Choice. .Access. .Redress. .Information. .Protection. .Representation.
Letters to the Editor
Euro Consumers
NfCG Conference & AGM Report
Are these fares fair?
Are Banks always right?
By Metro to Wolverhampton
Travelling to Thailand with Aeroflot
Hopwood Park Motorway Services
Reward Card Problems
Inheritance Tax etc.
This and That
Bits and Pieces
Joining Birmingham Consumer Group
Thank you again for producing such varied and interesting material for the Newsletter — collating such material is easy — writing it a very different matter.
In this issue you are asked to partake in another survey produced by our Chairman with clear instructions, (which should make your tasks easier than the last) again on Supermarkets, which influence our lives whether we like it or not (see "Reward Card Problems.) We have a first hand report of the NfCG’s AGM held in York. Our Treasurer has had a "Metro" experience — has any other member got such courage? Interspersed with these factual reports come the complaints or congratulations on various other factors which arise from living in 1999. Finally — the Euro, viewed from Spain.
Controversial or not, please keep writing and enjoy 2,000 - whatever gadget goes berserk on January 1st. 2000. Best wishes from your Committee members,
Ed.Midland Metro is a first class, attractive, public transport system. However, there was a very high price to pay and I am opposed to its further development because the money could be better spent in returning commuter and inter city trains to the tracks now being given over to Metro.
If it had not been for Metro, first planned over fifteen years ago, brand new but much cheaper sprinter trains could have returned to the lines now being given to Metro.
There is a severe shortage of track capacity throughout the rail network, exacerbated by Metro. Things are so bad in the Midlands that Sir Alastair Morton, Chairman of the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority, has talked of "the Birmingham Bottleneck".
The modernisation of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) is being made more fraught by the loss of the 121/2 mile line now gone for Metro and the intention of building an eight screen cinema on Wolverhampton Low Level station. That Metro One line could have been used to divert trains onto to it while track and signalling was updated on the WCML.
Metro on the middle six miles of the Stourbridge - Dudley - Walsall rail line means further delay in having trains returning to its full 13 mile length. It also means an even more difficult and expensive track sharing plan for Metro and standard trains to run on the same track. In Europe, only Germany has some track sharing. They most certainly do have the competence for such complexity but the UK most certainly does not! Good ol’ Great Britain bites off more than it can chew and shows itself to be less than great.
Tim Weller.Dear Editor,
I was most interested to read about "Reach" in the August Newsletter and am writing in response to your note saying ‘it would be informative to hear from’ any member who may know more about REACH.
I have known about REACH for many years. Until my retirement I worked in the Headquarters Human Resources Department of a large international engineering company. The company gave an annual donation to this charity and it was standard practice, when writing to a retiree giving details of his/her retirement conditions, to tell them about REACH and to enclose one of REACH’s information leaflets.
The feedback we got from retirees who had used their expertise to help charities recommended by REACH was always positive and encouraging. Charities of course were helped enormously by the professionalism of the retirees who, in turn, had the great satisfaction of knowing they were greatly needed in the most useful work they were doing.
Yours sincerely, Margaret Farrier
History must surely record that 1999 was an eventful year for the Euro I remember two events back in February. Pryca, the large Spanish hypermarket chain linked to Carrefour Of France, distributed an excellent informative booklet about the Euro - the background, members of EMU, answers to consumer questions, what changes consumers would see when shopping and illustrations of the new currency. Similar Spanish publications were appearing in banks and consumer offices, some sponsored jointly with the EU communications campaign.
Then Tony Blair announced his (in)famous changeover plan from sterling to the Euro — IF a future referendum said "yes" and WHEN the economic criteria were met. This contentious project raised concerns that, because Britain would be rushing to join as a latecomer, the changeover period would be too short. Or is the continental one too long?! Indeed at the start of this year, when the exchange rates of the eleven currencies were irrevocably fixed against the Euro, there were some forecasts that many organisations wouldn’t want to wait until 2002 before dropping national currencies.
Dual pricing has already existed for almost a year; the idea is obvious — consumers can look at both amounts so that they will become familiar with the usual Euro total of their average utility/shopping/restaurant bill. Trouble is - there’s no pressure to learn yet; just as there was no pressure to deal with the dreaded millennium bug in 1990!
