http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-40679075

Cant beleive what they've done!! So...i have a few debts and normally just ignore all the letters and carry on with life,but recently decided i should try and get rid of the debt incase i ever need credit. I owed three mobile around £150,so i called them up and set up a payment plan,they said no further charges would be added as long as i cleared it within 3 months and didn't miss one payment whatever the amount of the first payment was is the minimun i could pay next time so i paid £15,next week i ring up and pay £30, as i had a bit extra and thought it would help,just rang up now to make a 3rd payment for another £30 and after being put on hold for 30 mins twice i ring a 3rd time today an ask for a manager,i finally get through to someone where i'm informed that the account is closed and any further payments must be made to lowell portfolio!! so although i haven't missed a payment they have sold the debt on?? i really dont know why though as i was paying on time and more than the minimum. i asked the date that the account was sold and i'm told it was in june! so i ask why they took two payments from me in the last 2 weeks if it isn't there account any more??? "dont worry,it will help you lower the debt" is there response! i then got annoyed,shouted at him and slammed the phone down **feel free to move this of it's in the wrong section**

For the last 4 weeks I've been plagued by nuisance callers. They call asking for George King, who I have no idea who he is, or its silent. The silent ones are the worst. I get between 8 and 15 calls a day from 08719430417 who I believe are either One Stop Loan Shop or Little Loans between 9 am and 9 pm. In all the calls I've had there has only been someone on the other end once which was this morning and as soon as I started to explain I didn't want their calls he hung up. But that didn't stop the calls. I've had 8 more today already. I am registered with the TPS, I have complained to Oftel and ICO but they both seem useless. I called my landline provider and they suggested I change my number but that's no guarantee that this will stop it. It may just start again on a new number. And I refuse to be hounded into doing something I shouldn't have to. Since Monday I have kept a log of all nuisance calls and which number they're from. I don't pick up withheld or private as a matter of course. 32 calls so far! I am disabled and can't get about much so the phone is my lifeline. Another reason not to change the number. I've spoken to the police and they seem very reluctant to do anything. If this was a debt collection agency I'd have them by the short and curlys! I intend to pursue the police, having done all the legwork and having a log of calls and times. I don't see this as unreasonable. However... I am pondering as to whether I can get a solicitor involved and sue for harassment? I may be sick but I'm not stupid and this is causing me distress and I'm actually beginning to feel quite intimidated. I have just been online and purchased a BT8500. So have I covered all the bases and should I keep on at the police? Should I consider a solicitor. I know a local pro bono one. Advice or opinions please

Good evening everyone! Here what happened to me this morning(it is actually the text I have just composed to send as an appeal against an unfair decision): I came to St James train station(zone 3) at around 07:09 am. My train was at 07:12 as usual. I wanted to renew my 7 days travel card (zones 1-3), but the ticket machine wasn't working, and I went to the ticket office and asked for help. And the lady behind the glass told me to go across the street to top up at some shop. If I had done so I would have missed my train. Well, I couldn't accept it as I just started a new job, and the person in charge there doesn't like it when people are late, so I could have lost a job over that. Thus I jumped on the train and traveled to the Liverpool Street Station hoping that I would be able to buy my travel card there and avoid coming at work late. When I came to the Liverpool Street Station I asked the staff there to help me out and let me out to the nearest ticket machine to buy my 7 days travel card, but they were not helpful and preferred to issue me with a penalty notice. I believe it was an unfair decision as I was not going to travel without paying, and it was obvious that the fault was not mine and I was going to buy the ticket at the Liverpool Station. You can look up in your records and you will see I regularly buy zones 1-3 travel card. The guys were really eager to make me pay 40 pounds(!!) without even trying to show any sign of understanding my reason, to say nothing of complete lack of intention to consider my concerns/request. The guy named Mohammed said it was my fault and I should have foreseen things could develop that way and I should have come to the station much earlier than three minutes before the train arrival. Then he told me that they(he and another guy of the staff) called the lady at St James Station and she said that she had offered me to buy a ticket to Liverpool Street Station. But in fact she didn't say anything of the kind, she just refused renewing my travel card and suggested me to go across the street to do so. Mohammed, the guy who issued me the penalty notice, made some notes(along with my details - my full name, date of birth and address) describing the situation into his note pad and asked me to sign the text. I refused to do so unless he crossed out the clause about the woman's offer to buy a ticket from her, because it was not true – she didn't make that offer. She just offered me to go across the street to top up my oyster and stared at me in silence with eyes wide open and expression of her face showing no care that in that case I will inevitably miss my train. I am going to appeal against their decision to charge me 40(!) pounds. At the back of the penalty notice there is an email and a post address to make an appeal. Should use those contacts, or anyone had better suggestions? Any advice is very welcome. Thank you very much.

