our goods didn't arrive. We are certain the remaining goods are in their warehouse as we were there when David Howie loaded them from our car into a wooden crate separate from our other items. It is those particular items that haven't made it to Australia and were not included on the received inventory list. We believe they have simply been missed, and this is fine, this kind of thing happens all the time. Our main issue now is getting our items back and trying to get in touch with David Howie. David Howie refuses to talk to us, he doesn't respond to emails or text messages. We are keen to hear from other people and how they had their problems resolved? I think our next step will be police and/or lawyers. Regards, Angela

Hi All, First post, I've done a bit of searching around and found similar issues but nothing quite the same... so please bear with me as this whole thing is quite complicated... hopeing someone can help. Basically, in October 2006 I moved into a flat with my cousin (that sounded dodgy... er, separate rooms !!). We were both full time students at the time, I was at University, and she was at College, and went on to University the following year (same course, so I believe it is classed as a 'continuation' or something similar). Anyway, she moved out in January 2007, and I moved out in March/April 2007 (can't quite remember which). A couple of months ago, I got a letter from a DCA advising that GCC had instructed them to recover £854.13 from me Obviously, I phoned them to query this - they told me it was for the property that I had lived at above, for CT year 2007/2008. I advised them I did not live there at that time, and told them to send it back to GCC as an error, and thought nothing more of it. I gave them my mobile number (stupid, I know) to call me back and let me know it was sorted. Never heard a word back from them. In June, I received another letter giving me 14 days to pay before they would take legal action. I hit the roof at this one Phoned them up again and asked them what they were playing at... "oh the council say it's up to you to prove you didn't live there". Hit the roof again, told them I'd sort it with the council and to send it back to them again. With that I spoke to some snotty woman at GCC, told her I didn't live there and explained the circumstances of moving out so quickly (see details below). I was told that it was up to me to prove I didn't live there ! I also made it clear that even if i had lived there, I was a FT student so wouldn't have been liable anyway. "Prove it" was the response. So, I drove to East Dunbartonshire Council HQ in Kirkintilloch, spoke to possibly the most helpful council official I have ever dealt with, explained the problem, and asked her to give me a copy of the CT exemption form I submitted to them in 2007... she went and got my file, and gave me it in less than 5 minutes ! Armed with this, I then went down to Glasgow City Councils office next to George Square... took a number and sat in line to speak to someone about it. In contrast, the woman I was met with here, was the most hostile, abrupt, and downright rude person I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Told her "I didn't live there", "prove it" was the reply. Gave over my student exemption form from 2007 showing my parents address "Oh, this doesn't prove you didn't live here, you can live in 2 places at once" (?????) At that point she says "Oh, we have this form already anyway, it's not your student status that's the problem, it's your cousin, her college course ended in April 2007 so we're charging you full CT from April-October 2007 (when the lease ran out)." At this point, I explained the circumstances regarding moving out (again, see below), and just got met with "Prove it" after every sentence I made the point, that surely it's up to them to prove I DID live there given the mountain of evidence I can supply that suggests I did not - bank statements, pay slips, etc etc, all showing my address changed sometime between March & April 2007. They then made this suggestion: "The easiest way to make this go away" is to get a copy of your cousins student exemption for the following academic year, so 2007-2008. Now, she never bothered with this, as when she moved back to her parents she got no CT discount anyway as there was more than 1 non-eligible adult living there.... however, we have since got a CT form from EDC, sent it to her Uni, and they have returned it, filled in for that academic year. Apparently this is not acceptable to GCC. So, I have now lost the plot entirely, and told them to take me to court. I'm actually looking forward to it I think... as far as I am concerned, I owe them nothing. I have plenty of documentary evidence that I had moved elsewhere, yet they continue to say I need to (somehow??) prove I did not live at that address, at that time. Now, i'm no lawyer, but if I remember correctly, they can't demand I try to prove a negative... It's up to them to prove I DID live there ? Since then, I've had the DCA phoning me on my mobile several times a day... at first I was telling them I wasn't liable and that they should speak to the council, then I got fed up with them and told them to stop phoning me, put it in writing etc, now I just dont answer the phone to them. I have also now had a letter saying they intend to instruct sherrif officers to arrest my wages and freeze my bank accounts It's hit the roof time again. Surely in order to do this, they need to actually take me to court first Anyways, I think I really do need some help now, because I'm obviously dealing with a brick wall and I may just be getting in over my head. One last thing, in December 2008 I changed my surname (legally), I have my amended birth certificate. They are still wirtng to and addressing me as my old name. Does this matter ? Any thoughts much appreciated (again, see below for further detail). Thanks, Chris. Shortly after moving in, there were serious problems with the flat, flooding, being the main thing - Barrat had managed to build a block of flats that wasn't watertight. Muppets ! We then started receiving letters from the landlords finance company, GMAC (initially addressed to him), stating that he hadn't paid a penny towards his mortgage (found this out later when I started opening his mail). I tried for several weeks to get hold of the LL, to no avail. Now, technically, I was renting from his company (ironically, a plumbing company), rather than him directly.... so I checked companies house... the company was put into administration a few weeks after I signed the lease. A recorded delivery letter I sent to him stating that if the problems weren't sorted I was terminating the lease, was returned to me undelivered marked "property boarded up." I still have a copy of the letter, but have chucked the returned envelope away. What I was told by the letting agent (and Barrat), on the quiet, was that Barratt had given this guy 50k cash back on each of the flats that he'd purchased (so at least 100k), and that he'd then put his company into administration and disappeared. They were also trying to get hold of him. The flooding issue then started affecting neighbours properties, so we had no option really but to let Barrat Homes come into the flat and do remedial works to stop the flooding - both for our sakes, and the sakes of the neighbours below. They had to effectively remove the whole wall and rebuild it - something about the damp course/vents being installed the wrong way round, so directing water inwards (the rebuilding of the internal wall never got done). So we were now living in a damp, draughty building site with no internal walls, the landlord had vanished, his company was in administration, and his mortgage company were threatening repossession (I'd started opening his mail at this point). My cousin, who suffers from asthma moved out either right at the end of December or the very start of January as the dampness and draughts were causing her health problems. I had assumed I was going to lose my £1000 deposit, so I couldn't afford to just upsticks and move out... so I held on a little longer. One moring I was woken up by an estate agent who had keys and had let himself into the flat "to survey it". I then started receiving notices "to the occupier" telling me that the flat was being repossessed, got the notice to quit etc etc etc, and then got a notice saying sheriffs officers were coming to reposess the property, change locks etc etc.... so I eventually gave up trying to contact the LL, and moved back to my dads house as I couldn't afford to move elsewhere. I had kept a hold of all of the documents etc, the repossession notice, lease, returned mail, rent receipts etc etc... until I had a clean out about a year ago - figured I wouldn't be needing any of that stuff ! Even after explaining all of this to GCC, one of the the things they said is that my lease was from October to October, so I was liable for that full period. Now, it was a Short Assured Tenancy... I'm pretty sure those have a 6 month break-clause that can be exercised - but the point I've been making to them is that the lease was terminated 'by frustration'. Hope someone can give me some advice regarding all of this. Thanks for listening

