THE BIRMINGHAM CONSUMER NEWSLETTERNo

We are an active group taking an interest in many matters affecting our community. If you, or anyone you know, are interested in taking part in our activities or just joining the Group, please complete the enrolment form below.

The Group aims to produce a Newsletter three times a year. It is sent to all members and copies are available in some city lending libraries. Contributions to the Newsletter are most welcome. Annual subscriptions are:

Individual and joint: £5 a year (£13.50 for three years in advance)
Corporate membership: £7 a year (£20 for three years in advance)

To enroll as a NEW MEMBER of the BIRMINGHAM CONSUMERS’ GROUP, please send you name, address and telephone number and a cheque made payable to the BIRMINGHAM CONSUMERS’ GROUP to
The Treasurer, 8 Cornhill Grove, Birmingham, B30 2RR

Thank you for your contributions. As you can see from the contents they are many and varied; the results of one survey, with another one on shopping to try, a Traffic Users’ Advisory Committee report from our representative, another horror story about hospital services, and updates on general matters of importance. Please keep up your new year resolution to make your committee members happy and let the complaints against bad services, praise for advice on good ones from George’s special White List (available to all members by phoning him direct,) and articles about life’s experiences, flow in making us all realise Consumers must unite!

Enough flag waving. We have decided to offer a reward for our ‘competition’ in this issue. The lucky winners to the challenge of writing on - you’ve guessed it - "The millennium". The prizes (wine, a book token, and a box of chocolates will be awarded to the three best one page articles on any aspect of the coming event. You may think the Dome is a wonderful idea, a feat of engineering so impressive that you have already booked your viewing ticket. You may however be so overwhelmed with all the warnings of what is going to happen - that you contemplate either emigration or hibernation. Take up your pens now. The next copy date is the 30th June.

Full details of the A.G.M. are enclosed. We hope you will enjoy bombarding Mr. Denis Cronin with questions. Best wishes from your Committee members.

LETTERS to the EDITOR

I am sorry I cannot participate in the survey on car parks, as I do not own a car, and my experience of being taken into a car park is very limited.

I thought the information about the bus services very good. I can no longer get on a bus myself, but I always like to have the latest information available for my visitors, although understand that my bus - the 29 - does not run strictly to the timetable! However, they are every 10 minutes during the day, so it is not too long to wait. On the whole I feel that our transport services are pretty good, when I hear of the talk of them in other places.

There have been a few grumbles relayed to me, about the new buses, which are supposed to be easier for disabled people. In order to make the entrance wide enough for wheel chair users, I understand that there is no handle to hang on to when boarding the bus, but I cannot say, as I have never boarded one.

I have used the ‘Ring and Ride’ service, and found it excellent. The main difficulty is ringing up to book it. This sometimes takes a long time.

I shall have to contact George soon as I shall need some information on more excellent workers from the "White List"

I think that consumers need to be alerted to the fact that BIOMARK PRODUCTS (UK) LT of Farnham, Surrey - suppliers of the "Kuddler" range of body warmers of various types as substitutes for hot water bottles etc. do not appear to be interested in subsequent failures of their products, or any customer complaints.

Since my original letter of complaint in September, I have sent two further reminders, one specifically to the Managing Director, all communications have been ignored.

The ‘Kuddler’ range of warmers - basically a gel in a plastic bag inside a cloth covering - and heated in a microwave oven - appears to be a good idea. But they are not cheap and do not stand up to daily use since the plastic bags containing the gel easily split at the seams creating quite a mess.

BIRMINGHAM CONSUMER GROUP
CITY CENTRE CAR PARK SURVEY

A number of Birmingham Consumer Group members carried out a survey of car parks in Birmingham City centre at the beginning of the year. It was not planned as a comprehensive survey, members armed with a questionnaire studied the car parks they normally used, and in addition some members made a point of using several others.

Birmingham Council was subject of criticism in January when plans were published to increase charges by 6%. Traders complained that parking charges were a disincentive to shoppers using the city centre and would help ‘out of town’ shopping centres like Merry Hill and Fort Dunlop where car parking was free and plentiful. The Council’s response was that the extra charges were needed to carry out a £3 million revamp to eight of the council’s 23 car parks, which have 8,400 spaces, and to provide extra staff for security in others. The other major provider of car parks is NCP (National Car Parks Ltd) with 22 sites providing 7,700 places.

