A SOUTHAMPTON man has spoken of his joy at finally receiving compensation after a drawn out row over a faulty computer that saw him threaten two companies with legal action.

Stephen Stringfellow, 40, of Kingston Road, Freemantle, ran up hundreds of pounds in phone bills and lost endless working hours after an £800 computer he bought from the former Tiny shop in the Bargate shopping centre in December last year broke down FOUR times.

Stephen, a commercial driver, signed a finance agreement that meant he would not have to start paying for the computer until last month.

But after problems with the printer, scanner and other parts started to materialise within weeks of his purchase he asked Tiny to take back the computer and cancel the finance agreement.

However, Tiny was going into liquidation and he was told that all customer queries were now being dealt with by the company's new owners Time computers.

Time told Mr Stringfellow to approach his finance company First National Tricity Finance Ltd to ask them to cancel his finance agreement.

After First National Tricity refused to cancel the agreement, leaving Stephen with a computer that did not work and now did not want, he approached Southampton Trading Standards for advice.

Finally, after threatening First National Tricity Finance Ltd with legal action his finance agreement was cancelled and he was offered £114 compensation. His computer has now also been taken away.

Stephen told Watchdog: "I'm so relieved this is all over. I kept telling myself to keep fighting as I knew I was in the right. I had never taken anyone to court in my life and was quite dreading having to go through that process, so naturally I was delighted when everything was sorted out beforehand.

"The computer started playing up almost straight away and no matter how many calls I made to Time and First National Tricity nothing seemed to be happening until I mentioned legal action.

"I'm still looking for a computer. This saga has not stopped me wanting one."

A spokesman for First National Tricity Finance Ltd said: "We are glad that this matter is now closed."

Watchdog is a weekly feature dealing with consumer issues. If you have a story to tell, ring Guy Woodford at the Daily Echo on 023 8033 7757 or e-mail using the link above.