Companies who scam and just after your money, or they just don’t provide the service they promised
Companies who scam and just after your money, or they just don’t provide the service they promised
Today after watching Watch dog last night, after my mum text me to say they were going to be doing a feature about BT Open Reach who are supposedly a separate company to BT, had been letting people down whom had a fault or issue with their line, I decided to write to Watch dog myself about my story regarding the problems I have had with BT Open Reach and BT in general when we decided to have all our TV, internet and phone services with them, and how it was a complete nightmare from the first engineer visit.
If you to have had an issue with BT or any company and want to know how to complain to Watchdog then you can via the BBC website: www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog
Please do let them know as the more these companies get exposed the more it helps protect others and see that they haven’t got away with scamming or letting people down by not practicing what they preach. I never used to complain or write to any company before, but I have become so sick of companies who are just out to scam and take your money, and those who appear to offer a reliable service but don’t, and I am sure there are many people out there whom feel the same, and since I have written to companies whom have tried to scam and let me down, a few have compensated me. Don’t get me wrong I don’t do it just to receive my money back, but I am of the mindset that if a company lets you down and doesn’t do what they said they would, wasted your time and money I do think it is my right and other customer right to stand up and fight against these companies who scam or let you down as they will just continue to get away with it.
I am going to research and start naming and shaming companies too whom have been known to scam people or who have scammed myself or whom have not delivered the service they promised, to help protect other people, as I think it is so wrong that these companies especially like BT whom make a lot of money should not have the right to let people down and not provide the service that they offer. And no one should have the right to scam people, and right this minute someone could be getting scammed as I am writing this blog. As the technology advances there a new scams being created by people all the time and it is important that you do keep vigilant all the time. Also working for many companies and my own knowledge especially call centres, they have a script or email templates which you will most probably find have been used for a lot of customers, and the words you hear or see are just that, words, but not meant.
Web Hosts
Be careful of these companies such as 1&1.com I had a massive issue with them, who kept taking money from me and not just the monthly £20 oh no, I am talking up to £100, and when you try and cancel, because they don’t want you to, you have to go all around the houses too. They wanted me to write in and provide a copy of my passport for me to cancel, and took over 5 phone calls to have them cancel. I kept getting letters from their billing company saying I owed money, which I know I hadn’t as far as I knew I had already cancelled once, which of course according to their records wasn’t the case. What is astonishing is that web host should have the facilities for you to easily cancel online without hassle but not 1and1 and you may find that others will be the same too, as they want to hook you in, so they can take more money from you.
In researching this company I saw that I was not the only one, please see the specialised website page that has been set up, because of their scam. What you see on their TV advert is not how it is, to get all that fancy graphics you have to pay them or you just get a basic one page website. On their website the offers look great, but then suddenly they start taking more than what they claim, and when you buy a domain name, that doesn’t become yours like they say, because as soon as you try to transfer the domain to another website, a lot of companies won’t let you, or will try and charge you a fee for doing so.
Here is the link to the Facebook page about 1&1 and the scams they have pulled on people: https://en-gb.facebook.com/Boycott1and1Internet
I had originally when I started to create my first website and create a domain name, I bought one from 123reg.com, however after doing this I saw that someone had taken this domain name and yet out of the blue 123reg.com was taking £15 to £25 each month and one month twice. I blocked them from my PayPal account and even tried to contact to stop but had never had a response. I then looking into this see that others have also had problems with 123Reg web host also.
Please see details regarding why you should not use 123reg, as they too like 1and1 cannot be trusted http://websitebuilderguide.co.uk/123-reg-review
350.com web host isn’t so bad but if you don’t buy a domain name you get some weird random too long a domain name, but you can have a free website with them, and their packages are from about £4.49 to 33.00 a month or 39.99 to 339.99 annual fee. The charges are clear so you know what you are paying for. I went for the free website, and still they offer a lot it appears in their packages but as said if you don’t buy a domain name then you get some random very long one, where no one would find you unless you send it to just people you know, and lot of these companies charge you for things such as guaranteed large traffic to your website, and to be guaranteed listing on google, and yahoo, which if you have set up good keywords for your site, internet search engineers will list your website, so this should not be chargeable. If you don’t pay for a domain name with 350.com you will never find yours listed as the domain name is way too long.
In investigating about web hosts I have come across a really good article called “5 signs of a bad web host” see link to read this now: http://blogsuccessjournal.com/blog-tips-and-advice/web-hosting-reviews/web-hosting-bad-web-host-5-signs/
Timeshare and travel packages scams and companies I would not recommend.
