A couple of years ago I got myself a tax refund, but it was a painful experience! It took about 9 months to get it, which involved many letters, phone calls and sending back and forth of personal information.
Just recently my partner decided to get herself a tax refund and all she did was fill out a simple form printed out from the website, send it off and within a short space of time she received a nice bundle of dosh! (not literally, as it would have been rather dodgy if she received a rolled up bundle of banknotes)
Although I was happy for this to go so smoothly, I felt a bit peeved that it took me 9 months of trying to speed up the lousy people I had to deal with to get what money was owed to me. Therefore I am doing the exact same thing as my partner to see if I can claim more money owed to me and see if it goes just as smoothly...we'll see....
Saturday, 16 March 2013
Monday, 18 February 2013
Pesky Walkers
I like to walk quickly, even when I'm not trying I usually glide past other pedestrians on the pavement. So that's why I get annoyed when I can't get past someone who somehow manages to take up the entire pavement! I don't get how they do it. They're just one person, not necessarily a heavy set person or carrying a lot of bags, yet somehow they take up the pavement with their painfully slow walking.
I think, possibly, they gently glide ever so slightly from side to side with each step. If they were walking in a completely straight line then I'd surely just be able to glide past giving a subtle disgusted look at them as I did so.
If I was ever on Room 101 or the King of England then these walkers that hold up us proper walkers will be the first to go...
Friday, 15 February 2013
Banking....Excellent
Though this was an emailed forwarded to me in an email, I just thought I had to share it. It's rather fitting to say that I've been moaning about banks recently.
Shown below, is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by an 86 year old
woman.
The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the
Times.
Dear Sir:
I am writing to thank you for bouncing my cheque with which I endeavoured to
pay my plumber last month.
By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his
presenting the cheque and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it..
I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension,
an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years.
You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and
also for debiting my account £30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience
caused to your bank.
My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me
to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally
answer your telephone calls and letters, --- when I try to contact you, I am
confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity
which your bank has become.
From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person.
My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be
automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by cheque, addressed personally and
confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate.
Be aware that it is an OFFENSE under the Postal Act for any other person to
open such an envelope.
> Please find attached an Application Contact which I require your chosen
> employee to complete.
>
> I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about
> him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative.
>
> Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be
> countersigned by a Notary Public figure, and the mandatory details of
> his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be
> accompanied by documented proof.
>
> In due course, at MY convenience, I will issue your employee with a PIN
> number which he/she must quote in dealings with me.
>
> I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have
> modelled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my
> account balance on your phone bank service.
>
> As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
>
> Let me level the playing field even further.
>
> When you call me, press buttons as follows:
>
> IMMEDIATELY AFTER DIALLING, PRESS THE STAR (*) BUTTON FOR ENGLISH
>
> #1. To make an appointment to see me
>
> #2. To query a missing payment.
>
> #3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
>
> #4 To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
>
> #5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
>
> #6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
>
> #7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is
> required.
>
> Password will be communicated to you at a later date to that Authorized
> Contact mentioned earlier.
>
> #8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 to 9
>
> #9. To make a general complaint or inquiry.
>
> The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated
> answering service.
>
> While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will
> play for the duration of the call.
>
> Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an
> establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.
>
> May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year?
>
> Your Humble Client
>
> And remember:
> DON'T MAKE OLD PEOPLE MAD. WE DON'T LIKE BEING OLD IN THE FIRST PLACE, SO IT
> DOESN'T TAKE MUCH TO PISS US OFF.
>
Shown below, is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by an 86 year old
woman.
The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the
Times.
Dear Sir:
I am writing to thank you for bouncing my cheque with which I endeavoured to
pay my plumber last month.
By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his
presenting the cheque and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it..
I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension,
an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years.
You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and
also for debiting my account £30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience
caused to your bank.
My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me
to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally
answer your telephone calls and letters, --- when I try to contact you, I am
confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity
which your bank has become.
From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person.
My mortgage and loan repayments will therefore and hereafter no longer be
automatic, but will arrive at your bank, by cheque, addressed personally and
confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate.
Be aware that it is an OFFENSE under the Postal Act for any other person to
open such an envelope.
> Please find attached an Application Contact which I require your chosen
> employee to complete.
>
> I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about
> him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative.
>
> Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be
> countersigned by a Notary Public figure, and the mandatory details of
> his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be
> accompanied by documented proof.
>
> In due course, at MY convenience, I will issue your employee with a PIN
> number which he/she must quote in dealings with me.
>
> I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have
> modelled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my
> account balance on your phone bank service.
>
> As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
>
> Let me level the playing field even further.