Some fears about the changeover to the new currency transcend national borders, others are closer to home. Memories of "decimalisation" in Britain tend to raise worries, should we join EMU, about price increases which retailers hope will be disguised by general confusion. This issue has already been addressed by the Consumer Directorate in Brussels and the same regulations would apply to sterling. Because the Euro rate is fixed the two prices displayed during the "dual" period MUST be calculated on this rate. e.g. 1 Euro = 166.386 pesetas. So a 325 peseta bottle of wine MUST be shown as 1.95 Euros on the dual pricing, label. The Euro price can’t be rounded up to 2 because the supplier would (illegally) not then have applied the correct exchange rate. If the supplier wants to charge a rounded 2 Euros for his wine then he must adjust the original peseta price and it is at least obvious to the Spanish consumer that the price has increased.
The booklets are part of the European campaign to familiarise consumers with the new system. The very elderly, the disabled and the disadvantaged of whatever nationality are being treated as special groups because it is already known that they can suffer disproportionately in certain areas like financial services.
Continental organisations like large retailers and banks, as well as forward-looking small businesses, used the January 1999 introduction of the fixed currency rates to update their computer systems, taking the opportunity to also ensure that they were ready for the millennium changeover. Two birds
A problem being tackled with great vigour, albeit discreetly, is that of all the "black" EMU currencies which, by July 2002, will no longer be legal tender. In Spain much of this treasure is moving from under the mattress into bricks and mortar — consequently you can’t get a good builder for love nor (legal) money!
Barbara Green
In September I represented BCG at the NfCG annual conference in Derwent College at the University of York. On Friday evening there was a welcome reception and a very good dinner provided by the Life Insurance Association. On Saturday the programme was:
a) The Plymouth group had undertaken a survey of prices of electrical goods, incorporating local traders, both cash deals and interest free credit, and catalogue sales. On all the products retailers offered the lowest prices. They did not try the mail order company linked with Which? -or the Which? Internet service. The latter guarantees lowest prices. Has anyone tried these?
Another thing to emerge from this survey was that some members had been refused interest free credit, the most likely explanation being that, with an exemplary credit record and no debts, they were unlikely to fail to pay in full on the due date. The final payment is likely to be much larger than the previous monthly payments. Customers who then continue with a monthly payment end up with an expensive deal. Has anyone been refused interest free credit?
b) The Exeter group has researched Gas and Electricity prices with the aid of £500 grant from Devon CC. The information is available on the Internet from the NfCG website. (wwww.nfcg. org.uk) At least two other websites (www.buy.co.uk and www.kura.co.uk) also offer the facility to find the best deals for you. I found them easier to use than the NfCG site tables but I’m still trying to find out why they gave different answers.!
c) The Oxford group in conjunction with local Trading Standards and Social Services are looking at ways for government to meet the needs of people over 55. This is a pilot project. I was asked if Birmingham has any organisations involved in this, a question to which I was unable to give a helpful response. Do any of our members know of such a group?
As a commercial organisation BT seemed very much the odd one out here.
a) OFT is determined to ensure that any surveys or results upon which they act are statistically sound and driven by clear and well defined objectives, as is their own research.
b) NCC have published leaflets intended to help organisations consult consumers. It also intends to provide much more help and support for Consumer representatives. (Data base of reps. is to be set up.) This will take the form of training packs and a telephone line,.
c) People’s Panel project (concerned with public services — handout available) has established a web site (www.Servicefirst.gov.uk) and is looking at how the Internet can be used for public consultation exercises.
d) BT seem concerned in their consumer research primarily in finding out what is likely to be wanted in the future rather than in criticism and complaints about the existing system.
e) NfCG represents grass roots consumers but is often asked to represent the consumer view point at quite high profile events. It operates on a shoe string budget.
a) Financial Services Authority. The financial services bill is due to go through some time around the end of next year. The FSA will have considerable powers and will be subject to judicial revue. The leader of the discussion was Christine Farnish, Director of Consumer Relations at the FSA. The FSA has a helpline and a website, publishes several consumer guides and has been holding a series of town meetings throughout the UK this year. There is due to be a workshop in Birmingham. FSA will be responsible for the regulation of nearly all financial institutions and products and there will be a legal requirement for such organisations to be authorised (probably licensed). The FSA offers advice and help on how to complain about financial products.
