Gas doesn’t just come out of pipes

Centrica, who own British Gas, have just announced operating profits for the first half of the year down 35%. It blames warmer weather. Yeah. Right. It was soooooooooooooo warm in January, February, March… (The figures cover the six months to June). Positively balmy. Or do we mean barmy? If people were spending less on fuel it reflects only one thing – that the cost of heating our homes has risen ridiculously. People would rather be cold than face sky high bills. The only people feeling comfortably cozy are the energy firms. Energy regulator Ofgem is reported as estimating that ‘the […]

Read More…

Foot soldiers in the supermarket price war

As the grocery discounters make greater headway in to our food spend the Big Four supermarkets continue to tell us that they are cutting prices lower than ever before. A veritable snow storm red tickets on the heavily stacked shelves desperately try and persuade us that the prices we are seeing are all seriously reduced (honest). But as last night’s “Dispatches” on Channel 4 (and Money Fight Club’s regular research) shows, this is all a load of hokum. Shareholders are still the priority. Supermarket customers are just cannon fodder. We all need to teach them a lesson and boycott their […]

Read More…

Dear Mr. Lewis, as Tesco boss in waiting…

Dear Mr. Dave Lewis, Congratulations on your new job as boss of Tesco.  You don’t take over your new role until October, so, over the coming months we’d like you to think about a few things that should make your job easier and more rewarding. Here’s a heads up… Current chief executive Philip Clarke is leaving in the wake of what businesses like to call “challenging trading conditions”. From where we sit it looks like shoppers have simply turned their backs (in increasing numbers) on food retailers who who use words like ‘offer’ and ‘bargain’ as marketing weapons and have […]

Read More…

Getting train ticket refunds and compensation – don’t let them railroad you

It was the journey from hell. The train did not stop where it was supposed to and we ended up around 40 miles from our destination and an important family lunch. The assistance promised by the rail company didn’t materialise and we ended up taking a £70 taxi ride and having to race off early to get our train home, as the tickets we booked (not knowing how late we were going to arrive) specified that we took a particular train. Okay… gloves on: BISH! I wrote a clear letter detailing the specific failings of the rail company and attached […]

Read More…

Don’t get burned by travel & home insurance rules

If you have your bag or wallet stolen while in this country or abroad you may lose out if you have not kept the cash machine or bank counter receipt from when you withdrew the money. Insurers are increasingly asking for proof from policyholders that they had the cash they say has been stolen and are refusing to pay out if you do not have the proof. If the money is snatched soon after you leave the bank or machine there should be no dispute but to be absolutely sure you may also need to keep all the receipts for […]

Read More…