the latest wheeze from the government is to tax our water
in an article published on the BBC website today entitled "Call for widespread water meters" there are various reasons given for almost universal water metering to be introduced.
the call for change comes from the environment agency but has noticeably not commented on the following:
- no mention of a water meter that measures the water that the individual puts back into the system - how many of us have condenser dryers (that costs us more money than conventional driers!) that fill a storage vessel up and are emptied back into the system? 5 litres of water every two or three uses of the dryer go back into the waste pipes to be treated and used again. - all our toilet, shower/bath water, goes back into the system to be treated and used again - what about looking at the building of housing estates without planning to accomodate the needs of the people there? - for years housing estates have been springing up everywhere without any consideration given to reservoirs, some areas have even seen reservoirs sold off and filled in! - nothing on looking at how the labour party's idea of allowing a combination of water collection to use the same pipework, have affected the amount of water collected! - water and sewerage used to have to be moved in seperate pipes, now they can be combined, in theory this makes sense, but not when you look at the next missing consideration! - why did the government allow collection of water and waste to be combined in the same pipes, whilst not having regulation for underground pipework, especially for new housing estates and new business developments? - sheer negligence this is, developers allowed to replace existing underground water pipes using reduced size pipes, that have been in place for decades.
EXAMPLE: our street hasnt had a flood in other 30 years. a development halfway up our street replaced the water pipes underground with pipes half the size, cutting costs for the developer. (the reason pipes were so big, is because we live at the side of huge hills and the drainage is needed as a storm drain to handle occasional heavy rainfalls.) so the first heavy rainfall we had flooded our street and gardens because the drains the development put in place were too small to handle the amount of water. three floods later they finally dug up the road again and replaced the drainage pipe with a bigger one... guess what? no more flooding! (wow how did they figure that one out???) plus it cost the developer more money than it would have if they had put in the correct width drainage and not tried to cut corners and save money!
the problem for them was that they couldnt sell the development as a going concern, had they sold it before the heavy rainfall, then who would have picked up the bill for replacing it all? yep, the taxpayer as per usual!
we have all seen how impressive and "fair" the system of metering is as regards our gas and electricity, and how well the watchdogs have protected us... leaving us with the highest charges ever (certainly in my lifetime!) so what do we think will happen if we are forced to use water meters? could we be charged more for people being employed to check our meters? could we be charged more in VAT for the government coffers? will the amount of water we put back into the system be taken into account? (i doubt this one very much) will we get a refund for the extra cost of "efficient" appliances we have all been buying for years?
and how will all this help the poorest households? anyone using a washing line to dry clothes or an old style tumble dryer, will be putting less water back into the system, and will not be as efficient as homes using more expensive and efficient appliances, how is this fair?
the whole "review" smacks of another way of generating extra revenue for the government, focus should be placed on better planning and more reservoirs and better pipework and fixing leaks - get your house in order before you come demanding water meters are a "fairer" for all of us already over burdened households!
Denz on 03.30.09 @ 09:39 AM CST [link]
Thursday, March 26th
Gordon Brown - a speech the BBC did not want you to see
as our beloved leader leader goes on a world tour (hopefully an unofficial blair style "goodbye tour") he today reaches Brazil.
As Nick "deflect focus away from government failings" robinson reports on his BBC news blog, Brazil's finances, have a $200 Billion pound budget surplus
I wonder what changes Brown will make to his scratched record speech about the need for the countries of the world to work together to fight a global recession?
personally, I hope he keeps his gob shut and orders his "advisors" to copy as many ideas from Brazil as they can. Brazil seems to have the right ideas when it comes to running a country?
Denz on 03.26.09 @ 09:53 AM CST [link]
Tuesday, March 24th
The "sales" swindle is revealed!
shops and stores held to ransom by the banking system, have had their truecolours revealed today, by the publishing of the latest official figures.
suspected for some time now how so called "20%-50% off sales" since 2007, are more often than not almost always fake! supermarkets are not spared in the report either, the cost of our food shopping baskets has increased by more than 3% according to the official figures!
companies selling goods in the UK are mostly tied into huge bank loans and borrowing, the british customer is being stung to pay for this, it is so common place now, it has become difficult to find a UK company that does not announce yearly profits for their shareholders, at the same time as having huge outstanding debts to the banking system in one form or another, which of course, leaves the customer facing higher prices to pay for "running costs" or to you and me... interest payments!
example: - a washing machine bought in october/november 2008, for £360 - the price by january 2009 is being advertised at £355 with "20% OFF"
of course in between buying the washer and the "sale" the price shot up. companies which have a large amount of debt on its books, will need to recoup money to pay off the interest on those loans, then target the customer via increased pricing.