The main difference between these two main providers is in the method of payment. Birmingham Council operates a ‘Pay and Display’ system in which drivers have to decide how long they are going to stay and pay at a machine on entry. NCP has a pay on departure scheme, which can relieve driver tension. The snag with this system is having to wait in a long queue to pay at exit points. Increasingly sophisticated payment machines are being installed which take notes as well as coins and give change. The down side of these methods of payment for drivers is the saving on staff costs. One of the factors drivers take into account when choosing parking places is the security aspect and there has been an increase in the numbers of patrol staff especially in the car parks like Livery Street which had a high crime rate. There has been a change in car crime resulting from the introduction of better systems of car security. Criminals are increasingly indulging in car theft by tackling drivers when they are leaving or entering their cars, in view of this fact we must press for increased security in car parks.

Lighting levels have improved over the last few years, one of the best lit with the most friendly feel is the Arcadian which has the bonus of the provisions of toilets and has adequate numbers of staff on duty. The newest car park Brindley Place has been highly commended by our members, for its lighting, working lifts, CCTVs, lavatories and visible staff on duty.

Costs are fairly uniform for all city car parks at around £1 for the first hour £2 for two hours then decreasing costs for longer stays. 24-hour parking is from £5 to £7-50. In the Digbeth area in Wells Street a family has opened a securely fenced car park with someone on duty costing £2 for the day, value for money. Thanks to members for carrying out this survey in what must be the one of the most boring and unpleasant surroundings. Multi-storey car parking is not the most pleasant experience for drivers.

SHOPPING BASKET

The Plymouth Consumer Group often produces an article comparing shop prices. Your Committee thought this might be a useful and also a fun survey for our readers. We are asking you to compare "own brand products" stocked at any shop, or shops, of your choice.

A questionnaire is enclosed with this Newsletter. If you do want to survey more than one shop, please either photocopy the questionnaire or enter the item numbers and categories (e.g. 1. Milk) on a separate sheet. In order that we can compare "like with like" please state if the product is labelled "Economy".

Please return to me by 1st May and we will collate and publish the results in the next Newsletter.

SOUP TASTING SURVEY

Your Committee members (8 in all) took part in a working lunch! i.e. they tasted six samples of soups. The ingredients were of three types, Tomato, Celery, and Carrot. Three ‘specimens’ were home made with fresh vegetables, stock cubes and water plus seasoning.

The other three were ‘shop bought’. Heinz tomato, Heinz celery, and Campbell’s Carrot and coriander - a new addition to the Superstore shelves, a liquid soup in cartons - with a short sell by date limit. The later was the most expensive, Heinz soup was under ‘special offer’.

If you think the ‘specimen A’ tomato soup is ‘shop bought’ then enter S in the box. Likewise, if you consider specimen B carrot soup is home-made then enter H in the box.

Results. Only 5 of the 48 choices were incorrect did this mean that in five cases the taster preferred Shop soup to home made? Or did it infer that the Home-made was so ‘homely’ (whatever that means) that it instantly made an impression on the taste buds as being different? You never can tell with surveys - but one certain conclusion is that the home made variety was packed with vitamins and certainly fresh - our greengrocer gets his produce from the market each morning and it has been soaped’ by lunch time the same day, at a minimum cost.

There is no copyright required for this survey but it would be interesting to see some more results. Do try it out and write in, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

ARE YOU BEING SERVED?
CUSTOMER CONSULTATION

In March ‘98 a meeting was organised in the Council House by the Trade and Consumer Panel subcommittee of the Birmingham Environmental Services Committee, to make recommendations for the development of fair trading, and also to encourage liaison between the Environmental Services Department and legitimate trade and voluntary organisations.

It opened with brief presentations by representatives from the Consumer Group, the Citizens Advice Bureaux and Tradings Standards, followed by workshops and then a general discussion.

George Weil gave the first presentation (reminding us that B.C.G. had started in 1963, before there was a Trading Standards Dept.) and proposed that a list of good traders should be made available and that people should be encouraged to get advice before things go wrong. Carol Coombes, the Development Officer for the C.A.B, said it was important to inform people of their choices. They are also looking into national issues.

Diane Telford, of the Trading Standards Dept., said it was there to benefit everyone, both traders and consumers. Advice for consumers is available at the Consumer Advice Centre (C.A.C.) and also at C.A.B’s. Traders had to think about their obligations and selling practices. The Trading Standards Dept. has five teams, looking at:

The discussion groups then considered the major consumer issues in Birmingham and how Trading Standards could help. Access to services was seen as an important issue, ranging from problems of the old and disabled, not only in New St. station but in some shops (although the big stores were said to usually be helpful), to the need of more bus lanes. Trading Standards are looking at the possibility of identifying and labelled reliable services e.g. builder, although it was pointed out that there would probably only be a check once a year, and things could go wrong in between, with consumers being potentially misled.