Ever bought a holiday through Thomas cook, flown with their airline or booked a long haul holiday?
Well my brother in law recently flew to Florida with his two sons in August and was treated so badly that after all the holidays he has had through Thomas cook, he will never go with them again.
He first off had problems with his Visas, which he did ages ago through the American Embassy and checked with Thomas cook and American travel information that they were ok, so could not understand the problem as they were told they were when he first received them fine. When he got onto the plane he was called off, as they had taken his luggage off just for him to identify that it was his, and not because he had done anything, but it was in their policy that they had to do these random checks. That I can understand, but he didn’t even get an apology for the inconvenience caused by it. Through the flight the hospitality was awful and the flight attendants didn’t seem to have time for anyone on the flight, and so the holiday my brother in law and his sons had been looking forward too was being demolished even before they had got to their destination. It appeared that Thomas Cook staff didn’t seem to care for their problems they had, and for anyone else on the flight too.
He has since complained and is still waiting for a response from Thomas Cook, but the flight going back was 10 times better because they were American Thomas Cook staff and seemed to have better customer service and people skills.
I have looked to see if there were other complaints about Thomas cook of the same nature and it appears there are. I am surprised as I have always had a high regard for the company as I have had good experience with them when booking holiday through their travel agency shops, but it appears that what you appear to see is good on the outside is not always good on the inside, and from my brother in law’s experience I wouldn’t travel with them now either.
Please visit forum of the complaints made by travellers on their flights: http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/thoscook.htm
There are also fake travel agencies created to scam and take your money, knowing that the holiday you have booked does not exist, please see this article about travel agency scams:
http://scam-detector.com/travel-scams/fake-travel-agency
Please see this article about Top 10 Signs of a Possible Travel Scam: http://budgettravel.about.com/od/planningtoolsstrategies/tp/ten_scam.htm
I have also looked on the watch dog website to check for names of any bad or scamming companies posing as a Travel agent, please see this video on the BBC news website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7743127.stm
I couldn’t in my research find many names of companies known to commit these scams, but I am not surprised as soon as they are found out or taken people’s money they go and set up another company to scam more people. If you have been scammed and you know the so called company name then do let me know so we can list them to make sure they are known should someone else be targeted by their scam. I have seen this other article and it is one of the highest scams going: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/6867582/
I was scammed by a guy, an English guy in Tenerife who was very chatty and offered us a free scratch card, so we did as we thought ok this is free why not, but then we funnily won and got a chance to win a bottle of champagne and a possible holiday. We then to claim the champagne had to visit his office around the corner, so we did and then was given a chat about a holiday club scheme where we had to pay a deposit up front (alarm bells should have rung but didn’t) over £300.00. For this upfront fee we got a shopping card that supposedly could be used at many stores and a choice of places and accommodation for future holidays. The cost of whole thing if we had continued would have been over £3000.00. When we got back from our holiday we thought about what had happened, as we were due to fly out that evening and was suspicious had we had not just been stitched up? Did we do the right thing? I then looked up on the internet and saw that this was a massive scam and many companies were being set up in various tourist countries doing the same. When I looked people whom had also paid for the so called scheme had used the holiday club offers and, the hotels that people could stay in were not luxurious as they claim they would be and the shopping retailer card couldn’t be used in any of the stores that they said it could be used for in fact it was just a card they had obviously had made to look professionally and appeared legit, but it wasn’t.
I then cancelled and used a template letter that I had found on a website, which highlighted this scheme and was even on watchdog too, and they did try to call us but was told not to answer any calls from them, and they wouldn’t take legal action because they were not a real company and was set up to take people’s money and they would get found out if they did so, because they what they were offering wasn’t what they said at all and was just a scheme to target tourists who loose all sense of security when on holiday and get their money.
There are and has been scams too on so called companies offering timeshare holiday accommodation, see this article in the Mirror newspaper:
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/timeshare-holiday-clubs/
If you have been victim of holiday club or timeshare scams then you can get advice from the Advice guide: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_protection_for_the_consumer_e/consumer_scams_e/consumer_common_scams_e/consumer_holiday_club_and_timeshare_scams_e.htm
Travelling Visa scams:
Believe it or not there are scams on visas now too.
For some countries such as America you didn’t have to have a Visa but you had to fill in a green card form which allowed you in the country and you stated the purpose of your visit. Now it has changed and you do need a Visa to be allowed access in to countries such as the USA, plus fill in another form which is usually handed to you by the flight staff, making sure you aren’t importing items that you shouldn’t be and declaring any items you are importing.