There are also plans to put some financial topics e.g. (bank accounts, ISAs, mortgages) into the National Curriculum. I think this is quite the wrong place - it should be compulsory in-service training when young people go in to full time employment if it is to be incorporated into the compulsory education system.
b) Other workshops were on Food technology and Carers. There is a small amount of information about these.
Conference delegates were given a copy of the summary leaflet. There is also a handout from the workshop on Sunday morning which is again a summary but a much fuller and more helpful one. The intention would seem to be to strengthen existing legislation rather than to introduce a lot of new measures.
Christine Wood
As any members who have had occasion to visit either the Queen Elizabeth or Selly Oak Hospitals will know only too well, car parking is a nightmare. Spot checks showed that up to 100 cars a day are parked on the QEH site by students or city centre workers who then commute by trains or buses — not quite what is meant by ‘Park and ride". hi addition because there is no money for security patrols, there is a high rate of car crime (theft or vandalism).
To combat these problems, the Trust (together with the Women’s and the Psychiatric Hospitals) are introducing a managed car parking scheme starting at the beginning of November. Staff will be charged on a sliding scale (£30 for salaries under £30,000) and visitors (pay and display) as follows:
Up to 1 hour - £1 | 1 to 2 hours - £1.50 | 2 to 3 hours - £2
3 to 4 hours - £2.50 | 4 to 5 hours - £3 | 5 to 24 hours - £3.50
Volunteers, disabled car users and taxis will not be charged. Nor will radiotherapy and renal outpatients.
At the QEH there will be a shuttle bus linking all car parks with bus stops, University station and the hospitals. The benefits will include 24 hour security cover and improved lighting. From the consumers (visitors or patients) the scheme has a lot to recommend it, the hourly costs do seem high but presumably this is to discourage the "Park and Ride" clients. We will report progress.
Jean Powell
When I attended the NfCG Conference in York I travelled to York by train. It should be possible to access timetables and book on the Internet but, when I tried, the Virgin site was being updated and the suggested alternative required me to key in numerous details before it would allow me even a glimpse of a timetable. Disenchanted with modern technology I rang 0345 48 49 50. In order to make a telephone booking I also had to ring Trainline who are the booking agents for Virgin Trains.
The good news was that two Apex fares are now available (i) at least 7 days and (ii) at least 3 days in advance of travel, instead of the 2 or 3 weeks required when I last booked - I’m not a frequent rail traveller. The bad news was that there were no more seats available at the Apex fare for the train on which I wanted to return. Consequently I made fairly extensive enquiries and obtained the following fare structure details and information:
If, having booked an Apex ticket, I should find I had to travel on a train other than the one specified on this ticket, I could pay a £5 cancellation fee and make a new booking at the appropriate Apex or standard fare applicable at the time of the new booking. There is no way a ticket can be upgraded - it is always necessary to cancel and re-book.
Should I be unfortunate enough to miss the return train, in principle my ticket would no longer be valid although, to add to the confusion, it states quite clearly on it that it is valid for one month after the date of the outward journey. I would have to buy a £31 single. The agent at Trainline did say that there was a possibility of using the Apex ticket or upgrading it for a later train "at the discretion of the guard." To try and clarify this I asked the ticket inspector on the return train if he would have let me use the ticket for a later train. In spite of Paxman style persistence, I never got a straight answer to the question!
Unless a train is full there always seem to be quite a lot of unoccupied reserved seats. Are these reserved by people who (i) are sitting elsewhere? (ii) have missed the train or got a lift? (iii) are using only the other half of their return ticket as it is the cheapest way to make the single journey?
When travelling can be planned well in advance and there is no doubt about being able to travel on the particular trains booked, rail travel is often a bargain buy. Where there is doubt about either journey there are too many permutations to consider and bets to be hedged.
it has usually been the case that single tickets are more than half the price of a return; is it not somewhat absurd that the cost of getting home, having failed, for whatever reason, to catch the train specified on the ticket, can be more than twice the cost of the original return ticket? Finally, if anyone has had occasion to test the "discretion of the guard" I’d be interested to know the result.