Perhaps the most important issue was access to advice and help. The public can phone Trading Standards if there is a specific problem or the C.A.C. for general advice (free phone 0800 413381) or it can be visited. It gets about 50,000 enquiries a year, but even so, does everyone know how to find it in Corporation Street, or about the Money Advice Unit adjacent to it? How many people have found the facts sheets to help them sort out their gas and electricity bills, in the C.A.B.?

Frequent simple advertisements about help centres (and phones) were asked for in the local newspapers, and also in Birmingham Voice which should reach every household. If you haven’t had one for over a fortnight, phone 234 5666.

TRANSPORT REPORTS

PUT THE BRAKES ON METRO

Birmingham Consumers’ Group has urged Birmingham City Council not to extend the Metro line to the City Centre and Five Ways. At its Annual General Meeting members agreed that any proposal to take the line through narrow streets and pedestrian areas would put shoppers off. But Colin Eastman, assistant director of the council’s transport department, said the plans for the line would not interrupt the lives of shoppers.

The trains will be silent and run every six minutes. They will be an improvement to the present situation where we have 150 buses through the centre an hour" The proposed route would take trains from Snow Hill, through Corporation Street, to Stephenson Street and on the Five Ways via Victoria square and Broad Street.

Mr Eastman added that the £10 million cost of the project, on schedule for the year 2001 would pay for alternative bus routes.

Evening Mail, Monday August 31 ‘98

BIRMINGHAM TRANSPORT SUMMIT
October 23rd 1998

Following the publication of the Government’s White Paper on transport policy, the Birmingham City Council decided to have regular Transport summits to give members of the public opportunities to discuss their views. If you missed the first one and would like to attend the next, probably in February 2000, call Trevor Errington on 303 7195.

This year the meeting (free) was held at the Forte Posthouse, from 8.30 till 5 pm, and about 200 members of the public, nearly all men, attended. In the morning, there were speakers from the Council but also from the RAC, Transport 200 and other organisations. The afternoon was used for small group discussions on specific topics such as commuting, public transport, cycling and air quality followed by reports back to the full meeting.

The worry is that if nothing is done, the increase in car usage will result in a gridlock in the city centre and there was much discussion on improving public transport, encouraging more cycling and more pedestrianisation. Public transport was regarded as the most important issue but while most of those present emphasised its value it was clear that very few of them would actually use it. "Buses are often dirty" and "You might have to sit next to someone drinking coke." Likewise, the promotion of cycling was almost universally welcomed, but for others, not those at the meeting. Speed limits of 20-25 mph were suggested for residential areas and better street lighting, as both would encourage walking and cycling. Better park-and-ride facilities would help main roads, with more, and more continuous, bus lanes, so that buses might even pass cars!

If anyone would like to borrow the "Proceeding of Birmingham Transport Summit" I would be happy to lend it. I also collected other useful leaflets:

And finally, did you know that a 35 year old man cycling 12 miles a day extends his life by 2.5 years according to the British Medical Council?

TRANSPORT USERS’
ADVISORY COMMITTEE

2. Centro (W.M.P.T.E.) has drawn up a document entitled ~‘A new deal for Bus Partnerships in the West Midlands." This is a voluntary agreement on practice for the independent bus companies operating in the Centro area. The document is at the consultation stage, copies should be sent out soon and I have asked that one be sent to the Secretary of B.C.G. so that the committee can be involved, if we wish, at the consultation stage.

3. There is also a copy of the Annual Statistical Report, distributed before the meeting with the agenda. Apparently, in spite of the acquisition of new rolling stock, the rail network is at its worst for four years.

4. It appears that Birmingham has no centre where rail tickets to many destinations on the continent can be purchased now that the European Ticket Office at New Street station has been closed. The Information Point is also due to close at Christmas. Presumably Virgin has no legal obligation to keep these services open.

MORE ON OUR MEDICAL SERVICES

I wasn’t as unlucky as Ruth Klemperer, although I felt pretty sorry for myself at the time, when, early in 1998, I had the opportunity to test our local hospital services on treating a serious leg injury.

