A frugal life is an easy life!

Just a quick heads up - received an email from fedex today saying my parcel had "been returned due to incorrect address"
Instructions to print off attached file and contact my nearest depot to arrange collection of said fantasy parcel.

Of course there are lots of these emails trying to catch people out - as always, do not open, simply delete.

Traditions are passed on to children around the world by their families, but here in the UK traditions are being watered down and allowed to disappear.
It is not very thrifty, to pay out for the ever increasing costs of fireworks, but the costs of losing traditions or watering down events that have took place for hundreds of years, is a process that desperately needs reversing.

Take our bonfire night celebrations.
In my area, many of the children I converse with think that the thing to do at this time, is to visit a travelling funfair, paying over the odds for rides and stalls, eating candyfloss, etc, whilst watching fireworks being let off on a hill almost a mile away and if they are lucky, seeing a bonfire being lit.

They expect to get wet (as it always rains), stand in queues for attractions, walk for miles as all the areas where the funfairs are, have no parking and public transport laid on is poor, packed out and expensive. They expect mum and dad to pay £5 to get in then £2 for a 2 minute ride on a waltzer.
Black peas, toffee apples, bonfire toffee and baked potatoes can only be found from a travelling stall, at extortionate prices, after they have queued up for 20 minutes of course. Often it is now named the bonfire night "weekend" - a misleading fact that irks me considerably - designed to part people with more money by visiting the same fair in a different local location.
Not very frugal is it!
Nor does it uphold traditions that millions of British children have been lucky enough to experience over the decades.

A traditional bonfire night, is a fantastic feast of seasonal colours, smells, all enjoyed with friends and family. It can also provide a valuable thrifty service.
In today's world, we are forever being charged more of our hard earned money for basic refuse disposal - landfill costs are a record levels - bonfire night gives us all a perfect opporunity to get rid of rubbish, broken furniture, old sheds, etc.
Our small bonfire night celebrations with a fire, fireworks, traditional bonfire night fayre (which all takes places, rain or not, on November 5th) is now a regular "burn bin" occasion - whereby all the important letters that need to be shredded, are saved in bags and boxes and thrown on to the fire once its established.

Bonfire night used to be great fun for children, collecting bonfire material from neighbours for days, building the fire itself, eaten red hot potatoes that have been wrapped in tinfoil and thrown into the hot embers, dripping with butter and cheese, parents letting off all kinds of fireworks, all being shared around the fire as all the local families come together for a night of fun.

Sprog 1 has always had the full bonfire night tradition at our house.
A fire, fireworks, toffee apples, baked spuds cooked in the fire, etc.
Now with sprog 2, it is very important that this tradition continues.
It is my job as a parent - one that I enjoy of course - to pass on traditions to my kids, in the hope that they too, will pass them on to their children.

A funfair is not part of bonfire night tradition - as the neighbourhood children told us a couple of years ago, as they sat on wooden crates, around our small bonfire, watching the wife let off fireworks in the street and writing their names with sparklers, then scoffing piping hot baked spuds, dripping with butter and cheese, even eating the skins - the funfair was expensive and packed out, full of mud, we saw only a few fireworks in the distance as we had to walk half a mile to get there because there was no parking... we didn't even see a fire!
We only got on two rides and had to queue for an hour and we got wet. This is miles better!

Twenty seven phone calls over 24 hours and STILL I haven't been able to cancel my AA membership!

Each time I ring up, "We are very busy dealing with breakdown calls, please try again later" - then I am cut off.

I have tried afternoons, evenings, after midnight, early morning and dinner time.
I have tried all five of the options allowed by the AA
The one occasion I did manage to get through, They promised to call me back, they left a message saying they would call me back again in 30 minutes, that was over an hour ago!

Why would I want to cancel my AA membership?
New customers get my level of cover at £150 a year - the same price as I got it for last year. The problem is, my AA membership will renew soon for the value price of £235 - £85 MORE than I and new customers get it for!

Now if only I could cancel it....