woolworths was a great example, 50% closing down sale they told us after the administrator had taken them over, made a complete mockery of their "sale" two weeks later - when as one woman revealed on the news, after camping out all night for a woolies final closing down sale, "i dont know what all the fuss is about, as the prices were exactly the same as two weeks ago, some had even increased!"
the car industry is also being as liberal with "sales" than they are implying. a car for sale for £11000 in october 2008, is currently being advertised as in a "sale" with upto 30% off at almost £13000! (i know of this personally) with all the cars sat on manufacturer's plants, youd think theyd knock something genuinely off the price? but despite their pleas of trouble and poverty to the taxpayer for bail-outs, the prices of their cars are going up not down, why? its as puzzling as asda putting up the price of tinned goods during a recession exactly how does increasing the prices of very basic food that most people start buying when they are struggling for money, ie tinned goods, actually "help" their customers?
the british public are not always fickle, perhaps less marketing and more good value will revive our sinking economy? i know its a crazy idea.... but maybe a simple idea is whats needed these days?
the office of national statistic's spokesman started talking perfect sense - what we all know: "Rob Pike from the Office for National Statistics remarked that December's cut in VAT from 17.5% to 15%, was being reversed. A substantial number of shops which passed on the VAT cut in December seemed to have changed that by February, We have seen many prices return to the previous selling price in November, or even gone beyond that. And that is quite widespread."
he then made himself look a right pillock, stating that only some imported goods had seen price rises, due to the weakness of the pound - exactly how only some imports are affected god only knows???
but he saved the best for last... "A poor harvest in Spain had led to much higher courgette and cucumber prices" (yeh cos im sure that will devastate the UK economy - another reason to shop and eat SEASONAL home grown produce!)
of course the usual "financial experts" (the very same people who totally missed the biggest financial disaster hitting the UK for 60 years!) will spout their usual bull about small improvements, the british public however, are far wiser than that!
Denz on 03.24.09 @ 08:14 PM CST [link]
Monday, March 23rd
Energy bills - discrimination
Energy companies will be banned from charging "unjustified" prices under new rules proposed by the regulator Ofgem.
OFGEM, the energy "watchdog" (who had previously said that there was no evidence of collusion between the "big six" suppliers in setting prices) are to bring in yet more "new rules" to make charges subject to "justifiable" inspection. what this means in english is that should an energy company charges be more expensive by prepayment meter than say direct debit, then the watchdog could (yes could not will!) act.
* so if they charge you a fee for paying by prepayment meter, then it must be actual cost and not a profit making charge.
the UK has had these laws, and legal precedent upholding them for almost a century! In law, if a charge does not reflect actual cost (in any industry not just energy providers) and makes a profit for the company issuing the charge, then it will be deemed to be a penalty charge. penalty charges of this type are unenforceable under common law in england and wales. The right to enforce this, is being challenged by the banks via the high court at the moment.
back to ofgem: there are just 12 houses on our little bit of street, some pay for energy by pre payment meter, some direct debit, some quarterly, but the one biggest problem we all have is that although we all get our gas/electric from the identical pipework and wiring, we all pay different charges for getting it!
clear discrimination! this should be stopped IMMEADIATELY! ofgem propose, under their new rules, to simply report this to the competition commission! what is the point? another toothless body that will take years to investigate.
it already happens, it gets even worse when you look at region by region, why should people in gloucestershire pay more for their energy than those in lancashire? why should homes in lancashire pay more than those in tyne and wear, for example?
as regards prepayment meters, the discrimination is even more clear (and has been for years) we pay by meter, they no longer read meters once every three months (thanks labour) so we pay in advance. - the reassurance for us is that if we havent got the money then we sit with candles, if we havent got the money for gas we use our camping stove, of course we never do this, but its our choice. - added reassurance for us is that we dont have energy companies (as with companies from other industries) taking money from our bank account every month, and changing the amount without consent - this means no banks charges of £35 then 3 months fighting to get the charges back again! - the best thing for us, is that we dont run up any big bills because they only read the meter once every two years (thanks again labour) so any errors by the energy company are their errors and we should not be charged extra money for their errors - in implementing their own charges or energy cost increases.
if we wanted to we could never use any gas again and we would owe them nothing, zilch, nadda, etc.
in the past few years they have tried to turn this around by saying we owe them some money "but dont worry it will even itself out over the year!" (because the price went up between putting credit on the meter) utter twoddle! when i buy £40 worth of gas and put it on the meter, im buying that £40 at XX cost per therm of gas, the credit is added to the meter, that should be that. all gas companies are trying to say that if say in the middle of using my £40 gas credit, if the price increases, i then owe them more money....
