"I Say, They Paid Me Back!"
I recently joined the band of angry viewers claiming back money on wasted telephone calls for competitions we had no chance of being entered into, let alone winning. This has now resulted in me getting my money back, plus a little bit more for me missing out on the chance of expecting Channel 4’s Richard and Judy guessing correctly the identity of the image they could not see, with clues such as “he’s a famous actor…erm….I think he’s American…..um…….he was in that thing……with whatsisname off thingy……”
The rest of the nation, however, are looking at a picture of Saddam Hussein and cannot understand why the contestant does not just say “barking mad, dead middle east dictator” as a clue instead, then trouser another £1000 and move onto the next picture before the sixty seconds times out completely.
I’ll admit to being fairly sure that despite filling in the claim form, I would never see the money again and felt pretty pleased to be on the winning side for a change. I certainly would not describe myself as a “consumer warrior”, but I am finding that the good thing about getting a little older, which is a world away from getting old, is that I am seeing the world in a slightly different and more critical way. Not only that, I am getting to the stage in life now where I think it’s time to stop moaning in pubs to friends about things that I don’t like and actually do something about them instead. Either that or I am turning into Victor Meldrew about thirty odd years too early!
This extra fire in my belly has managed to get my bank to reduce the interest rate on my credit card, purely because I rang them up and asked them too. Surprised by my own success and wondering if it was a fluke, I suggested a friend to the same and he got his rate brought down a bit too.
I’ve also just sent an email to the good people at E.O.N to inform them that while I admire their plans for wind farms and would like a look around, the advert is now more than flesh and blood can stand and could they please remove it from the airwaves forthwith. I’m also planning to contact the voiceover agency that employs Julie Walters and inform them that bank commercials with “bouncy” classical music in the background are, apart from the obvious waste of Miss Walters’ talents, also getting on my nerves.
Although I’ll admit that emailing corporate giants to whinge about their current adverts might seem a little silly, my basic point is that as consumers we’re very powerful people and we put up with a lot, from sky high interest rates from banks, poor service in shops, rubbish on the telly and much more besides. They say that the pen is mightier than the sword. It’s also much easier to write with, so we should use it more often to say we’re not happy and we’re not standing for it and maybe, just maybe, things might get better.
As published in the Summer edition of "The Local Voice"
The rest of the nation, however, are looking at a picture of Saddam Hussein and cannot understand why the contestant does not just say “barking mad, dead middle east dictator” as a clue instead, then trouser another £1000 and move onto the next picture before the sixty seconds times out completely.
I’ll admit to being fairly sure that despite filling in the claim form, I would never see the money again and felt pretty pleased to be on the winning side for a change. I certainly would not describe myself as a “consumer warrior”, but I am finding that the good thing about getting a little older, which is a world away from getting old, is that I am seeing the world in a slightly different and more critical way. Not only that, I am getting to the stage in life now where I think it’s time to stop moaning in pubs to friends about things that I don’t like and actually do something about them instead. Either that or I am turning into Victor Meldrew about thirty odd years too early!
This extra fire in my belly has managed to get my bank to reduce the interest rate on my credit card, purely because I rang them up and asked them too. Surprised by my own success and wondering if it was a fluke, I suggested a friend to the same and he got his rate brought down a bit too.
I’ve also just sent an email to the good people at E.O.N to inform them that while I admire their plans for wind farms and would like a look around, the advert is now more than flesh and blood can stand and could they please remove it from the airwaves forthwith. I’m also planning to contact the voiceover agency that employs Julie Walters and inform them that bank commercials with “bouncy” classical music in the background are, apart from the obvious waste of Miss Walters’ talents, also getting on my nerves.
Although I’ll admit that emailing corporate giants to whinge about their current adverts might seem a little silly, my basic point is that as consumers we’re very powerful people and we put up with a lot, from sky high interest rates from banks, poor service in shops, rubbish on the telly and much more besides. They say that the pen is mightier than the sword. It’s also much easier to write with, so we should use it more often to say we’re not happy and we’re not standing for it and maybe, just maybe, things might get better.
As published in the Summer edition of "The Local Voice"
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