Christine Wood
An illuminating account of a dispute with a bank was told to a Group member by a friend of his. The friend’s son returned from a holiday to find a quite unexpected letter from his bank. This told him he had been granted emergency overdraft facilities (at a charge) as his recent cheque for £1310.00 had greatly exceeded his balance. There was a charge of £27.50 for the letter.
This was most upsetting and surprising. He had, indeed sent a cheque to a firm for some items for the house, but the cheque was for £131.00. Somehow, this had been multiplied tenfold. He queried the matter with the bank, who told him emphatically that the cheque must have been for the greater amount, as they could not possibly make a mistake on this. He then asked for the return of the cheque, which was promised for a fee of £2.00.
He then got in touch with the mail order firm concerned, a firm he had previously dealt with. What seems to have happened was that a junior employee had inadvertently entered the larger amount on the bank credit slip. Moreover, the cheque soon arrived, showing, as expected, the £131 figure.
He sent a photocopy to the bank, and arranged a meeting with the bank manager. This involved taking time off work one afternoon. On showing the manager the cheque, there was no doubt about the banks’s error in not ensuring the amount on the credit slip coincided with the figure on the cheque. The manager apologised, and promised to refund the amounts wrongly debited. He actually admitted the bank had made a mistake!
It was at this point the customer presented his bill. £27.50 for contacting the bank, £4 for sending a copy cheque, payments for loss of time at work etc. A total of about £77. "Oh no-, we cant pay that" said the bank manager, "we have corrected our error". "Allrght" said the customer, "I’ll go to the Banking Ombudsman with my complaint, and the bill will be £100 then". The manager could see he meant to do this, and soon agreed to credit the £77 to the account. He also agreed to send a written apology.
It occurs to us to wonder just why the bank could not accept, in the first place, that an error just might have been made by them, and to look at the cheque before sending it on to the customer. The compensation payment was, on assumes, made because aggrieved customers cannot just go to the Ombudsman, they have to go to the higher management of the bank first, a matter a local manager would seek to avoid. The moral, as ever, Is that everyone should carefully check bank (and credit card) statements. Mistakes by banks can, and do, happen, though not often quite to this extent.
George Weil
I arrived at Snow Hill Station just after 11 am on a weekday. Within two minutes, having walked down rather long stairs I was on the platform and got into the Metro tram which was waiting. There is a smallish lift there as well, and an escalator to travel up from the platform. The tram is articulated consisting essentially of two carriages, with a flexible circular join between, rather similar to long flexible buses you can see abroad. The name ‘tram’ is really a misnomer. This is really a train running partly on light rails.
There are a number of seats, with quite a lot of standing room for peak times. When the tram moved off about one tenth of the seats were not occupied. Later, at one point, it was quite full, with one or two people standing. Automatic announcements are given for doors closing, two announcements for the next stop, and periodic warnings that you must have a ticket of pass to travel. The fine if you do not is £10. There is also a visual display advising which is the next stop. There are no guards or conductors — only the driver is on board. To get a ticket you must use on of the machines located at each stop. These take all coins between 5p and £2.
I was quite amazed at the smooth and speedy acceleration of the vehicle. The line runs along an old Great Western real track most of the way. New stops have been installed at most locations, though at a few, such as Jewellery Quarter and The Hawthorns, the Metro stops adjoin existing railway stations. The journey to West Bromwich, with seven stops in between, took on 13 minutes. At one point the tram was even travelling faster than a Central train on the adjoining track
Metro stops have open shelters on each platform, with transparent roofs and a few seats. There is a ticket machine on each platform, that is two per stop. If one is out of action the other one should be working. If it is not, it is bad luck for you if the ticket inspector gets on! The line is obviously well used. Many passengers got on and off at the various stops: there are 21 stops between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. The majority of the passengers, when I travelled, were probably Senior Citizen Pass holders like me.
About 90% ‘of the line goes along the rail track. Just before a stop called The Royal, in Wolverhampton, it changed to a public road, the tram was still travelling quite fast; but the road was not very busy at that time. Soon the line moved over an old central reservation, away from road traffic, over a new bridge crossing a large roundabout with a sunken centre, and to the terminus, St. George’s. This is right in the centre of Wolverhampton, two minutes from the main shopping area. The journey had taken 36 minutes.
