The dispatch of the latest issue of "The Plymouth Consumer" was less chaotic than usual. Besides the technical marvels of computerised labels and renewal notices we changed over to self-seal envelopes and self adhesive stamps. No longer are we threatened with office boys’ tongue and can dispense with sponges and the like.
The stamps are available, first or second class, in rolls of a hundred in packet dispensers. But not from Post Offices (except, for some reason, Perth). Send cheques in multiples of £20 or £26 to Royal Mail Direct, 20 Brandon St., Edinburgh, EH3 OSP. [they are now available locally]
When seeking insurance you should arm yourself with a list of all the information you may need to ask your advisor about. But is it that simple? The NfCG Legislation Committee is preparing just such a list and, so far, has reached question number 38’ There is a telling tale about insuring your property while in storage elsewhere in this issue.
Have you thought about the insurance or indemnity the ordinary people who perform services for you hold? You should find out before letting them perform their services. A dentist recently was required to pay his victim £2 million compensation for carrying out unnecessary treatment. He was covered and will not have to find the money himself. It turns out, however, that dentists do not have to cover themselves for such risks and may not be able to pay damages awarded against them. Next time you go to the private dentist’s surgery, ask to see details of his, or her insurance.
Similarly a single handed doctor in private practice may not belong to a medical defence organisation. The Medical Protection Society tells me that, so far, the General Medical Council has not been called upon to determine whether a lack of proper cover amounts to professional misconduct.
Not only does full cream dairy ice cream help to corrode your arteries but, in some individuals, it causes transient headaches, probably from action at the back of the throat as it goes coldly down. According to the British Medical Council, beef-burgers can pose an unexpected hazard. Cooks trying to separate individual burgers from a frozen stack can cut their fingers on the sharp edges. People who cook for one should buy frozen sliced foods or beef-burgers with interleaving tissues which allow them to be separated without defrosting or cutting their fingers off..
Paying bills at the Post Office is big business - for the Post Office, and they want to increase it. But there is a new player on the block which they view as serious competition.
The player is PayPoint - "the convenient way to pay your bills and its free". PayPoints are found in local convenience stores, newsagents, off licences and service stations chosen for their long opening hours, convenient locality and security.
You can pay bills, or towards your bills, by means of a plastic card from the service provider, a payment book, or a meter key to be recharged. You can also bring bar coded bills for full or part payment.
PayPoints are identified by the PP logo. To find out which bills you can pay at a PayPoint (e.g. BT phone bills, Yorkshire Electricity, several of the Water companies or British Gas), phone the PayPoint Customer Helpline on 0345 441 442 or pick up a leaflet where you see the logo.
An envelope arrived addressed to ‘The Beauty Editor - Consumer News". Inside were several pages from Diners Club International "Dispelling the myths about Mexican menus". It was very interesting. The only Mexican restaurant I have visited was disappointing. Now I shall know where to go and what to ask for. But why send it to "the Beauty Editor"?
The next issue of Consumer News will be the December / January one to appear before Christmas. Any articles with a Christmas flavour will be especially welcome. Please let me have contributions by the 20th of November. I am receiving more on floppy disks now which saves me having to type them in, unless they are in Apple Mac format which does not seem to work.
The address, as ever, is:
6 Priory Gardens
Dartford,
Kent. DAl 2BE
Phone / fax 01322 280673
or email to editor@ncf.info
Provided acknowledgement is made to NfCG, material may be reproduced freely by federated and corresponding Consumer Groups unless otherwise indicated but may not be used either in whole or in part for any form of advertising, sales promotion or publicity. The reports in it are as accurate as is reasonably possible no liability can be accepted for inadvertent errors. The articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Federation
Consumer News is published six times a year by the National Federation of Consumer Groups . secretary@ncf.info
THIS ISSUE OF Consumer News IS PUBLISHED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COCA-COLA, AN NfCG CORPORATE ASSOCIATE
Click arrow for
Contents Table
Click Logo to Return to
Main Magazine Index