apart from finance (where monthly prices are fixed on variable interest rates), name one other industry whereby you pay an agreed price for a product or service, then halfway through that agreement the price increases and you get a demand for more money? - you buy a washer over 3 years from argos, do you pay more if the price goes up? NO - you buy a car, paid for over 5 years, do the garage get in touch after 6 months and say "sorry but our prices have increased you owe us an extra XXX amount to reflect this price change"? NO
they cannot do this for the simple reason that when you make a purchased, it is a binding contract between you and the seller, under the sale of goods act.
i could put £3 million pounds credit on my gas meter, i have bought £3 million pounds worth of gas at the cost on that particular day.
where does it state anywhere that the price of energy is "variable"? the truth is, it doesnt because if it did then a much stricter set of rules would apply, and the energy companies would have to be open and justify every cost they pass onto the customer, as regards interest, charge per unit of energy, standing charge breakdown etc.
OFGEM are a joke, if they find an energy company making profits from standing charges, then they warn them, if this hasnt improved after months, then they will report it to the competition commission.... ooooo bet they are shaking in their boots at that threat!
why are OFGEM allowed to have review after review, costing the taxpayer millions every year, as well as costs for buildings, phone, staff, etc, when they do PRECISELY NOTHING AT ALL?
The report linked above highlights a BBC probe whereby card details and security numbers, names and addresses were sold onto BBC reporters. The BBC reporters returned to the UK, and were emailed further customer details.
a simple request to the Labour party, its activists and its supporters: why does your government continue to let this happen?
India does not have any data protection laws in place, just regular agreements that have now and always failed. so when those "evil nasty banking workers", realised their jobs were being moved abroad to non data protected countries, they protested, BUT WERE IGNORED! this labour government insisted despite not having data protection, our personal financial details would be safe - they lied!
this problem sounds familiar doesnt it!
* the banking system - bank of england independant, dont worry the FSA will protect the public - we can all see that it failed miserably.
* data protection - the data protection act will protect the public - once again its failed to do so because the government continues to allow non data protected countries to hold UK personal data
* britains food supply - tough food standards protect the UK public - then labour allow companies in the industry to grow food abroad, ship it into the UK to package it, then label it with "UK" badges to mislead the UK public. no point having tough food standards and watchdogs (and the extra costs for UK farmers etc.) if they at the same time allow food to be grown abroad in countries where they have lax food regulation!
why do labour continue to make assurances about the UK public's safety etc, then allow the industries concerned to completely bypass these same protections???
hindsight is a wonderful thing, but when i look back at the past few years, the danger signals were clearly there for all to see.
unemployment and wages: even as far back as 4 years ago, wage rises and staffing at our places of work were falling or frozen. in my job i saw people having their hours cut, clampdowns on overtime, staffing in each superstore started to fall and move to more part time workers from fulltime workers. people who left the company i worked for, were not replaced, and wage increases were down to just 1% when inflation was running at between 3-4% my better half's company were in even more trouble. 4 years ago she had a pay freeze, said to be to help keep everyone in a job, the staff accepted it eventually, only to have the workforce halved a couple of months later. the warning signs were bigger there as she works in manufacturing and the company are owned by a german firm. every year since then her yearly wage rise has reached 1.5% at the most, whilst inflation has been running at between 3-4% effectively her wage has been shrinking every year.
prices: the weekly shop remained pretty much the same in terms of products, but the basics started to increase. despite there being no shortages of beans, coffee, etc, the prices over the last two years have been increased by the supermarkets dramatically. tinned goods, bread, etc have all shot up, the latest being soups. heinz soups were at 45p a couple of years ago, they currently stand at around 82p a tin, beans and sausage used to be around 58p, for the past 6 months they have been retailing at 96p (what needs to be questioned urgently, is why branded name goods such as beans, soup, etc, are all seeing the same price increases between supermarkets - what happened to competition?)
own brand goods used to be 50% of the brand name equivilent price, now most own branded products are 90-95% of the brand name gods, some own brand products have replaced the branded name products altogether.
corner shops and garages who used to be substantially higher priced than supermarket goods are often a lot lower priced now. warburtons bread has for more than two years been lower priced on our local garage forecourt, than the tesco superstore half amile down the road. we are not talking 1-2p per loaf, its been consistantly 10-15p lower in price!
credit card charges and interest: a real wake up call this one was. to be paying a minimum payment of £70 off a card for the month, to find that the payment was less than 8 hours late (couldnt be helped as wages didnt go into the bank on time) to find that extra interest and a fee was charged on top of the minimum payment due, £85 paid yet the balance outstanding increased by £12!
how can an individual pay off their bills when this is happening? its ok we are protected and can claim fees back cant we? well we could but it would take more than 2 months for it to be corrected, in the meantime the bank could add more charges, the card company could add more charges, then youd have another round of charges to claim back..... enough was enough. add to this the cost of fees was increasing also, the % interest charged was increasing. all this was hapening more than 2 years ago!
