Hi All, If this is not the right place could someone kindly move it or advise a better place? I moved to a Rural Village with my wife 2 years ago to be closer to her family so I could get some help and support looking after her. A month after I moved in First cut the bus service and then two months later all her family moved out(over an hours drive away) leaving us stuck in this horrible little village. Neither of us can drive nor can we afford a car. We have tried everything to get out, private rent, medical re-banding etc etc and been given the finger at every turn. Our only hope is getting a swap. This is a very small chance as apparently everyone round here knows how horrible this village is and won't live here. We have now found out from the housing association that in order to swap(over a year after we joined the register) that the other tenant must have a local connection as per the village plan(these houses were built two years ago specifically for people with a connection to the village). I have read the plan and nowhere does it state that swaps are to be enforced only new allocations, I have spoken to housing and planning at the local council and they have stated that swaps will be enforced. Any help here? Where can I go? A swap is the only chance we have of leaving and if I ever find anyone who actually wants to live here I cant have any barriers in the way. Thanks

Hi - perhaps someone could chime in on our complaint with Furniture Village, and advise what we should do next. They have been a nightmare to deal with so far. I'll try to keep this brief. Lured in by the New Year's TV ads & promotions, we bought a "Rossetti" leather suite from Furniture Village (FV) on 3/01/2010. It was delivered some 10 to 12 weeks later in April 2010. It cost just over £2600.00 My husband is employed full time, and I retired in August 2011. There are only two of us in the house. I sit in another room of the house during most of the day, so the suite only sees use in the evenings (3 to 5 hours max. use per night on most weekday nights). Over this short amount of time, the suite has severely degraded. In 3 and 1/2 years (we first made a formal complaint to FV about the products in September 2013), the stuffing material seats and lower-back area has completely flattened. It has gone from a plump, fully stuffed suite to deflated looking one. It is now possible to "pinch" the stuffing, at the affected area, between two fingers with ease - and the two layers of leather cover make contact with each other. The stuffing has either migrated (we have tried and tried to -"fluff up" the material to no avail) or has simply degraded. The appearance has become disappointing, but worse, it is so now uncomfortable my husband and I can only use it for 15 to 30 minutes at a time. We understand "comfort" is subjective, but is it normal to feel your body-weight being supported by a horizontal piece of wood, protruding right into your lower back? It's agony. You can't relax on it. Unsupportive and painful. So, our complaint was heard by FV and they sent an "independent furniture technician" to our house to inspect our furniture. The inspection consisted of him rolling the sofa/chairs over onto their front & checking the reference numbers printed on a label on the underside. He also brought a PDA/smartphone and took a few snaps of the saggy & deflated affected seat/back areas, which he highlighted with a paper arrow. As he carried this out, my son and I were chatting to him - and describing the problems in detail. He sat down and immediately confirmed our complaints, acknowledging the immediate discomfort & going to on say this was clearly a "design fault". He really liked the sound of his own voice, declaring he would "NEVER buy a sofa from one of these retailers" and only buys handmade furniture. He said we would be essentially seeking a "gesture of goodwill" from FV, and "thank God you didn't buy from DFS - because they're the worst!". He noted all of the findings on his little electronic PDA/smart-phone gizmo (which I didn't get to see) and, at the end, asked me to "Sign this to say I've been here" - which I did. Fast forward to today. I've exchanged several letters with FV, asking for a full or part refund, plus collection of the suite at their cost. They say: 1) The inspector found "no faults" with the suite, only "natural settlement over time" which is fair wear and tear. 2) Their 5 year guarantee does NOT cover stuffing problems with their furniture. 3) If we did take this to a small claims court (we said we would, in our last letter) - we would basically be wasting our time as the Sales of Goods Act 1979 is "not in keeping" with our request. 4) We asked if the "independent technician" was from, or his company was backed by, FIRA. They said no - the company he works for is called "Furniture Care Network", and was not affiliated with FIRA. His company, according to their website, is contracted by FV to repair, clean, etc. problem furniture. It doesn't appear the company is in the business of Alternative Dispute Resolution services. I seriously question the impartiality of all of this. 5) FV kindly "offer" to commission another "independent technician" to visit us. They say we can choose from one of two companies - "Homeserve" or "Ecomaster". These companies are all the same, i.e not affiliated with FIRA, contracted by Furniture Village, specialize in repairs/cleaning, etc. We need your advice on this! We're sure that a £2600.00 leather suite should last longer than 3 1/2 years, with very light domestic use by 2 people (we're not obese or anything, either!) in the evenings. It is not fit for the intended purpose. I would say such a suite should "last" 8-10 years, minimum. The thing is, we're not sure how to proceed. In our last letter, we clearly stated we are prepared to take this to the small claims court if they denied our request for a refund. Their last letter offered to send out yet another dodgy "technician" to basically collude with them, so we wouldn't have a leg to stand on. Do we reply to this last letter? Should we employ FIRA technicians to carry out an inspection - or could this go against us? I have read some very suspicious things regarding the impartiality of FIRA/Furniture Ombudsman ADR services. For example, in 2012 their ADR service decided in favour of the customer in just 53% of cases. Shockingly low for such a service. Also, an article in the Guardian rings true with many customer reviews of the FIRA services (can't post the link - search for "Complaint about your new furniture? Expect a bed of nails" on Google) Or, should I just ignore their last letter, stick to my guns and proceed with a small claims court case as I originally stated to FV. I have never used the small claims court, so this is all new to me. Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

I ordered a reclining sofa on 14th February 2013 with a delivery date of 6 / 8 weeks printed on invoice (this was manually changed to 11 weeks by the salesperson). I paid a deposit on my credit card and signed up to an interest free finance package for the remainder of cost. Mid -may, I contacted store and asked where my sofa was and was told they were having supplier problems and it should be available in mid-June. I have just rung the store again and have now been told that it will not be available until the end of June. Quite frankly I have had enough of waiting and am growing concerned as to whether delivery will ever happen. What I want to do is cancel the contract and receive repayment of my deposit. I have heard about giving a reasonable deadline for delivery as a specific date was not agreed at the outset, but am unsure what to do. Any advice would be appreciated. Are FV in Breach of Contract?

I ve received a PCN for parked/waiting/unloading in wimbledon village high st via a camera in a car behind me. i think i should fight it as i parked in a pay and display bay and got out after a minute to get a ticket, but found the signs nearby restrict parking only to 10am - 4pm. Obvioulsly until i got out i did not know this and moved once i found i could not park here. anywhere I ve parked is usually 0830 on wards, and not being from london I am not familiar with this. is it worth fighting or just pay up. I noticed in the picture it shows a bay with a single yellow line through which is a bit confusing also.

Hi we have placed an order for a siyte of furniture from FV approx 6 weks ago. We ordered 1 x 2 seater 1 x 3 seater 1 x chair The store phoned us last week to inform us that the sofas were ready but they were unable to supply the chair as the individual in the store had mi sold us on the fabric and it was not possible to make the chair as ordered. We vistied the store and agreed that if the store could make the chair in another fabric that we chose then we would continue with the order. The store were due to call us but have not They have told us the order is ready for delivery They are refusing to refund us the deposit even though we no longer want the order as its not what we ordered They are being extremely un cooperative with regards to attempting to rectify this situation In my limited legal knowledge as the goods are not the goods we ordered I feel that we do not need to accept the orde and are entitled to our deposit back? Please help they are hounding my mother and this is unfair