morning all travelling back from holiday and have had a bit of a bump, stopped and swapped details of course but not sure how its likely to go. came off M60 on slip road and theres two lanes to go around onto M67, i was in left hand side of the two (video shows markings on road) went to go around the lane (stayed in lane) and unfortunately someones come from the 3rd lane and tried to go straight on - straight into side of the car not sure how insurance is likely to view it to be honest (especially as its wife insurance as named driver) the only other detail is that although its dented his wing its has actually done very little to our car, most a scratch and a tiny dent so really not sure if its worth claiming http://tinyurl.com/y7geetg7

Hi, I wanted to get some opinions/advice regarding an issue I have and wanted to know what the general feeling, or even better someone who has experienced this problem and what the outcome was.... I purchased an Audi A3 1.8TFSI and the car has the same oil consumption issue as the 2.0 TFSI (mainly Audi A5's but A3 and other models also). I went for the 1.8TFSI as I didn't think it had the same oil consumption issue but it appears it does, just less well known. My local Audi dealer is doing all of the tests and in a couple of weeks they will have all of the details to put forward to Audi UK for a solution and a cost and what they expect me to contribute towards it if I have the work done. Audi say that the more main dealer services you have had, the more favourable this will be looked at and and if you were to have the next service with them, this would help also. Through speaking with my contact, he seems to think that the dealer that sold me the car (non Audi) could be liable for the cost of any repairs as he sold the car to me and the car clearly has a fault. I countered this by saying the dealer is likely to say it's a known Audi issue therefore the issue is with Audi and they are liable. Who is liable?? The dealer who sold the car or Audi? Thanks in advance.

Hi folks and thanks for taking an interest. I have a consumer issue which I would like some opinions on please? Please forgive me if this is in the wrong place. On 18/07 I selected and booked accommodation for two nights via the Booking.com website for a place called Juras Mols in Bigauņciems Latvia. I was hoping for a few days away from consumer related hassle, ha ha, must have broken a mirror recently. The website clearly says on the accommodation page: 2nd Paragraph: “Guests can enjoy a sauna and a heated indoor pool. ….” 4th Paragraph: “Free Wi-Fi and free private parking are available. …” My children very much enjoy swimming pools when they’re not on the internet and my wife also enjoys saunas and so I booked on the basis of the information supplied. The general facilities tab for the accommodation shows: Pool and wellness • Swimming Pool • Indoor pool (all year) • Fitness centre (Additional Charge) • Sauna Internet • WiFi is available in all areas and is free of charge. All rooms include: “Private bathroom, Hairdryer, Ironing facilities ….” From the rooms available at the time I booked a “Standard Quadruple room with Balcony” containing 2 single beds and 2 bunk beds at a total price of €138 which I paid via a Visa Debit card though the web site. The description of the accommodation and facilities along with the claim on the web site of the 2nd best hotel in Bigauņciems gave me good expectations that the accommodation would suit our needs for an enjoyable break. (laughable really as when I got there, I found there are only 2 hotels in that location ). On arrival we were met by a member of staff, who showed us the common dining room and kitchen and took us to room Num 3 where we were shown the door to our ‘balcony’. This was in fact a metal fire escape leading to the ground. It had close growing conifer trees and overlooked the ‘hotel’ junk yard which I obviously photographed for the record. We asked about the “pool” as we could not see anything that might be a pool and were told that there was no pool and no sauna available. My wife later discovered on the second evening while having a conversation with a member of staff in Russian that there was a sauna in a room marked “Private”, but that (paraphrased), ‘we don’t use it because we have so many guests’. Later we were allowed to store our luggage for a couple of hours between check out and departure in the same Private room. We saw that it was being used as a store room with mattresses and bed linen and was obviously not available to guests. The staff clearly didn’t want us to photograph this room. The only sign of any ‘pool’ was an empty circular ‘plunge pool’ of not more than 1m diameter. Wifi: The facilities says, “WiFi is available in all areas and is free of charge.” The normal expectation of a reasonable person would be that this would provide access to the internet. (Isn’t there something about internet access being a basic human right?). In truth is was sometimes possible to get a Wifi connection, but it did not give Internet access in most parts of the building that I tried. It was useless to us, unless we were in the common dining area on the ground floor. Not a complete disaster, but certainly not what was advertised. We returned from the beach on the first evening around 9 p.m. we found the shower was broken, and judging by the condition of the broken fitting, was of a long standing nature. Not the biggest problem in the world to hold the shower head up, although more difficult for the children to shower on their own, but certainly not a quality experience. Soon thereafter my children complained to me that the hot water in the shower had gone cold. I checked and there was no hot water from the shower or sink. I went to the reception and was told that it was because too many people had used the shower and that the accommodation’s boiler wasn’t able to make enough, but that it would be ok in about an hour. We ate and I checked the water on several occasions up until midnight and it was always cold. I checked again in the morning when it was at best tepid. So I ‘enjoyed’ two invigorating cold showers. I checked again in the late evening following our return from a day trip and again the water was cold. I spoke with another guest who said that they had never had hot water on any evening of their stay. – I took their name and address. This property and the facilities available to guests had clearly been misrepresented. Due to the lack of the advertised facilities: Wifi, proper balcony, indoor pool and sauna etc., I photographed and noted all of the problems and kept a copy of the website pages. I contacted the booking .com customer services on my return and informed them that I considered them to be in breach of contract due to their misrepresentation of the hotel and requested a full refund and claimed damages by way of the cost of a trip to the nearest indoor swimming pool with a sauna. I said that: I believed it was an express term, of the contract for services, that the facilities described would be provided as part of my booking at this hotel. It was also an implied term that the service provided would be done so with reasonable care and skill. Under UK law there are a number of pieces of legislation that provide consumer protection from unscrupulous or negligent traders, namely the: Misrepresentation Act 1967, Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (amended 2014), Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 and most recently the Consumer Rights Act 2015. I note now from their website that they disclaim liability for pretty much everything and state that “any dispute arising out of these general terms and conditions and our services shall exclusively be submitted to the competent courts in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.” I said I would be most surprised if there was not similar provision for consumer protection from misrepresentation by a business under the Dutch Civil Code. I also believe that Article 6 of EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT DIRECTIVE 2005/29/EC – the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive covers misleading business practices (“A commercial practice shall be regarded as misleading if it contains false information and is therefore untruthful or in any way, including overall presentation, deceives or is likely to deceive the average consumer, ….”), is generally applicable in this instance. And in any event the Consumer Right Directive 2013 should still apply. First off they claim to have not received my email. Then they offered 25 Eur compensation without acknowledging or answering any point of my claim. Next they said that it was difficult after the event and again offered 25 Eur. They now claim that: it’s nothing to do with them as they are just an ‘advertiser’, that the hotel does not accept my complaint and again they offered 25 Eur. I have raised the matter on the ODR platform for what it is worth. I have asked Visa about a charge back and they have said, “It’s a very weak claim, but if you want to submit it we’ll take a look.” Misrepresentation of the fraudulent kind is fairly clear in my eyes. I’ve taken a look at the Resolver web site, but that talks about legislation relating to package holidays, which I don’t believe is appropriate for room only bookings. So, please: 1 Am I barking up the wrong tree or being unrealistic in expecting things to be as described? 2 Anybody know about the ‘harmonisation’ of consumer laws across Europe or the Dutch Civil Code? 3 Which is the most appropriate legislation? 4 Anybody had experience of the “European Small Claims Procedure” (I hope I've included the relevant link) Thanks in advance for any info. Dave

