I bought a Mercedes GL a couple of years ago from a garage who sold me a GOLD Car warranty. My Mercedes GL has a broken Front Diff and I have called in A1 approved to make a claim and they have REJECTED is sighting that it is 'general wear and tear'. The garage has confirmed to me that the part is deemed a a mechanical failure and premature in it's failing and NOT general wear and tear. I also contacted the car sales garage I purchased the vehicle from and they confirmed that the part if a mechanical failure. The garage have been in contact with A1 Approved to go over the breakage and the warranty company are not interested at all. TOTAL REJECTING the claim. I have asked to speak to the Manager/Boss and no return phone call has been given I paid alot of money for this car warranty which has totally failed me and been missold to me. If I cannot use it at this point, then what' the point. Anybody else out there had issues with A1 Approved Any advice out there???? It is going to cost me 1,500 pounds to fix. I really don't see why I should if it should be covered on a CAR warranty.

I've seen others comment on this garbage B&Q now sell. Here's my experience. Spent £60+ on the exact colours my daughter wanted to go with her new room. Did what I always have done in the past. Used wide B&Q masking tape all round the ceiling and skirting. Painted the walls as normal. Noticed the paint smeared a lot but overcame it by doing a second coat when dry. When it came to removing the masking tape, calamity. Huge tranches came off with the tape. The paint seemed to have formed a skin as though it was rubberised. I spent hours with a small artists brush repairing the damage. I will NEVER buy mixed paint from B&Q again. It never used to be like this before they went exclusively to Valspar. This is like the rubbish paint they sell in France as the norm. God help us if this is the way the UK is going.

Hello, Here is a problem about rubbish dumped in communal area of a block of flats. My nephew is renting a flat for a fixed monthly amount through a letting agency. The building has one garden flat and 3 flats upstairs. Nephew received a letter from his letting agency, concerning the overflowing rubbish in the communal area.This communal area is unsecured and is accessible from the street as the main building entrance is never locked. The letting agency wrote that they will charge all tenants 3 pounds per bin bag dumped in the communal area, if they are not disposed of appropriately, meaning if they are not put in the blue and brown bins available for the flats. There are four flats and 3 sets of bins. 1 blue and 1 brown bins for flat 1 and 2 kept in the communal area. 1 blue and 1 brown bins for flat 3 kept in the communal area. 1 blue and 1 brown bins for flat 4, for my nephew. His bins are kept in his locked private garden.He regularly recycles his own rubbish himself at the local recycling areas, including his garden wastes. His bin are effectively empty due to his proactive approach to recycling his own rubbish independently. He can't see anything in his tenancy agreement which ends in July 2016, that states that he is financially responsible for the rubbish bags dumped in the communal area Can the letting agency legally charge my nephew 3 pounds per bin bag even though none of his rubbish is left in the communal area? How should he respond to the letting agency letter? Can the letting agency deduct the money from his deposit money? p.s. I have seen the amount of bin bags left on the floor in the communal area on a regular basis and I can roughly approximate about 15 bags including boxes, rugs, buckets and all sorts of rubbish were left in the communal area. so the amount that the letting agent wants to charge each flat can be really high by the end of each month. No one can be sure that it is even the rubbish left by the tenants as the access to the communal area is not secured.

new to the site hope I'm not going to bore you. received my ISA maturing letter, it talks of 5 options the last one "simply withdrwaw your cash close the account". When you look for the option in the list to tick and put details of the account where you want the cash to go to, it does not exist, only now got 3 options non to close account. So it says if options dont suit your needs phone this number, I phone select the closing account option, I'm asked have I considered other options etc. I ask to close the account, after many security details including Nat No, I'm asked for my phone banking pin, I don't use phone banking I will be registered and halifax will send me one, I dont bother because on the letter is a web site for maturing ISA's to give your maturing details, I go to the web site and guess what the option to close the account is not on there, I complain and I'm given £40 and £5 for my distress and phone call, I'm told I will need to go into the branch with passport or driving licence and they will take my instructions, I don't have a local branch in my town. I'm then told I will have to wait till it matures and then go on-line and do a transfer myself, so the letter that says I need to give you 5 days notice does not allow you to close the account and the web does not,... in my opinion the letter is purely based around investing back with Halifax if I was old and not thinking correctly I could be fooled into thinking the only options are to reinvest with Halifax, come on Halifax not good enough, very, very,very P***** O**