bill payment charges: these were introduced by more companies who simply supplied basic services, gas, electric, water, phone, etc. bills paid on time, in a way they had been for ever, suddenly incurred a "payment charge" a basic phone line bill paid quarterly (on time) now incurred a charge of £4.50 just for paying it this way!
on top of this, late payment charges were also being introduced, and the timescales allowed to pay a bill was cut. where you might have had 28 days to pay a bill from its date of issue,now changed to 14 days, and a late fee became applicable. pressure started being brought upon households to pay by direct debit. so for a household paying a bill quarterly (as it had always done) if it paid the bill 15 days after issue, it would incur £12 in charges! (£4.50 for paying quarterly and £7.50 "late" charge)
sorting any problems out has become a nightmare, the level of service has fallen dramatically. customer service help jobs have been moved abroad to countries which do not have data protection laws as the UK does. as a direct result, calls have been made to sort problems out and promises made by company staff have not been honoured (im sure we are not the only household to experience this) account notes not updated with those promises, result in more money for companies for all thephone calls required to sort a basic problem out.
in one example i can give: british telecom, had a fault on the line (and service im paying for) for 3 years, in all that time, they have not got one single bill correct! they have still not resolved the fault, they promise to issue the credit for the money they owe me to the current bill, they never do, they never record the promise on the account notes and i incur payment charges as a direct result of their mistakes.
just this week they issued my quarterly bill with incorrect payment charges, then 9 days later sent another bill out charging me for 58p worth of calls, and more payment charges, which took 4 hours on the phone to have refunded. it wouldnt be so bad, but they have owed me money on the last 3 bills and cannot grasp why their customer is so angry!
evidence is there you just have to keep an eye on it recession hasnt just hit the UK in the last 12 months, thats just the official stand on it, in our house, the recession has been biting for more than 4 years!
Denz on 03.18.09 @ 12:09 PM CST [link]
"FSA chairman Lord Adair Turner will unveil proposals to stop banks lending too much during boom years" total twoddle! we should scrap the FSA completely! - a useless talking shop of nothingness (is this a word?) who have used up public funds to do absolutely nothing for more than a decade. the only reason the FSA exists, is to control the financial industry when the bank of england went "independant" - they didnt go independant at all, they simply had all controlling powers moved to a new department (the FSA) and the government have completely cocked the whole thing up. "stop banks lending too much in the boom years?" brown told us hed got rid of the boom years?
"Lord Turner will seek to restrict banks' ability to take excessive risks. And banks will have to lend relative to their assets during any economic cycle." HELLO! brown has been telling us the FSA have been doing this for 12 years - the FSA was set up to do exactly this - where have the labour government been??? - we used to have a governing body that ensured banks lend relative to their assets - it was called the bank of england, who did an excellent job of this for decades and very successful they were - stopping a run on any banks - one person alone took this power away from the bank of england.... gordon brown, the day after he became chancellor the day after "new" labour were elected to office in 1997! he decided in his infinate wisdom, to give these powers to the government controlled FSA! the sheer cheek of the FSA to be now calling for these measures after what they (and the government interference) has done to each and every one of us!
"Turner will say that banks should be forced to hold more cash or liquid investments, to make them less vulnerable to collapse when other sources of finance dry up" sickening this is - how could labour ministers ignore this, at the same time as telling the british public that this was being actioned by the FSA?
"Lord Turner will also recommend that banks publish more and clearer information in their accounts about the risks they're running." they have to rely on the banks TELLING the FSA what they are doing? - astounding, consider just one aspect of this completely useless statement: your in charge of a bank, you are struggling, your competitors are winning over your customers, you have to publish that you are reaching your lending limits, and may have to reign in lending to restabilise your business. - how will this affect your share price? - this will leave you open to a takeover - this will cost you even more business and possibly lose you more customers making your position worse - releasing a new share option (raising funds to stabilise your business) will fail if the markets have no confidence in your business - the taxpayer via the bank of england will have to buy out the unbought shares to shore up your bank! what about the bank of england are given back the powers to turn up and examine the books of each bank and the FSA scrapped? the bank of england are the lender of last resort, but could well stabilise a bank thats in trouble and support its new share option etc.
"Lord Turner will repeat his pledge that the FSA will become less trusting that banks are usually doing the right thing; the FSA will abandon the prevailing dogma of the past 30 odd years that the market is always right" dogma? of the last 30 years? sorry but the bank of england has kept a tight reign on the banking industry until 12 years ago, the day after labour won the 1997 general election, there was no need for the FSA until then. the only dogma has been the controlling labour government who set up the FSA to keep powers with the government to stimulate a housing boom and keep their grand plan on track!
