The 50+ Club

The Government is reeling from the overwhelming backlash of the electorate during the recent local elections and the election of Boris Johnson as the new Mayor of London. Well, it’s taken long enough but the people have finally figured it out - they’re being shafted, again.

This is not a political rant, it’s a common-sense one.

Governments are elected by us to manage the Country, sometimes there are difficult decisions to be made and that’s where leadership comes in. This Government simply rides rough-shod over any of our concerns or, more likely, does not even listen.

The trouncing at the weekend should be a wake-up call not only for New Labour but for anyone involved in Government from the smallest minority party through to every single public servant.

We live in a democracy, not a dictatorship, and don’t ever forget that.

Apparently, Chip and Pin is not so secure as its cracked up to be. Now, I never thought it was up to much anyway, but allowing transactions through even though the Chip cannot be read is ludicrous.

The banks claim this is to avoid upsetting customers whose card may simply be damaged. But remember this, if you lose money through an ATM through, say a cloned card (no Chip) the bank will lay the blame at your door as a Pin was used. There are numerous ways of getting your hands on a Pin but without the corresponding Chip it should be useless.

It would appear that if I go out and indulge in a bit of skulduggery (you know, burglary, that sort of thing) as long as I repent and apologise to the court and promise to be a good boy for a bit I’ll get pretty much let off.

God help me if I put the wrong rubbish in the wrong bin on the wrong day - I’ll probably get deported!

I can’t believe it, those nice guys at Aaland (who let us use some of their server space) are getting bullied by the arrogant debt collection agency that BT has set on them! Seems that over two years ago BT mis-represented themselves and sold Aaland an entry in the directory under false pretences.

Whenever I buy any advertising in printed form I always expect proofs, that I sign off, in plenty of time to make any changes. It seems that Aaland insisted on proofs, didn’t get them and justifiably cancelled but BT went ahead and printed, complete with errors anyway. Now BT demands money (with menaces and after illegally attempting to re-instate a cancelled Direct Debit) for a really poor service and seems surprised the people at Aaland have refused payment.

Oh, for those of you who want to know, the debt collections agency is Credit Solutions from Purley in Surrey. Very aggressive, ill-informed and shabby organisation (I’ve overheard some of the conversations). Guy’s, the debt is disputed, that means it’s illegal for you to pursue it. BT has been given ample opportuniy to discuss this and refused. The ball is in their court.

Incidentally, why couldn’t the guys at Aaland cancel? Simple really, BT did not disclose the fact that they were signing an agreement for which the cancellation period had already expired! To be able to cancel they would have had to have given notice 6 weeks before they signed up. Talk about underhand.

Watch this space - we’ll let you know what happens next