Mrs McHugh had paid out £140 of her carefully saved cash for a bed described in an online advert by Bed Solution Ltd as ‘brand-new looking’.
But when she unwrapped the plastic packaging after it was delivered to her home she saw patches of staining showing through the cover.
She realised the mattress appeared to have been covered to hide the stains which, on closer examination, looked suspiciously like blood.
‘I just went nuts after I saw that,’ she said.
Meanwhile the hessian on the divan base was tattered and torn.
She contacted the firm to ask for her money back and was told to send in pictures of the damage.
I just went nuts after I saw that
‘I said it was disgusting selling a bed like that to anyone,’ she told the Advertiser.
It was only when she was told she could have a replacement but would not get it the same day that she discovered the firm was actually based in Birmingham, even though the Gumtree advert she had answered suggested the beds were in Swindon.
The advert had offered buyers the chance to view the beds in their own home before buying and promised: ‘Totally in 100% Immaculate Condition (not new but look totally as 100% SHOWROOM brand new).’
Mrs McHugh kept calling the firm and was told the replacement would be with her on Tuesday, but then the delivery date was switched to Friday. The firm confirmed that delivery would be between 6.30am and 9.30pm, but then she was told the driver had left Swindon.
A spokesperson for Bed Solution said the adverts made it clear that the mattresses were refurbished. There was a quality control process and the staff who recovered the mattresses should check for fire resistance tags and damage.
The mattress sold to Mrs McHugh had slipped through the net. But he told the Advertiser he would be offering her a refund.
‘There is no law against selling refurbished mattresses,’ he said.
It was disgusting selling a bed like that
‘Our policy is that if there is a complaint we will exchange it. It’s about negotiation. We offered to exchange.’
He added that customers got a text from the driver advising them to check the mattress while he was there so they did not have to accept it if there was a problem.
He said Mrs McHugh had contacted the firm several times but not chased up the driver on Friday.
‘It was his last job and he wanted to go home,’ he said. ‘Had she phoned him he would have done it.’
A driver was so brassed off at getting a £25 parking ticket – despite having paid and displayed – that he got 2,500 pennies and dumped them on the council office counter.
Pensioner Mr Lambourne parked at Borough Parade car park on a blustery day on Saturday, February 1, and paid £1.50 for two hours. But he failed to notice that on closing his car door, the wind had taken his ticket off the dashboard.
When he returned less than two hours later, the only ticket he found was on his windscreen.
After retrieving his paid-for ticket from the floor of his car, he took it into the Wiltshire Council offices, where it was photocopied, but he was told he would still have to pay the £25 fine.
‘Basically it’s cost me £26.50 to park in Chippenham for two hours,’ said Mr Lambourne.
So he went to his High Street bank and withdrew 2,500 pennies, weighing more than 6kg, and lugged them to the Monkton Park offices in a plastic bag.
‘It was quite heavy,’ he said. ‘They were a bit taken aback. They asked if I wanted a receipt, did I want to wait while they counted them out, and I said “no, thank you” and walked out.
They were a bit taken aback
‘I did it to make a point. I don’t like being made an idiot of. I told them at the bank what it was for and they laughed and said, let us know how you get on.’
Mr Lambourne, who drove taxis in Chippenham for twenty years, said he has been driving for forty-seven years and has never had a parking ticket before.
He said: ‘I contested but it was refused. I found it a bit unfair because I had a valid ticket.
‘We used to have stick-on tickets with the peel-off back but people complained they made a mess of their windscreen, so they did away with them. Well, I think it’s a lame excuse.
‘Why should I be penalised just because it’s made someone’s window dirty?’
Communities secretary Eric Pickles came to Chippenham in January to help Chippenham’s Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate to launch a campaign to get free parking for the town centre. An hour’s free parking was removed from county car parks three years ago by Conservative-led Wiltshire Council.
I don’t like being made an idiot of
Mr Lambourne said: ‘It’s a rip-off parking in Chippenham. If you go to Corsham it’s only thirty pence an hour.
‘I just go into town to pass time, to have a cup of tea. The stuff I want I can’t find there, I have to go to Swindon and Bath. Clothes for men of my sort of age are pretty non-existent in Chippenham.’
A spokesman for Wiltshire Council said: ‘It is the responsibility of drivers to ensure a pay and display ticket is clearly displayed when required.
‘Our officers take reasonable steps to look for a valid ticket, however on this occasion there was no evidence of one on the car dashboard, on the floor or seats, and the appeal was rejected.’
A bank customer was shocked to discover his account had been frozen with his balance showing he was overdrawn by almost half a million pounds.
Mr Livermore from Worthing found out his Barclays account had been suspended after he used his bank card over the Easter weekend.
The father of two said he cried with worry when he found out that his account stated he was £499,880.99 in debt after last being around £15 in credit.