This is the very condensed version of the unbelievable and very poor customer service review that I have been subjected to by Synter BMW Birmingham. I started to type this up in detail but just the way that they secured the deal took me a page to write. The vehicle in question was a 2012 BMW E92 M3 in Santorini blue with competition pack FG12NUX a BMW approved used car. Thus is the attention to detail of Synter Birmingham most of the internal paperwork I have for this vehicle has slight variations on the registration. Friday 24th April - Test drove car, couldn't agree on a deal. Saturday 25th April - Dealer rung me and made an offer (which was what i had offered them the day before) and the car could be ready Tuesday. By the time I rung back to agree to deal but they had closed for the day. Left a message expecting to continue with the transaction Monday. Sunday 26th April - 8.30 am got a call from Salesman 2 as Salesman 1 was on his day off. Salesman 2 wanted me to pay a deposit over the phone for the car. I was a bit miffed that they had called at that time on a Sunday for business but assumed they wanted the car sold ASAP, so i went along. I asked for Salesman 1 to call me Monday morning to arrange collection. Monday 27th April - 8.30 am got a phone call from Salesman 1 stating that I could collect the car Tuesday, I explained that I was busy Tuesday and would like to collect car last thing Monday. Phone went quiet and Salesman 1 said I'm not sure where the V5 is....leave it with me. I had to ring back a couple of hours later and he said that they had made some phone calls and they still didn't know where the V5 was. I assumed that it was on somebody's desk within BMW. Got a call from Salesman 1 a couple of hours later to explain that they hadn't received the V5 from the previous owner and that I had to wait until they received it because they were at the mercy of the seller. I ended the call to process what I had been told. They were not at the mercy of the seller, I was the victim of their poor practices (more of those later). An hour or so later I received a call from Salesman 1 to state that they had spoken to the seller but he was abroad and his wife would post it first class in the morning to the dealer. I explained that they should stress to the wife that the V5 should be sent next day special delivery but this was dismissed by Salesman 1. Being annoyed that the Salesman or dealership were doing nothing to support me or come to a quick transaction. I gave Salesman 1 an ultimatum of I'm coming at 11 am on Wednesday to collect the car if the car is not ready or the paperwork is not in order I will expect a full refund of my deposit, Salesman 1 was shocked by this. I now expected the dealership to ensure the V5 was sent by Special delivery, have a courier collect it or have the nearest Synter collect and transfer it internally. Tuesday 28th April - No contact Wednesday 29th April - 9.30 am call from Salesman 1 we don't have the V5 yet but you can take the car and we will forward the V5 when we get it. I asked how the V5 was sent to them. His reply first class I think. I explained that I was just getting on a train and I would see him at 11 am. I arrived at the dealership at 11 am to find a smiling Salesman 1, the V5 arrived in the post at 1040 am. I went through the handover and had to ask for a lot of paperwork that I would of expected to come with an approved used BMW. Salesman 1 went away and come back with some of the paperwork which had been photocopied and some I could not have i.e. any information about the BMW warranty, not even a leaflet. I was told that it would come through the post (still waiting). I took delivery of the car and what an amazing car it is. Saturday 2nd May - I had covered 250 miles in the car and decided to give it a wash. Started to pressure wash it and a playing card size piece of lacquer fell off the top of the bumper, my heart sank. I phoned the dealership straight away but salesman 1 wasn't in and generic salesman would call me back that day. I inspected the car and was sure that the paint failure must have been due to a smart repair but couldn't see any signs of one. I continued to wash off car and another piece of lacquer about the same size as the first came off the bottom of the bumper. I was now absolutely gutted that I had been sold a non pristine car that would no longer be in original paint (if it was anyway) and stopped washing the car. No call back from dealer. Sunday 3rd May - Called dealer no salesmen available, generic salesman would call me back as Salesman 1 wasn't in. No call back. Monday 4th May - No contact. Tuesday 5th May - 9.00 am called dealership and spoke to Salesman 1 explained that the paint was falling off the car and I was sure that it had been touched up. Salesman called me back sometime later and said that they hadn't painted the car and I needed to take it to them to have a look. After my previous experience of buying the car I had no trust in them and knew they were only interested in the profit margin and would have no issues with fobbing me off. I explained that I wasn't driving there for them to have a look and send me away whilst they had a think, they needed to get some options to solving the problem in place before I took time off work and drive to them. Salesman 1 replied, I don't have the authority to do that. My reply get somebody who does, call ended. Pre-empting having to take the car to the dealer for them to inspect the paint, I decided to wash the car off again with the pressure washer, now a chunk of lacquer falls off the drivers wing mirror. I look at the wing mirror closely and could see bubbles where the lacquer hadn't stuck to the colour coat. I took the car to my trusted classic car body shop to get their opinion on the bumper. They stated that they thought it had been touched up and the only way it fix it would be to remove the bumper and start again. Salesman manager calls and asks what i would like doing with the car? My reply, I want the bumper taking off along with the wing mirror and painting to BMW repair standards. Manager replies oh ok, I will sort it out. One of my friends is friends with the owner of a body shop who works for another BMW dealer, so he arranged for me to take it to his shop. Body shop owner said, that he had seen the paint delaminate like this before on BMW's but usually red cars but not to worry as BMW will always repair paint defects under warranty but I will have to go through the dealer. Salesman 1 then phones me to say that