Dear Jac – Page 97
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: ‘Economy’ has not been the result for some retailers switching supplies.
In the past fortnight I’ve had two complaints about Economy Power. NN Obadeyi wrote to me from Superfreeze in Manchester to say that there had been four increases in her bill in the past 18 months, and whopping they are too.
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: Here’s an unusual one – a retailer in praise of trading standards.
It’s fireworks any second now, isn’t it? So it was great to get a call from Andy Dawes, from Halcon Stores in the village of the same name in Taunton. He and his wife Debs had recently had a visit from a new, young trading standards officer to check on ...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: Not everyone records telephone calls, but perhaps they should.
This is a story involving till rolls, a small item but one that’s crucial to everyone. Muhammad Javaid, who runs Carronshore Mini Market in Falkirk, got a phone call from Saxon Papers offering him six boxes of till rolls for £95 “all in”. He took this to mean that VAT ...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: My thanks and my best wishes.
A big thank-you to all of you who emailed, faxed and phoned your congratulations on my ‘10th’ birthday as agony aunt on this magazine. I’ve even had a few nice cards. In return, I’d like to wish a large slice of our readership peace and goodwill for their festival celebrations of Eid and Diwali which take place this month.
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Dear Jac
Tesco surges on
Tesco is on course to open its 600th Express convenience store this month, and could soon push well past that with the acquisition of another 21 petrol station sites from Morrisons.
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: The need for at least two licences has caused trouble for some.
Two retailers trading in Norfolk have been utterly incensed to have their licensing applications rejected after getting local authorities blessing in the first place and getting the paperwork in on time. Nicola List rang to say that her partners application had been checked in front of them by a helpful ...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: Have councils discovered a new licence to print money?
Retailers are continuing to contact me with tales of licensing wrangles with their local authorities.
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: This is a Camelot question - how big is your wallet?
This is the feedback slot. Chris Blakey (The Paper Shop, Halifax) has been in touch. Yes it’s him again, as featured in our last issue with definitive info on coins of the realm. Chris is a university graduate and a very lively retailer with, I suspect, useful input on most ...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: The Swiss are after European City Guide.
This will come as good news to retailers in this country who have been harassed by European City Guide (ECG), a company fingered as operating a scam by quite a few European countries. The high-profile website www.stopecg.org claims that 50,000+ businesses are fighting against bills they never expected to receive ...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: Here’s a training tip – make it clear to staff what they can and can’t sign for.
This interesting little tale comes from Paul Henshaw, whose current Spar store trades in Meliden, near Prestatyn, North Wales. He used to own another store not far away at Bodelwyddan, and in 2001 a member of staff signed him up to a five-year leasing agreement with a hygiene services company ...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: Chocs away! Remember, customers eat with their eyes.
Here’s a story with a sweet ending. Mahendra Oza, who trades in one of London’s trendiest districts, Islington, found himself caught up in the food supply chain when a customer brought back a Snickers bar because it had turned a bit white. The date was fine: November 19, 2005. He ...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: Self-service stores will always be tempting to thieves. But are there double standards at work?
I frequently hear stories about inventive crooks. Amjad Farooq, who runs a Booker Premier at Bolton in Lancashire, offered me a good example. He has traded in the Halliwell area for 18 years and has suffered plenty of petty thievery. But this one was different. A ‘gent’ came into the ...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: News retailers and wholesalers continue to be uneasy bedfellows.
Keith Palmer emailed me with the beef that the Daily Mail was offering readers a free DVD if they picked up their copies from WHS. He wondered if this was legal.
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: Don’t put your signature anywhere near a blank standing order.
I had two calls in as many days in late July regarding SD Media, which sells on-screen space in places like doctors’ surgeries, advertising local businesses. But both retailers, Subhas Patel in Richmond, London and Roger Yalim in Margate, Kent believed they were only handing over cheques for around £120 ...
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Dear Jac
Shops group gathers data
Retailers, trade associations and supermarket groups have submitted their evidence for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Small Shops’ investigation into high street retailing.
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: ‘Top shelf’ means you have to be tall enough to reach the titles stocked there before you can buy them.
That’s a pretty good rule of thumb. And it is also Byron Jackson’s approach. Byron, who runs a c-store in Burry Port, South Wales, with his wife Nadette, emailed me with a bit of a saga. He writes: “We (rightly or wrongly) restrict the sale of the only two top-shelf ...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: There is almost always another side to the coin.
In the last issue I discussed coins of the realm, prompted by a call from Binz Sidhu in Telford who wondered whether it was okay to accept coins from the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man and so on. He had been told they were okay/they were not okay and ...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: The DTI is still busy winding up dodgy publishers.
In the last four days I’ve had two emails from the DTI saying that it was in the process of winding up Adrian Smythe Publishing and has already wound up UK Frontline Services. The former was engaged in cold-calling businesses to sell sponsorships in child safety and crime awareness books. ...
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: When is an accountant getting money for old rope?
Mukesh Patel is unhappy with a bill he received from his accountant following a VAT inspection.
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Dear Jac
Dear Jac: Anybody know where a Lotto retailer can find supplies of plastic wallets?
Camelot used to provide special plastic wallets, but no longer does, and furthermore couldn’t tell me who could.