Like your deliveries? But like them hot and on time?! Well, you are legally entitled! Consumer Rights Act 2015 says services must be carried out with reasonable skill and care.
The below is a template you can use when complaining about the delivery which should get you results!
Dear xxx
On the (insert date) at (insert time) I ordered (insert takeaway). I was informed that the delivery would be with me at (insert time). However, the order arrived at (insert time), a delay of (insert length of delay). I paid (insert amount paid).
Firstly, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, services should be carried out with information given verbally or in writing to the consumer which is binding where the consumer relies on it. Any service must be carried out within the agreed time. Secondly, The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (amended 2014) prohibit trading practices that are unfair to consumers. There are bans on specific practices including Misleading Practices. I expected the delivery to take (insert length of time) and the delay was significant. Therefore I am legally entitled to redress for this delay.
Should I not receive a satisfactory response I will not hesitate in taking the matter further. This will include, but not be limited to, informing Trading Standards and writing about my experience on relevant review websites.
I look forward to receiving a response within 7 days.
Yours sincerely/faithfully (delete as appropriate)
Homebase announced on 14 August 2018 that it will close 42 stores across the UK. They will be shut over the next 16 months in addition to the 17 which already closed their doors earlier in the year. As well as the job losses at stores, around 300 people have been made redundant at the company’s head office in Milton Keynes.
Homebase gift vouchers
If you have gift vouchers for Homebase it would be wise to get them spent now. Why? Well it is likely that these 42 stores will close soon and others may well follow. You may well have to travel further to get them spent. Also, if the chain continues to have problems and closes altogether you will not be able to spend your gift vouchers at all.
Homebase returns
The same applies to having to deal with any returns. It may also be more difficult if the chain is in trouble to assert your legal rights, as it possible that stores will try and encourage you to take repairs and replacements rather than a refund. Remember that the Consumer Rights Act 2015 entitles you to a full refund up to 30 days from purchase for items not fit for purpose or not of satisfactory quality. The act applies to the company as a whole and not to a particular store.
The restructuring company Hilco, which bought the chain for £1 in May 2018 has confirmed that it is planning a Company Voluntary Arrangement. This is a formal deal between an insolvent business and its creditors by which the company seeks to keep going, often through drastic cost savings, such as closing stores.
Update 12/08/18 Virgin Media and UKTV reached an agreement. So well done to those who followed my advice and got a discount! BONUS!!!
What’s going on?
On Thursday 19 July 2018 Virgin quietly released a statement on its website. It announced that it would be removing Drama, Really, Yesterday, Home, Gold, W, Alibi, Dave, Eden and Good Food. This includes +1 and HD channels, as well as On Demand and TV Go content.
The situation seems to have arisen because of a failure by Virgin Media and UKTV to reach an agreement on fees to be charged for the television content that UKTV provides to Virgin Media customers.
Eagle eyed customers took to social media to vent their frustration. JayBird summed up most people’s comments in both her original tweet to VirginMedia and her reply which did not get an answer.
So @virginmedia what's your reason for playing unfair in negotiations and laying all blame at the @UKTV channels doorstep. You're clearly VERY poor at understanding your customer demographic. When did you ask everyone what they want? #virginmedia#disgrace
This is the SAME response you've given everyone. Word for word. No individual responses, you kept this hidden from all your customers. You don't know your customers at all.
Questions regarding cancelling the contract and getting a reduction in the price people are currently paying were met with the same statement and link or blanked.
I challenged VirginMedia and got the following response:
From Sunday all UKTV channels and programmes will be replaced on Virgin TV. More information here: https://t.co/Yl9kD2kiVJ. We currently have no plans to change your bundle charges right now – we’ll always let you know well in advance should this happen. JY
I disagree with Virgin Media’s tweet. People wanting to cancel the contract should be able to do so. When consumers signed up to the package it included UKTV. If UKTV is removed from the bundle it is not the bundle they paid for under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Virgin’s Terms and Conditions state that it can, at any time modify, amend or alter the terms of the agreement and/or the services if: “We decide that the services should be altered for reasons of quality of service or otherwise for the benefit of customers or, our reasonable opinion, it is necessary to do so;”
I am not impressed. This could be considered an unfair contract term, as it is weighed in favour of the company. Who decides if the channels replacing UKTV are better quality? Offering Murder She Wrote rather than the award winning TaskMaster – about to enter its seventh series – is questionable! (If you haven’t see in it you are missing out, it is THE funniest programme on telly).
If consumers are unhappy with the new bundle and want to change or end their current contract without any penalties I advise writing to Virgin Media and stating that it is in breach of contract under the Consumer Rights Act. This and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations both protect consumers from unfair contracts. You should not be out of pocket and so any refund should be backdated to the date of the change so long as you notify Virgin Media within a reasonable time.
