A tale of two people – or is it two companies?

RBS Fraud Prevention Department called me last week to check some recent transactions on my credit card. We went through the most recent purchases and I told them they had missed one out – for a hotel I had stayed in the previous night. “Oh, that one didn’t go through, it was referred.” I don’t think so, I replied, as far as I was aware it was all okay. No-one at reception told me any different, anyway what reason would there be for it being rejected? “Well we told the merchant five times to call us so that we could make sure it was you and they didn’t so I’m telling you it wasn’t authorised.”

The conversation went downhill from there and included phrases like “What do you want me to do,” “What do you expect me to do about it” and “No I can’t give you my surname”.
What. Even after I’ve told you my full name, account number, shoe size, mother’s maiden name and the name of every goldfish I have ever owned. What happens if there is more than one Mary in your global operation?

It finished with that well-worn phrase from me “Can I please speak to your manager?”

Compare that with my call last night to British Gas Homecare. I had a visit from an engineer yesterday to repair my tumbler dryer. It seemed to be working but now my washing machine wasn’t. He’s been a few times already, to assess the damage and to bring and fit a spare part. The girl I spoke to couldn’t have been more helpful. She upgraded the call to priority to expedite a new visit and then called the engineer who had visited to ask if he would call me to see if we could find an easy solution. He called – even although it was 9pm and agreed to visit first thing this morning before he started his work for the day.

Two companies, two very different conversations. From the beginning of the call from my Bank I felt as if I was fighting them – even although they were supposed to be helping me by preventing my card being used fraudulently.

British Gas, on the other hand, couldn’t have been more helpful. Their objective was to make sure my washing machine worked, and the girl I spoke to did everything she could, and more, to ensure that happens.

I know which conversation left me more satisfied.

But why the difference? Does British Gas only employ friendly helpful staff while my bank employs only surly unhelpful people? Does my bank need to look at its training programme in customer service? Does British Gas care more about what its customers think than RBS?

Or is it simply that I spoke to one person when she was having a good day and the other on a bad day?

And if that’s the case, should it be? What standards should I expect from companies that are providing me with a service?

When is an offer not an offer?

When it’s an invitation to treat.

I know that we promised that Moneysucks? would be jargon-free but the difference in the two terms above is crucial and has left many a shopper frustrated because they think they might have missed out on a bargain.

The legal distinction between the terms is important in a couple of situations but the one that concerns us here is when you see the biggest and most expensive diamond ring in the shop advertised in the window at what looks like a real bargain at £300.00.

Your credit card is out of your purse or wallet in a flash as you rush to buy it before any other passer-by steals it from under your nose. 

Then the hammer blow. “Sorry, we’ve put the wrong price tag on that. It should be £3000 not £300”.

But you’re not put off as you tell the Manager that you know your consumer law and you’re sure that if the shop advertises the ring at £300 then they are making you an offer and they have to honour that offer and sell it to you at £300.

“Sorry”, you’re told. “It wasn’t an offer, it was an invitation to treat”.

And you know what? They would be correct. The retailer is not ‘offering’ to sell you the goods in the window at the price marked, merely ‘inviting’ you to enter into negotiations for them. So the ‘invitation to treat’ is like a bit of ‘foreplay’ that precedes the offer and so doesn’t form part of the process of creating a contract – and if you are a lawyer and there’s a better way of explaining this bit then please let me know!

The bottom line to this one, unfortunately, is that the bargain you thought you were getting wasn’t a bargain after all.  Better luck next time!

Do I need a receipt?

‘I don’t care if it doesn’t work. We can’t take it back if you don’t have a receipt.’

Oh yes they can.

It’s one of the oldest clichés trotted out by shop staff when faced with a customer they don’t want to deal with. “I’m sorry, we can’t take that back if you don’t have your receipt.”

But it’s simply not true. The fact is that retailers are not under any legal obligation to provide you with a receipt so it would be rather unfair if they try to insist that you need to produce one when returning goods.

So if you are returning goods beccause they are faulty, and have therefore broken the terms of the Sale of Goods Act, then you don’t need to have a receipt.

You may, however, be asked for proof of purchase and for this you could use a cheque stub or a  bank or credit card statement.