Leaping around on a badminton court, I had sustained what I supposed to be a severely pulled muscle. However, several days of rest and ice packs failed to make any improvement whatever and the muscle still refused to function at all. I went along ( or rather my husband drove me) to the doctor who said she thought I had ruptured my Achilles tendon and sent me along to Selly Oak hospital with a letter to that effect (or so I assume - I never read it).

The Accident and Emergency Clinic was busy and slow moving. Expecting a wait I’d brought a book. The staff were pleasant. The doctor I saw that day recommended continuing ice packs and resting as much as possible, and gave me an appointment for the Review Clinic the following week. His opinion was that the tendon might just be strained. Unfortunately it subsequently became apparent that this cost me an extra week of inaction.

The following week my husband was working away from home. I could walk after a fashion by moving my "good" leg and using my "bad" one just as a weight support. (Driving was out of the question as I couldn’t depress the clutch ; we don’t have an automatic car and so there was no need to agonise over the validity or otherwise of the Insurance policy. ) I got a taxi to the hospital, saw first one of the team of doctors then the consultant who showed both of us how to feel and find the place where the tendon was definitely ruptured. Then he disappeared and left the doctor to explain my two devil-and-deep-blue-sea options, which were either to have my leg in plaster for 8 weeks or to have surgery and then to have my leg in plaster for -guess how long - 8 weeks.

It proved virtually impossible to elicit the grounds on which I was supposed to make this decision. The doctor was reluctant to give any positive advice - with our readiness to sue for medical negligence we seem to have deterred the medical profession from giving us what surely must be a better informed opinion than our own. Some weeks later, after further enquiry, I came to the conclusion that (1) for athletes surgery is often preferred as there is some (inconclusive) evidence that full mobility is regained more quickly (2) doctors themselves are divided on the relative merits. There was no way that I was subjecting myself to knives and anaesthetics under the circumstances. Besides if the plaster didn’t work I’d have a chance to try surgery but if I died under the anaesthetic that would be that

There was quite a long wait to have the plaster put on but the procedure itself was carried out quickly and efficiently. I was given some crutches with which I progressed gingerly for a few yards whereupon I was pronounced able to manage them and returned by wheel chair to the main clinic to make an appointment and then go home. Like Ruth I found that one was expected to return the way one came. I couldn’t put my plastered foot to the ground and was not a little disconcerted at the thought of being in plaster for 8 weeks. Plaster had not been mentioned the previous week and was not an eventuality that I had anticipated. I had little confidence in my ability to get from the taxi to the front door and, even if I got the taxi driver to open it, I couldn’t see how I would get up a high step into the house and then up 4 stairs to disable the burglar alarm. I suppose letting it ring would be an effective way of summoning

assistance. I asked if the hospital provided a service which included helping patients into the house; it appeared not. I tried elsewhere for assistance and my daughter not only took an extended lunch hour to take me home but also increased her journey to work considerably so that she could stay and help me for the rest of the week. Maybe the reception staff judged that I would manage and, of course, they were right. They did let me use the Reception telephone and they were extremely busy. However, I did wonder what would happen to someone without relatives or friends available to help. It took me some time to evolve strategies for coping with stairs, transporting drinks and balancing crutches. It must be possible to design crutches which can stand unaided. You only have to look at the wretched things and they slide down the wall.

I visited the Review and Fracture clinics on five more occasions in total. When I had appointments the wait was never unacceptably long. Changing plasters was always quick and efficient. The staff were pleasant. It was only on the two occasions that I saw the consultant that I could get any information on how I could expect the tendon to progress - whether there was a good chance of a full recovery, how long it would be before I could drive once the plaster was off etc. Maybe I am naive and ignorant but I was unprepared and dismayed at the length of time that it took once the plaster was removed before I could dispense with first the crutches and then the stick and at the tendency of my ankle to swell alarmingly. It would have helped if I had been more mentally prepared.

Before my last two appointments at the Review clinic I had individual physiotherapy and attended classes. The Physiotherapy department was excellent. There was virtually no wait for the first appointment. Appointments and classes ran to time and the staff were very helpful and informative. I wanted to do another course of classes but was declared fit enough to be discharged.

At my final appointment at the review clinic I asked before I left if the hospital had any kind of comment and suggestion sheet for patients to fill in. Although I was directed and redirected to several different places and people seemed to think that they had come across one somewhere, no-one was able to find one to give to me. I wanted

I have since found on my physiotherapy appointment card a paragraph on COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS AND COMPLAINTS. It seems that I should contact the Chief Executive who will consider them fully. Perhaps I should send him a copy of this.