"Financial Services Authority (FSA) head Lord Adair Turner has already said his plans will amount to 'a revolution'. " hes having a laugh right? the only revolution that can save the country is this tin pot labour government (who have cost each and every taxpayer of voting age in the UK around £40,000 to correct their errors!) being voted out of office!
"So-called "off balance sheet" activities and the use of "special purpose vehicles" had been widely condemned by politicians as being tools that even many of those running them did not fully understand" so these same government politicians will now be lining up to question the labour government's "off sheet" activities? - no i didnt think so!
"Neither the Bank of England nor FSA really has the legal basis to intervene on systemic grounds, for example to tell a large bank not to expand further." we used to have one establishment in full control (the bank of england) with powers to stop banks overstretching - NOW we have two establishments both of which, dont have the power to legally force banks to refinance themselves when they are in danger of over stretching!
you couldnt make this stuff up..... who is actually running the country?
Ill leave the last word to the House Builders Federation (HBF), who summed the whole mess up perfectly:
"They are cleaning the car window when the petrol tank has a hole in it."
"Hospital alcohol admissions soar" - 22nd May 2008, from the NHS Information Centre (how much do they spend analysing things?) "NHS alcohol services 'struggling'" - 29th October 2008, from the National audit office - Government response: it said it was doing "more than ever" to tackle the problem. "Alcohol toll on young is souring" - 30th December 2008, A government spokeswoman said "ministers were determined to tackle the problem of alcohol misuse." guidelines are issued for under 15 drinking - 29th January 2009, the government have "no plans" to issue legislation The Scottish parliament to sop cheap alcohol - 2nd March 2009, Labour warned against "rushing measures through"
and today we have....
"Plans for minimum alcohol price" - The government's top medical adviser has drawn up plans for a minimum price for alcohol which would double the cost of some drinks in England.
Under the proposal from Sir Liam Donaldson, it has been reported that no drinks could be sold for less than 50 pence per unit of alcohol they contain. It would mean most bottles of wine could not be sold for less than £4.50.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said the government "had not ruled out" taking action on cheap alcohol.
indirect taxation, whereby the government increase taxes on the people, using others reports and reviews so the finger points at them instead of the prime minister!
they are truly desperate to raise revenue... whats next i wonder???
driving to work all last week, "tracks of their year years" thing was on, and this week the guest selecting their favourtie tracks was singer candi staton (pronounced stay ton) the show plays 2 or 3 of "the guests" favourite tracks each day of the week.
normally, the guest has a bit of chat and then they play a tune then more chat then another tune, it lasts about 3 minutes between songs etc. with Candi the chat was amazing, the dj didnt interupt her at all and it seemd to go on all the way to work!
what a wonderful taste in music this legendary lady has, and her manner.... shone through, seldom have i heard such a genuine "star" talking about themselves and their life.
pop over to BBCi player and upload it to the device of your choice, she (and her selections) will blow you away!
Candi Staton is what us old timers really do call "a legend"
Denz on 03.14.09 @ 10:58 AM CST [link]
Friday, March 13th
Labour keeping energy bills artificially high!
i posted a few weeks ago about why i believe the government are indirectly keeping household bills artificially high, as their revenue is shrinking.
in that post i questioned why OFGEM ruled against the suppliers in october 2008, for charging households too much for gas and electricity, but only would act if they didnt reduce prices by march 2009, after 4 of the coldest months of the year!
well, come march 2009, nothing but a token gesture from the energy companies, over 40% increases in 2008 (and that includes their so called 20% or so reductions, after consecutive rises) some companies are reducing electric bills by a skimping 8%, but its not applicable to payment meters or to people on fixed term agreements, etc, so in effect, its being used to encourage people to switch suppliers, add in their sign up fees and early termination fees, and the customer is WORSE OFF!
the government are in control of OFGEM the watchdog, behind the scenes. lack of action by OFGEM results in public fury being aimed at the watchdog and energy industry and not the government. (similar to the problems with train ticket prices - where the government controls networkrail, and charges increasing costs to rail operators, so the operators take the blame - its a long established labour trick to deflect blame)
well guess what? OFGEM and labour are upto their old tricks again!
with our beloved leader gordon brown and his band of nodding dogs, telling us at every opportunity that "we are fighting and helping all those people having financial trouble, we are on the side of the family" perhaps they would care to explain why they are allowing the following to happen?