If you are returning goods just because you’ve changed your mind or they don’t fit you then the shop does have the right to insist on a receipt since they are taking the goods back in accordance with their own internal policies rather than because of any legal requirement they have.

Most retailers will allow you to return unwanted goods within a certain time frame – and it varies from retailer to retailer so if you think you may have to return something then ask how long you have at the time you are buying it.

Moneysucks Challenge – the first week

Zoe Nisbet and Mary-Louise Stone have both been keeping a note of their expenditure for the first week of their Moneysucks Challenge. Here’s the results so far, With Zoe going first:

Monday 20/02 Went out for dinner. Dinner itself was £5 and a shandy was £3.50 £8.50
Tuesday 21/02 Two slices of cake to take to my parents £2.50 each £5.00
Wednesday 22/02 Forgot my lunch today so bought water 0.75 and a salad £1.70 £2.45
Thursday 23/02 Loaf of bread £1 and train into town £1.50 £2.50
Friday 24/02 On Friday someone in our office bakes cake I put a donation of £1 in.

Finished work and went immediately to silverburn to try and find a dress for my birthday. I ended up buying a pair of jeans £17.49, then spent £12.35 in superdrug on shampoo and other hair products. Went to a charity shop and bought two cardigans totalling £4.75. I then went to get my fringe cut at the hairdressers for £4. While getting this done I got a £30 parking fee! I then went to the shops and bought some milk 0.79 £70.38
Saturday 25/02 Decided I needed to find a birthday dress, it is tradition to buy a new dress on my birthday. I spent a total of £40.97 in new look on the dress, tights and jewellery.
I then popped into a charity shop on the way home and found 3 dresses that were £2 each I couldn’t resist so that was another £6.
After my birthday dinner that my parents paid for as a gift. I bought some cranberry beer for £5 and then got two taxis to my friend’s house totally £6 £57.97
Sunday 26/02 Me and my parents visited the Polmadie car boot sale where I spent £6.50. I then went home and discovered I had nothing I wanted to eat in the house so I popped over to the shop near my house and bought crackers, flavoured water, butter, Philadelphia this little shopping totalled £7.50 £13.50
Monday 27/02 Filled up my car with £30 petrol and bought some chewing gum £0.57 £30.57

Total: £190.87

Now Mary-Louise:

Monday 20th February I bought my train ticket (£71.50) which lasts for a month and does save money, but is quite a big upfront cost.
Later in the day I went to a carvery for dinner (£8.50) £80.00

Tuesday 21st February I saw a good deal for a cut and colour on groupon so bought that (£25.00)
I’m running in a charity race in March (as a tiger…) so bought my costume too (7.98) £32.98

Friday 22nd February On Friday I bought a train ticket (£2.00), a bottle of mile (£1.30) and a chocolate bar (£0.69). What a mad Friday night that was… £3.99

Saturday 25th February My internet bill came in on Saturday (£10.30) and I then went into town to get some food shopping (£16.74), some cosmetics/toiletries (£12.00) and some rewriteable CDs (£9.99). In the evening I took a train to my friend’s flat (£1.30) and bought a bottle of wine on route (£4.99). £55.32

Sunday 26th February To save money (ha!) I bought a train ticket in advance for when I go to Dundee in a couple weeks time (£16.05). I also paid the entrance fee for the race I’m doing in March (£45) and lastly sponsored a friend who is raising money for Cancer Research (£30.) £91.05

Total: £263.34

Mary-Louise satys of her spending “It’s only one week into the money challenge and I was more than a little bit shocked when I added up how much I had already spent. In my defence, I had had some unavoidable costs such as bills… but I had also spent quite a lot of money on chocolate, make-up and socialising! My spending at the weekend was about double what it had been the entire week, I think mainly due to the fact that I had the time to go shopping, meet friends and eat large amounts of chocolate. I think that this first week did have quite a high number of ‘big’ costs (e.g. bills, food shops, travel tickets) and that hopefully, in weeks to come, my spending should even out. Otherwise I might be in trouble! Also, Zoe is beating me right now and that is very upsetting.