The total cost was £144.8 million, mostly grants (E3 1 million from the European Development Fund) but also a £40 Government approved loan. Midland Metro is operated by Altram, comprising Ansaldo Transport who built the trams, John Laing plc the construction group, and Travel West Midlands the transport operator who actually run the operation. There is a tram every ten minutes, from early morning to late evening, even on Sundays (though they start a little later then). The total route is 20.4 km long, mostly on the old railway line. Only 2 km run on ordinary roads in Wolverhampton. Tracks here are flush to the road, trams have priority over road vehicles. 16 articulated trams run on the route at an average speed of 35 kph and take 35 km minutes from end to end. All trams will stop at each stop. Maximum speed is 75 kph. Vehicles are 24m long, 2.65m wide. The capacity is 158 (56 seated)
Fares seem reasonable. A return ticket for the whole length of the track,. Peak or off-peak, costs £240. A peak single ticket is £1.80, off peak £1.20. This compares favourably with railway fares which are £4.95 return at peak times, £3.45 off-peak. Moreover, the railway station in Wolverhampton is some distance from the central shopping area.
I really enjoyed this journey, saw a lot of the Black Country, crossed a number of canals, and could see that this Metro Line One, as it is called, fulfils a real need for a fast, direct service through this area. People got on / off at all stops. The information leaflets available are excellent, indicating bus connections, shopping centres etc. at the various locations. The Metro Fares Guide gives prices for all Travel West Midland cards and tickets. For example, you can buy a combined day ticket at £3 covering Metro plus all TWM Buses.
Future plans were for Line Two Five Ways to Birmingham Airport, and Line Three from Wolverhampton to Walsall, Dudley and Merry Hill. However, I gather these plans have apparently been abandoned. What remains includes an extension to Line One running from Snow Hill to Victoria Square and Five Ways. Birmingham Civic Society is among the bodies which have criticised the most alarming implications of spending £50 million or so on such a track, with "light rail" heavy trains running first through what is now a mostly pedestrianised area; and then through Broad Street. This is at present an A road, though with frequent road closures seems well on the way to being permanently closed to road vehicles. Cheaper and lighter systems, such as the Parry People Mover, are at present undergoing trials. And then there is the new Co-op super milk float, which could well provide the basis for another alternative for a cheaper and lighter electric urban transport system.
Frankly, to me, running heavy trams through crowded narrow city streets does not seem a good idea. The future should bring us something far better, and quite soon too.
George Weil
In an attempt to save money, I flew with Aeroflot from Heathrow to Bangkok via Moscow. the outward journey went very smoothly, However, there were no frills, no headsets, menu cards, films, blankets, pillows, hot towels or other "luxuries" of the sort BA and other such airlines offer on long haul flights. We took off and landed on time, were served with one hot meal on the four hour flight to Moscow, and two on the nine hour flight to Bangkok. There were plenty of drinks.
The only other inconveniences were grumpy air hostesses and the fact that there is a large smoking section. Additionally, Aeroflot regularly overbook flights, necessitating arriving at the airport at least four hours before departure.
The return journey was not so good. Although we got headsets and a film in Russian, the air conditioning meant we were freezing. When we got to Moscow, we found we had 16 hours to wait for the connecting plane, and there were treated appallingly. There was no transit lounge and there were only about 25 seats in the whole airport. There was one overpriced shop, which shut at 11 pm. We were given a meal ticket for dinner, which literally was thrown on our table. The meal consisted of about twelve cold chips, a cold meat ball with onion salad. There was a fizzy orange drink with too much colour.
Many people were spending the night at the airport. It seems that Aeroflot, during the summer "high season" arrange connections so that people travelling from the Far East to London have 16 hours or more to wait for connecting flights (those travelling from Japan have to wait 18 hours) With hardly any seating, people had spread newspapers on the floor like a refugee camp.