There are so called companies who offer a visa to people travelling abroad, but when they get to the country they are travelling to the visa is not valid and not even worth the paper it is printed on, and these scammers also charge people extortionate prices to apply and receive the visa.
The visa you need is not country specific but if travelling abroad on holiday then it is a non-immigrant visa you need.
The best place to go for a valid Visa is via the countries embassy websites, which will provide details and link to applying for a visa and will be the correct official one you need.
Don’t go with the first link you see when looking up “Travel Visa” on the internet, as it could well be a company committing a scam, and the visa is incorrect and just a piece of paper that means nothing.
Here is a link to the citizen’s advice site which will tell you more details if you do need a visa or not:
Here is another article in the following link about ongoing Visa scams especially for those travelling to America for a holiday:
http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/773835
I have also provided a link to the USA embassy visa details and they are the best places to visit for visa information. Depending on the country you shouldn’t have to pay a high fee to claim one, and it will state clearly on the embassy’s websites details regarding visas if you do to pay a fee or not.
http://london.usembassy.gov/visas.html
There are so many scams out there and when you do travel or plan a holiday or run a website and open yourself to web hosts, you can be especially vulnerable and unaware of scams. This can lead you to paying a lot of money for items you shouldn’t even be paying for and if you a travelling on holiday and you become a victim of scams booking a holiday or actually travelling abroad you can end up not having a holiday too.
If a travel agent has let you down and the hotel has not been like it appears in the brochures and the flights is not to your expectation and has affected your holiday then do let yourself be heard by these companies and do complain, as you’ve paid the money for the service so they should provide it to you.
I will be writing about more scams that you may not be aware of in more blogs and companies not to trust. Let’s fight together and stop these scammers and companies from letting us down, and protect others.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
Baby show Olympia 27th October 2013
Baby show Olympia 27th October 2013
Today I went to the London, Olympia 2013 Baby show, which runs for 3 days Friday to Sunday, and I heard about the baby show via the Prima Mother and Baby Magazine, which had a special offer on the tickets, and the tickets only cost me with the special offer £10.00 per ticket saving me about £8.00 as standard price ticket without the discount were £18.00; so as Friday and Saturday weren’t good for me, as my mum and husband would be working on Friday and Saturday would be the busiest day, I chose to go on Sunday. The last baby show I had attended I was actually working for Avent and was at the Earls Court arena, but I didn’t get to see much as I was working.
I would have gone with Avent, but as someone who worked for the brand I knew about the floors in some of the products and so kept away from this brand, except for the free soothers which I have mentioned and shown below.
This time I was an expected mum and I am so glad I went.
I went with my husband and my mum, which was a good idea because of taking stuff back, and my mum’s husband gave us a lift to Olympia so we didn’t have to worry about getting a train there and got there in good time. I wanted to get there as early as possible as I knew it would get busier as the day went on, so we got there for about 10 and looked around, had a coffee, then had another look around.
There were some great products on offer, all the well-known brands under one roof.
We did pick up a goodie bag (see picture below) which was just £2 and was great as I inside was a free copy of my favourite mum and baby magazines, Prima Mother and baby; Inside the goodie bag were loads of items as you can see in the picture, different brand of wipes, some newborn nappies, baby food, nappy rash creams, toddler toothpaste and some Cussons Baby and me baby bath wash, plus the magazines.
I was given another 3 packets of newborn nappies, which contain 43 nappies per pack, and some more baby wipes (see picture below).
A free pack of x2 3-6 months soothers from the Avent section.
I bought a Tommee Tippee Steriliser set, newborn starter kit and manual breast pump starter kit all for just £55.00.
Newborn starter kit show price was £15.00
Microwave steam steriliser set show price was £13.50
Manual Breast pump starter kit show price £26.50
I also bought a changing bag and got a good deal as the lady took the price off the buggy straps and so got the bag for show price of £59.00 usually £65.00, and I love it as it doesn’t look like a changing bag and it came with a free changing travel mat which you would usually pay for separately, another over the shoulder bag for free, another little bag and 3 plastic zip up pouches.
I then bought a Winnie the pooh changing mat, show price £9.99, which was I think from the fisher price stall.
It was such a constructive day and I would definitely recommend mums who have a little baby already or expecting, to go to a baby show as you do get some great deals, and saves you money and many brands will do the gifts sets so you can have a selection of items all in one box. I was going to get Dr Browns gift set but there discount for the show wasn’t so great and I had been recommended by mums to get either Dr Browns or Tommee Tippee and because Tommee Tippee had such a great deal we decided Tommee Tippee was the best to go with on the day though I may still buy some Dr Brown bottles as I know they are especially good for colic. However I can always get them later on.
