Mr Johnson, Reading UK.

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Background: Mr Johnson was trying to finish decorating and modernising his living room. With the work proving quite expensive, he opted to purchase a new sofa on a "by now pay later" scheme, so that he could pay for the sofa in monthly installments.

He ordered his new sofa over the phone – after seeing the details, photos and dimensions on the company's internet site – and spoke to staff in his local store, who processed the sale and gave him a delivery date for his sofa.

Mr Johnson remembered that he had been concerned about giving his credit card details out over the phone for the deposit, and that he had been advised to use Record Your Call to ensure he had an audio record of the order, should any disputes arise in the future.

6 months on, Mr Johnson checked his bank statement and was shocked to find that the monthly payments were considerably higher than those he thought he had signed up for. He phoned the store to find out why. To his surprise, he was told he'd signed up for a 3 year Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) plan to cover the debt in case he lost his job, and that this was the reason for the extra cost.

Mr Jonson denied having signed up for any such plan, stating that although he had been offered this option during the call in which he ordered the sofa, he had declined it. He spoke to a manager who refused to see his side of things and ended up hanging up on Mr Johnson when he ran out of patience with him.

Mr Johnson wrote in to the store asking for an explanation as to why he had been treated so badly, but he did not receive a reply to his letters and they continued to take the same amounts out of his bank account each month. Left with no other option, Mr Johnson cancelled his direct debt with the sofa company and wrote to them explaining why he had done so.

Two months later he received a solicitor's letter saying that unless the most recent payment was made within the next fourteen days and the direct debit reinstated, they would begin legal proceedings in the County Court against Mr Johnson.

Mr Johnson explains: "They thought they could bully me into paying up and accepting this farce. I didn't want to accept it as I knew it was their mistake, but I also knew I needed help in fighting it.

I remembered the advice my father gave me, he said "if you're buying anything over the phone, use that call recording service. It will be worth it if you ever end up in a dispute." I'm now glad I took his advice.

I downloaded all the recordings of call I had made to this sofa company, including the initial calls when I made the purchase, and the heated phone conversations I later had with them. I sent their solicitor these recordings with a letter explaining what had happened, and waited to see what would happen next.

Two weeks later, I got a call from the sofa company, in which they apologised, saying that there had been a "staff training issue" and the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) has now been cancelled and refunded with immediate effect. I also was sent a £250 voucher for use in the store as a "gesture of goodwill". So, overall, I was happy with the outcome, and Record Your Call came in very handy indeed. "

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