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Just been into the Apple store at Lakeside to purchase an ipad. Could not find any fault with them whatsoever, plenty of knowledgeable sales and technical reps on the shop floor willing to help and all smiling (not surprising considering their prices) was in an out within 15 minutes.

An hour before that I was in a plumbing merchants, I usually give this merchant around £150k a year in business, no customers or sales assistants on the shop floor, everyone outside smoking. I waited 5 minutes and left without buying anything.

From my own business point of view, I'd like to think that we offer an excellent customer service both before and after any sale. All customers are told that they can call or email at anytime and will be given free advice or even a service visit. The problem is though you always get one or two customers who abuse this and will try to get you running through hoops, which ends up costing more money than what the original job was valued. Sometimes I end up being rude to them, just to get them to stop being a nuisance.  

I think also there is a problem of many businesses getting a balance of employing enough people to operate. Those that employ too few end up employing stressed out headless chickens, who have no idea about customer service, its all about getting the next sale. 

Although it is wrong, I kind of get it when the self employed avoid paying what is due, maybe down to cash flow problems or lack of work whatever. When it comes to those who live in a different world from the mainstream public my attitude tends to change. If you are living a multimillionaire lifestyle and all the privileges that go with that way of life then there really is no excuse of not paying what is due. Just how much does one need or want to have in their bank account? It ends up being about greed. At the end of the day we all employ accountants to keep on top of our finances, if not then generally we end up in a mess. We also employ them to do things and give us legal advice as far as tax / HMRC is concerned. I think if accountants were more accountable and legally resposible for both their actions and the information they provide their customers, then there will be a lot less tax avoidance. It really is no good them waiving a disclaimer in the air once the crap hits the fan.

As for the OBE and all the other gongs that get handed out, I think its a thing of the past and pretty much meaningless in my eyes.

However when we get to the likes of Lord Hanningfield who is still entitled to sit in the house of Lords and vote on the laws and constitutional affairs of the country, having already been convicted of stealing from the taxpayer and sent to prison, I would much prefer the media to concentrate on getting him chucked out of the Lords than I am of them concentrating a singer's OBE which in reality is not much different than the gold star I used to get from my teachers at school....  

To be honest, it was only a matter of time. Savers have had a tough time over the last 5 years. My only concern would be for those who are already struggling to pay mortgages as they will need to find more money to to keep their homes. It's ok for people to say well maybe they should not have mortgages in the first place, but when they originally applied for a mortgage their circumstances / employment may well have been completely different. Wage rates have been pretty static for years now and I have a feeling that more and more will be relying on the likes of Wonga to see them through up and until they are eventually evicted. Will also be interesting to see if this gives landlords the green light to increase rents. 

Apparently there's 104 billionaires in the UK now, with 72 of them in London. Just wondering if any of them are members of this forum and need a new heating system  Just asking....

Originally Posted by Shakey

“From what I can see, the English are a minority! My shop local newsagent is lativian, my loal supermarket is full of east european accents. Dont get me wrong, I'm  not racist, but when my folks were younger, it was asian this that and the other. Nothing changes, but cornsish as a minority race, come on ”

To be honest, going into a kebab shop on a Friday night and being served by a Englishman / woman would seem rather odd. I've no issues with being multicultural my issue is where certain areas are ghettoised. But as the Brits have in the past raped and pillaged more or less every country on the planet I'm not really sure if we have a right to complain.... 

I don't think the Labour party could enforce any kind of cap on the private rental market, they'd never get in office, so many institutions and corporations own properties in London for the rental market it just couldn't happen.

Private landlords will charge what they think they can get away with, regardless of what letting agents fees are. Landlords will charge what the going rate is for a particular area and what similar properties are being let for. At the end of the day if you have no mortgage on a property your not going to drop the rental price simply because you have one less overhead. Your going to be charging top dollar / maximum rate you can possibly get, because that is how our society now works. The only thing that will change this is if the bubble bursts and prices crash...

I actually lived in Callington, don't remember any of it as I was far to young at the time. I've no idea what Cornwall is like nowadays, it use to be a fab place, spent 2 weeks every year during the summer in my teens at Tregantle Fort, nice deserted beaches, rock pool fishing in Looe, deep sea fishing at Rame Head, building camp fires out of driftwood found on the beaches, probably not allowed to do any of that sort of stuff now. Oh how much I would love to go back and do all that again.....

On the plus side, employers are not required to pay employees for bank holidays and can choose to use the bank holidays as part of the employees statuary holiday entitlement....

Anyone looking to hire employees might want to visit Ex Forces Employment Assistance on Facebook. Many ex forces personnel can tell you how difficult it is to find work in civvy street, I know because I've been there, anyway ex forces tend to be loyal employees...