Once Henry’s (the name of our expected little boy) room is complete I will take a photo and go into details of organizing the room and what I decided to use, and how we created the theme, which will be Walt Disney and Warner Brothers cartoon characters.
I am going to go to many more of these types of shows again, as I think they are great to see all the brands and options of products under one roof.
So if you do have a baby show happening near you then I would recommend it is worth the time and money.
The next baby show dates are:
21st to the 23rd February 2014 at the Excel centre
16th to the 18th of May 2014 at the NEC Birmingham.
For more details please check the baby show website:
And remember to check the mother and baby magazines for special offers on tickets to the baby shows, as then you don’t have to pay full price.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie x
Pick pockets and thieves.
Could you spot a pick pocket, a thief from a crowd of people?
They are people that look like any other person and that is why they get away before you’ve realised that they have taken something from you, and by the time you’ve noticed it is too late to get the item back.
I remember at Secondary school there were two girls in my class who were stealing and eventually caught, and it would be someone’s lunch or purse, etc. That is the worst thing when it happen to you, because then everyone feels like they can’t trust each other, and even though you know you haven’t done anything you can’t help but feel guilty either.
Those girls who stole never gained people’s trust again and people did remind them of it, and they couldn’t have normal school life because they were known as the school thieves, and there is no turning back once you get that reputation.
If something doesn’t belong to you why take it?
I am writing this going on my own knowledge of being a victim of someone who’s had stuff stolen in the past from them and I hate seeing it happen to anyone else.
NEVER TAKE YOUR EYE OR LEAVE YOUR POSSESSIONS UNATTENDED AT ANY TIME.
You may have heard this said many times but it is said for a reason for you to follow, to protect you and to remind you that once someone has been stolen sometimes it can be very hard to prove and once it has gone it is very hard to get it back.
I was in Oxford Street yesterday and it gave me the idea for this blog, not because anything happened on the day but I know that there are Pick pockets and thieves who target those sorts of places, where it is busy and people can loose focus as they are so caught up in the shopping rush and so stop paying attention to your belongings, and loose focus on the amount of shops and goodies there are in the stores.
So next time you shop be vigilant and never take your eye of your bag for one second.
Here are some key instructions to help protect your belongs from those Pick pockets and thieves.
- Never leave handbags, purses, shopping bags on a shop floor whilst trying on or looking at another item. The amount of people I know have done this and it can happen in a split second, because a pickpocket/thief will always be watching and suddenly those belongings your shopping bags have gone. Always try on items if on your own in a fitting room or wait to you get home, but make sure you check the store return policy and you keep the receipt; Or if you a have friend, spouse or relative with ask them to stay with the bags whilst you look, but remember to return the favour if they need their belongings looked after too.
- Put your purse at the very bottom of your handbag and out of sight. It will make it more difficult for them to take as you are more likely to notice and you are not causing temptation. If people see a purse in bag and you are not looking they will try to take it from you before you’ve noticed. Alternatively use an inside coat pocket, I never keep a purse in a back, but I do keep in a pocket if the packet is sealed a zip or secure buttons, and it is fitted right at the front of the coat, not at the side or never in a trouser back pocket. I always telling my husband if he is going to use a pocket to store cash in his jeans, either use inside pocket or use the front pocket of the jeans, hidden away so there is no clue that there is money in there.
- Ideally use a zip up handbag for your purse or a small bag with a secure clip fastener on it, and keep it at the front of you, so you can see it. If the bag has a flap open at the front, put this facing towards you and closed when not needing to go into the bag at all times. With a hand bag that has a zip at the top of it, make sure it is zipped up when you don’t need to go into your bag, and have the bag strap over your shoulder with the actual zip fastener, in front further away from you, and keep hand over the zip.
- Any bags with inside zip compartments use them for keeping possessions such as your money, your mobile phones, keys and audio devices; any high valuable items including jewellery and watches, if a thief sees it will try and take it if it is on show. So hide them all away until you need to use them.
- Don’t put handbags below your seat when travelling or in a theatre, I did this when I went to the comedy store, some guy sat next to me then left and when I look down under the seat where I put my handbag it has gone, and it was most scariest time, as I lost everything, my keys, cards, my purse, my phone and my Oyster card. The people I was with were terrific and helped me to sort cancelling my cards and lent me money for another Oyster card, but if I had used my common sense and kept it on my lap it would not have happened. I did get my bag back as someone did find it, but my phone and money I had, had gone, but if I could have avoided it happening in the first place I would have done and did teach my a valuable lesson.