PRIVATE MEDICAL CARE

Having spent virtually all my working life in the NHS I had always assumed that it would care for me in my old age. However, the ever increasing demands on the service (largely resulting from the new technologies, drugs and the ageing population) made me realise that, although some care would be available, it might not be of the quality which I would like. On investigating the possible alternatives in private health care, I found that it was far more complicated and expensive than I had realised, particularly as my top priority was ensuring that, should the need arise, I could see the consultant of my choice.

The following points need to be studied, particularly in the "small print" of the brochures:

Choice of Hospital. Each company has various levels of cover i.e. hospitals are grouped into A, B or C bands. The latter only provides for treatment at a relatively few selected hospitals. The treatment may be perfectly adequate, if a little farther afield, but you may not have a private room and, if the consultant you wish to see does not have beds in that hospital then you will have to see someone else. Not exactly freedom of choice!

Conditions excluded. Some policies state that, if the condition can be treated within six weeks at a NHS hospital, then you cannot claim benefit for treatment in a private hospital. This is great in that it assumes that urgent illnesses will be treated under the NHS but again you may not have a choice as to whom you will see. Pre-existing conditions will not be covered unless your policy is fully underwritten.

Optional excess. You may choose to pay the first £200 or whatever. If so, it is essential to check whether this applies per year, per condition or both. If it is the latter and you are unfortunate enough to fall ill with two different conditions - the cost will be £400.

Outpatient consultations and diagnostic procedures. It is important to check whether these are included - bearing in mind that a "new" i.e. first consultation can easily cost £70 and a follow-up consultation £40. If you think these are expensive, they are very similar to the true cost of a NHS consultation. Diagnostic procedures can be even more expensive. Out patient cover is the most widely varied part of most policies and should be read very carefully. The cheaper policies will only cover you if related to in-patient treatment.

Day treatments. Check whether treatments which are often given as outpatients e.g. physiotherapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy are eligible for benefit.

Birthday "presents". An increase in premiums as one gets older may be expected but check how large this will be.

In the end a friend recommended an Independent Health Care Advisor, who after discussing my requirements and priorities, provided a table which showed the relative options, benefits and costs of about six different companies and levels - a short list from the hundreds available. He will also review and keep an eye on the value for money of my policy at no extra cost to me.

BITS AND PIECES

FIVE WAYS STATION LIFTS — AGAIN!

All last August and half of September both lifts at this station were out of order. Notices on them indicated they were waiting for parts to repair them. This went on for many weeks, and finally I decided to phone Centro to tell them about the matter. Within less than a week the lifts were working. Moreover, I had a letter from Malcolm Cantello, Public Affairs Manager, to explain the position. This included the following information:

"I was sorry to learn you had been inconvenienced when trying to use these lifts but apparently, the station staff had been told that the lifts needed parts and so had isolated them. What they had not been told was that the lifts could still safely be used without these replacement parts. The maintenance contractor carried out a further safety check on Friday and reactivated them for public use. Our inspectors have since checked the station facilities and found every thing in full working order."

These facts disclose a quite appalling lack of communication here, and serious deficiencies in the management. It would seem that, had I not let Centro know of the position, this lack of service could have gone on for months. The provision of parts was evidently not an urgent matter.

HOW GOOD ARE CREDIT CARDS?

credit card, inevitably of the Visa variety. Among the promises in the literature, is the acceptability of these cards in scores of thousands of locations worldwide. Of course, when one goes abroad, many, perhaps most, shops carry the Visa and Mastercard signs on their doors. However, when I tried to buy a pair of sandals last summer in Switzerland, the shop’s machine simply rejected my card. Not just my card, though. The saleslady told us that on sometimes the Visa system just did not work there, and they could not get transactions authorised. I tried another Visa card — the result was the same. Luckily, I has enough cash left (we were leaving the next day) and bought the sandals.

On return, I phoned the credit card companies concerned to let them know of the matter. Sainsbury’s Card people in Scotland listened politely, but did not offer to investigate. MBNA Visa Card were more interested, rang back, but merely suggested that the machine in the shop had not been used properly by the staff. Incidentally, I did use my credit card a couple of times on this holiday, but each time the shop used the old fashioned imprint machine, so there was no problem.

