g7uk » consumer

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

GS — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 06:01:10 +0000

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.
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The customer service premium rate rip off

GS — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:50:47 +0000

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 ever. It begins with a ponderous promo message for the website before you can actually get anywhere.
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Councils banned from using 200 jargon words and phrases in ‘visionary’ ‘step change’

GS — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:21:00 +0000

The Local Government Association has compiled a list of words and phrases which council staff should avoid if they are to communicate effectively. Here is the full list:

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British Gas found guilty of harassment

GS — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:27:43 +0000

When Lisa Ferguson changed her supplier, British Gas continued to send her bills. These were followed by letters threatening to cut off her supply, start legal proceedings and report her to credit reference agencies.

She wrote to the British Gas chairman and the watchdog Energywatch, but still the letters and bills continued. So she decided to turn the tables on British Gas and take them to court for unlawful harassment, claiming damages for distress and anxiety and financial loss.
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‘Cash-strapped BBC’ has probably never been better off

GS — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:00:33 +0000

The experience of uncovering the widely misreported crowd figures at the Manchester Pride parade has given me a healthy scepticism towards anything I read in the press.

A popular theme in the news these days is that the BBC is short of cash. But this is never put into a historical context. It seems that journalists are either too lazy or over-worked to look into it in any depth. So I decided to find out for myself…
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The wonder of woolworths

GS — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 12:05:12 +0000

It seems that Woolworths is in trouble and could call in the administrators within days unless it can secure a rescue deal.

Sainsbury’s to challenge EU on ‘ugly’ fruit and veg

GS — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:13:10 +0000

‘Supermarket Sainsbury’s has said it will challenge a ban on selling ‘ugly’ fruit and vegetables which fail to meet EU rules on size and shape.’

BBC News

How ASDA prevents customers from making price comparisons

GS — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:10:28 +0000

King Street: from Starbucks to no bucks

GS — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 05:22:51 +0000

If you want an example of how the current economic situation is hitting retailers, take a walk along Manchester’s King Street.

EXCLUSIVE: Manchester Pride ‘unable to substantiate’ claims made in press interview with Chairman

GS — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:30:16 +0000

Manchester Pride has admitted that it is unable to explain figures that were quoted by its Chairman Andrew Stokes in an interview that appeared on the rainbownetwork.com (gaydarnation.com) website in August 2007.