As a young female, travelling with a female friend, we felt very vulnerable and tried to get a hotel. We had no visa for the country — one for 10 hours cost £50 — so had to stay in a special hotel, costing £25 for a double room. We had to change cash (sterling or dollars) into rubles, no credit cards accepted. Eventually, after showing a special yellow card, our passports and tickets a million times, we were escorted to the hotel. The room was quiet reasonable, although there was no hot water due to renovation work. We had a guard outside our door, and there was one on the landing. In the morning we were woken by a loud whistle, and bundled into buses to return to the airport. Unfortunately no one had explained to us how to $~ put up in a hotel. We had to work it out for ourselves. As everyone was confused the Moscow officials get really irate. They just kept yelling at us as if we were prisoners.
The final leg of the journey was in an archaic plane, and we landed 20 minutes late.
If you don’t mind getting to the airport early and want a cheap, no frills flight then Aeroflot are probably worth it. But if the connection is more that a few hours, then I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole.
Susie Orton
This new service area for the M42 is actually above the motorway, so is easily accessible from the A441 roundabout near Hopwood on the road to Redditch. This service area is owned by Welcome Break, which from past experiences is the preferred option for service areas. Michael Wood, on the M5, which is the best service area known to this writer, is also one of Welcome Break’s.
The approach to the area is well Indicated by signs. Signing is worse when you get in: the way to get to the car parking area is poorly indicated. An apparent staff car park Is immediately on the left, and when I came in a man had to be stationed at the top, to direct cars away to their proper location.
There are parking meters on the car park. While parking is free for up to two hours, you have to pay £5 to stay longer. It seems that sometimes business people arrange to meet up here, leave cars and go in just one or two cars to a meeting elsewhere. I would think that 2 hours may well be rather stingy in terms of time allowed without charge - maybe 3 hours at least would be better.
The building of the service station is a large airy place. Loos are up an escalator, which may not be a very clever design. Difficult for, say, a coach party coming in, or for mothers with toddlers. There Is a toilet for disabled people on the ground floor, however. There is a sort of balcony area you ascend to get to either the toilets, or to a French style cafe with service. The building’s ceiling, with a glass roof, is high above everything.
On the ground floor there is a self service Granary restaurant, known from past experiences elsewhere for: quite good quality food. Not cheap, of course, but motorway areas never are. A Burger King outlet is adjacent to the restaurant, with common seating. There is a shop selling the usual items: papers, drinks, sweets and lots of other things. Surprisingly, there is also another shop with designer clothing called "Junction". This shop also stocks some other items such as watches, and has a terrific selection of low price travel umbrellas. The usual petrol pumps etc. are, of course available too adjacent to the main building.
Outside the restaurant there is a large and pleasant sitting area, chairs and tables, with a pool with fountain adjacent. On the opposite side of the building the firm are turning part of their land into a nature reserve, and have already dug out a pool. This former field, quite unspoilt, has a public footpath running through it. It goes across the service area, where it has a tarmac surface to show its exact location; you can follow it across a stile at the other end, and walk on. The nature reserve, I was told, already has a number of animals frequenting it, rabbits at least. Worcestershire Wildlife Trust are to take over the reserve when the present work there is completed.
Altogether, one has a good impression of this new facility. A service area was badly needed for this motorway, especially for travellers going on to the M5 south. Having it above the motorway meant only one set of buildings, rather than two, had to be constructed. Also, the location avoids the constant noise and fumes you get when immediately adjacent to the road. The idea of having a nature reserve, however, shows encouraging innovation, as does the design of the building.
George Weil
Like, no doubt many BCG members, we have a "Reward" card from Sainsbury’s. This gives points for purchases, when you have sufficient points you get a £2.50 voucher. This can be used to pay for goods at Sainsbury’s stores at face value. However, you can use these vouchers at a number of different places, when their value doubles to £5. This includes meals at Burger King, Beefeater and Harry Ramsdens. Vouchers can also be used for Air Miles and BT Talk Time, but I do not think their value Increases then. The offer where the value definitely increases to £5 is in using the voucher to pay towards a British Gas electricity bill.
