Hi, I'm wondering if there's anyone out who's been in a similar situation? I stupidly fell for a hard sell from a company called Nationwide Renewables and signed a contract for solar panels (in my own home, which is important legally). The more I found out about the company the less I trusted them. Nationwide Renewables are not part of any accreditation scheme, so it looked like I would have no come back if the installation didn't perform as promised, plus all sorts of other issues came to light, and I just didn't have confidence in them. I cancelled the contract a few days later, which I was legally entitled to do - within the 14 day cooling off period. After an initial unpleasant phone call from them they offered me my deposit back - but only on condition that I took down a negative review I had put on Trustpilot, which I refused to do.
There's a lot more to the story, but to cut it short I got my deposit back via the Co-op bank's Charge back scheme. But the company is still pursuing me for 'cancellation fees' which they have basically plucked out of the air, even though I was entitled to a full deposit refund, and are now trying to take me to court.
I'm astonished that a company can just make up a debt and pursue you for it - presumably because enough people are scared into paying it to make it worth their while? I would love to know if anyone has advice or similar experience. So far Citizens Advice Bureau have been really helpful, but once it becomes a supposed debt issue (even though I owe them nothing) it all seems to get more complicated.