Points to address when you compare breakdown cover both free and paid
Many new car companies are starting to offer breakdown cover as part of their warranty package. Hyundai has just announced a cooperative effort with RAC on several new models that will give buyers a transferable 5 year prepaid cover package. Mitsubishi already has a three year package offered with its new vehicle sales. Even though we are speaking in terms of brand new cars, a few points should be considered as part of a breakdown cover comparison.
First, when we compare breakdown cover including these free packages, we must remember that many cover policies do not provide for important needed services such as home start or tow home. Make sure that the “free” package has a bit more value than its name would imply. Another thought to take note of is that we are dealing with a new vehicle and the chances of problems are very small. Still there are road hazards to consider and even a new car can run out of petrol. Remember that if free RAC is included in your purchase it should not really be considered a discount or incentive to purchase.
Second, if your current cover from a company such as Green Flag Breakdown or Gem Motoring Assist is based upon you as driver of any vehicle, you will want to keep that cover active regardless of the free cover that came with your new car. Make sure that the free roadside assistance protection that comes with your new car is equal in features to those of your current plan.
Tewkesbury Morrisons Customer Aggrieved by Lack of Response to Complaint of Perceived Misleading Advertising
A Customer of the Morrisons store in Tewkesbury, Worcestershire has reported they feel Morrisons is potentially breaking consumer law by advertising goods in a misleading manner, and is seemingly refusing to respond to his email complaint.
Mr. Hall, a resident of the Tewkesbury area, stated that he visited the store on 5th February and found a food item reduced from £2.99 to £1.50, with an additional Buy One Get One Free offer (the latter offer, being printed on the food items packaging, the former appearing to have been offered in addition, by the supermarket staff).
Mr Hall stated that he tried to purchase said food item (a Pizza) at the advertised rate of £1.50, with a ‘Buy One Get One Free’ offer, making the total cost £1.50 for 2 Pizzas.
The store not only REFUSED to sell the pizzas to Mr. Hall at the advertised price, but also refused to sell him the 2 pizza for the ‘normal’ (pre- store reduction) price of £2.99 for 2 pizzas (originally the pizza were marked as £2.99 each, buy one get one free) – and instead insisted that he pay the ‘reduced’ price of £3.00 for the 2 pizzas. Meaning the ‘reduced’ price was, in fact, £0.01p more than the original price.
Although the amounts involved are somewhat laughable, Mr. Hall felt offended by the supermarkets refusal to listen to his complaint.
Important Fact
A fact that is important in this argument, is that despite the error being pointed out to the staff AND Management of the Tewkesbury Morrisons branch, when Mr. Hall visited the store SEVERAL DAYS later, the same offer was still being advertised (£1.50- each pizza, and Buy One Get One Free).
Is This Legal
Consumer Law – Common Misconception
Although there is a common misconception that a store has to sell you products at the advertised price. In fact, the law states that the pricing of a product is ‘an invitation to treat’ – meaning, it is an ‘invitation’ for a consumer to make the seller an offer to buy the goods.
The consumer makes the offer, based on the price stated for the goods – Then, if the seller realises there has been a mistake made on the pricing, they may refuse to sell goods at the advertised price, and say they will sell the goods to you at the ‘correct’ price. Not only do you NOT have the right to say they must sell you the goods at the stated price, you do not have the RIGHT to be sold the goods at all, should the owner wish to refuse to sell them to you.
However…
So, are Morrisons Breaking Any Laws at All?
There may be another issue here for Morrisons, which is actually covered by criminal legislation, rather than civil…
Control of Misleading s Regulations, 1988
Although as stated above, a store does not commit an offence by ‘making a mistake’ with their advertising, if a store have specifically advertised goods at one price, but they charge another price for it, then if they continue to do so after you have pointed out the error, they are quite possible committing an offence under the CRIMINAL legislati Control of Misleading s Regulations*, 1988, in which case the consumer is usually advised to contact their local trading standards agency.