I'll state at the outset that I've been in dispute with the council over council tax on a semi derelict house, I've lost the argument of course. I naively thought the new regs would have brought in a new era of honesty and transparency in bailiff enforcement. I find that Bristow and Sutor notices still only show the total debt they think you owe, a single figure. I've no idea what years they're enforcing for, how much or what their fees are. It's obviously a cunning ruse to "encourage" you to take part in their [problem]. In no other financial area can businesses demand payment without showing what they are charging for. I'd be interested to know who thought the new fees were reasonable!

hi all, my wife and daughter both have vodaphone contracts. daughter has about 10mths left, wife about 15mth. they have had nothing but trouble with signal and a numerous amounts of calls to vodaphone. they were constantly losing signals and being cut off mid call. daughter was losing wifi signal sitting 15 feet away from box and not always knowing it and a couple of times had 50 and 60 pounds added to her bill for internet use. when she phoned them they said they would sort out the signals for them both but nothing changed. phoned again and they said it must be the phones. i have the same one on t.mobile and have never had a problem. took them both back to apple and got them changed but no difference. when my daughter phoned again they advised her to upgrade her contract from £33 to £47 which would give her more internet and 4g.she paid that for 6mths or more and in that time was still useless and never got 4g at all. when she phoned again recently she was told that her iphone 5 was not compatible with 4g which is total rubbish also. that was the final straw for my wife and daughter and they have both now gone out and got contracts with someone else and have not had a problem in the last 2 weeks. can they get out of them contracts as they was not getting the service they were paying for.if not is there anything they can do. regards gripper.

I bought a cheap mountain bike to ride the 1.5 miles to work every day from [edit: not Argos] Halfords last weekend. It was a red Apollo Feud one which you assembled the front wheel, seat and pedals at home. http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/mountain-bikes/apollo-feud-mens-mountain-bike In one journey the rear wheel had slipped forward knocking it out of alignment. I tightened it up again and the same happened. On closer inspection, the nut on the sprocket is a rounded one so by tightening it it's literally pushing the bracket holding the wheel on apart. Anyway, I returned it two days later, and while the manager was reluctant at first she was quickly made aware by the bike maintenance bloke that it was a known defect with the bike and they replaced it (this time it has the correct nut as we checked). I've done one journey on the new one, and the same happened, accelerate in a low gear and I felt it slip and the rear wheel is out of alignment, putting the brakes and gears out with it. Having spent an hour playing with it and re-aligning it all I've noticed the frame is completely twisted at the rear forks and no matter how I position the wheel the brake or gears will be out of alignment. And even with what seemed to be the correct nut tightening the wheel is pushing the bracket apart again and the wheel slips forward. To top it off some of the teeth on the pedal gears have split already! I've ridden 2.5 miles on it!! This is marketed as a £260 bike and it is absolutely junk. Unfortunately I pulled all the stickers off when I was building it (they made it look even cheaper than it is), should this matter? Am I within my rights to return it a second time for a full refund? I can't afford to upgrade, I just want my money back and rid of this absolutely terrible quality bike. It isn't fit for purpose, and I'm someone who never returns things as I almost blame myself.

In a nutshell:- Sent package worth £400 with myHermes. Insured it to max (£250) and paid extra for 'signature required' Customer contacts me to say package hasn't turned up, I contact myHermes who say it was left in a shed, customer replies that they do not have a shed. I lodge a claim through their customer service who offer £263 compensation, despite me proving it was worth much more. I could understand that in the case of breakage etc but seeing as I paid extra for them to require a signature and they just ignored that is there any way I could get full value back? Thanks

I unfortunately have a One Net contract with Vodafone which is not fit for purpose. I took out the contract specifically to have a landline number on my phone as I was starting a new business. The business failed and I am left with a contract of £47 per month which I could do without. The network is so poor that even the RootScore Report in March rated Vodafone as the worst network in the country. I have complained to Vodafone a number of times and asked if I can move to a cheaper tariff to see out my contract but they do not allow you to do this. Is there anything I can do to get out of my contract. I think I will make it my mission to warn people on every forum to stay away from Vodafone.

Purchased a Seat from a private seller and it has been nothing but problems, these problems were not hidden by the seller but we thought they were resolved, well I did. I do not think I have any redress against the private seller. The original seller had it for a year and I have had it for about the same period. As soon as it is driven with any gusto, there is a loss of power occurred and the EPC (electronic power control) warning light comes on. I have had it back to Seat 9 times. The car is still under the 2 year warranty, and Seat have been trying to resolve the problem. The car is so much trouble I would rather just get rid, but I do not want to lose several thousand pounds and if I do. Do I have any redress against Seat, bearing in mind I did not purchase the car from them direct or rather from a Seat dealer?