This is just what I tried to do. I went to customer services, presented the bill, the voucher and my card. First the lady had to check if Indeed I could use the voucher for the bill, all appeared to be in order. The she used a key pad, with a screen, to enter the details. She got so far, when there was a request for my phone number. It appeared the system had switched to the BT offer, so she tried again. Same result. After one more try, I said I would call another day. I left it for about 2 weeks, and called again. This time the system hardly worked at all, did not even request a phone number, though I think it may have accepted Air Miles requests! It seems the system is installed by Air Miles.
Some days later I called for the third time. After yet another request for the completely irrelevant phone number, another assistant came to the counter. "Give it to me" she said, "I know how to do it". And she did: she asked for my phone number, entered it, then put in the account number, and the machine duly accepted the Information, and printed a receipt.
When I got home, I thought about the matter. What about customers who have not got a phone, or who do not want to disclose their number? I rang the (free) card helpline. When I told my tale, the man at the other end was really puzzled, and thought something must have been wrong with the system in this store to ask for a phone number. I pressed him for more information, he consulted someone else, and he came back with the information that yes, the system was programmed to ask for phone numbers. He promised to get more information, and I was phoned back later. It appears that if you do not have or do not want to disclose a phone number, all that the person in the store has to do is to press the "enter" button, which will bring up the next question, the account number. I pointed out that if people in this store did not know how to do this, would people in other stores know. I was sort of half-promised they would consider sending out the information nationally.
When I go to Sainsbury’s with my next electricity bill, I propose to go to a different store, refuse to give my phone number, and see what happens!
George Weil
Many people are leaving their homes to their children in the hope that the house will not be taken into account for Inheritance Tax purposes when they die. The Law states that there must be a period of 7 years from the time the gift was made to the death of the giver.
It is unfortunately true that a gift of a house in which the giver continues to live does not ensure the avoidance of Inheritance Tax. In point of fact there will be no tax savings, but the children to whom the gift was made might find themselves liable to Capital Gains Tax. This is almost certain if the property dramatically increases in value between the date of the gift and the time of death.
jt is believed that nearly 80% of home owners over 50 could be paying over the odds for their home insurance. Banks, Building Societies and other institutions are charging excessive premiums according to an Independent Survey. Consumers are advised to shop around for best value.
Some people may not use the Small Claims Court because they are unaware of how it works. The Court provides a simple and informal way of solving disputes. Once the case is allocated to what is termed a ‘tract’ the Judge will decide whether you have to attend the Hearings, depending of the nature of the dispute. If the dispute is straightforward and your opponent agrees, the Judge may decide to deal with the case on written evidence only. The Hearings are quite informal.
Before the case is due to be heard you will be sent directions. These will tell you that you will be given permission to use experts to help your case. You will also be told to send all documents to support your case to the Court, and also to the Defendant, at least 14 days before the Hearing.
Ralph Farrier.Soon, almost certainly from lst January 2000, anyone wishing to change from one phone company to another, e.g. from cable to BT, will have the right to retain their existing phone number. This will only apply for people remaining at the same address, and for geographic numbers, that is those beginning 01 or 02.
Another service, which should start next year, will be Carrier Preselection. This will enable people to specify which phone company they want to use for, respectively, local, national and International calls, and to have their requirements carried out automatically. At present this type of service can only be obtained by dialing a prefix code in front of the number. There are now dozens of different companies offering such indirect access to, often, very much cheaper phone calls.
Selly Oak Sainsbury is constantly ‘moving’ stock around even before the usual pre Christmas rush. In September such items as tea, sugar, flour and biscuits took forever to find. Evidently this "moving" is a ploy to make you travel "where you have not been before" and become so amazed at finding new commodities that you are conned into buying them. Why not leave the everyday requirements in their usual place and highlight ‘new items of interest’ in two gangways? This might result in more satisfied customers.
Mixed Packeted Salad.
According to an update on this product the ones which got a *** rating were:
If the packets contained additions such as Feta and croutons they failed to come up to the * rating. Footnote. Still into ‘greenery’ - Sainsburys have a new item on their vegetable stall - Black Cabbage!! - grown in England!!
As usual the Autumn Gas bill bore the heading "Bill inquiries - please ring 0845 609 1122. Having no faith whatsoever in British Gas ability to calculate the ‘estimated reading’ and make the necessary corrections to the next bill (in any case my powers of calculation for checking this statement are not up to doing so). The number was dialed to give the correct reading.
