Danny Knight

On 13 November 2024 the council issued a Stage 2 investigation relating to my complaint that it failed to provide advance signage of a major road closure on the M1 motorway Watford exit. This directly added over 30 minutes of delays to me and hundreds of motorists. The council's investigator claimed there was such signage, but was unable to provide proof. Following a Freedom of Information enquiry, the council's own highways team admitted no such signage existed. When I provided the investigator with this evidence and asked for comment, none has been received. Draw your own conclusions on the independence or otherwise of this council's approach to complaints.

I have been trying for months to obtain basic statistics relating to Heathrow Airport. After lodging my enquiries on their online portal they promise to respond within 10 days. This never happens despite my numerous attempts at following up on my enquiries. Deathly silence.

When I tried to transfer funds from Shawbrook to another bank, Shawbrook wanted to see my driving licence, a bank statement and my debit card details - including the confidential CVC number. They simply refused to release my funds without the CVC number. This caused a long delay of 12 months in the transfer of funds. The Financial Ombudsman Service found in my favour and awarded interest in addition to the principal amount. Will never use Shawbrook again.

Halfords Autocentres took an hour to replace a single tyre despite a pre-booked and pre-paid appointment time, and it failed to inflate the new tyre properly. Job number was: 136/9033329. Location was: Hendon (136) Unit A2 Hyde Estate Road NW9 6JX.

Following my recent Freedom of Information enquiry Islington Council confirmed it raked in £14,794,633.76 from penalty charge notices under its 'Low Traffic Neighbourhoods' scheme in the period from 17 August 2023 to 30 September 2023 - a period of merely 44 days! Yet some of its potholed roads resemble those of 3rd World countries.

I enquired by WhatsApp last Wednesday on a price for audiology services. The response merely requested my postcode. I provided this but heard nothing further. I followed up with another enquiry next day. Again, radio silence. Several days later I visited its Mill Hill premises but nobody was available. I then messaged Mary (the audiologist) requesting a call back. She did not. I then called again - this time she blocked my number. I have also tried to approach the company by email Hearing First but it did not respond either. I would not recommend this outfit to anybody.

The staff, in particular Gavin, was extremely helpful in selecting some walking shoes yesterday. Very few retailers these days provide this kind of 'old-fashioned' customer service. City workers are very lucky to have this Blacks outlet in its midst.

In my experience with the customer service staff of Intus Healthcare in the past 12 months, they were extremely customer-focused in a real and tangible way. In the past 35 years I have never come across a more dedicated, prompt and helpful team approach to any enquiries I had.

Update dated 20 April 2022
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In a belated answer to WBAC's question, I suggest it reads its own terms and conditions, in particular section 9 relating to methods and timing of sellers receiving payment from WBAC for a vehicle on the same day for an additional fee, and compare this with its own software which in my presence at the WBAC portakabin automatically prevented its agent from proceeding to the 'same day payment' option - despite my offer to pay the additional fee. WBAC thereby knowingly and deliberately acted contrary to section 9 of its own terms and conditions. In light of this, I considered the question posed by WBAC as not serious and intended merely to question my integrity.


The T&Cs (section 9) of WBAC states that for an additional £29.75 a seller can choose to get paid by online Faster Payment and receive it no later than within 2 hours of agreeing to sell my car to it. In my case this was not honoured by WBAC, and no reason was given, other than ‘that’s what the computer says’. So I was dealing with a computer. Despite this I was encouraged by WBAC staff to leave a £20,000+ value asset at its mobile tiny 6 x 4 foot portakabin, and await payment in the following days. Yeah right! Try that on any dealer when buying a car: nothing will be handed over to you unless and until you have made full payment upfront.

Motorway is an online broker putting buyer and (dealer) seller together. This is not a new idea, but the method it employs is, currently, unique, fast and refreshing. The operation appears to run smoothly, though it is very strict on the precise angle of 21 images it requires a seller to provide. This is understandable. Contrary to WDC who collect vehicles on behalf of the buyer & Motorway, it is possible to speak to staff at Motorway, which has been a good experience for me overall.