Mr Livermore told The Argus: ‘It is very worrying. I cried when I saw the figure. I was gobsmacked and ran upstairs to my wife and said I didn’t know what was going on.
‘It is confusing and stressful. I haven’t been able to sleep and have been tight on money for my kids and wife.
‘The fact is, they haven’t even given me an explanation as to why they are holding my account. They said it is now being held indefinitely.
‘It really concerns me. I have missed payments for our car finance, tax and rent because of this.
“It really concerns me”
‘I have been to the food bank and they have kindly helped with electricity.’
He said he was told by the bank that he could withdraw any wages from the account after it was suspended as long as he had a payslip as proof of earnings.
However, because he had transferred money to his savings account he was unable to withdraw the remaining funds.
Mr Livermore claims he lodged a complaint with Barclays but has not yet received an explanation.
He said he was told he should refer to the bank’s terms and conditions in relation to suspending accounts.
He was also referred to the bank’s fraud department, which he said was also unable to help him resolve the issue.
Mr Livermore said it seems his other two accounts – a savings account and a joint account he shares with his wife – have also been suspended and were showing a minus balance of nearly £500,000.
Mr Livermore said: ‘I would like to know what is happening and surely if they ask me some questions, I might be able to shed some light on it.
“I would like to know what is happening”
‘I manage my account every day. I hoped they would be able to ask me to come to the branch and sort it out.
‘I have an agreed overdraft on my account of £10. If I had gone over for any reason, then they do not allow that transaction to go through because there is not enough money in the account.’
The Argus contacted Barclays to raise Mr Livermore’s concerns after listening to a recording of his balance when he called the bank to check it, which was recorded as being £499,880.99 in debit.
A Barclays spokesman said that the bank was c
urrently investigating the matter.
They declined to discuss it any further.
Mr Stokes, of Cross Keys, said he knows he should have been punished for the fib but said the size of the fine is unfair considering the crime.
Mr Stokes was travelling to see Stereophonics perform in November 2015 when he caught a train from Rogerstone to Cardiff Central Station.
A single ticket between Rogerstone and Cardiff Central Station costs around £4.40 and the music fan said he was planning to buy one upon arrival.
When he was stopped by inspectors at the station, he told them he had travelled from Cardiff Queen Street, ‘got his story mixed up’ and station staff took his details.
The customer claims he wrote to Arriva Trains Wales apologising for his first offence and asking for information on the next steps. But last month, he received a court order demanding that he pay £613 within a seven-day deadline.
The father-of-two settled the debt on a credit card without appearing in court and although he admits he ‘deserved punishment’ for his actions, he believes the fine is unfair considering the size of the offence.
‘I found it to be outrageous, especially when you consider the fact that the society we live in fines drink drivers, burglars and people who commit GBH with considerably lower penalties,’ he said.
I just don’t understand how ruining someone’s life can compare to this
‘I just don’t understand how ruining someone’s life can compare to this. How can this possibly be in the same bracket?
‘The penalty came nearly a year after the incident and they only gave me seven days to pay in full with no option to pay monthly or weekly as I work full time.
‘I know I did wrong but I don’t think it was the crime of the century,’ he added.
An Arriva Trains Wales spokeswoman stated that the company ‘cannot comment on individual cases’.
I know I did wrong but I don’t think it was the crime of the century
‘If a customer is travelling from a station that has ticket purchasing facilities available (a ticket booking office or a ticket vending machine), it is their responsibility to buy a valid ticket for the date and time of their journey before getting on the train,’ she said.
‘If not it could result in prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000. Tickets can also be bought in advance from our website and on our smart phone ticket app.’
She added: ‘If caught travelling without a valid ticket, each case is reviewed in line with our revenue protection policy which can be found on our website.
‘If taken to court, the fine is decided by the judge based on the circumstances surrounding each individual case. Arriva Trains Wales receives the ticket cost of the journey and administrative costs.’
A Hull man has warned fellow motorists of a ‘faulty parking system’.
A shopper has warned fellow motorists of a ‘faulty parking system’ in Hull which saw him slapped with a fine for visiting Asda twice in one day.
Mr Stark, who lives in Hull, went to his local branch of Asda with his mum and brother on December 23 to stock up on food for the festive period.
He returned to the same shop in the afternoon when he realised he had forgotten a number of items.
But, soon after, he received a note saying he had to pay a £70 fine – with the store saying he had parked for more than five and a half hours.
Mr Stark has spoken of his disgust at receiving the fine and said a ‘fault in the system’ meant the camera did not recognise he had made two trips.
‘I got to the car park the first time at 8.52am,’ he said.
‘We shopped for around two hours and then left at 10.57am. I know that because I found the receipt from the supermarket.
Mr Stark threatened to do his future shopping in Morrisons instead
‘I went back to Asda at just after 2pm because I’d forgotten to get some bottle bags, and was only there for about five minutes. I then received a £70 fine which said I had parked in the car park for more than five and a half hours.’