Hey, A bit of background: After I hit 80 kg (176 lbs) [btw I'm 1.78cm] I decided to start exercising. I found a nice dumbbell + PU + crunches plan and will try to stick to it. Before that I was on keto (when loosing weight) or on a low carb diet (loosing slower/ maintaining). Now my question: Are there any reasons to stay on low carb when trying go build muscles? Are there any downsides on a low carb diet? From what I understand It probably doesn't matter as long as I get enough protein, but I want to make sure I didn't miss anything. Thanks for helping out

I recently contacted Wonga to ask for my loan history, when I spoke to them tthey told me that some payments sent by my debt management company had been added onto the account after the debt had been written off, and they would return these payments to me. I thought this was a bit strange as the payments had been sent about a year before the write off. I proceeded to send them my bank statement so they could verify my bank details and return the payments. The next day I recieved a call from them and they said the payments had in fact been added before the debt write off and they wouldn't be returning any payments. I recieved the loan history that I asked for before this, and the statement for the account with the write off cleary shows £0.00 payements recieved, and the payments from my dmp being added after the write off, putting the account in credit, although the date of the payments is the date they were sent not the date they were added onto the account. I think this may be some funny accounting.

Hi, To cut a long story short I am being formally investigated by another manager. The company has a formal procedure in investigations and part of this is checking IT. They will find in the recycle bin pictures depicting the Boss in an uncomplimentary manner....I got rid of them a long time ago as they were innappropriate, but I did not empty the recycle bin! I never sent them to anyone else or printed them but I'm sure that they will find them. Do you think this would be Gross Misconduct ?? Thank you.

Good morning everyone, In the small town where I live with have a branch of a quite famous german supermarket (with Parking eye cameras) and two other supermarkets both with their own PPC's. I have recently helped a couple of people defend Parking Eye, speculative Invoices with 100% success, However, I would like to setup all three companies and detail the process of getting the charges dropped in the local media, My idea is this: 1. Overstay the Parking Eye park and get an Invoice, also double dip this park with witnesses present to record me times of arrival and departure, so that their First in, Last out ANPR flaw is exposed. 2 Overstay the other two car parks and show how to get these invoices dropped in the media also...... While I appreciate that parking cannot be a "free for all", I resent the fact that these quasi-legal rackets are scaring people with little money out of their cash! Opinions please? Cheers Matt

I would like some opinions on the following problem. A lady in her 60s received a letter on Monday morning from her employer, stating that she had been summarily dismissed for " gross misconduct", the employer is a franchisee for a convenience store chain the letter was from a manager. The reason for dismissal being stated as " failing to recognise a test purchase re sale of alcohol" test carried on the previous Saturday by TS and Police" Others (younger) counter staff have failed such tests and have been " given a second chance". There has been absolutely no discussion with the manager or the franchisee CAB have concluded this dismissal is unfair. I have my own opinion on this but would appreciate all views. Brig.