>
> When you call me, press buttons as follows:
>
> IMMEDIATELY AFTER DIALLING, PRESS THE STAR (*) BUTTON FOR ENGLISH
>
> #1. To make an appointment to see me
>
> #2. To query a missing payment.
>
> #3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
>
> #4 To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
>
> #5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
>
> #6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
>
> #7. To leave a message on my computer, a password to access my computer is
> required.
>
> Password will be communicated to you at a later date to that Authorized
> Contact mentioned earlier.
>
> #8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 to 9
>
> #9. To make a general complaint or inquiry.
>
> The contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated
> answering service.
>
> While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will
> play for the duration of the call.
>
> Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an
> establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.
>
> May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous New Year?
>
> Your Humble Client
>
> And remember:
> DON'T MAKE OLD PEOPLE MAD. WE DON'T LIKE BEING OLD IN THE FIRST PLACE, SO IT
> DOESN'T TAKE MUCH TO PISS US OFF.
>
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
Online Banking part 2
I went back into the bank and had to explain my dilemma to a staff member. She rang the number on the letter I received and she had to go through the same trauma that I did as a customer. She seemed more annoyed than me to be honest.
The phone was handed to me after about ten minutes and I once again had to answer security questions, which I got correct this time round, so well done to me...I was then put through to another person after being on hold for another 5 minutes or so. Apparently because I had failed the security questions originally a couple of weeks previously I had to go into a branch (which is where I was anyway) and provide two pieces of identification and then get a branch worker to ring the number back to clarify their identity as well as mine.
It didn't help that the phone line wasn't very clear so I kept having to sound a bit special by saying What or Pardon. Luckily I had the I.D on me and it was finally dealt with, although I do have to wait several working days to get a letter through the post and then finish it off online. Hopefully then it'll be done and dusted...
I spent three quarters of an hour in the branch and even the staff seemed annoyed when talking to their colleagues over the phone . I was still offered to switch my current account over to their bank...goodness knows how much of a hassle that would be?!
I may have rambled through this story, but it helps to get it off my chest...
The phone was handed to me after about ten minutes and I once again had to answer security questions, which I got correct this time round, so well done to me...I was then put through to another person after being on hold for another 5 minutes or so. Apparently because I had failed the security questions originally a couple of weeks previously I had to go into a branch (which is where I was anyway) and provide two pieces of identification and then get a branch worker to ring the number back to clarify their identity as well as mine.
It didn't help that the phone line wasn't very clear so I kept having to sound a bit special by saying What or Pardon. Luckily I had the I.D on me and it was finally dealt with, although I do have to wait several working days to get a letter through the post and then finish it off online. Hopefully then it'll be done and dusted...
I spent three quarters of an hour in the branch and even the staff seemed annoyed when talking to their colleagues over the phone . I was still offered to switch my current account over to their bank...goodness knows how much of a hassle that would be?!
I may have rambled through this story, but it helps to get it off my chest...
Monday, 11 February 2013
Online Banking - Part 1
All I want to do is register my online banking with a certain bank and like most companies these days in England, it's never that simple!
First I rang them on a NONE freephone number, how companies still make you call on 0845 numbers is beyond me. My online banking could not be set up because I failed my security question, though the question was - What was the amount of your last transaction? - My only transaction was a balance transfer from another credit card onto this new one. So I told him, yet I was wrong, even though I wasn't...
I was told that I could go into a branch and deal with it. So I did, and they informed me that I could not use online banking with just a credit card!
A few days later I received a letter from them to say if I rang this 0845 number I could complete my online banking registration...wait a minute, I thought I wasn't able to do it with just a credit card?? I rang the number and I was told I could not do it over the phone because I had not been sent a security number! I was told that I had to go into a branch and deal with it there, which will be happening tomorrow....I have never had so much hardship over setting up online banking. I thought it was going to be a simple half hour job online while sitting on my sofa with a cuppa. Pfft!
First I rang them on a NONE freephone number, how companies still make you call on 0845 numbers is beyond me. My online banking could not be set up because I failed my security question, though the question was - What was the amount of your last transaction? - My only transaction was a balance transfer from another credit card onto this new one. So I told him, yet I was wrong, even though I wasn't...
I was told that I could go into a branch and deal with it. So I did, and they informed me that I could not use online banking with just a credit card!
A few days later I received a letter from them to say if I rang this 0845 number I could complete my online banking registration...wait a minute, I thought I wasn't able to do it with just a credit card?? I rang the number and I was told I could not do it over the phone because I had not been sent a security number! I was told that I had to go into a branch and deal with it there, which will be happening tomorrow....I have never had so much hardship over setting up online banking. I thought it was going to be a simple half hour job online while sitting on my sofa with a cuppa. Pfft!
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