You could also email Virgin Media’s CEO. He won’t respond personally but hey let’s fill up the inbox with hundreds of emails requesting a refund or cancellation! Virgin Media CEO contact details (and any other CEO for that matter!) As a Virgin Media customer for many many years I can tell you that the Executive Office aint good! But keep at it!
I am hearing of lots of people who can’t get through on the ‘phone. You do not need to so this. It would be an unfair contract term to say you can only cancel by phone. There would be no evidence if you want to take the matter further or proof that Virgin Media made the offer it did. To say nothing of saving you time. Why you should write not ‘phone to complain effectively
Some people are not getting discount some are. Some people are getting out of their contracts penalty free some aren’t. My guess is that the people who are winning are quoting consumer law. Make sure you are armed.
Mixed results from people who are ringing Virgin (see the comments under the blog post!) But! People who are following the advice above are getting good results, so do it!
Trading Standards
You can also report Virgin Media for this breach through CAB. Enough people do that perhaps we can get them fined as well! Just copy and paste stuff from here or simply send the link, it gives the law breach and their stance. (Unless you write and quote your rights!)
Ofcom
Ofcom also now says could be considered unfair contract term and is in discussions with Virgin Media. So mention this when you negotiate with Virgin Media too.
UKTV
Meanwhile:
We’ve worked with @VirginMedia since its launch in 2006, supplying @Davechannel, @Goldchannel, @Wchannel, and more. We’re so sorry for the viewers who may miss our channels, but demands for price cuts mean we can't continue our partnership. More from UKTV’s Steve North: pic.twitter.com/NEkxgwuYfB
Well at least we have a statement and a face from UKTV unlike Virgin! The so called new channels from Virgin are channels we should get anyway as they are free on other platforms and just don't cut it! UKTV is a staple in many homes and will be missed greatly on Virgin.
“UKTV ratings have been down by 4% since we’ve been off Virgin Media, and we’ve had thousands of viewers telling us that they’re in the process of switching to other providers so they can continue to watch our channels. We’d love to thank our viewers for all of their support.”
Taskmaster
Currently the best programme on tv. A spokesperson for @TaskmasterUnoff (the Twitter account set up by the makers of the programme before the official account was set up by UKTV/DAVE) said “4 million customers have the bundle so that’s 4 million potential viewers down.”
4 million!!!
Virgin Media comment
I asked Virgin Media press office for a comment. It refused to provide one.
Didn’t get a response to this either:
a) people don't care that you have invested in other channels, you didn't ask them what they wanted b) UKTV hasn't cut off VirginMedia customers you won't pay the going rate c) people are sick of your cut and paste replies
Also be careful if you go for a price reduction. Look through the offer carefully:
Beware if you are offered a price reduction. The one they offered me was a reduction of £10 per month but on close examination it was a lower specification bundle. So the price reduction was for a further reduction in services!
How’s that for misleading consumers? Those who sign up for UKTV tonight (Saturday 21 July 2018) find that they don’t have it? Oh yes breach of consumer law! Feel free to copy and report to the Advertising Standards Authority.
School holiday time is upon us again. For many people this will mean taking a flight abroad to a favourite destination. But it is now more likely than ever that you will encounter problems with your flight. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has recently revealed that delays so far this year have already more than doubled, compared to 2017. European Air Traffic Control Delays Loom over Summer Air Travel.
IATA says “Data from Eurocontrol shows that in the first half of 2018, Air Traffic Management (ATM) delays more than doubled to 47,000 minutes per day, 133% more than in the same period last year. Most of these delays are caused by staffing and capacity shortages as well as other causes such as weather delays and disruptive events. The average delay for flights delayed by air traffic control limitations reached 20 minutes in July, but the longest delay reached 337 minutes (5 hours 37 minutes).”
Companies do not do enough to inform people of their rights and most people do not get the compensation they are owed. So, here are some tips on what to do if your flight is postponed, cancelled or you are denied boarding.
1) Compensation for delays is only due on flights in the EU or when using an EU airline arriving two hours (for cancelled and denied boarding flights up to 1,500km, 3 hours for over this length) or more late. How much you are entitled to depends on how long the delay and how long the flight. It changes again if the flight is cancelled before/after seven days before you are due to depart. It does not reflect the price of the flight and is a fixed amount of compensation.
2) If your flight is cancelled or delayed for several hours – the airline must look after passengers. It must provide food, drinks, and some communications. If you are delayed overnight, this also means providing you with a hotel and the travel to and from it. (All these must still be provided even if the delay was out of the airline’s control).
3) If your flight is cancelled – the airline must offer an alternative flight or a full refund. You may also be entitled to compensation if the flight was cancelled less than 14 days before the scheduled departure.
