Here’s a challenge. Trying to spend less on your weekly shop, while coping with rising food prices AND still making sure your family eats healthy food. It’s a tough one.
Have you ever looked at all the ready meals or packaged stuff in your trolley and wondered whether you could make it yourself? From scratch? Would [...]
Contracts for Services
Eat Healthy Food, Save Money
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 | 25 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 many situations however, such as buying goods from shops, you are able to cancel the contract and get your money back. But unless the goods are faulty, this is not an automatic right, [...]
July 8th, 2008 | Catriona | 138 comments | Continued
Excessive Mobile Roaming Charges – The Latest
A year after the European Commission stepped in to introduce the Eurotariff, limiting the cost of overseas (roaming) call charges for European consumers, T-Mobile have announced they are slashing the cost of mobile internet (data roaming) charges by 80% from £7.50 per megabyte to just £1.50. In addition, they are also set to reduce the [...]
July 8th, 2008 | Catriona | 2 comments | ContinuedIt cost me a fortune!
In many situations, the price is not agreed at the outset – such as having your hair cut, taking the car for a service or taking a taxi, and in such cases the assumption is that you will be charged a reasonable price. However, problems tend to arise where a service is commissioned, exact price [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | ContinuedThey are taking forever to do the work!
The second assumption is that the work will be carried out within reasonable time. This assumption is only valid if timeframe has not been agreed as part of the contract. Once reasonable time has elapsed you would not be entitled to terminate the contract, but you would be able to give reasonable notice, providing a [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | ContinuedHe was a complete cowboy!
Firstly, there is the assumption that the supplier will act with ‘reasonable care and skill’. This causes the greatest number of disputes and complaints simply due to the subjective nature of what is reasonable, and for this reason a court will take into account the nature of the service, the nature of the supplier and [...]
June 30th, 2008 | Catriona | 1 comment | ContinuedWhat are my rights if the job was done as a ‘foreigner’
‘Doing a foreigner’ is what tradesmen call a job which is done ‘on the side’ and usually for cash in hand. Previously it was a bit of a loophole in the law, excluding tradesmen from any liability if the consumer wasn’t happy with their work. However, it is generally the case nowadays that you would [...]
June 14th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | ContinuedThe price I paid was much higher than the estimate, I feel conned!
Generally speaking an estimate does not amount to an offer and is not legally binding, although if the final price is significantly higher than the estimate you can claim a breach of the statutory ‘reasonable cost’ term. You should be clear about getting a quote rather than en estimate, as this will then become the [...]
June 14th, 2008 | Catriona | 0 comments | ContinuedWhat about contracts for services?
In situations where you are having some work done, and the main focus of the agreement is the service itself, you would be party to a contract for Work and Materials. This type of contract is governed by the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. Under this legislation, you are always protected by three [...]
June 14th, 2008 | Catriona | 4 comments | Continued