A few days after our return, an article in the travel section of Saturday’s newspaper was all about a stay in Florida. A cheerful article, which contained the following: "I have failed to purchase anything, thanks to Visa and the so-called "Co-operative" Bank declining to authorise payment on a hilarious whim."

It seems thus to be a not uncommon experience, when abroad, to find not all the thousands of outlets actually let you use you Visa card. Next time I go out of the country I shall take a Mastercard as well — maybe it works better!

A BREAKFAST BARGAIN

Have discovered that in Rackhams Roof Top Restaurant you can, but only before 11am, get a five item breakfast (choose from bacon, egg, sausage, fried tomato, beans, mushrooms, fried bread, hash browns), plus toast, plus tea or coffee, for only £1.99. Quite a substantial meal. If you have a Gold FraserCard you even get all this completely free!

SOME PHONE PROBLEMS

We heard recently of a cable phone customer who wanted a second line installed. He was given no less than five separate promises when engineers would call to do this work, but no-one turned up. The sixth promise was kept, although the engineer turned up very late, and the customer had to go out. A line was installed, but in the wrong place. They did agree to call back, on a Saturday, to change it and did so. Our member tells us that a week later an engineer turned up again to do the work which had already been done! A claim for damages for the time and effort spent in getting things put right actually resulted in a modest compensation payment.

I have had a problem of sorts with another company whom we use for national and international calls. These go via "automatic call routing" — a box provided by the company which is supposed to switch all calls which would be dearer with BT through this firm instead. Low cost calls also went via this route, and were also cheaper than with BT. However, last autumn I noticed that calls with 0845 prefix were suddenly much dearer than BT. After mid-October all low-cost calls, such as those starting 0345, became more expensive than BT, but were still routed via the box to this firm. I had already phoned and written several times, and particularly complained that I (and, no doubt, all their other customers) had not been advised of this price alteration. Finally, they sent me a new box, which, hopefully, will solve this problem.

Having calls routed automatically like this is very handy, though this company is not necessarily the cheapest. Having made some enquiries, I think that for anyone over 50 the Saga Telephone Service is probably one of the cheapest. This goes through a firm called WorldCom. You dial a three figure prefix to send calls through them. They also give a 5% discount on the ten most frequently called numbers, but this does not depend on the cost of calls, just the actual number of times you ring them. To get this service you need a Saga Visa Card. Phone bills are charged directly to this card, which has no annual fee. Phone 0800 214 836 for details.

We had a little problem with BT in the autumn, when they decided that the cable running from the pole to our house was too low, and had to be replaced. Our problem lay not so much with BT, rather with Fujitsu, the contractor. Having read in the PLYMOUTH CONSUMER of some problems with this firm in their area, we were also a little concerned. Our concern was just where and how the contractor was going to attach the new cable on the house, and connect it to the phone. However, after numerous phone calls, and some letters from Fujitsu, the matter was resolved, and the new cable attached. I took some photos of the engineers too, just to make sure everything was all right.

It is my impression, reinforced by things I read in the press, that BT are now much better at handling complaints than they used to be. Minor matters seem to be resolved by a speedy credit on the next bill, a credit which more than compensates for any loss. This happened to me twice, and I was more than satisfied each time.

Advice from THE PLYMOUTH CONSUMER:

Computer Millennium- If you know that the internal clock on your computer will not record the year 2000 it is suggested that on 31 December 1999 you set the year 1971. This will then trip over to 1972 which was a leap year beginning on a Saturday, the same as 2000. You will have to remember to correct the year on your correspondence or enter it manually. However, an inventor has claimed that his unit plugged in between the printer and its connection will automatically adjust the computer each time It is switched on. The price is expected to be about £50.

(Similar advice appeared in a daily newspaper many months after the above was published. There, it was also suggested that items such as older video recorders which are unable to show the year 2000 could be adjusted to the year 1972)

CONTINENTAL CONSUMERS

If you’ve ever visited and explored Spain, "consumerism" probably came to mind, if at all, a long way behind the food, the wine, scenery, climate and lovely people. It is, however, interesting to make comparisons between the UK and a "Euroland" member state like Spain. Over the last decade the development of consumer services, the freeing up of State monopolies and the growth of competition has been exponential- driven in recent times by Spain’s desire to become a modern European country and a member of the first wave of EMU qualifiers.