I have a Home and Lifestyle policy with NFU Mutual which contains annual holiday insurance handled by a French company called Mutuaide. Before I go on I must stress NFU Mutual are a brilliant company. On the down side they use Mutuaide as the holiday insurance handler as do loads of other insurers. 2 weeks ago my wife and I had a holiday in Madeira. My wife fell ill on arrival. Several days later she was admitted to hospital inMadeira with a heart problem. My daughter in the UK went into our local NFU branch told them what had happened which kicked Mutuaide into gear. The hospital stabilises my wife and said she needed repatriation with a doctor in attendance. What followed was a nightmare Mutuaide avoiding doing anything, excuses like; the most difficult task was to get someone admitted to a UK Hospital, it took up to 48 hours to get permission to take oxygen onto an aircraft. Both lies. Anyway my wife did not require oxygen plus aircraft have to carry medical oxygen anyway. If it were not for our determination and eventually intervention of our local NFU office we would still be there. I have just submitted a 3,000 word complaint. Before you take out holiday insurance check Mutuaide is not the underlying provider.

A friend has brought round his Annual Review form which states that he must confirm the information by the 4th August 2013. He is a married guy (33 years), was self employed working 31 hours a week for 4 years up to 31st March 2013 when he ceased. He notified Revenue & Customs that he had ceased self employment. I just couldn't believe what I was reading: Step A Mr******* Date of Birth **** Total hours worked in a week 40 Qualified for Disability Element Mrs***** Date of Birth ***** Step B Started receiving Attendance Allowance at the Higher Rate from 10th May 2012 Claim ended 28th March 2013 that you told us that you were no longer living together as a couple. Now unless his wife has moved out and he doesn't know about it or she has secretly divorced him, there is not a lot I can say. As for working 40 hours a week, he couldn't do 37 so had to retire! At the end of the day none of this actually makes any difference for his final year of WTC's so should he just ignore these gaffs or should he be pedantic and demand to know where all of this information has come from?

Can I share something with you all - We have just been screwed by Latminute.com's secret hotel booking and I wish to make sure nobody does the same as I. We are going to my Brother in-law's 70th birthday bash in Bristol this coming June and wanted to stay overnight near to St.Paul's so used LASTMINUTE.COM Secret Hotel and bang we have now got a hotel that is a 30 minute drive from Bristol in another county! Not the hotel which is southwest of Bristol city center as the web site implies but a hotel which is in North Somerset! nearer to WESTON SUPER MARE than Bristol.., Have spoken to LASTMINUTE.COM in India and had no response apart than the party line, spoken with the Secret Hotel and again no real response, have spoken to the Secret Hotels parent company in the USA again no real response! SO I have been duped by LASTMINUTE.COM but don't you get done - don't book with LASTMINUTE.COM - support my crusade and do not use their Internet site,

I'm so frustrated and angry with Hastings Direct i imagine their profits are through the roof with the way that they use customers for their gain. ( i realise they are a business but every part of the policy they use against customers whether its a non fault/fault claim) I was bumped in the rear of my car and the 3rd party insurance excepted the liability. the 3rd party asked to process the claim but after speaking with Hastings i was advised it would be in my best interest to stay with them. I reported to my insurance the accident and was advised that they would move the claim over to Albany assistance who would come look at my car and get the repairs under way (not having to pay my excess) on the understanding that when the car went in for repairs id have to take a hire car. eventually Albany advised the car was a total loss and i was told the claim would now go back to Hastings direct. after 2 days i was advised that as my car was a previous cat d it would be worth £1075 (looking around at trade cat d more like £1400 to £1500) but to be deducted from the amount would be the remaining years insurance (which i pay monthly) £450. I was absolutely distraught but after speaking with a friend felt much better has she had just been through a similar situation and bought her total loss car back for a small fee. So again spoke to Hastings to discover THEY DON'T DO THAT!! After 10 minutes research i come across stories of Hastings customers that have actually been allowed to buy back their total loss cars. Any help are advise would be welcomed i am so frustrated that a non fault situation can cause so much STRESS and EXPENSE Thank You