Zoe noticed a big difference between her spending during the week and that at the weekends, and is going to check her bank balance this week to see what other money is being spent for her. “I have been doing the money challenge for a week now. I have found there to be a big difference between my spending habits during the week compared to the weekend. During the week I don’t actually spend that much money my biggest expense will be filling up my car and doing a big food shop. I am in the habit of taking my lunch to work with me, so after the one off big expenses my day-to- day costs during the week are very small. Then the weekend hits. It was my birthday weekend so I ended up doing a lot of shopping. I needed a new dress for my birthday dinner and of course alongside the dress I needed jewellery! On Friday I am ashamed to say I got a parking ticket for £30. That was annoying expense that I didn’t expect. So all in all with shopping and parking tickets I managed to spend over the weekend £131.35 my total during the week came to £18.45. So week two begins my weekly expenditure will be more this week as I need to fill up my car and go do a food shopping. I have realised that to pop to the little shop just over the road from where I live and get groceries is a lot more expensive than going to a big supermarket and since I have a car now it is actually a lot easier to do a big food shopping and I believe this saves me money. Still haven’t checked my bank balance to see expenses that are coming out from my account. I will do that this week and account for these expenses. Week two begins my little notebook remains by my side so that I am able to account for everything I spend. An interesting challenge indeed.”

Are the banks really open for business?

Our Banks are telling us that they’re lending again, and that they are reaching their lending targets – nearly!

But we keep hearing stories of agreed facilities being withdrwan, or only being renewed at huge extra costs. And of continuting difficulties for people trying to move house, or buy their first property.

On top of that the banks are still not paying decent rates of interest on many of their accounts and millions of us haver money floating about in accounts paying no interest at all.

We own many of the banks, or so we’re constantly being told. Should we not expect better of them?

What’s your experience of our Banks.

Are they lending eonugh money, and quickly enough? And if not how do you think we should get them to increase their lending?

Tell us what you think.

Do you know where your money is?

Right, here we go. No long lists of New Year resolutions for 2012. Just one simple message that will help you no end with your money this year.

Get involved!

Don’t let everything happen passively. It’s your money and you need to take control of it all and it starts by taking an interest:

What rate am I paying on my mortgage?

Can I find a better rate?

Is my house insurance competitive?

Should I take back that faulty TV that I just put up with because I don’t really understand my rights?

Are my tax payments up-to-date?

What income will my pension give me and when?

Could I borrow more cheaply than I am at present?

How much am I spending every week? And why?

Can I afford that new car I really want?

I could go on but you get the picture by now. Make 2012 the year you start to take an interest in your money and to make it work a bit harder for you.

That’s all.

Broken camera, or broken contract?

Q. I purchased A Canon IXUS 120IS camera from Camerabox in June 2010 with a 2 year’s full warranty and a lesser 5 year one. My camera is now 18 months old has developed a few faults shuts down error 32, stores pictures up-side down and the picture jumps around when focusing. Within 2 years I am supposed to send camera to them for repair and get instructions from their web site not successful yet as I write this. I cannot reach their site directly but do when I put it on a search. I hear they were in administration in June. Is this still the case? My camera still produces good pictures I just have to keep re switching it on and orientate every picture. Should I return it to them at address I received when I bought it? Can you shed any light on their current status, or give me any advice please.
Geoff Whitby

Your question raises a few interesting points. Firstly, as far as I am aware Camerbox is indeed in administration and there is little chance of you getting money back from them. That doesn’t mean all is lost however and there are two options with regard to the payment you made, depending on how you paid for the camera. If you used your credit card then you may be able to make a claim from the credit card company under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This allows you to claim against the credit card company (and some debit cards) if the contract is broken as it may have been in this case if the camera is indeed faulty. For a claim under Section 75 to be valid the goods need to cost more than £100 and less than £30,000.

If you used a debit card than you may be able to ask your bank to deal with a refund by way of a ‘chargeback’ on the card. This effectively allows the transaction to be reversed. If you want to claim using this method then you should speak to your card provider in the first instance.

As far as the warranty is concerned my first question would be to ask who was providing it I would also want to ask who is providing the 2-year Warranty – Camerabox or Canon? If the former then you are out of luck but if it is Canon then it may be that you could send the camera back to them and ask for their opinion, especially if the fault is not something that you would expect from a camera less than 2 years old.