It is the second time in just weeks that an Asda car park – managed by company Parking Eye – has fined someone who made two separate trips.
Mr Stark said he had searched online and found other people who had been fined for ‘double dipping’ – a term created to describe people who visit the same car park twice in one day. A Grimsby woman was also fined £70 for her trip to Asda, and was accused of parking for fourteen hours.
The Hull man has appealed against the fine – which if paid within fourteen days is reduced to £40 – and said he expects it to be rescinded.
Parking Eye has responded to the story.
They said: ‘We encourage people who have received a parking charge to appeal if they think there are mitigating circumstances, and instructions about how to do this are detailed on all communications and on our website.
‘In this case, we can confirm that the charge has been cancelled.’
Mr Stark threatened to do his future shopping in Morrisons instead, where he would not run the risk of a repeat fine.
He is now warning other motorists to be cautious of the car park.
‘If that was my mum and dad, they would have rung up and paid it,’ he said.
‘I knew I was not paying. I would have let them take me all the way to court before I parted with any money.
‘My advice to other people would be always dispute it – if you know it is wrong don’t just pay it.’
I knew I was not paying
‘If that was my mum and dad, they would have rung up and paid it,’ he said.
Lee has owned the locksmith’s since 2000, 13 years after his last Grange Hill appearance.
Former child TV star Lee MacDonald, possibly better known as Zammo from Grange Hill, has labelled TSB’s online banking service a ‘fiasco’ after an online error cost his business a large amount of money.
The British bank took down its mobile app and online services on Monday, April 23, in an attempt to fix technical problems which have locked customers out of their accounts.
Lee is now the owner of a successful locksmith’s, but he says the past week has been incredibly difficult after being unable to use his online banking service.
‘I was quite excited about the new app that was being launched by TSB online because it would make my banking a lot easier,’ explained Lee.
‘But when I tried to log in on Sunday, I found that I couldn’t log into the app or the online banking site. I use online banking for everything I do, whether that’s paying suppliers or getting paid myself, so it’s incredibly frustrating.’
“it’s incredibly frustrating”
Lee explained that he had to cancel some jobs earlier in the week, and that the problem is far more than a short-term one.
‘If we cancel, they’ll go to someone else, and if that person does a good job, it could mean that we lose customers,’ he stressed.
‘I’ve tried to call the customer service team several times, but every time I do I’m on hold for 45 minutes and I get nowhere. I’ve been told it will be sorted by the end of the week but by that time I may have lost a lot of custom and I can’t afford to do that.’
“I’ve tried to call the customer service team several times, but every time I do I’m on hold for 45 minutes”
Lee has owned the business since 2000, after his partner at the time convinced him that buying a locksmith’s was a good move.
He says his local branch of TSB has been incredibly helpful, and that he doesn’t blame them in the slightest.
‘I want to make it clear that I am very happy with the service I have received from my own branch,’ he said.
‘It’s not their fault that the online system isn’t working, and although I was unable to cash some cheques when I tried because of the online problems, they were still very helpful.’
Lee has appeared on several national media outlets to talk about the issue, and admits it has all been a bit of a whirlwind.
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sp; ‘It all started when I tweeted TSB’s CEO, Paul Pester, saying I was very unhappy with the service,’ he explained.
‘I then got a call from BBC Radio 5 who wanted to speak to me, and since then I have been interviewed by ITV and a couple of national newspapers.’
Lee is still on the lookout for acting jobs, but stresses that it’s hard to do that when his main source of income is experiencing so many issues.
TSB’s CEO Paul Pester said: ‘Our teams continue to work around the clock to fix the problems that some of our customers are having in accessing their TSB accounts.
‘I want to reassure our customers that the engine room of the bank is working as it should. This means that for the vast majority of our five million customers, everything is running smoothly.
‘They can do their day-to-day banking, such as using their cards to get money out of cash machines and paying for goods with their debit or credit card in shops both on the high street and online. All of the services that happen every day such as direct debits, standing orders, payments including salary credits, and transfers going in and out of accounts are working as normal.
‘The challenge we are facing at the moment is that while we know everything is working, one of the main ways that our customers see everything is working – through our internet banking and mobile app – isn’t functioning as well as it should be, and for this I’m truly sorry.
But what has Zammo been up to since Grange Hill ended?
Since appearing in his final Grange Hill episode in 1987, Lee continued to appear on TV in shows such as The Bill, but after buying the locksmith’s, his acting slowed down a bit.
He admitted that he is still definitely best known for his role as Zammo, and that for some time the association annoyed him.
‘It used to get a bit grating when people would come up to me all the time and shout “Zammo” at me, but as I’ve got older, I’ve been able to appreciate just how important Grange Hill was to a lot of people,’ he said.
Angry People in Local Newspapers Page 8