Like some other European nations but, one suspects, unlike the UK, she is not a devoted adherent of Directives that emanate from Brussels. For example, she’s been very slow to enact timeshare legislation that permits a "cooling-off’ period. Although the best protection you can have on the streets of a Spanish resort is to simply deep walking - no faltering step, not responsive greeting -just keep going! An aspect of consumer protection that applies the world over - just walk away, whether from timeshare touts; junk mail offering anything "free"; or, in Spanish supermarket car parks where foreigners are much in evidence, from anyone telling you there’s a cat trapped under your car. Not only will you not see a cat when you look, you won’t see your handbag when you stand up!

_ Nevertheless there are many consumer organisations, as well as environmental ones in Spain where local authorities run consumer offices to deal with irregularities and complaints. On holiday you may have seen the signs that are required by law in all shops, bars, cafes etc. -HOJA de RECLAMATCION. They carry an English translation explaining that a complaints book is available to anyone who requests it. These complaints are passed on to the authorities, but it’s as if just asking for the book is enough to sort out any problem. All utilities and organisations like banks have their own complaints procedure.

Fresh food in markets is just that - fresh and refreshingly different from shrink-wrapped, regulated and sprayed produce in supermarkets. It’s hard to remember that strawberries will go mouldy after a couple of days because they are unsprayed, and who wants to keep them that long anyway! Try telling a Spanish smallholder that lemons (sprayed!) are 20p each in a British shop, when his are lying in profusion under his trees and not even worth collecting for market.

For expatriates of whatever nationality and in whatever location, one of the main concerns is the dissemination of "consumer information". What to do, where to go, what happens if who to talk to. To this end, advertisements and notices appear in local "freebies" and via local radio stations broadcasting in English and other European languages. Not forgetting, of course, that superior consumer relay facility - word of mouth.

One familiar organisation that does much for older expatriates is Age Concern - the Federation of Age Concern Spain. It issues a Newsletter and fact sheets; it is a member of Eurolink Age, keeping abreast of matters relating to older expatriates and discussed at European Parliament level; it also works closely with Age Concern England and its International office.

Europhile or eurosceptic, we must acknowledge the high standard of living that our continental neighbours expect and enjoy.

SAVING WATER

Severn Trent Water are very keen to get us to economise, and have produced numerous leaflets about this topic. They point out, correctly, that toilet cisterns account for a large proportion of water use in the home. Their suggestion for saving water here is to place a cut down plastic bottle filled with water in the cistern. This rather differs from Anglian Water’s method, which involves using a half litre bottle made of strong plastic. Anglian actually supply these bottles, free of charge, to their customers. They suggest putting a little sand in the bottle before filling it with water and tightening the cap. I would suggest that a plastic one pint milk bottle, the squat type sold by supermarkets, would be effective.

For older cisterns, those fitted before 1993, the HIPPO water saver should be suitable. Severn Trent are not very keen on these, but they do supply them if you ask. Phone 0121 456 1011, ask for customer service, and you can order up to three HIPPOs. They take some weeks to arrive - they have to be sent from Leicester. Older cisterns use much more water than newer ones. Living in an older house, I have found the HIPPO very easy to fit, and find it is most effective. Old cisterns use 9.5 litres per flush, newer one only 7.5 litres, and a plastic bottle would be better here. Take care if your cistern has a dual flush, though. I would be careful about using a HIPPO there. The reason I favour the HIPPO is that it saves about 3 litres of water a flush, substantially more than other methods, and there appears to be no loss of effectiveness in use.

While we save water because we do not like waste, people with meters should certainly try to save water In every possible way. Saving it by reducing the quantity used in flushing is by far the easiest and most effective method.

Leaflets on saving water, not only in the home, but outside as well, and for special advice on avoiding burst pipes in the winter, can be obtained from Severn Trent. Members who get their supplies from South Staffs can ask that company if they have similar information and/or water saving devices. If anyone wishes to buy quantities of HIPPOs, the phone number for this is 01989 766 667.

SEND YOUR CAR BY SHUTTLE

A short time ago a small advertisement appeared in one of the National Sunday Newspapers offering overnight transport of private vehicles to Scotland, so we decided to contact the given phone number for more details.

We discovered that Auto Shuttle Express had commenced an overnight transporter service to Scotland to fill the gap in the market created by National Rail no offering a sleeper service only - no facility for the transport for the transport of vehicles. The service primarily operates from the London area but they are prepared to include such places as Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol etc. by arrangement.

When confirming the booking we discovered that Auto Shuttle Express now have reciprocal arrangements to pick up and deposit vehicles at Airport Services which operate a 24 hour, 365 day a year, secure car park at most airports in the country. As ours was the first booking at the Birmingham Airport Services on behalf of auto Shuttle Express, several telephone conversations had to be made to ensure a smooth handover of our car.