After recent dealings with JD Sports Fashion customer service department, I thought I’d share my experience with everyone as a warning that if you buy from them and have a problem with goods you have purchased, then you have no chance of getting your money back! JD Sports Fashion run JD, Size, Scotts and BANK. In the past I've shopped in all of the stores and spent a decent amount of money, mainly on the Paul's Boutique stuff for my daughter. Now of course I no longer shop in any of these stores. Firstly, I found the Customer Services to be terrible, they find answering their phone to be very difficult, and when they finally do pick up the phone do they are very ignorant and unhelpful, they seem to have the "We are big and we don't care about you, so forget about every getting a refund" attitude. Secondly they took a long time to respond and process my return, respond to letters and also to finally send the faulty trainers back to me. My daughter purchased a pair of kids Converse hi-tops from JD which cost £35. They proved to be faulty; however this was just over the 3 months after we'd purchased them. To cut a long story short we returned them to their head office twice, and both times they claimed that it was not a manufacturing fault, but that it was due to them being 'incorrectly cleaned' and they refused to give a refund or offer any repair. I think they were trying to say we'd washed them in the washing machine, however I know for a fact they haven't been. Under consumer law they are liable, as it’s within 6 months and goods must last a reasonable amount of time but are still refusing to do anything to help. They are liable and required to repair replace or refund the costs. I'm now left with the option of paying someone for an independent inspection of the Converse, or raise a claim with Small Claims Court, all of this over a pair of £35 kids Converse! What’s worse is the fact that they have been posted back and forwards twice, it’s probably cost £20 in postage alone. Plus they have lost me as a customer, and hopefully after reading this you will think twice before you buy from any of their stores. I’d be interested to hear if anyone has had similar experiences with JD, or even if you can advise how I should approach this in order to get my money back. I’ve already been to MasterCard and they won’t help as the purchase was made in-store, so they will only try to recover your money if its an online purchase. Moral or the story, if you thinking of shopping with JD, Just Don’t!!! Here are some pictures of the defective Converse. We must own about 8 pairs of converse in the family, and they are great and we haven't had problems with any of the other pairs: [/font][/font]

Hello, I've signed up to switch from BG to EDF for duel fuel, but BG have block the electicty part of the move. The account is in credit, but the have sent two letters stating that the object to switch. I called them after the first letter, and the lass couldn't understand why they put a block on it, and told me to ask EDF to re-apply, and it should go through ok. Now, got another letter today stating the same thing, managed after a few phone calls to get trhough to some one with a bit of sense, and they told me I couldn't move because I had a pre-payment meter. This is rubbish as I have a standard meter, and pay bills by DD. In fact I had a problem with BG last year not sending me a bill for 2 years, but then updating the meter (from an old wheel style to a new digi style), and at this point they though I was on a pre-payment meter (I wasn't), so they managed to find a reading from the old meter, took the final reading from the old meter and gave me an estimated bill over 12 months, and replaced the meter. So at this point they should have updated their records. Now, I've paid off the 12 months electric, and managed to get my account in to credit, and my websaver deal has come to an end, but they object to the move as they think I am on a pre-payment meter. I am fuming, and I just want to get rid of them for good. Cheers, RM.

Hi all It's been a while since I had a consumer issue, but I'm back and I'm stressed! I was lured by the cheap tariffs and agreed over the phone to take out a contract with them. (Phone & Broadband) They asked for a new line fee of £69.99 which I paid using my visa debit card. (This was 14th Sept 2010) Over the next few days I spoke to friends and asked if they had any experience of TT and was horrified at the stories they told me. 4 days after I initially made the verbal agreement, I called them back and cancelled the contract. (This was 18th Sept 2010) TT asked why and I told them that they had a bad reputation for broadband issues (I'm a mature student and broadband is vital to me) They took it well and asked me to call back in 7 days as the £69.99 was held in limbo and it needed to be credited to TT before they could refund it to me. I gave them a little extra time and called back 14 days later (This was 2nd Oct 2010). TT said they couldn't refund that day as the system upgrades being done prevented refunds being made. They asked me to call back on the following monday. I called back on the monday and was told to ring back in 7 days! (This was 4th Oct 2010) I called back again (15th Oct 2010) and was informed that a refund would go into my bank account within 5 days. I kept an eye on my bank account, no payment arrived. I called back today (27th Oct 2010) and spent the best part of 2 hours either on hold or redialling following cut off from an India call centre. I also spoke to Cape Town who were more polite but equally clueless. The british call centres are equally clueless and resorted to just sending me through to depts that couldn't deal with refunds. I had been passed around 7 different depts and 3 different continents. I finally spoke to someone who admitted they had no idea how to put me through to the dept that does refunds, he actually read out the depts he could transfer me to and none of them were relevant. He then suggested that I ring Ofcom! He gave me the number and was very helpful and sympathetic. I spoke to Ofcom who took all the above info, they say I have to write to TT and give them 8 weeks to respond. They also mentioned Otelo (ombudsmen) and the next steps to take if the complaint letter isn't satisfied reasonably. My questions to Caggers are; 1) Can I expect reimbursement for the phone charge to the various 0870 numbers TT gave me to ring? I'm not talking minutes on the phone to them, I'm talking hours! They keep people on hold as long as possible! 2) Can I charge them a reasonable interest for withholding my money with no explanation?