I hope this helps

No point crying over spilt wine this Christmas

As Christmas approaches yet again it’s a good time to make sure that your house insurance is up to date – and we’ll concentrate on your contents for today but will come back and look at the best way to protect your bricks and mortar later.

Many Banks and Building Societies are now offering House Insurance as part of their mortgage package – but often with only basic cover. It might be wise extending the cover you have so that your valuable goods are covered against accidental damage as well as against the standard risks of fire and theft. A cup of coffee or glass of wine could do serious damage to your new computer and repairs or replacement may not be covered unless you have this extension.

If you are planning to add bikes or cameras or new jewellery to your contents you might want to cover them against ‘all risks’, so that they are covered not just in your home but also if you lose them or they are stolen while you are away from home. You should also check whether there is a limit on the amount you can claim for a ‘single item’ unless it is specifically named on the policy.

At the same time you should ensure that the amount you have insured your contents for is adequate. If not then you risk the insurance company paying out only a proportion of your claim, on the basis that you have only insured a proportion of your belongings.

You should also check what exclusions apply to your policy. Many claims are denied at an early stage when policyholders are told, for example, that the camera that was stolen from your car is not covered unless it was locked in the boot, or that there is a limit to the amount you can claim for CDs or DVDs.

Remember also that you should be honest with your insurer when making an application for a policy. Don’t give them an excuse to refuse to pay your claim by forgetting to mention a previous claim, or by underestimating the value of all of your contents to save a wee bit in the premium you pay..

And if you do have to claim the insurance company will be able to deal with your claim much mire efficiently if you give them as many details as possible when you submit the claim form. That doesn’t mean that you have to turn the house upside down looking for the receipt for the new Simpsons Blue Ray you bought, but the more detail you provide the less chance there is that you will become involved in lengthy correspondence and the more chance that your claim will be settled promptly.

What’s the real cost of the Christmas party?

With the Christmas party season just about to kick-off Moneysucks offers a few tips to make sure your Festive Fun doesn’t turn into a New Year Hangover when you look at the cost of your night out.
Fixed price deals in restaurants are really popular at the moment with websites like 5pm.com doing great business in helping diners search out a bargain but there’s nothing worse than paying a small fortune for a meal when you thought was going to be a bargain – especially if you booked it and told you’re colleagues you’d sorted out a great deal for them.

So be careful when you’re ordering that you’re not racking up extra costs because the main course you want attracts a £5 supplement, or even worse that the pre-theatre menu that you think everyone will order from is so small and restrictive that you all end up ordering a la carte at a huge extra cost.

And then there’s the wine. There’s a terrible temptation at this time of the year to really push the boat out and spend more than you normally would on the wine. It’s usually not necessary. Most restaurants have a perfectly acceptance list of house wines, and with the amount that many of us drink at these parties, you’re unlikely to notice the difference after the first couple of glasses anyway.

And don’t get conned by allowing the staff to fill your table with overpriced bottled water. Tap water is perfectly drinkable and should be free in most restaurants.

And if you are intending making a night of it then you might be better going on somewhere else after your mean rather than sitting in a restaurant all night drinking at over-inflated prices.

And then there’s the bill. It’s easy to get reckless after a few beers and round up the bill to include a huge tip. So check exactly what you’re being charged for first of all. Is there a service charge included in the bill? If so you don’t want to add another one.


You might also want to check how best to add a tip, if you think it’s deserved. If you add it to your credit card payment, for example, will it still all go to the staff?

And make sure that you fill in all of the details on the payment slip yourself so that there are no gaps left for anyone else to add anything to at a later date.

But above all, enjoy yourself!

You’re for the chop!

These are worrying times for a lot of people as employers make cuts to cope with poor trading conditions. But you do have rights as employees, and it’s important to know what these rights are, and what you can do if you think that your employer is contemplating redundancies.

It’s also important to make sure that you understand why your employer has chosen you for redundancy rather than one or more of your colleagues, and to know what you can do to make sure that all processes are followed before you are made redundant

In this second part of a new series on what to do if you think you are at risk of losing your job, Dawn Robertson, Partner at Employment Solicitors Murray Beith Employment (www.murraybeith.co.uk ), looks at what rights you have.

