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stumbling self sufficiency in a small space
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11:46 pm
Sat 12-Aug-06
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I found a wonderful article this evening. Just plain common sense, that anybody can do to save £££.
The key is "Be nice. Be gentle. But be persistent."
I must explore the rest of that site tomorrow.
http://lifehacker.com/5127638/reduce-your-bills-ju.....-by-asking
Never knowingly underfed
12:40 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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It just doesn't work with TalkTalk...
I'll try that again!
12:42 pm
Supreme Being
Wed 30-Dec-09
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So so true !!!!!!!!!! 
2:49 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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My bill used to be £14.99 per month, now it is £22.46. What do I get for this increase? Only free evening calls which I will probably never use.
I'll try that again!
11:16 pm
Sat 12-Aug-06
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Oh, TA, that is so ironic 
I believe there is a new start-up company called Talk Less - ideal for the more vociferous user who wishes to reduce costs. It only transmits every third word that you speak. Other party hangs up after 30 seconds, blaming a bad connection 
Mutley and myself are setting it up tomorrow!
Never knowingly underfed
11:20 pm
Supreme Being
Thu 24-Sep-09
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That is so brilliant. Stop making me laugh please, it hurts.
Old teachers never die, they just lose their class
11:39 pm
Councillor
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Danny, if I laugh I start coughing. The I cough for ages and Andrew gets cross!
Kateuk makes things at http://www.etsy.com/shop/finkstuff and sometimes she does this too http://www54paintings.blogspot.com/ and also this http://finkstuff.weebly.com/
11:50 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Danny said:
Oh, TA, that is so ironic
I believe there is a new start-up company called Talk Less – ideal for the more vociferous user who wishes to reduce costs. It only transmits every third word that you speak. Other party hangs up after 30 seconds, blaming a bad connection
Mutley and myself are setting it up tomorrow!
OO you little bugger!
BTW, my ears are clear now…today I heard Chaffinches, Great Tits, Blue Tits, Robins and Crows. Oh how I love those crows, they are magnificent.
I'll try that again!
12:06 pm
Sat 12-Aug-06
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Good news about your ear problem, TA. I have forgotten - what brought it on in the first place?
Getting back to the original topic, I wish I were more the haggling type. My ex in Ireland and her dad loved haggling. I am either too embarrassed or just could not be bothered. Fiona is better, far more streetwise than me, especially with her experience as a stallholder in London's Covent Garden market.
Somebody should write a booklet "Haggling for Dummies or sheepish types" 
Never knowingly underfed
12:14 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Danny the answer to your question - bronchitis was the culprit.
I have only ever haggled in Morocco and Tunisia and it took a while for me to be anywhere near comfortable with the idea.
I'll try that again!
10:29 pm
Expert
New members
Sun 17-Jan-10
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I spoke to O2 when they called me to say they were cancelling my £25 a month mobile tariff.
It turned out they had a new SIM-only tariff available for £10 a month that offered unlimited texts and a choice of unlimited O2-O2 or unlimited landline calls. I would text loads, and only really call Mum's landline. So I'm saving at least £15 a month now.
10:35 pm
Sat 12-Aug-06
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Hmm, Shereen,
I discovered last year that once your contract expires, you are then charged "normal" tariffs. I have just noticed a £61 debit by T-Mobile on my online bank statement. Normally it is closer to £30 (maybe I need that new Talk Less service!) but it may be because I have called France a few times for work reasons. I cannot find my latest T-Mobile statement (in a pile somewhere IAPS).
But i suspect that my contract has ended. Just beware, everybody.
Never knowingly underfed
10:47 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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I don't have a mobile contract, I use Orange PAYG, very cheap.
I'll try that again!
5:36 pm
Supreme Being
Wed 30-Dec-09
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TA – if, when you read this you think it is unsuitable, then feel free to delete, but this report of a conversation came to my e-mail today – and you can just imagine the frustration of this caller:
Note to self: 'Cancel credit cards prior to death!'
Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die! This is so priceless and so easy to see happening – customer service, being what it is today!
A lady died this past January, and ANZ bank billed her for February and March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and then added late fees and interest on the monthly charge The balance had been $0.00, now is somewhere around $60.00.
A family member placed a call to the ANZ Bank:
Family Member: 'I am calling to tell you that she died in January.'
ANZ: 'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'
Family Member: 'Maybe, you should turn it over to collections. '
ANZ: 'Since it is two months past due, it already has been.’
Family Member: So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?'
ANZ: 'Either report her account to the frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!'
Family Member: 'Do you think God will be mad at her?'
ANZ: 'Excuse me?'
Family Member: 'Did you just get what I was telling you . . . The part about her being dead?'
ANZ: 'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor.'
Supervisor gets on the phone:
Family Member: 'I'm calling to tell you, she died in January.'
ANZ: 'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'
Family Member: 'You mean you want to collect from her estate?'
ANZ: (Stammer) 'Are you her lawyer?'
Family Member: 'No, I'm her great nephew.'
(Lawyer info given)
ANZ: 'Could you fax us a certificate of death?'
Family Member: 'Sure.'
(Fax number is given)
After they get the fax:
ANZ: 'Our system just isn't set up for death. I don't know what more I can do to help.'
Family Member: 'Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. I don't think she will care.'
ANZ: 'Well, the late fees and charges do still apply.'
Family Member: 'Would you like her new billing address?'
ANZ: 'That might help.'
Family Member: 'Rookwood Memorial Cemetery, 1249 Centenary Rd, Sydney, Plot Number 1049.'
ANZ: 'Sir, that's a cemetery!'
Family Member: 'Well, what the **** do you do with dead people on your planet?'
5:53 pm
Supreme Being
Thu 24-Sep-09
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When my father died, my brother went into the bank to close accounts etc etc. He went armed with the death certificate. He told the young girl behind the counter that my father had died and was about to produce the documents when she asked him if my father would be coming in to confirm this. My brother is a bit of a character and he looked her straight in the eye and said he thought that would be highly unlikely. A silence followed as he said no more and eventually the girl realised her awful faux pas and in a state of embarrassment attempted to apologise. As my brother said, he coped with it, but what if it had been a woman going in about her husband's death. Staff should be better trained and more alert to situations which after all must happen fairly frequently.
Old teachers never die, they just lose their class
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