- Be aware of your whereabouts when withdrawing cash from a cash machine, when banks are open go into the bank rather than use the cash machines outside, but if you do just be aware of who is around you and if anyone approaches you and tries to distracts you (as they can take your card and they sometimes make out that you have dropped something on the floor), keep eye on machine, carry on as quickly as possible and report the person to the bank right away. Avoid confrontation if you feel threatened then keep calm, hand them the cash or card if they are threatening and saying they have a weapon, don’t try and play hero, but once they have gone, go straight into the bank cancel the card and report any cash taken and make sure you contact the police. The more these thieves are reported the more the banks and authorities can help to prevent this happening to anyone else.
- This leads me to my last piece of advice, which is never carry a huge amount of cash at one time, unless necessary and store safely away in bag and don’t stand there counting the money as someone could be watching, put the money away out of site. If possible always withdraw cash when you are with someone else who can look out for you whilst you withdraw any money.
Enjoy shopping but don’t allow yourself to be a victim and keep safe.
Many thanks for reading,
Carrie X
Organize an item a day
This is a strategy I have been following for a while and it works.
You don’t realise until you organize and de-clutter how much you accumulate.
My husband and I are in the process of moving, just waiting for it to all all go through and then hopefully we will be moving into our new place, in a about 4 weeks.
We aren’t moving to far from where we are now but moving into a bigger place and more of a house than a flat. However I still wish to keep things organized and keep things minimal so we still have a lot of space.
As I have been sorting threw things I saw that I have a lot of bags and so rather then spend money on boxes, use the storage bins we have and the bags I have to put things into that I don’t need right away or that I don’t use all the time.
I have done this with my toiletries organizing them first into toiletry bags and my hair care items, my hair dryer, straightener, my husband clippers and my curlers into a bag.
I have also gone through my receipts which I do twice a month and keep those that are for electrical equipment or housing maintenance for warranty purposes. Any receipts that are shows I paid by cash I instantly throw away, but the ones that show purchases made by credit or debit card I pass to my husband to shred.
I sorted through my paper desk tidy and all is clear and tidy, and what I used for receipts is now going to be for furniture and household magazines and catalogues that aren’t too heavy and for ideas on projects.
The space in which my desk tidy is situated is not ideal at the moment and am planning on having proper work space for my computer desk, printer, folders and
other related items to be built or at least created by new furniture in once place much better situated and tidier.
Once I complete my recipe book I will either do a video or photograph to show.
I have sorted through my recipe folder and arranging them in category which took two days and still to be finished by good to get started. Again when we have our new place this will be stored even in our new kitchen with my recipe books or in the work space on a bookcase or cupboard.
I then needed to sort out my kitchen and cupboards as we seemed to have a lot on the work tops and so cleared this by making more space in the cupboards, and so my food processor, blender and vegetable steamer are all neatly been put away in the cupboard and will get them out when we wish or need to use them. I also went through our baking ingredients as now and again I do like to bake, but some ingredients were out of date and so had to be thrown away. By doing his I now have one shelf completely clear which will again make it one less shelf for us to clear when it comes to putting these items in containers when moving.
My kitchen was already built when we moved in and not allowed to alter it, but there is not a lot of cupboard and storage space so it is about using what we have to making space.
The next thing will be my storage bin and folders in the living room, and so doing a bit as you go is really great to stay on top of things.
So clean as you go it makes life so much easier.
I love to clean and organize because it just feels better when all is clean and tidy, and not cluttered.
Many thanks for reading.
Carrie X
Great Opportunity
Organize your shopping
I organize everything from my laundry to my groceries, to unpack I put them into categories and then it is easy to put each item into the place where it should be, fridge, dry foods, fruit and vegetables etc, and the takes less than 5 minutes to put away.
Before you make your shopping list make a list of the meals you can make out the current groceries you have, so this will mean checking the fridge and cupboards to check on the items you have, and this will help minimise your wastage and you use what you have and the amount you spend as for example I know I can make at least 5 meals out of the groceries I have so I know I don’t need any more shopping until Friday or so.
I always as mentioned in my past blogs plan my meals in a week or two weeks in advance.
Making a list of the meals you can make on what you currently have and what ingredients you need to help create a meal from the items you already have will help to reduce the list and you buy items on what you need to add, to make those meals a week.
So don’t waste money on groceries think about how much you can save on the groceries and spend and save money on other things.
Many thanks for reading.
Carrie X
Carries Versatile Fashion 