“My employer has confirmed that they are going through a redundancy process with me and some other members of staff. What are they required to do by law?

As with all questions in law, there is never one answer. In this case, the answer does depend on the number of employees potentially affected by the redundancy process. The following answer is therefore based on the number of employees potentially affected being less than 20. If that is not the case, you should seek independent legal advice on your situation.

Under the law, the first thing that an employer is required to do when going through a redundancy process is to establish that it is a redundancy situation. Although the term “redundancy” is applied to all manner of situations, a proper redundancy situation only arises in certain specified circumstances. In general, this usually relates to a reduction in the amount of work available either as a whole or in part of the business. You should check the following website for a full statutory definition of redundancy: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/eimannal/eim13800.htm.

Once an employer has decided that redundancy is a possibility, it should consider alternatives to redundancy before properly starting the redundancy process. This means that it should give consideration to whether there is an alternative – such as reduced working hours, reduction in salary, short-time working or job-sharing – to redundancy. If there are no viable alternatives, the employer must then go on to identify the areas within the business which may require a reduction in staff. If, for example, it is identified that there are 5 members of the sales team but that there is now only sufficient work for 4 members of the sales team, then one member of the sales team will be potentially redundant. The employer needs to consider how to select that person. The first step is to establish the “pool” from which that person will be selected. If each role within the sales team is at the same level and dealing with the same type of work, the 5 members of that team will be identified as a “pool” of potentially affected employees. Taking that example forward, the management team would then be required to establish the proposed “selection criteria” for assessing which member of staff would be made redundant. Selection criteria could include a number of different things, for example: length of service; qualifications; relevant experience; interpersonal skills; disciplinary records; and, absence records (excluding anything covered by disability discrimination legislation).

The employer must then meet with the potentially affected members of staff to advise them of the situation and ask them for suggestions of ways to avoid redundancies. This initial meeting will generally be held as a group. Following on from that, management will have to advise staff whether any of their suggestions will be taken forward. If not, the employer must go through an initial selection process, at the end of which the person or people scoring lowest will be informed of a further meeting, to be held on a one-to-one basis. At this point, only the employee(s) provisionally selected for redundancy will meet with their employer. In other words, this is your chance to really put forward your case for staying in your post. You are not entitled to see what anyone else has scored but are entitled to have your scoring re-assessed in light of the information you provide. This is the whole point of only “provisionally” selecting an employee or employees for redundancy as they may then put forward examples of ways in which they should have received a higher score. It is quite often the case that this second meeting is continued to another date while certain points raised by the employee are investigated. If what they say is confirmed, it is possible that the employer will revise their scoring upwards and in doing so it may be the case that someone else within the pool becomes provisionally selected for redundancy (instead of the person initially selected). Should that be the case, they would then require to have a meeting with the management team and would go through the same process, outlined above.

Because of the seriousness of the situation and the possibility that it will lead to dismissal “on the grounds of redundancy”, the employer is required to give you the right to be accompanied at the meeting either by a trade union representative or a fellow employee. They are entitled to make representations on your behalf.

If the process continues and you are informed by your employer that the redundancy has been confirmed, you should be given a right to appeal against the decision. An employer’s failure to give this may lead to the termination of employment being deemed unfair. At the same time, you should be provided with a breakdown of the payments you will be entitled to on termination. This will include any notice period (or payment in lieu) and any accrued but untaken holiday pay, as well as a calculation of your statutory redundancy payment.

You are, in general, entitled to a week’s salary for every completed year of service. The statutory maximum weekly salary is currently £400 and your statutory redundancy payment will be calculated on the following basis:-

• One and a half weeks’ pay for each complete year of service after reaching the age of 41.

• One week’s pay for each complete year of service between the ages 22 and 40 inclusive.

• Half a week’s pay for each complete year of service under the age of 22.

The maximum length of service that may be taken into account for redundancy pay is 20 years.

If you have concerns about your position you should consider taking independent legal advice or contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau. An advisor can help you as you go through the process and provide advice on your individual situation.”

Next Page »