they have got the car booked in to the body shop first thing in the morning and a courtesy car is waiting. Explained that I wanted to work completing as a BMW warranty claim to which he replied, we are doing it in house but it will be all BMW paint and to BMW standards along with the paperwork, it's just that we are paying for it instead of BMW. It will take a couple of days. I reluctantly agreed to this and ended the call. Wednesday 6th May - I Drop the car off at the dealer first thing to be told that my car would be ready later that day. I questioned that all of the work we agreed, would be completed in one day? reply, yes the body shop are waiting for it now. I Thought this strange but possible if the body shop pushed on with it. I asked him as a goodwill gesture if he could have the wing mirrors programmed to fold when the car was locked. Went home in the courtesy car and at 3 pm got a call from Salesman 1 stating the car was ready for collection. I told him I was on my way. Forgetting to ask about the wing mirrors I phoned him back on my way. His reply was, I've spoken to the chief tech and it can't be done that's why you have a switch in the door. I explained that you can buy a phone app to program it, so I know BMW can do it. His reply, no we are not doing it. Leaving that subject I asked if all of the paperwork was completed for the paintwork, his reply was there is no paperwork as we have done this out of goodwill. Now my blood was starting to boil as they had gone back on what they had promised. I asked how the car was looking and his reply, it's all good and looking beautiful. I ended the call. I arrived at the dealership and saw the car on the forecourt I walked over and saw a couple of squashed flies on the edges of the bumper so knew that it hadn't been fully painted or even off. I looked closer at the areas where the lacquer fell off and that was now covered in orange peel, I worked out slightly and found the masking lines. It was an utterly terrible touch up job that looked like it had been done outside (dust in the lacquer). I went into the dealership and asked for Sales manager, told him that I wasn't happy with the work and he had a look. He agreed that it was diabolical but stated that he had paid for it to be done properly and needed to talk to the body shop. Sales manager came back and I asked who had accepted the car back in that sate? His reply, nobody. I asked, who checked the car before calling me? Reply, nobody. I told him that the whole service and experience was diabolical and I wanted to reject the car. He then offered to send the car to another body shop and have the work fully completed to BMW standards and supply me with the correct paperwork. My reply, you promised me the exact same thing yesterday and look where we are today..... you expect me to trust you again for the same thing? This went around 4 times before I insisted on a refund. He then stated that he would have to get the General manager. General manager came out and stated that nobody had checked the car before phoning me and that the work should of been completed under BMW warranty but couldn't now as they had painted it. She offered, the car repaired and £250 back. I asked for a refund and she offered, the car repaired and £350 back. I refused again and she offered, the car repaired and a free service. I told her that I wasn't interested in another deal, I came to BMW for the whole experience and worry free motoring which has totally been ruined. She offered a few more inconsequential things but I had decided that it was time to cut my losses of what had become a stressful and utterly negative owners experience with a dealer I couldn't trust. I informed her that they could learn a lot from Renault Birmingham about customer service. The deal they offered for the refund was the full amount minus £500 when I gave them proof that I had retained my private registration online and the £500 once they had the V5 back in the original registration. I stated that I didn't think I would be able to retain the private registration online and would have to send all of the paperwork to DVLA. This was dismissed and I left the dealership. 48 hours after leaving the dealership I still have received no refund. Thursday 7th May - I called the dealership 4 times to try and confirm that the refund had been processed as I received no contact from them. The Sales manager was too busy to receive or return my calls. As last resort I asked for General manager to call me Friday morning. I contacted BMW UK customer service and explained that I thought they should know that I had rejected the car purely on customer service, the operator sounded shocked and said thanks for the call. I asked if somebody would call me back? To which the operator replied, No we will deal with this internally and quickly ended that call. I thought this very strange as they didn't know any of the details of the service or lack of I had been provided. Friday 8th May - The call from the general Manager never happened. At lunchtime I managed to speak Sales manager who states that the refund is being processed by the accounts department. At 4.00 pm I received an email from Sales manager asking me to confirm my account details. I gave these details to the Sales manager on the 6th so he could process my refund and the details are correct as I had a carbonated copy of what he recorded. At 4.45 pm I replied to his email with the account details again and could he please ensure that the refund was processed before close of play Friday. It's now 6.00 pm and I have had no further contact from them. My guess is that they have not processed the refund and have now gone home for the weekend. I cannot understand why Sytner did not deal with the paint failure as a BMW warranty claim as I am lead to believe that the dealership also earn money out of warranty claims, unless they knew that the paint had been touched up and wouldn't be covered by BMW. After all of the promises on the phone that the paint would be repaired to BMW standards along with the appropriate paperwork. I truly believe that they only ever intended to have a quick touch up job completed on the car. Even after 30 mins of the Sales manager telling me that they had requested a full BMW standard repair and me telling him that I didn't trust him. Not once did he show me or even hint at any documentation about the work they had requested the body shop to complete. Salesman 1 can be proven to of actually lied to me on 3 occasions just to make his job easier.

