back to menuBirmingham Consumer Group has increased its membership during the year. Its Annual Report indicates an active year with individuals reporting on a surprising number of facilities. The Group was delighted that BCG President Dame Rachel Waterhouse was presented with the NfCG Consumer Leaders Lifetime Award at a ceremony at the House of Lords which several Members were able to attend.
BCG members were present at a Birmingham Transport Summit in April at which many plans were revealed, including the reopening of the railway line between Stourbridge and Walsall to help cope with the increased demand for freight traffic which is set to double! The idea of a network of light railways round the city was put forward by David Goldring of Railtrack.
Sir Alastair Morton the Chairman of Railtrack spoke about making better use of what was already there, new transport initiatives take a long time to arrive. He was made aware that many in the audience were critical of Railtrack's performance. While a lot of time was spent on discussing improvements to rail stations and services, buses would continue to provide 90% of Birmingham's public transport and, therefore, improvements to the service are essential.
As part of a group from the Civic Society, BCG members visited the Midland Metro Control Centre, everyone arriving by tram, so they all had some idea how metro trams worked. A new development was the use of conductors on the trams (called customer service representatives) who could issue tickets because so many of the ticket dispensers had been vandalised. [Does this happen in Croydon? - Ed]
In the control room the visitors were shown the system whereby the controllers were in instant communication with drivers and how passengers could speak to the control room staff from any of the tram stops.
The Rag Market. There is a new Rag Market in Birmingham, properly called the St. Martin's Market, on the site of the old one, but in a new hangar-like building. BCG members comment that it lives up to its Rag Market name as textiles are still stocked in quantity by a number of stalls, as well as haberdashery which is difficult to find elsewhere. There is a huge range of other goods on sale and plenty of bargains. One criticism is that the doors have very strong springs which makes access for wheel chairs difficult and even for the less strong walkers. What a fundamental mistake to make! Another is that the floor is uneven and wheel chair ramps end in a 5 inch drop to the road, rather unsettling!
The Annual General Meeting of the Bromley and District Consumer Group, held in July, was attended by about the same number of interested people as last year - not enough! It was worrying for the future that the average age was so high. John Hollow was elected as Chairman for another year, while a new Secretary was welcomed, your Editor! The treasurer reported that funds were healthy.
The latest issue of ‘Watchdog', for June, contains a heartfelt plea from the Chairman for members to be active and not fall into the trap of expecting someone else to get on with putting right whatever is causing concern.
Someone who is doing something is member John Snell who sits on the Bromley Police Consultative Group as a representative from the Consumer Group. He writes that it is an important body and, what is more, its meetings are open to the public. Several high ranking officers attend, including the District Commander, as well as Councillors and Members of Parliament. He says it helps to shape local policing policy within the framework laid down by the Metropolitan Police, and he suggests that more members should attend meetings (they are listed in the article). They are held throughout the Bromley Police District so there is bound to be one near every member at some time during the year.
The Bromley Police have a web site - www.bromleypolice.co.uk. You can report a crime on this site which sounds very convenient.
In Bromley they leave gifts! Cats leave parts of small animals or birds, perhaps as `thank you' presents for looking after them, or is it to point out that they are keeping the vermin in check for us?
Postmen leave elastic bands. They can be found everywhere. The person writing in `Watchdog' says that those at home find the elastic bands useful (as does the Editor) but, as they have a lot of post every day they have enough bands for current needs, so they are now litter on the doorstep, on
path or border and still have to be cleared up. There should be some research carried out to find a better way for postmen to deal with bundles of mail of varying and sometimes awkward sizes without leaving litter behind or, perhaps far more simple, use bands which are biodegradable once exposed to light.
Bromley Group Members carried out a wide ranging survey, wide ranging in that they visited pubs out of the town centre as well as central ones. The experience seemed to have been pleasant in all cases, though one pub, The Beacon, in Hayes, stood out as best value for money and as a satisfactory eating-out experience. It seems that our pubs can now be relied on, in most cases, to provide a reasonable meal for a reasonable price.
There were exceptions. One pub, advertising 'all day food' had none at 3 pm on a Friday. A Cafe
Rouge branch ( a restaurant, not a pub) sat customers down most solicitously, gave them a menu and then told them that there was no food as there was no chef!
