BUSINESSES BE WARNED - YET AGAIN!

AN order form has been sent out in the post to many small businesses again, by a group calling themselves ‘European City Guide’ The group who are not based in the UK has sent this form out. It reads like a legally binding contract, but in our view, the document is formulated in such a way as to make it possible that people will sign it in error. If you read it very closely, they do say it will cost €997.00 plus VAT, but we have been told and we can see why some businesses think it is a request for information, like Yellow Pages and Thompson’s. Do not post it back if you do not want to pay! Also the T&C on the back of the form is not printed clearly, so you cannot see what you are agreeing to. The business is based, according to what we can make out on the back of the form, in Spain. Syed Kamall, Conservative MEP for London said in 2009:- "I wish to warn readers to be careful if receiving a letter from an outfit called the European City Guide (ECG), which appears to offer small businesses a free or cheap "listing" if they fill out a form. I am working with colleagues here in Brussels to get action from governments to put an end to European scams like these." About this very topic! So far we have found that the website appears to be them and these links make interesting viewing:- richardcorbett.org.uk; Mirror.co.uk; Syedkamall.com; Youtube.

ITV1 Dating Show 'Take Me Out'

THE new series will be aired at prime-time on ITV1, Saturday nights in early 2011. It is again being hosted by comedian Paddy McGuiness, but they require your help! Lewis, who is one of the program makers, told us:- "We are casting Guys & Girls for the new series right now and will be touring the length and breadth of the UK to find people looking for love! All the Contestants simply have to be single, and over 18 years old! We ask all who are interested in taking part to complete an application form and send it back to us with a recent picture. To get the application please call 020 7691 6361."

BUSINESSES BE WARNED - YET AGAIN

SEVERAL Southport and Formby residents have contacted Sefton Crime Prevention officers and Southport Homewatch to report that they had received 'cold calling' phone calls from a company offering PC support services. Sefton Crime Prevention have since put out a warning saying. "We have also been contact by Sefton residents who have received 'cold calling' from an unknown company conducting 'Home Security Surveys'? The callers asked for personal information, ie. age of the occupants, the type of house they live in etc. One of the recipients of these calls had a second call from them and was provided with the following information. Company:- Risk Tec Support (or similar) Telephone Number:- 01614083331. We have not, at the time of sending this message, been able to contact either company and little information, other than above, is known about them. Therefore if you receive such telephone calls be careful as to what personal information you disclose to them or to any financial commitment you may enter into." Sefton Crime Prevention told us.

Editors Comments:- "Bank errors"

YET again the banks are in the headlines, this time Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank. How the banks can get away with this is amazing. Our editor has had a long running issue with a bank and the FSA is effectively powerless to actually do any good. It is shocking how the banks can make threats and destroy people’s credit ratings and lives, yet get away with it. Often they do as little as they can to 'help', but always the errors are the customer’s responsibility. One of the biggest problems is that the FSA cannot combine cases, so the banks are not shown to have massive errors until failures like the aforementioned bank's miscalculation of monthly repayments hit the headlines. We have been logging quite a few problems that have effectively destroyed businesses and people’s lives over the last few years and both the Financial Ombudsmen and the government seem powerless or uninterested in getting involved in the issue. We urge everyone who has problems with banks to contact their banks with complaint letters and their MP's, then they might take notice. The problem in the UK is that the law always seems to be against you, even when you are in the right... The banks have the power and you have to sit back and enjoy the ride... If the banks were to wake up and smell the coffee, and notice that they are damaging the very people who keep them afloat, often for short term gain, then possibly things may improve; but we live in forlorn hope... If you have any problems, please do let us know, as we are finishing our report very soon and the more case studies we get, the better. Let us hope the breaking up of the FSA into two components; one dealing with financial regulation of companies and one dealing with advice to consumers, will lead to better control of the financial sector.   Email us your views to news24@southportreporter.com today.   If you do not want to be identified or named, don't worry, as we will keep your identity hidden.  Any cases we would like to use, we will contact you back and discuss what can be published.