OFGEM the energy regulator, is looking at scrapping the price cap regime, that has been in place for the last 20 years, which dictates how much the national grid (and other pipe and wire operators) can charge consumers. Network charges currently account for almost 20% of each household's bills
how does this tally in with "helping people through difficult times?" - government is running out of money coming in, so they are indirectly keeping bills high, as they are viewed as essential bills and must be a priority payment even when a person is in financial trouble, of course, the government is getting valuable tax revenue from all the high priced bills for energy, water, petrol, etc,
I wonder why our bills are still ridiculously higher than our european neighbours and why they havent come down???
Denz on 03.13.09 @ 10:09 AM CST [link]
How to stop phone calls demanding money!
the numbers of people being hassled in their own homes, for money or payment, is growing rapidly! it is also increasingly apparent that financial companies are also phoning people in their place of work and on mobile phones.
YOU HAVE RIGHTS TO STOP THIS! please dont suffer in silence and fear of answering the phone or door if you have a bill or balance outstanding, do something constructive about it and empower yourself to stop it!
financial companies taking advantage of people who do not know the laws that protect them, is disgraceful, immoral and one of the main reason i set up Penny pinchers Please add your opinions and any tips to our Penny pincher's - stopping debt phone calls thread
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: - owing a company money is a CIVIL matter - breaking the law to obtain money from you is a CRIMINAL matter - phone calls (wether you have listed your number on application forms or not) if you ask them to stop... MUST BE STOPPED! (the advisor on the phone will try to tell you that you have authorised them to do it when listing your number on applications - dont believe them,its pure trash!) - the same law applies to stop doorstep collectors visiting your home - this is also considered "Harrassment of a would be debtor"
tricks commonly used in phone calls to part you with money: - "why did you spend XXX amount on YYY things?" - its not relevant what you spent the money on, and its none of the advisor's business - "cant you sell [some of the things you purchased] to pay off your debt?" or "why dont you sell some things etc etc" - this is a criminal offence. a company (and its advisors) should NEVER instruct you to sell any assets of any kind to raise funds to pay an outstanding bill or balance. financial companies know this, but the amount of times ive heard this from advisors is scarey, in my experience id say 3 out of every 5 calls, the advisors try this trick. - similar to the last point - "have you considered taking out a loan (or other financial product) to clear your debt to them" - this is a serious error!
in every single case this has been suggested when ive dealt with companies, NOT ONE SINGLE CASE it has happened has been recorded on the advisors account notes (which is a breach of data protection law in itself) * if you are ever asked this question ask the advisor if they are a qualified independant financial advisor? when they admit they are not, then ask why they are impersonating a trained financial professional and giving you misleading and non independant financial advice!
- The most common and frustrating call, is the (excuse the french) little prick of an advisor, who confidently states "if you dont answer me now youll only keep on getting calls from other staff until you answer!" * what an irritating little nerk they are, stay calm and terminate the call.
TOP TIPS: Dealing with calls demanding money 1, NEVER confirm your personal details when a company calls you! (how do you know they are genuine?) simply tell them you dont give out personal information to callers and TELL them to contact you in writing only! (this stops them in their tracks and avoids you spending money sorting things out and when things are in writing, you wont be mislead as they wont put their falsehoods and often criminal approaches to get money from you!) 2, if tip 1 doesnt stop them, simply put the phone down. you are NOT a criminal, you dont have to answer their demands! 3, if they discuss any aspects of your account with anyone (even you) without obtaining full data protection confirmation - then register a complaint with the company in writing (sent by recorded mail) 4, if they continue to ring you, which they will until they realise you are serious, then have a read of Penny pincher's - stopping debt phone calls thread - the information there tells you how to stop the calls for good.
its hard i know, but try not to worry! these advisors get paid on getting money from anyone who owes them a debt or balance payment, often banks or credit card companies sell on debts and its those that have bought the debt that are desperate to get money from you.
a reassuring fact thats often forgotten, is that a local magistrate will look at a case and judge it on its merits, they weigh up your income and outgoings for essential bills, and make a judgement based purely on what monies you have left over. any other debt payments are also considered, ie, if you pay 3 companies £10 amonth off your debts, then they will not pass judgement for £20 for one company, giving them an unfair advantage!
if your home is involved, on such things as secured loans or mortgages, then consult legal advice as soon as possible!
if you have a bill or balance outstanding - worrying about it will not help you in anyway shape or form!
make no bones about it, i have no sympathy for estate agents and people working in this area. marketing property without any control cannot be right, especially when it is the single biggest purchase a family will make and more often than not involves a family's home.
in recent years we have seen a continuous stream of tv shows devoted to making profit from selling property, endless "reports" and "expert" opinion from websites set up for nothing more than to make money from you the public, who just want to buy a home and get good value.
even "independant" mortgage advisors have been exempt from the "how much commission do you make" laws that other industries have to be a party to.
"...... drawing on listings placed by estate agents on the websites, suggest that the tough economic climate has caused a surge in supply of rental properties - even since the turn of the year" - the key word here is "suggest" whenever an estate agent suggests anything, it normally involves costing the buyer more money!