I have a civil claim against a former employer under the Employment Rights Act and unlawful deduction of wages. Tomorrow afternoon i have a conference call with the court mediation service to try and settle this claim before it goes in front of a judge. I am asking for peoples opinions on this process, is it objective, does it work, or is the Mediator more interested in any form of settlement rather than justice to the cost of either the claimant or respondent? Thanks

Hello, I just need some insight into the email below txtloan have sent me. I mean I am not new to this and believe I should pay what I owe and that is that but sometimes other people can say things which open other doors. I took a loan from txtloan in march/april for £300 and set up a repayment plan when I couldn't pay in april for £20 per month for 6 months which ended on 30th november 2012. So my original loan was £300 (£351 w/interest), I have paid £120 which should leave £231 but the DCA is claiming my balance to be £540. And how can they still charge me interest even when on a repayment plan? The DCA txt loan has sent my balance to is Mackenzie Hall, who we all know are such awesome guys. ____________________________________________________ Thank you for your e-mail. Please note that we offer short-term 15 day loans only and currently your loan is on day 288 on our credit cycle. The process works as follows: Day 1 - you receive a loan of £300. A repayment reminder is sent before the loan term elapses. Day 16 - We collect the original amount you borrowed, £300 plus interest of £51 - £351 in total. However, if the funds are not available on Day 16, additional charges are added. Day 17 - a 1st reminder is sent and a £25 administration fee is added and interest accrues at the rate of £3.40 per day until your loan is repaid in full. The loan totals £379.40. Day 27 - a 2nd reminder is sent and a £25 administration fee is added and interest continues to accrue at the rate of £3.40 per day until your loan is repaid in full. The loan totals £438.40. Day 61 - the loan totals £554.00 and is passed to our Collection Partner. This incurs an additional £138.50 administration fee. The loan totals £692.50. We try to collect your outstanding debt on a regular basis. You may have to pay additional charges to the debt collection agency. Failure to repay a loan may damage your credit record and could result in legal action. We had a repayment plan arranged for you. We confirmed that for the first 6 months we accept reduced payments of £20.00 towards your outstanding balance of £554.00 and unless we hear from you the full remaining balance is expected on 31/12/12. Regrettably, no payment or correspondence was received until now, therefore, the loan followed original credit cycle as per the agreement which you have signed and was forwarded to our Debt Collection Partner on 14/01/13.

My daughter, who is in her last year of school, has just brought home her school report. In amongst a long line of 'above average' and 'excellent' in the behaviour column, and A's, A*'s and B's in the predicted grade column, her Science teacher has graded her behaviour as 'poor' and her predicted grade is now a 'U' - she's been at this school for a year and a half, and her predicted Science grade has always been 'A', and her grades on her mocks and coursework have all been A/B's. When I asked her what had happened with Science, she shrugged and said 'New teacher. She's given more than half the class 'U' as a predicted grade'. When I asked her what the problem with her behaviour was, she said that the teacher has difficulty controlling one or two difficult kids in the class, so she and the majority of the other kids are just sat around waiting for her to finish dealing with the two boys concerned, so they just chat...then the teacher goes crazy at them for talking. I was just about to call the school and request an appointment, because it did seem pretty clear to me that the teacher has a bit of a problem here, possibly more so than my daughter. However, I've just spoken to a friend who reminded me that she had a similar problem with her eldest daughter, and after she spoke to the school (not the school my daughter's currently at) about it the teacher in question basically persecuted her daughter to the extent she actually had her suspended half way through her GCSE exams for dying her hair, where three other girls who dyed their hair the same night and same colour received no punishment at all. She's completely spooked me now. This seemed really straight forward before I remembered what happened to my friend's daughter. How would you good folks handle this?

I know this is a consumer site, but i need a bit of advice. Brief as poss situation. I was wrongly arrested for Actual Bodily Harm and Criminal Damage on the 9th sept 2011. The charges were dropped on Tuesday 22nd May 2012 the day before my 3rd court appearance. I had to appear as instructed by my sols, so we could go for a costs order. To my horror the court would not entertain my loss of earnings, £652.50p. Only reasonable expenses. Fuel, car park etc, Now i consider my loss of earnings to be reasonable, dont you. So this is what i am thinking. Should i take the other geezer to County Court for my toot, and do you think i should go for compensation for 9 months duress and the likes. Or do you think i would be pushing my luck. I will have no hesitation in going to court if i think it is worth it. Any advice/opinions. Thanx.