Category Archives: consumer

 

Is a pressure cooker a worthwhile buy?

A couple of years ago I bought a pressure cooker. I got it direct from the manufacturers Prestige (I have no connection with them) and opted for the 6 litre high dome model. Currently that’s on offer from them for £45 and, barring a really exceptional special offer somewhere, I doubt you’ll find it for […]

 
 

How Google hides free copies of public domain books while directing people to pay-for reprints

Google has been allowed to scan hundreds of thousands of out-of-copyright books from libraries around the world and supposedly this is a wonderful free resource for all of us. But, over the last year or two, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to find the free versions while Google Books presents reprints to buy. Here’s an […]

 

Manchester Irish Festival is the latest event to over-inflate crowd figures

Manchester Irish Festival, which is now in its fifteenth year has, unfortunately, become the latest Manchester event to over-inflate its attendance figures. The official website claims that “an estimated crowd of 100,000” people watched the annual St Patrick’s Day Parade.

 

The customer service premium rate rip off

This afternoon I was locked out of the online account for my credit card (a very well-known name) and saw a message asking me to call. It’s an 0844 number which costs at least 8p per minute from a BT landline. Recently the card company introduced a new voice system that takes even longer than […]