I bought a building plot this morning in Glasgow which I am very very happy about, but leaving me fairly skint. I had already arranged an appointment with the bank for Wednesday to hopefully borrow some of the money back. I have only casual/work clothes with me in the UK - so bought two suits afterwards. One is tailored slim fit and looks passable as a back up, although is a bit tight on the outer arms though you cannot notice this, but I would like to get the other altered as a comfier fit. Jacket is 50 inch - trousers are 32 - and my niece can stand inside the front and it fastens round both of us, although its a really good fit from the chest up. Is this type of alteration possible, and does anyone know of anywhere who are likely to be able to do it before Wednesday afternoon? I think Monday might be a holiday in Glasgow too- but wont be in Paisley.

My tenant is in arrears for over three months now. Unfortunately, I have lost the spare key to the flat but the tenant refuses to answer texts, emails, phone calls or open the door when I went to the flat to discuss the matter. I am learning his son lives with him too, who isn't on the lease. The son opened the door once (which I think was by mistake), and started making all sort of stories that he hasn't seen his father and his nervousness gave it away that dad is either inside the house or that the son was covering up for him. I'm really worried, as I am paying mortgage out of pocket and its a hefty one. I told the son that I am going to start the eviction process and he had the guts to tell me that they will claim that they have been paying me cash (which isn't true). They did pay cash only once which was at the beginning of their tenancy. I am not sure if he said that to **** me off or he meant it. I can only imagine that this lot have made up their mind to not pay and play hard ball. I never had to deal with something like this. I have tried going to the flat at various times and posted polite message at the door to return my call, but to no avail. Can someone please provide some guidance on how to deal with this? Arrears are now in the region of £2400. Thanks.