WDC acts as the agent who collects vehicles sold through the Motorway online broker route. While the sale to a buyer (through Motorway) can be agreed within minutes, unfortunately it can take WDC up to 10 days to arrange physical collection of the vehicle, thus delaying the entire process for buyer and seller. I tried several times to phone WDC to enquire the day before as well as on the day of collection, but their line went dead each time. When I emailed, I merely received a template response. This needs improvement, though I accept that my experience may have reflected general staff shortages due to COVID.

Update Friday 5 March 2021:
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The seller forgot to mention that it refused to accept my return of Dreem 2 when the French La Poste tried on 26 January 2021 to deliver it. My liability for the matter ended there. Furthermore, the seller claims to have sent me back the Dreem 2, which is impossible as by its own admission it refused to accept it from La Poste, in the first place: how can you send something back if you have not got it?

Original posting:
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The 30 day free return and full refund is a nonsense. I returned the Dreem 2 within 1 week as it was uncomfortable to use. Cost me £30 to send back. Seller never refunded me for the product or cost of return, despite sending 30 emails. Total ripoff!

Update to my complaint about TMO & Skoda

I see that someone at TMO has been given the unenviable task of trying to rectify its appalling image by suddenly feigning a template response to unending consumer criticism. I suggest to ignore TMO’s feigned responses and issue county court claims if you have a strong case and an independent report behind you.

I referred a complaint against Skoda UK to TMO. After making me wait for a whole year, an 'investigator' issued a one-sided report in favour of Skoda and ignored my evidence issued by an independent automotive engineer. I appealed to an 'ombudsman', who after being informed by me that my next step was going to be the county court, promptly found in my favour. I then wrote to Mr. Bill Fennell, chief executive of TMO and invited him to comment. Deathly silence. TMO has been appointed by the trade union of car dealers and garages. In my opinion, TMO is not truly independent - it is funded by the very companies it is supposed to investigate. Enough said.

AVOID THIS SELLER AT ALL COSTS! Coffee machine and grinder arrived without UK fused plugs. I immediately rejected goods and repacked in original packaging. Seller had DHL uplift but 2 weeks later seller claimed goods arrived damaged. I requested photographic evidence with machine serial numbers. No evidence was ever provided by the seller. It took over a month and much email correspondence before Amazon refunded under Amazon Pay guarantee. AVOID THIS SELLER AT ALL COSTS!

UPDATE 29 December 2020: Despite my numerous requests, the seller never provided any evidence of damage, or if there were damage that I caused it. The goods were never used (due to breach of UK electrical plug requirements of a sealed fused plug instead of a cheap aftermarket adapter) and were repacked in their original box and packaging, INCLUDING THE MANUAL. I advised the seller to claim against the courier it itself selected to uplift the goods on the seller's behalf from my home. The seller had the opportunity to inspect the goods before their uplift, but failed to do so. The seller has nobody to blame but itself!

FURTHER UPDATE: Seller has now provided 2 low resolution images of something which, for all I know, he could have pulled out of a skip from sonewhere, but bears no resemblance to what I handed over to the seller's carrier, of which I have photographs. The seller has to prove at least 2 things: first, that the goods I handed over to its carrier were poorly packaged at that time. Second, if there was any damage that damage was caused by me, not the carrier. If the goods were not packed by me properly the carrier (DHL) would never have even collected the goods from me. The seller has not provided any DHL identification markings on the carton, no image of the actual products or their serial numbers. Furthermore, the wrapping around the products was torn bits from a German language newspaper - proof it was not sent from the UK. Most telling of all, the seller has not provided any signed and dated damage report, and it only started claiming damage when I enquired about my refund.

CLOSING REMARKS : The seller has now had 5 weeks in which to submit any credible evidence in support of its wild and unsubstantiated claims. In my opinion, nobody should waste any time with this outfit.

I had a 242DL, a 740GL and an S70. But I will never buy another Volvo even if it were the only car company in the world and I had to walk everywhere. They did not honour the warranty on any of my cars.

The seat belt in my 2016 Skoda Superb was fraying at only 16000 miles, while still under warranty. However Skoda UK refused to replace it under its 3 year New Car Warranty. I had to refer the matter to The Motor Ombudsman, who after a delay of 12 months upheld my claim for the cost of a new seatbelt and an independent inspection. However, SUK only paid up when I was about to issue court proceedings to enforce TMO's award. Notwithstanding the above, the car has been excellent - the problem is not with the product but with the people behind it in the UK.