Need some advice big time, I received a letter from the job centre earlier stating they will be taking money out of my ESA for child support, I have never herd off the CSA, my two daughters are 18 and nearly 20 although I haven't seen them for a few years through no fault of mine I used to regularly give my ex money for my children she'd never got the CSA involved and she's always worked so never got the CSA involved, naturally I thought she had got them involved this time as I have not spoke to her in a few years either, I phoned job centre plus they told me I need to speak to the CSA as it was them who told job centre plus to take money from me, I phoned CSA add some right arrogant bloke on the other end telling me my ex had not contacted them and that it doesn't matter how old my children are as I have never paid through the CSA I must pay something back, surely this is not right due to the age of my children I told him I used to pay my ex money he told me it doesn't matter because it's not on their records! Please advise if they can do this or not, He also told me it doesn't matter if my children was working full-time when I told him I would take this further and see citizens advice he put the phone down on me.

A Selection Of Especially Stupid Sanctions - article dated July 2013 You can read much more by following the link.... http://birminghamagainstthecuts.wordpress.com/2013/07/13/a-selection-of-especially-stupid-sanctions/

I wasn't too sure where to put this but felt compelled to share with you. I've been looking at buying a car on finance and had a good interest rate with a finance company but at the final hour they pulled out as my employer is currently in administration. I provided proof I wouldn't be made redundant but regardless, they pulled out. So I was recommended another finance company and gave them a call. The call lasted 37 minutes with the advisor talking so fast I could barely even hear what was being said. I asked her to send all the details through on a credit agreement. When I got the agreement I could do nothing but laugh. The car I want to buy is £5000 and the total i'd be paying back over 4 years was.... £14,000 ! This price included 4 different types of insurance and breakdown cover but I would still have to have my own fully comp insurance too. The 4 additions came to a total of £2200 and then they added interest on to total £4300 just for those services alone! I laughed thinking the woman would think she was on to a good commission with this sale but it's sad that some people would be so desperate to actually sign up for something like this!