4) Denied boarding or “bumped” from a flight – the airline must offer an alternative flight or a refund. Passengers are entitled to compensation. (Between €125 and €600 depending on length of flight).
5) If your flight is delayed by more than 5 hours and you no longer want to travel you, and your fellow passengers, are entitled to a full refund.
6) If you miss your connecting flight and so arrived at the final destination more than 3 hours late, you are entitled to compensation of between €250 and €600. However, this is only the case if you book both flights together but they can be with different airlines.
7) Airlines may advise you to make alternative travel arrangements, then claim back the cost later. If you do this, try to keep costs down as much as you can, keep receipts and write down the name of the person giving this advice. Book with the same airline if at all possible.
8) Airlines may try and fight your claim! Be ready with quoting your legal rights. You are due to compensation under Regulation (EC) 261/2004. In March 2018 the Supreme Court ruled that airlines must pay compensation when passengers miss a connecting flight and arrive more than 3 hours late, even for destinations outside of the EU.
9) The airlines do not have to respond to complaints within an official time limit, so set them a date by which you expect to receive a response. At the very least they should send you “holding letter” of investigation upon receipt of your complaint.
10) If you are not satisfied with the response you can take the issue to an Alternative Dispute Resolution provider, such as CEDR for BA flights, or make a claim through the online small claims system.
You have up to 6 years to request compensation, so look at cases where you have been refused compensation in the past. It is such a small minority of people who claim this compensation, airlines should do more to ensure passengers are given what’s due instead of blatantly ripping them off!
What? Well! Supermarkets, department stores, superstores and the like all have a Christmas in July. What is it? Well, it’s quite ridiculous but magazines like Good Housekeeping etc. are writing their Christmas articles now so need to know what’s the best of stuff out there. So the stores hold events showing off their Christmas wares. Loads of bloggers go too. Probably works the same with fashion. Anyway, although I am a blogger I don’t do sponsored posts, reviews etc. Much as I’d love to get lots of free stuff to review and fings, it wouldn’t be in the spirit of of what The Complaining Cow does.
Because of this I tend not to go to these kind of events. More missing out! But, yeah it was Tesco so had to be done didn’t it? Got to find something to complain about. (See The Complaining Cow’s history with Tesco for lots of stories of complaints, taking them to court, meeting and then interviewing the CEOs and stuff.)
I asked for an invite! They said yes! Told the Media team I would try and find something to complain about! Head of Corporate PR said it was Christmas so don’t try too hard! Like I need to try?
So, whilst all the other bloggers and journalists gather their best bits from all the events I bring you a piece just on Tesco warts and all!
When I arrived they had dedicated the Head of Media Relations, Shoshana and the Chief Customer Officer Alessandra (I interviewed last year) to show me round the event! I wonder if this was because they were more worried about what I might say more than anyone else and thought pre-warned is pre-armed. Well wanna see what I found? Read on, there’s some nice pictures after all.
A door, yep a welcoming Xmas door to the festivities. I should probably say though that I went to the end/exit to meet Shoshana, because that’s my sense of direction and idiocy. She sensibly came and got me and took me to the front! Anywhere where was I, other than lost? Oh yes the front door. Glass of prosecco on the way? Don’t mind if I do.
Right, chocolate. See that gap? Obviously happy to oblige when asked to “Try one”! Very yummy, hand decorated but frankly who cares?! Belgian choc biscuits £4 bit steep would they have been cheaper if not hand painted? 12. Making them 33.3p each. Yes that glass is mine.
Here comes a complaint. Not allowed to try the chocolate penguin 🙁 Not allowed to try the double chocolate marshmallows 🙁 Not allowed to try those little cakes 🙁 (all on the row behind the table).
Cotswolds is the theme this year. So you can expect to see scenes from the Cotswolds. You’ll see that through the decorations, paper, cards and china. Interestingly they have designed products so that if you break a bauble, for example, or just want to add to your collection next year, they are keeping designs similar so you don’t have to buy all new sets. Not that I would do that anyway! Far too tight to buy different decorations for the tree every year! Not sure whether I like the designs or not. On balance I think I like them. Will I be buying anything from the range? Possibly but I prefer funny cards. They are still doing very similar if not the same Christmas paper as last year. (And cheap plus my book looks good wrapped up in it! 🙂 )Probably buy that because obviously I liked it. That and I’ll have last year’s gift tags to go with it. Have to say the glasses and other tableware were tasteful though.
Tesco has its own inhouse design team who knew? Well probably quite a few people but the majority don’t and that includes the people at the event. They design all sorts of stuff throughout the year, but here they were showing off all the design stages of their pictures etc.
Ha! Best table in the room Alcohol!
