Latest moan from me and you!!!

Keep it on a low heat Jenny, things may all change by next month's meeting.

Bonus, definitely not - I'd be happy to get the same wage rise that the other grades of staff have received, but nothing so far.

 

I normally prefer to talk to someone before I buy but today it was different. I needed to buy some new parts for my Belling gas cooker. I know that the company has been taken over twice since I bought the cooker and, earlier this year, had to be in touch with Customer Services over another problem with the cooker.

After emails and photographs of the cooker going backwards and forwards they told me that the model number stamped on the cooker was wrong and gave me the number that I would need to quote in future. So, when I wanted some parts today, I phoned the parts store. Unfortunately, as I was kept in a queue for 10 minutes I decided to give up.

I then went on to their website. Having trawled through their parts on line I have bought the parts as per the number on my cooker. They appear to be correct but, if they're not the right parts when they arrive, I can return them at their expense (I read their Terms and Conditions ).

It took me about four minutes to do the whole thing and I have already received an email to say that they have been dispatched.

 

Well, occasionally it certainly tries to exterminate!!!

 

PayPal are usually pretty good in that respect, but I understand that they have reduced the time allowed for you to get your complaint in.

We use a credit card either direct or through PayPal. The security is for both is as good, or better, than doing it by phone.

Using a credit card gives you a further security if the sum is £100 or more. You're protected under Section 75. This makes it a good way to buy bigger priced items, even in shops, as you get the protection even if you only pay £100 of it by credit card.

An advantage of using a credit card is that, under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, customers who have a claim against a supplier for breach of contract or misrepresentation will generally have an equal claim against the card issuer.

So, for example, if you go to a travel agent to book a holiday, you should use a credit card to pay the deposit (if it's over £100) and you can pay the balance in anyway you wish. You would still be protected if the holiday company went bust - or the travel agent conned you.

 

Soooo many times I have done that, and jumped right out of my shirt

 

I've been getting a bit upset by the phishing phone calls. For many years I have considered part of my daily enjoyment to mess the callers around and I'm always very interested that my computer has got a virus or that someone wants to help me claim compensation for my car accident.

In the last few days I've been getting more than the normal amount of these type of calls but they're from computers and not 'humans'. This makes it impossible for me to have so much fun. I've had to change how I approach the conversation to see how quickly I can get the programme to hang up instead of seeing how long I can keep the person on the line.

The heuristic programming of the software hasn't yet reached much sophistication so hasn't been much of challenge. I think I'll give them a chance to appear more like a genuine human being before I just programme my phone to dump them.

I'll have to think up other ways to mess unsolicited calls around. I suppose I could get my phone to ask them questions .

 

Don't worry, "M", I haven't connected my BT8500 yet. I've only done Mrs Shiney's one and just programmed mine. I'm trying to work out how to let through the ones I want to mess around.

 

I wasn't upset about getting the phone calls, I really enjoy them, but I was upset that they're now going computerised. I could get the callers to swear at me but I don't think I can get their computer to do it.