Mr Hall’s Main Complaint
Mr. Hall’s main issue is that despite emailed Morrisons regarding this matter on the day of the incident (5th February 2010) he has, to this date (22 February 2010) still not received a reply (except for an automated “We received your message” type auto-response).
Perhaps Morrisons feel that the prices involved mean that Mr. Hall does not deserve a response, however he feels differently…
“It was their mistake and, even though we had quite a scene on the day, they are still advertising the goods at the wrong price, and haven’t responded to my email, I feel like Morrisons really care about profits, not customers and communities”.
Morrisons Staff Can Contact Mr. Hall Here: peterhall347@orange.net
* Source:
- http://www.consumerrightsexpert.co.uk/common-consumer-misconceptions.html
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Lean Management Guru – Suaju Ltd – Comment on the Toyota Recall
The principles of Lean Management are not new and in fact have their roots most firmly placed in the history of the Toyota Company of Japan. The use of innovative waste reduction techniques in their factories after the war in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s led to Toyota becoming the father of the modern principles of Lean Production techniques as applied in all areas of endeavour and business across the modern world.
The system of waste reduction always has as its focus the end user, consumer or customer. Anything in the production of the end result that does not enhance or improve the end user’s experience of the product is deemed to be waste. This could be physical resources, time, cleaning or even something as non-physical as management structure or transportation coordination. It all comes under the scrutiny of the concept of lean management.
The situation that Toyota find themselves seems to have come from a parting of the ways regarding their use of these principles in relation to processes based outside the factories in Japan. Some of the functions of their massive production environment have been outsourced and it seems that in some of these areas errors have crept in to the almost infallible Japanese system of checks and cross checks that have allowed a work force of relatively few to produce some of the most reliable cars in the world.
The head of Suaju Ltd, Saleem Ullah, commented today “We, as a company, stand for the principles of Lean Management Strategies. This system of thinking about business processes is so entrenched in the roots of the Toyota Company’s production processes that it has been something of a surprise to hear of the current situation unfolding. We here at Suaju strive for lean principles to be applied in all aspects of our clients businesses. Our lean outsourcing guidelines which we use in most areas of our business including our software outsourcing branch, would have been most useful to Toyota in this situation it would seem. The comments from management that have been in the press lead me to believe that Toyota will use lean techniques to extricate themselves from this situation and probably become stronger and more robust, as a company, because of it.”
The grandson of the founder, Akio Toyoda, said at a press conference recently that he promised to listen to his consumers more and that this was his own ‘kaizen’ or ‘innovation’ presumably along lean principles one would hope.
About Suaju.
Suaju Ltd is an industry leading company based in Bristol.
They offer Lean Consultations, of which the first meeting is free. Renowned for their ability to identify waste and resource miss-use many have been amazed at the savings and results obtained after working with them. They also offer a very efficient Lean based software outsourcing process.Suaju can be contacted at www.Suaju.com.
Great savings to be found by switching to pay as you go mobile broadband
A recent study by Broadband Choices, the United Kingdom’s most popular home and mobile broadband assistance website, reports to consumers that fully half of the United Kingdom’s home and mobile broadband users pay for far more Internet download bandwidth than they are consuming. Apparently, most customers spend less than 2 hours per week on heavy bandwidth consuming functions such as downloading movies and watching video clips.
The majority of UK mobile broadband users rely on the convenience of a 3G connection for personal and business communication. Of customers using an unlimited download package, over 50% download less than 10 GB of information per month. In fact, a huge percentage of UK broadband customers use less than 2 GB of download every 30 days. For most of these customers great savings can be made simply by switching to a pay as you go mobile broadband package.
