Dear Jac – Page 67
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Dear JacDear Jac: No such thing as a free lunch
It's a favourite expression among journalists and now it's one of Hartal Rai's. His cryptic message on my answerphone said the problem concerned the Italian football team, South Africa and pasta. Hartal, who runs the award-winning Rai's...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: How was this crime perpetrated?
Man goes into Kiran Patel's store, (Coulsdon News in Surrey) and asks for a £100 Ukash voucher, which Kiran put through his Payzone terminal. The customer didn't touch the voucher (neither did he have a mobile with which to photograph it), but then...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: A postscript on Lanwall
The feedback I'm getting from my column two issues back on whether anyone has ever actually been taken to court over Lanwall by leasing companies such as Bank of Scotland has been almost universally positive. The bottom line is, aside from a couple...
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Dear Jac
Distinct lack of communication
There are very few textbook cases and this certainly isn't one of them. Life is seldom so simple that you can apply a blueprint to solve a problem. Raja Razzaq, who trades as Alif Self Service in Shipley, West Yorkshire, ordered a photo...
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Dear Jac
Dodgy notes - you’re better at it than most
My Northern correspondent, Glyn Reece (Penny's in Chester), writes that a "respectable matron of the village" tried to pass a 'dodgy' £20 a while ago. He automatically rejected it and she cried: "How do you KNOW it's not real?" "Well,"...
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Dear Jac
The rules on proxy sales of cigs to kids
David Warne sent me a query via his iPhone. (I'm always impressed by new technology, but email/iPhone doesn't give me a clue as to the whereabouts of my correspondent.) Anyroad, David asked: "Could you tell me if the law has been changed...
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Dear Jac
When insult is added to injury
Illa Patel and her husband Jitendra are victims twice over. In 2009 Jitendra was alone on the till when a man came in to their Supamac Store in Melton Mowbray, ostensibly for a packet of crisps. As Jitendra opened the till the guy stabbed him twice...
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Dear Jac
The changing face of your local councils
I'm going to advise everyone to keep a close watch on their local councils now that they are to become more powerful. It might result in some good news. On January 3 the government announced it was scrapping parking charge guidance to local...
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Dear JacPhone-y business back in town
Cowboy ratings companies are back in town and they have absolutely no scruples. I'll give you an old example first. When twin companies Oldfields and Strattons, the biggest of the baddies, were at their height in the 1990s, they duped thousands of...
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Dear Jac
Luck of the draw? Camelot’s decisions raise a few hackles
I've had three complaints about Camelot in the past month. Not many, I grant, in the great scheme of things, but to the individual retailers concerned, obviously important. Two fell into the most common complaint category. They want the...
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Dear Jac
Threats over bad debts may just be all hot air
Does anyone know if anybody has been taken to court by any of the debt collectors working on behalf of finance companies (such as Bank of Scotland) in the case of defunct photocopy company Lanwall? I haven't heard of a single one, despite there...
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Dear Jac
When news suppliers fail to deliver
Jonathan James, who runs five petrol c-store sites in Cambridgeshire, wants to vent his frustration with a monopolistic supplier who took far too long to supply. Jonathan opened a new site recently in Littleport and contacted Smiths News for...
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Dear JacDear Jac: Customer care to count on; Bestway Cash & Carry: an apology
I get complaints about some companies with monotonous regularity; others I never hear about. Until very recently ShopEquip fell into the latter category and, apart from a brief blip, I believe all has now returned to harmony between supplier and...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: Computer says no to VAT upgrade
Our website had a 'name can be supplied on request' comment from a retailer who is an ex-systems programmer and who had a complaint regarding the cost of updating his Point 4 Epos system to handle the imminent VAT increase in January. He...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: Doing the supermarket shop
I'm getting yet more feedback on buying from the supers (featured in the past two columns). Here are two interesting, rather more 'remote' responses. Mollie emailed: "We visit supermarkets as well as using the C&Cs. We are a very small...
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Dear Jac
A way to beat the bank charges?
I have had an interesting exchange of emails and a couple of telephone conversations with Phil Patel of Nottinghamshire, who maintains that he has found a way to beat the banks. He writes: "Reading through the section in your recent issue (C-Store,...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: A tip that’s right on the money
This column often discusses bank charges all tips are welcome. Manjit Sokhal, mentioned in the supermarket-shopping story, also passed on her tip. She belongs to the Federation of Small Businesses, paying a £150 membership fee a year.
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: Taking counsel against the council
Anybody know a good joinery company that can do some emergency work before Christmas?
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: Paying for the bank’s mistakes
Not that brilliant at money are they, banks? Or perhaps they are brilliant, but in a rather one-sided way.
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: Name that tune!
Not for the first time I've received a complaint regarding news wholesalers' 'partners' ringing retailers to sell them 'extras' and managing to give the impression that they are the wholesaler themselves.