"Despite falling rents and increased competition, we do not expect investors to abandon the market." - so why is the market "flooded" then? could it be that many more people are selling their buy to lets? isnt this showing that investors are abandoning the market and moving their money to non property areas?
"... The Globrix report found that the growing supply of properties available to rent had accelerated since the start of 2009. Although the report described the rental market as at saturation point, chief executive Daniel Lee said that supply would continue to outstrip demand." - this doesnt even make sense! although the rental market is at saturation point - supply would continue to outstrip demand this is exactly the same thing is it not?
then another mind numbingly confusing statement: ".... But the situation could be different at a local level, according to Zaza Patterson, lettings manager at Dreweatt Neate estate agents. The rental market is a localised beast and it's important to understand that in some areas rents will have fallen by less, by more or even not at all, she said."
- WHAT? ive underlined her housing market "experience" and "wisdom!"
at the side of the report, it lists other reports, again shows obvious confusion! in february, a report from the british bankers association (yes the people that think bank charges are fair!) states mortgage lending is up, for january! by the beginning of march, the bank of england state that mortgage lending has "levelled out" in another report.
in between these reports are two other reports that show house prices falling.
we all know that mortgages are artificially high! higher interest and fees and charges etc, make up the shortfalls, so the only losers are the people buying and selling, the banks are retaining their cut.
its got so ridiculous that the man in the street has to walk a minefield of hype and opinion when making the biggest purchase of their lives, a ludicrous position to be in. clearly a huge committment in buying a home should be based on fact - not the opinions of those trying to make money off the back of people?
Denz on 03.10.09 @ 10:30 AM CST [link]
Sunday, March 8th
where does the weekend go?
a sleep in until 9am on saturday morning kicks off my weekend, then its an hours wake up before bath an out doing the weekly shop.
after various walking around annoying people for money off (3 carrier bags of fresh fruit an veg this week for £6 - you dont get that at the supermarket!) i land at home just before teatime. quick tea then some work online... time for kip.
a sleep in sunday til about ten, start the european washing mountain thats piling up, washing then drying doin a bit more online, then its tea, early evening spent chilling til about 8pm, then its on to a bit more work online, before iknow it, its 10pm and just an hour from bed and another week of work...
where does the weekend go?
Denz on 03.08.09 @ 10:09 PM CST [link]
Saturday, March 7th
penny pinchers machine is starting up again...
you cannot help people all the time, but if people would just stop and think about stuff.... they could save themselves a hell of a lot of brass!
the penny pincher - goes around comes around machine - is starting up again for 2009.
already booked in are a full house removal and a full patio removal and relaying, after a 280 mile round trip. no doubt a "tip run" will be included in these operations, but it should be good fun and it gets me out of the house and giving people who have nothing a lift. this year ill be taking pictures i think of work completed and where i get to, the usual local runs are now having long distance weekend runs added to them!
where we end up and what we get upto should be at least a laugh! just look out for the dark green smoking van with an ugly driver who has bad hair!
Denz on 03.07.09 @ 12:06 AM CST [link]
Friday, March 6th
British Telecom
class this company are... heres the latest in high technology advancement from a company that are a complete laughing stock!
* for three years they have been unable to spell my name correctly * after cutting me off when they owed me money - then promising to reinstate me if i paid money they owe me (serious this is 100% accurate) i foolishly paid them - they then told me i couldnt have my connection reinstated... * they set up a log in account at bt's own website...
small problem they have not used either of the two regular email addresses that they were given, instead setting log in access to a name spelt incorrectly, with a password that hasnt been forwarded as promised.
not to worry, ill ask for a password reminder... problem is now, they have sent this reminder to the email address that bt set up (not either of our two regular addresses remember) which can only be read on bt's own website... which means to access the password reminder, i have to be able to access the email address it was sent to, this email address can only be accessed via bt's own website!
they have sent an account details reminder to a website i cannot log into in the first place. i told bt of this... three (THATS THREE) advisors, do not see a problem with this at all!
earth to bt... come in bt....
Denz on 03.06.09 @ 11:57 PM CST [link]
gordon brown is going for an april election
people of the UK, get your voting shoes on!
gordon brown has the economic summit in april (because its our turn) - expect a big push to appear in control today we have him grandstanding at the scottish conference attacking "tories" and "scottish nationals" in a big tage speech, followed by a big wave and photocall with his wife.
hes cranking up ready for a late april-early may election...