We took our car to the Airport Services car park in Mackadown Lane and then made our way back to the centre of Birmingham to catch a train to Inverness. Virgin Trains operate twice daily services to Edinburgh (Haymarket Station) where a transfer can be made to ScotRail for the remainder of the journey - in our case, Inverness. We did consider flying up to Inverness but discovered that from Birmingham the air fare would be approximately £200 - it would be cheaper to fly somewhere in Europe! Again there would be no direct flight from Birmingham and would involve changing at Glasgow Airport.

We collected our car next morning at the back of Inverness Station and were then on our way to the Isle of Skye. The two things which appealed to us most were the fact that we did not have the long drive up to Scotland and we did not have to carry any cases as these were left in the boot of the car - we only travelled with an overnight bag. On the return journey we left out car at the railway station, travelled back to Birmingham by rail and then collected our car from Air Parks.

We are happy to do this again next year and if anyone would like to consider a similar arrangement for holiday or business, information can be obtained from Auto Shuttle Express Ltd. Tel no: 0990 133714. While on the Inverness station we discovered that Caledonian Sleepers were also linked to Auto Shuttle Express and were offering a discount on bookings between London and Scotland combining the two services. Our total cost was £275.

LEASEHOLD CHARGES

The new Leasehold Reforms will make it possible for flat owners to buy their freehold.

A Consultative Document issued recently should be welcomed by Residents’ Associations. Controls will be introduced to monitor ‘shady’ Agents. Leaseholds will also be given the right to manage blocks of leasehold premises which will enable tenants to set their own service charges.

There is one glaring omission in the Consultative Document - it does not deal with the value elements, which give freeholders unearned and unspecified payments after selling the lease to a resident.

Another concern is the ability of unethical Managing Agents to carry out shoddy and overpriced work and pass on the cost to Leaseholders who may not have any say in the matter.

BOOKING A JOURNEY

Making a package holiday booking is fairly easy. You look through brochures, pick one or two possibilities, go a friendly travel agent and arrange things. Our proposed journey is much further, and not so simple. We wanted to book a trip to New Zealand, where our daughter lives. We also wanted to avoid the horrors of Heathrow, and travel from Birmingham, changing planes in continental Europe somewhere. On top of this, we wanted to fly to Wellington, rather than to Auckland.

An advertisement in a Sunday paper was our first lead. It may well have been cheaper — the flight from Australia to New Zealand was free - but it meant a telephone booking. I rang anyway, got a quotation: Birmingham to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Sydney, Sydney to Wellington. Fine so far, but for some strange reason, the return journey ended at Heathrow. There was a time limit on the free flight from Australia, and frankly, we prefer to deal with someone face to face.

The next stop was a local travel agent. This firm have a special agency with KLM airline, and were able to quote a very keen price for the trip to Sydney, going via Amsterdam. Unfortunately, the onward journey to New Zealand would have been very expensive, since KLM do not have joint booking arrangement with any airline going there.

Meanwhile, having called at the British Airways office several times to get their new timetable which was late coming from the printers, they took my address. A few days later they posted it to me. Here, I was able to work out a route using BA and Quantas, who have joint booking arrangements. We first thought of travelling out via Frankfurt, and returning via Paris. We went to Trailfinders in the city centre, and made a provisional booking. Then, looking at the flight times again, we realised that going via Paris both ways meant lesser waiting times and an earlier return time. We made our booking using this route, and also arranged (and paid for) a few nights stay in Sydney. Trailfinders, unlike most travel agents, make no extra charge for using credit cards.

Having the BA timetable has definitely been useful here. We have since obtained a Quantas timetable as well, since all flights other than the legs from and to Birmingham are with them. Quantas, unlike BA, even state all flight time in their booklet.

We needed travel insurance as well. Here Trailfinders’ was good, but terribly expensive for pensioners. After looking round, we chose Bradford and Bingley. They only charge a modest fixed increase above standard rates if you are older, but you do have to phone them and get an acceptance if you have any medical problems. Their premium rates are most reasonable, and the cover is good. They have special reduced rates for a couple travelling together, and on top of this give a discount if either of you is a member of the society.

Had we not been a little particular about our route and final destination, we might have made cheaper arrangements. But having travelled with Quantas many years ago, we had a good impression of them, and the route and timing suited us.

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