After Christmas a Bromley Group member noticed that a familiar shop was showing a sign saying "EVERYTHING 50% OFF ORIGINAL PRICES". He thought that some prices seemed to be less than a 50% reduction. He asked Bromley Trading Standards to check, which they did and told him they were not satisfied either, though the legal situation is not as straight forward as you might think.
Two days later he found, to his amazement, that two thirds of the display shelves had been cleared of all goods! He says " I have raised many matters in my 30 years' interest in consumerism, but never with such effect".
The Exeter and District Consumer Group reported in the June issue of its magazine
'EXChecker ' a out the experiences of members who considered that they had been the victims of a rip-off. The experiences were very wide-ranging and included perceived excessive overcharging by a firm of solicitors for administering a member's late husband's estate, an incompetent independent financial advisor who made misleading promises and downright lies, a ‘chartered' accountant whose conduct of business caused the client to complain to the professional institute, only to be told that the accountant was bankrupt and had been struck off the register. In the case of accountants there is no independent appeal procedure or Ombudsman. In these three cases 'EXCHECKER' delved more deeply:
'EXCHECKER' consulted the Law Society about solicitors' charges as executors. The Law Helpline said that it was up to each solicitor to charge as appropriate and methods varied. Some charged a percentage (typically 0.5 to 3% of the value of the estate), others charged an hourly rate for work done, others a mixture of both. You should, suggests `EXCHECKER', consider carefully whether you need to appoint a solicitor as executor. Many people manage to arrange probate without professional assistance. If you do appoint a solicitor make sure you know about the charging method and rate, and leave a note of this with the will so those who have to pay the bill understand it.
If you use a solicitor to help you draw up a will think carefully before you accept an offer to hold the documents in the solicitor's strong room, particularly if you do not appoint the solicitor as executor. It may take determination by your family to obtain the papers so they can do the work themselves.
'EXCHECKER' suggests that the IFA about whom you wish to make a complaint may belong to a firm with a complaints procedure. If so, use this first. If the outcome is not satisfactory then you can take your complaint to the Personal Investment Authority Ombudsman (020 7216 0016). The Financial Services Authority which embraces all the Financial Ombudsmen has a public helpline - 0845 606 1234.
'EXCHECKER' reports that there is still no Ombudsman for the profession. The Institute of Chartered Accountants does not get involved in disputes over fees unless investment business is involved. If the amount is above £1500 then the Institute is prepared to appoint an Arbitrator, which may be cheaper than going to court. The FSA has not involved itself in regulating
the work of accountants, regarding them as ‘self regulating'
There were a number of 'trade' rip-offs: a landscape firm which made a poor job of preparation and laid poor quality turf so that the Exeter Group member had to do it all again the following year. A washing machine was giving trouble, the engineer charged a hefty call-out fee, declared there was nothing wrong with it and departed. Two weeks later it flooded the room. A local man repaired it for very little money.
Even Charity Shops came in for criticism. A member bought an item from a rack marked ‘designer clothes' in such a shop. Each item was carefully wrapped in plastic, suggesting they had just been cleaned but preventing close examination. Examination at home revealed a badly torn lining and stains and it had not been cheap at £14.99.
Workmen in the home were criticised for poor workmanship and a mail order company which supplied a faulty mop replaced it but took two payments from the purchaser's credit card.
The Office of Fair Trading has often reported that it receives more complaints about cars and the motor trade than any other sector. Interestingly, the members of the Group provided four cases of rip-offs in this category and thirteen cases where they had good experiences.
There were horror stories of plumbing and electrical emergencies, though most members did seem to be able to find experts who were able to solve the problems. One reported that his three star insurance with British Gas proved to be money well spent as an engineer came in twenty minutes to deal with his emergency and there was no charge.
Experiences with builders revealed that the answer was to deal with a small local firm known to the customer or introduced by personal recommendation by someone known and trusted. While there were few criticisms of high prices, there were complaints of late starting jobs or slowness in finishing. One firm kept a member waiting several months for outside decorating but when the workmen finally arrived they did an exemplary job at the agreed price and were extremely tidy.
back to menu