Denz on 03.06.09 @ 03:27 PM CST [link]
Tuesday, March 3rd
bt broadband... bunch of monkeys
customer service training for all BT staff:
LISTEN to your customer DO NOT repeat back to them what you think they have said, repeat what they have actually said! REPORT ACCOUNT NOTES ACCURATELY it can be very frustrating for a customer to have to repeat the same issue over and over regarding their fault, if after 200 hours on the phone your advisors still dont understand or have not solved the problem, then its never going to be solved by anyone at advisor level - in this case refer the matter to a MANAGER! ACCOUNT NOTES: ADDITIONAL you maybe sat in a warm comfy call centre in delhi, but regardless you have AN OBLIGATION to keep account notes recorded correctly, as laid down by DATA PROTECTION LAW! - failure to adhere to this law is a CRIMINAL OFFENCE! CUTTING A CUSTOMER OFF it is customary (indeed considered good manners) to ring the customer back when you put them on hold and the call disconnects at random. it might help you not to put the customer on mute every time they try to speak?
FAULT REPORTING BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS it is not the customers responsibility to ring around different departments and explain themselves 5 times a day, only to find they get nowhere! the customer pays one bill, they dont pay each individual department - it is upto the advisor to do the donkey work and speak to various departments. HOW BT WORKS the customer couldnt give a monkey's chuff how different departments work, they have a fault, they want it fixed, pretty standard stuff, they dont care about which department is open or which department deals with any one aspect of their fault.... YOU ARE BT TO THE CUSTOMER, SORT THE ISSUE OUT!
IF YOU CANNOT RESOLVE THE FAULT take the common sense approach... FIND SOMEONE THAT CAN! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK TO A CERTAIN DEPARTMENT the same applies here, if you cannot get in touch with a department because of BT protocol, then FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN!
IF YOU PROMISE A CALL BACK then call them back - it can be a tad frustrating for the customer to wait in 8 hours, and not be rang back when promised. ADDITIONAL: it can also be a mild annoyance when you have promised the customer you will take a course of action then the customer finds out 3 months later you have not taken any action, nor have you recorded what you promised on the account notes!
ANSWERING COMPLAINT EMAILS when a customer has sent 8 complaint emails over 2 months, and left instruction when they can be contacted, the normal procedure would be to contact them when they have specified. if you cannot make contact for whatever reason then arrange for a colleague or manager to do it for you!
FOOLOW THE CUSTOMERS REQUEST if a customer says hell be in at home, from 3pm to 6pm, do not "one bell" them at 10am and hang up! if a customer requests contact by email, then contact them by email. dont ring them on a sunday morning. if you promise a customer you will activate a service or correct your own billing error, then dont do nothing and leave them waiting for 7 days!
FAILURE TO FOLLOW THIS GUIDANCE will result in a loss of customers and angry smegheads posting on blogs about what a total bunch of useless pillocks all BT staff are!
Denz on 03.03.09 @ 05:00 PM CST [link]
Monday, March 2nd
protectionism?
"protectionism is the road to ruin" says our beloved leader gordon brown.
but every country on the planet operates some form of it already! i can understand that comparisons with the great depression (and the fall out it caused, two world wars etc) might set alarm bells ringing, but exactly how do you stop it?
labour ministers talk of "global" solutions, then goto european summits and support europe sticking together against the world. isnt this protectionism?
these same european countries are reknown for following eu rules when it benefits but blatently ignoring them when it affects their own governments popularity.
no government on planet earth can survive a vote by its people if it does not have some form of protectionism, look at the UK government:
- bailing out banks - isnt this a form of protectionism? i didnt see the same criteria being applied to icelandic banks operating in the UK when they went to the wall - global measures disappear when a UK resident brings in more than 200 cigarettes from a non eu country, why? (the global view changes all of a sudden if it will effect the uk government's own revenue) - how is the man in the street supposed to feel when he votes in a government, pays his taxes and then loses his job, and watches whilst this same government allows foreigners to come in and do the job he could be doing (because the government failed to control costs within industry keeping the UK competitive)
we have always operated in global trading, the confusion for this government is that they have completely lost the plot when it comes to its own electorate! if you have home grown manufacturing, then global trade will work, but to turn the uk from manufacturing industries into service industries then sit back and do nothing as these jobs are taken away to countries that dont have any criteria that we have to abide by (which means we are more expensive), data protection laws for example, has been a joke!
and what about when a downturn arrives? didnt labour consider the fact that the first jobs to be cut by a company would be those it operates in a foreign country? why didnt they consider the fact that when foreign companies are struggling they put up the prices for their goods, which if its gas or electricity or coal, leaves the UK taxpayer paying through the nose for its energy!?!
each country should support themselves, feed themselves, be as self sufficient as they can, then export the surplus they have.
the war against protectionism, has always existed and always will, nothing more than hot air from brown and co!
Denz on 03.02.09 @ 10:54 AM CST [link]