UPDATE:
After ringing up on the "breakdown number" - I was transferred over to the correct department, who then transferred me to the AA's "cancellation department"

They asked why I was cancelling, (Because of the £85 INCREASE in price, for "Free" legal advice and two "Free" extra call outs) the advisor offered to discount the price down, from £235 to £164 - still an increase of almost £15, but I can live with that.

A letter came confirming the renewal and stating that £235 would be taken from my account in the coming month!

Once again I was back on the membership phone number, which once again cut me off, on all the options given, after making me listen to all the options each time.
This time I tried the membership complaints number - kindly left on this post via a comment, posted by an AA member of staff - after 10 minutes on hold, I got through to Hayden.
Hayden informed me that the previous advisor had "issued a credit" on my account so that "the system" (isn't it always the system?) would see the credit, then would deduct this from the payment it takes for the renewal... leaving me just the £164 to pay.

The reason I got a letter telling me they were taking £235 for the renewal, is because the AA is currently using "an old system" (there's the system again) that could not adjust to quote the actual amount it was taking for a renewal.
I was assured that "the system" will only take £164 - if not, I was to ring him back personally and the overcharge would be credited back to my account.
I was told not to worry though, as next year their "new system" would be up and running - adding that he could see why "customers got confused"
If it works, then we shall see later this month.

Whatever the AA are paying the top brass who oversee their systems, I'd sack them off as they are not doing their job!

• Sort out your membership phone number and options - if the only way to discuss membership or cancel, is to pretend to have a breakdown, then it will cause more delays to your breakdown staff?
• When a customer reports a problem, don't ignore it! - DO something about it, then it won't be a problem for other customers?
• Sort out your "system" so that customers are not sent out the wrong price for renewal - you'll then find that you won't have thousands of customers ringing back, increasing the workload and burden on your call centre advisors, to try and correct and rectify mistakes your system is making?
• Stop cutting membership number callers off - It's hardly a good advertisement for your company and you may find that posts like this won't appear on websites?

A little bit of common sense, makes life easier for your customers, your staff and may even allow you the financial flexibility to reduce your prices, attracting more business?

UPDATE 2:
The farce continues - now the AA send me a letter saying they couldn't get the funds to pay for new membership from the exact same account details they took the membership money from 12 months ago.

Have the AA ever heard of their legal responsibility, under the Data Protection Act, to maintain customer accounts in an accurate manner?
It would appear not....

I believe that some bank charges are in breach of the fraud act 2006.

A real example:
You have £100 left in your account.
You make an authorised card payment for £60 (leaving a £40 balance on your account)
A direct debit, of £50 is due out of your account before the business calls for your authorised card payment.
The bank takes the funds to pay your direct debit of £50 from your authorised card payment funds, currently being held off your balance, in a "holding account."

The company calls for your authorised card payment funds, the bank pays them.
You are now over your balance and subjected to two bank charges.
Bank charge one - £35 for "an unauthorised card payment"
Bank charge two - £25 for "an unauthorised overdraft fee"
Total charges: £60

Take into account:
Who gave the bank permission to "reuse funds held in a holding account?"
Had the bank NOT reused the funds and returned the direct debit unpaid, the only charge applicable would have been £35, for non payment of a direct debit.
When you bought something for £60 on your card, the funds were in your account to pay for it - the bank also issued an authorisation number for the sale - how can you now be charged "an unauthorised card payment fee"?
The bank reused your funds to pay the direct debit, not you! Surely the bank cannot bill you for charges which was a result of THEIR actions?

Additional:
When you the customer contact the bank by telephone, complaining about "reusing funds" - you are told that the money remains in your bank account but just comes off your available balance for three days.
When you the customer contact the bank by telephone, complaining about "paying a direct debit with money for an authorised card payment" - you are told that the card payment money is moved to a holding account.
The response the bank gives changes, depending on your complaint. Reading from a menu the advisor maybe, but each menu contradicts the other.

Where the fraud act 2006 should apply:
Section two:
Fraud by false representation
(1)A person is in breach of this section if he—

(a)dishonestly makes a false representation, and

(b)intends, by making the representation—

(i)to make a gain for himself or another, or

(ii)to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.

 

A - Changing excuse dependant on complaint, ie. holding account or not? To obtain higher charges against the customer.
B(i) "Another" - being the bank the advisor works for.
B (ii) "Another" - being you the customer.