Unfortunately it appears that broadband companies, being totally aware of this demographic, use a subtle scare tactic of cash penalties for exceeding one’s download limits. This creates a better safe than sorry mindset and a huge portion of United Kingdom mobile broadband customers end up paying for twice the service they require. Customers who compare features such as amount of download and mobile broadband coverage at OFCOM approved Broadband Choices have been found to retain and save in excess of 100 pounds per year simply by choosing the best price and service mobile broadband package for their needs.
A major source of competition for BT Vision channels
In an attempt to more efficiently compete with one of the United Kingdom’s largest cable TV providers BT Vision, Virgin Media has partnered with Universal Pictures for the creation of their on demand movie service named Picture Box. This is a perfect example of the many advantages of digital TV over the now defunct analog system. Virgin Media and the Picture Box system offer customers an on demand library of over 500 currently popular movies. The system also adds to that and inventory of seven new movie titles every Friday. Picture Box is available exclusively through Virgin Media at a cost of just 5 pounds per month.
There is an ongoing comparison of United Kingdom television providers made by popular TV deal analysis website Digital Choices. That comparison which includes companies like Virgin Media that are willing to bundle services such as home phone and broadband with television service reveals that lower end home communications consumers continue to prefer simple pay per programme pricing options, such as those offered by BT Vision channels. For those whose television viewing exceeds an average of 3 hours per 24 hour period multi-channel options such as those presented by SKY and Virgin Media are preferable. To research in that analysis of pricing and service options from all of the United Kingdom’s leading home communications providers is exactly the forte of Digital Choices. As part of the United Kingdom Consumer Choices network this helpful and free analysis is what we have come to expect.
Breakdown cover has become a must for UK motorists
A recent report from the news section of Breakdownchoices.co.uk remarks that even though the majority of UK drivers have breakdown cover, either for their person or their vehicle, most UK drivers are unfamiliar with the process required to receive roadside assistance. This data coupled with existing information shows that 86% of all Green Flag Breakdown callouts do not require tow home service. One may assume other top UK breakdown cover companies have similar results.
What do these two seemingly unrelated demographics mean? They imply strongly that UK consumers need to compare breakdown cover thoroughly before choosing a company for a one year commitment. Before purchasing cover, breakdown cover comparison should include peripheral services such as online directions and maps as well as downloadable instructions complete with contact information for times when you need roadside assistance. This information can then be stored in the glove box of your automobile. When stranded roadside the last thing you want to do is be wondering what the phone number of dispatch for your breakdown cover company is.
Perhaps the best way to be prepared in the event of needing roadside assistance is to review all of the informational articles available at Breakdownchoices.co.uk. There you’ll find helpful information on what to do in the event of a mechanical failure as well as complete guidelines for choosing breakdown cover based upon your specific needs. This last thought refers back to the 86% figure. Not everyone needs long distance tow home service or home start. These are options that may add significantly to the cost of your breakdown cover.
New incentives to come back to BT for phone services
As competition between United Kingdom home phone line providers continues to intensify, British Telecom has come up with an offer aimed at getting customers to come back to BT. If there’s anything that we Brits love, it is cheap phone calls and this latest plan from BT delivers exactly that.
BT’s unlimited anytime plan allows customers to make all the calls they want within one price structure of 4.99 pounds per month added to their current plan’s price and, of course, line rental. Still, for anyone who makes over 30 calls a month from their home, the unlimited plan is a boon. BT is also giving customers who commit to a 12 month contract 3 months free tariff on this offer.
Shortly after announcing the three months free promotion for their unlimited anytime plan, BT also announced a reduction of free calling hours on their night time and weekends deal.As of 1 April 2010 free calls do not begin until 7PM as opposed to the current 6PM starting point. It seems a brilliant coincidence that BT, with other UK landline providers expected to follow suit, cuts back on free calling hours just as they announce a sales promotion for unlimited free calls. Home phone consumer help website Homephonechoices.co.uk reports that, regardless of the three months free promotion, the Primus Saver plan still offers the lowest price monthly for unlimited anytime calling in the UK. Total cost for this plan including line rental is less than 14 pounds per month.