Where to get it
Don’t be taken in by the 0% commission and no handling fee advertised by bureau de change, it may be intended to distract you from a very poor exchange rate. In actual fact most foreign currency suppliers will offer you 0% commission anyway, so base your decision on the rate of exchange. [...]
Archive for July, 2008
Getting Holiday Cash Without Paying a Fortune
Interest Rate Hikes for MBNA Customers
There has been a flurry of complaints surrounding the sharp and unexpected increases in rates of interest payable by users of MBNA credit cards. To make this look slightly more devious, this is tending to take effect around the time that customers come to the end of their introductory low or zero rated interest periods. [...]
July 27th, 2008 | Catriona | 1 comment | Continued
Dealing with Dodgy Tradesmen or Builders
If it hasn’t happened to us, it’s happened to someone we know. Dodgy tradesmen and cowboy builders took ages to do the work, did it wrong or simply didn’t do it at all. Everyone has a story, which is why it’s crucial to know your rights and remedies so you can be prepared at the [...]
July 23rd, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
The Data Protection Act
People often talk about the Data Protection Act, but in reality few people know very much about it. It is a very powerful piece of legislation aimed at protecting consumers against the unlawful handling of their personal information, and one which provides rights and remedies if you suffer damage or distress as a result.
The responsibilities [...]
The Sale of Goods Act
The Sale of Goods Act 1979 is perhaps the most useful and relevant to the problems many consumers face when they make purchases on the High Street, online or by mail order. It is worth knowing about this piece of legislation, in terms of what rights you have and how you can resolve the situation, [...]
July 18th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Sale of Personal Data from the Electoral Register
For years now local authorities have been selling on personal data from the electoral register to private firms for marketing purposes or to pass on to other firms. Did you know that? A great many people didn’t, and were shocked to hear about this practice as a result of a report produced recently by the [...]
July 15th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Extended Warranties
Extended warranties are a relatively new sales opportunity for the retailers and have not been without their fair share of bad press. Both the OFT and the Competition Commission have investigated claims of unfair terms, mis-selling and excessive profiteering. So the question is, are they worth it?
Your basic warranty
Let’s first define what a warranty [...]
Foreign Credit Card Transactions – New Protection
As many of us know, Using a credit card for transactions over £100 provides you with an automatic insurance policy should the supplier you are dealing with go bust or disappear, or if the goods turn out to be faulty. This is because under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, if you run into [...]
July 9th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Junk Mail, Cold Callers and Telemarketing
For those of us who work from home, the day can often be a non-stop round of interruptions - sales calls, salespeople and the daily wedge of junk mail to sift through. Even if you go out to work, your evenings are frequently punctuated by the same. The invasion of our privacy at home is [...]
July 9th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
Cooling off and Cancellations
Contracts are, by definition, legally binding, therefore it’s difficult to cancel without financial penalty unless you can prove breach of contract. In contracts for services, you have three fundamental statutory rights - that the supplier will do the job with reasonable care and skill, at reasonable cost and within reasonable time. Any failure to do [...]
July 8th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | Continued