(2)A representation is false if—

(a)it is untrue or misleading, and

(b)the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading

Section three:
Fraud by failing to disclose information
A person is in breach of this section if he—

(a)dishonestly fails to disclose to another person information which he is under a legal duty to disclose, and

(b)intends, by failing to disclose the information—

(i)to make a gain for himself or another, or

(ii)to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.

A - Is there a holding account or not? Why won't the banks tell their customers?
B(i) - This information changes to prevent the advisor from having to refund charges on behalf of the bank
B(ii) - This causes the customer to lose money.

Section four:
Fraud by abuse of position

 (1)A person is in breach of this section if he—

(a)occupies a position in which he is expected to safeguard, or not to act against, the financial interests of another person,

(b)dishonestly abuses that position, and

(c)intends, by means of the abuse of that position—

(i)to make a gain for himself or another, or

(ii)to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.

1A - Is it not the case that the bank is supposed to act in the account holder's best interest?
If so, why manipulate customers accounts, like in the example given above, to extract £60 in charges instead of £35 had the bank acted honourably?
Is this not clearly "acting against the financial interests of another person (ie. their own customer)
1B - The bank abuses its position, by giving conflicting reasons for the operations of accounts and gaining financially from it, in the form of higher charges.
This is applicable also to subsection C(i) and C(ii).

How much longer must the humble customer be forced into parting with more of their money than they need to?

Let me know what you think...

Bank's love to charge for each unpaid direct debit (and knock on overdraft charges, etc), it makes huge profits from them, it knows this, their customers know this, the powers that be know it.

So avoiding running up unpaid direct debit charges (and knock on overdraft charges, etc) is fair game as far as I'm concerned.
Not only is this tip fair game, but it's also a frugal way of saving YOU some of your hard earned cash!

Banks charge you for:

• Standing order non payment - even though it's automated and doesn't pay anything out at all and have to claim it back because funds are unavailable
• Insufficient funds to cover a card payment - even though the card transaction has been authorised at the time you made the purchase and the bank have reused the money taken off your available balance (without your permission) and used it for a direct debit/standing order, leaving you with not enough money to cover your card payment, that the bank themselves have authorised!
• Unauthorised overdraft fees - I have known banks issue a £25 charge for a person going over their limit for just one day to the amount of £3
• Often a combination of some or all of the above!

The tip is simple - if you have a direct debit coming out of your account and for whatever reason, you won't or don't have the funds to cover it, then contact your bank, by telephone banking and tell them you are in dispute with the company that has the direct debit set up and to cancel it.

Then make sure that the banking advisor puts a note on the account that the direct debit is NOT to be paid.

Should they pay it and you incur a charge, most calls are recorded so they can listen in, and have it confirmed by the advisor at the bank that you spoke to - hence the charge is removed.
This will also prevent any knock on charges like an unauthorised overdraft fee.

This process will give you a few days to arrange funds to be in your account to pay the direct debit. When the company notify you that the direct debit has been cancelled, simply fob them off by saying that you've been having problems with your account and your direct debits keep being cancelled.

Courts should be returning all bank charges (of any kind) to customers - if their charges reflect "actual loss" as the law states they should, then all the court needs to ask is for proof that each bank charge is the bank's actual loss - if the bank cannot give evidence that the charges are for actual loss, then I don't see how the court can fail to find in favour of the customer.
Any charge/fee that makes profit for the company/person that applies it, (ie, it is not a charge to recover an "actual loss") is classed as a "penalty charge" - penalty charges are unenforceable in England and Wales under common law.

Play one off against another, this is what they would do to you should a bank charge be issued on your account for a mistake by the bank or a company claiming a payment from your account!

*IMPORTANT:
Common sense should be used as regards this post.
OBVIOUSLY, do not cancel a direct debit that pays your mortgage or a loan, as the company will charge you for it!

This post refers to companies that DO NOT issue their own charges for non payment of a direct debit, like mobile phone companies, gym memberships, etc. Companies that you pay a monthly amount for a service usually.
If in doubt, read your terms and conditions or don't do it!