No doubt everyone realizes how tricky it is to keep up with the instructions of a recorded voice, however, after three attempts on the star button the Voice gave the conclusion it had reached.
"You have dialed the wrong number. The number you require is 0845 609 1144."
Unlike George I did not have the tenacity to ring British Gas and suggest all their bill head numbers needed changing but merely made some strong tea using an electric kettle!
Have you checked how much a year you are paying for your water supply lately? For a 3 bedroom semi - detached house where the hose pipe is only used in exceptional conditions, and a shower reduces the number of baths taken - Severn Trent sent a bill for £337. Has any member had a water meter installed recently, if so did it greatly reduce the bill?
The Plymouth Consumer produced these interesting statistics in their last Magazine on "Water Matters" ending: "The table below gives the amount we are likely to be paying in the next five years time compared with other water companies:-
|
|
South West |
Lowest |
Next highest |
Average |
Unmeasured |
£382 |
£192 N’umbria |
£322 Anglian |
£243 |
Measured |
£228 |
£152 Welsh |
£211 N.West |
£195 |
- perhaps their figures answers our question. Thanks.
Committee members were asked to check whether the correct ‘collection tab’ on their nearest post box was being changed correctly. Some fell short and were duly reported by Committee members. However, Ruth Klemperer’s "went quite mad the other day and read ‘1’ in the afternoon. But it now seems to have recovered" Any comments? Christine Wood has a box near her which has never borne a label or even a post box number!
Ruth still isn’t happy about bus stops either. ‘In the main, stops have some information - but not nearly enough e.g. The 54Y passes near my house but I don’t know where it stops or where it goes because of lack of information.
George Clark, a member of our Group, has written to focus on a recent tribute, published in a local paper, to Simon Rattle’s 18 years as conductor of the CBSO. This tribute failed to mention George Jonas, for many years chairman of the CBSO Committee, who was party to selecting Simon Rattle. In fact, we understand that it was essentially George Jonas who persuaded the committee to make this appointment. Thus, without him as chairman we most probably would not have had Simon Rattle In Birmingham at all. Beside his sterling work with the CBSO, George Jonas was for 15 years chairman of the Margery Fry Memorial Trust and also helped to guide many other local organisations In various capacities.
One sign of the approach of Christmas has, for many years, been the start of a flood of charity appeals. But now this annual event has a new twist; the questionnaire. Do you know how many people are affected by the charity X? Are you surprised? More questions and then a request for money. To help you fill in the answers, the envelope contains a ballpoint pen. Over the last year, one member has amassed a host of such pens, Christmas is the high point of the deluge. Ballpoint makers must be making a fortune.
Can anyone suggest what can be done with all these pens? I know: a competition for the best answer — with a prize of twelve charity pens
Maybe they are over until next year but "Which?" tells us that if you should long for some good sea air before then, the best of England’s beaches are:
Bournemouth, Skegness, Torquay or Scarborough.
"Which?" advises asking the Tourist Information Centre of the town you are thinking of visiting for a report. The Which? book — The 100 best beaches in Britain in their 1999 Holiday issue is a good buy — and high lights Barafundle Bay, Pembrokeshire, Blackpool Sands in DEVON, Studland in Dorset and Woolacombe Sands also in Devon.
It is very pleasing for the Group’s Committee, and especially for Molly Archer, our editor, to get favourable comments about the Newsletter. It is even more pleasing when one of the small number of City Councillors to whom we send complimentary copies writes to us in this vein. Moreover, Councilor Mike Olley has additionally sent us a donation to help with the costs of our journal.
He writes "as a City Councillor I am inundated with a variety of publications, most of which are discarded before even being looked at. However this is not the case with your journal — one I look forward very much to receiving". He goes on to say he finds the contents very challenging and accurate, and urges us to continue.
We are delighted to receive this endorsement from an important public representative.
. . is open to all. 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 (£13.5O for three years in advance) Corporate membership: £7 a year (£20 for three years in advance)
Cheques should be made payable to the BIRMINGHAM CONSUMERS’ GROUP and sent to the
Treasurer, Mr G. Weil, 8 Cornhill Grove, Birmingham B30 2RR.