I tried a low alcohol sparkling wine! (0.5%) Last time I tried a non alcoholic wine was when I was pregnant, took one sip and threw the rest of the glass and bottle away! But this wasn’t bad, bit sweet but low/no alcohol needs sugar as a preservative.
Of course I liked the most expensive prosecco on offer. Finished the glass I had and took a glass of that round the rest of the tour! Apparently Tesco is the biggest provider of Prosecco – well wouldn’t it be being the biggest supermarket on the planet? That said, I have a feeling my neighbours and I contribute to the sales rather too much…. Anyway, can’t say it was worth twice the price of their range of prosecco at the other end of the price spectrum but then I probably have a very immature palate?!
£3.50 for that salmon bagel! Well it looked nice but seriously £3.50? Apparently I wasn’t the only one to comment on the price. Apparently it is because the salmon is gin-and-juniper cured and another piece is oak smoked. Buy a bottle and some salmon and do it yourself? Oh and don’t forget the “candy striped beetroot” ‘cos obviously that is worth paying for right? Where’s the rolling eyes emoticon gone?
Mind you, next to this were some very good sausage rolls.
OMG! They were vegan. Blimey! Maybe it wasn’t those I tried. Surely? Perhaps I’m muddling them up with some little pork pies, they were good! Can’t remember the detail though sorry!
I called the below the Tummy Rumbler table. Also known as Quite The Teaser. Very good looking prawns, pork burger things (they were good, buying them) and other stuff which you can’t see very well because my picture is rubbish. Did make me want to have some people round though! It all cooks at the same time same temperature. More time to spend with guests drinking prosecco! They did do that last year so it aint new! Okay, looking in the Tesco marketing whatsit the pork burger things are called “Tesco Finest Hog Roast Crackling Sliders” Oh, they have apple and cider chutney in them. Don’t like cider and apple chutney. What happened there then? That’ll teach me to keep telling my son to try new foods when I don’t.
You know pigs in blankets? Tesco has introduced pigs in duvets (on the left in the picture below) I kid ye not. Looked nice though, but again couldn’t taste 🙁
Right, now. This Italian meats table was all very good lots of new stuff. Tesco staff have been on jollies to Italy and experimenting with stuff! I have to tell you the proscuttio soaked in prosecco was really very good! Very moist. Looked it up to buy but it’s not available yet 🙁
Toys, variety of new products, including pooing unicorns. Amused me anyway.
Christmas treats for your pets anyone? Advent calendars? They sold hundreds of thousands of these Christmas pet items last year! I suppose if you buy treats then getting an Xmas bone isn’t very different but please tell me why, if you actually buy an advent calendar for your dog?!There were Christmas jumpers, The usual stuff. Cute winter coat for a little girl though. £16 navy blue based on the Royals (roll of eyes emoticon) but cute and good value, well certainly less than the one bought for Charlotte Windsor. Don’t suppose that came from Tesco.
Then came the last room. This is where the tummy rumbles became seriously audible. Have to say the stuff around looked fantastic and I wasn’t the only one that wanted to tuck in!
If you are veggie then er have some cauliflower in pastry. £6 I’m not sure I have a comment.
Puddings. Phone ran out of charge! What a time to go! So here are some pics from the promotional whatsit that was in the goody bag:
Just, just, look they looked fabulous in real life ok?! And yeah I have got a complaint. To put all that out and only have a few profiteroles out for tasting was cruel. Cruel I tell you. And there isn’t a picture of the Xmas tree cone chocolate hoojamaflips. Now, they are superb.
But last year I went to a Tesco thing to catch early viewing of the adverts and they had the chocolate cone tree hoojamaflips out for tasting. I don’t like Xmas pud and decided I wanted them for my pud come 25th December. I went to order and they didn’t have any. The lovely manager at Lea Valley even tried to find me some. I was assured that this year there will be enough. Someone is in big fat serious trouble if I don’t get them this year.
Good selection of cheeses, didn’t take a photo wasn’t impressed by them putting them all on a grand piano frankly. Not what a piano is for.
On approaching the big table I saw Dave Lewis (Tesco CEO). I don’t know if he saw me but he disappeared very quickly. He wasn’t going to get away with it so I emailed him! In fact I told him that I was told Tesco is the biggest prosecco supplier and that was down to my two neighbours and me and that he was welcome! Even though I still hadn’t received an invite to test prosecco and chocolate truffles! He has tried to assure me that he didn’t run (one assumes he walked quickly!) and that we could have had some impromptu prosecco tasting! Well now he owes me!
Home time. Got a nice goody bag, flipping heavy to carry though. Can’t show you a photo ‘cos I accidentally ate some of the contents on the tube home and drank the half bottle of wine when I got home. But here’s someone else’s pic!
