Airport security is one of my pet hates and I do anything to avoid flying. Travelling by Ferry to Continental Europe has always proved to be less hassle and more relaxing. Even Eurostar and the UK Government have managed to make travelling by train via the Chunnel almost as bad as flying.

Long haul flights are different there is no viable alternative. Terminal 5 at Heathrow is better than most and when I passed through on a Sunday evening recently there were surprisingly few passengers and check-in was very quick. Maybe people are being dispatched quicker so it seemed like less passengers because the Jumbo Jet I travelled on was full and it wasn’t the only flight that evening.

Possibly it was the appearance of fewer people that made it seem as if passing through security would be a bit smoother than my normal experience but that feeling didn’t last. Things went wrong in the relatively small area where the storm troopers oops immigration officials congregate with their scanning machines and petty rules.

The scanner that scans personal belongings is very modern and all silver and shiny. Everything must be put into grey plastic trays; electronic equipment, hand baggage, jacket, belt, coins and shoes. But there is no place to fill these trays other than on the moving conveyor belt. So you are temporarily parted from valuable electronic devices and any other treasures you may have in your bags while you remove your belt, shoes and anything else you may be required to surrender.

The result is that as other passengers do the same your trays become mixed going through the scanner. You then pass through the metal detector contraption and hope your gold teeth or the high iron content of your blood doesn’t set off the alarm.

I passed through without incident and started taking my things, the trays still moving towards the end of the conveyor where the empty ones disappear below and return to the start. They do stop if they contain anything but you don´t know this when youfirst use them.

Unfortunately an inconsiderate passenger left a pile of luggage on the floor in front of the conveyor preventing easy access to trays so I took my last tray off the belt and started to retrieve my smaller belongings such as my cash, mobile phone etc. Suddenly I heard a voice from behind telling me to put the tray back on the conveyor belt and as he obviously thought I wasn’t capable of completing such a simple task used his hand to give it a shove. The tray then shot off towards the hole at the end and I grabbed what I thought was my last item.

Did he tell the inconsiderate passenger to move his unattended baggage? NO! Did he stop to be spoken to or even help? NO! He just turned on his heels and swaggered away. What is it about some working-class people in uniform with a badge?

Did I take everything out of my last tray? No, I left my keys in the tray, house keys and luggage keys. I didn’t see them as the tray sped away. So now not only did I have to break into and ruin one of my bags but I have a problem, when I return to England, getting into my home.

The frightening thing is that had I challenged the ignorant bastard and expressed my concerns even without using such colourful language I would almost certainly been arrested under the anti-terror laws. And if I did the same in the United States I would be wearing one of those brightly coloured jumpsuits.

And orange doesn’t suit me!

For the definition of bollocks see “Airport Security What A Load Of Bollocks!”

Supermarkets are destroying the traditional British High Street by undercutting prices till smaller local shops go bankrupt or give up. They, the supermarkets, offer choice and prices that no small retailer can match. So ‘they’ continue to expand and the small shops disappear.

But not only are they depriving the local communities of the choice of where they can shop they are also deliberately ripping off the very people who keep them in business. It’s illegal but they don’t care!

This is how they do it. They advertise promotions at an offer price on the shelves and then charge the full price at the tills. Here’s an example of how I got ripped-off by Asda the British arm of Wallmart. I took advantage of an Asda promotion that offered three yoghurts for £2 (approx $4 US) when I got to the till they charged me the full 37p (approx 70c US) each.

When I complained I was treated with disdain by the assistant possibly because the total overcharge was ‘only’ 22p (approx 40c US). Quite a small amount but hey, try taking out 22p worth of goods without paying and see what happens! At very least you’d be branded a thief by the supermarket but more likely you would get a criminal record because the supermarket wants to make an example of you to deter other miscreants.

When I got home I found a previous till receipt and realised I had been overcharged before. I decided to run an experiment. After all I had alerted them to the error now and a responsible retailer would make sure the error was put right. Yeah, OK, right!

As well as the bad attitude of the staff member it took fifteen minutes to sort out the refund. First of all I reported it to the assistant at the checkout. He was very polite, apologised and sent me to ‘customer services’.

The woman (with the attitude) at the customer services counter looked at my receipt and went to the yoghurt shelf to check that I was telling the truth. When she got back she confirmed my honesty and expressed a reluctant apology. Then I had to endure a painfully bureaucratic process of refunding the Asda theft of 22p. I even had to sign for my money!

Now if this was genuine mistake that was immediately rectified, OK - human error and all that, but nothing was changed. I continued to buy the same yoghurts right up till the day I left the UK and I was mugged by Asda every time.

The Asda Shelf Price

Now Get Ripped-Off At The Till

Oh by the way, this case at Asda is not rare. So why aren’t Asda and other supermarket chains prosecuted by Trading Standards or the Police for this illegal activity? Here are some interesting links with further interesting evidence.

We Estimate That Tesco Steals £7.8 Million A Week From It’s Customers

UK supermarket rip-off? - ThisIsMoney.co.uk

The half-price wine ‘rip-off’- ThisIsMoney.co.uk

Supermarket rip-off culture must end - The Independent

Exposed: the tricks supermarkets use to make rip-offs look like bargains - Mail Online

According to London Underground management, NO DIFFERENCE!

But Tube Workers are the best bunch of people I have ever worked with. They are dedicated to serving the travelling public. They are highly trained in what can be a hostile environment. They cope with infrastructure inadequacies, overcrowding and violent passengers.

How are they treated by management in response to this professionalism? Sometimes like Dog Shit! I was first alerted to this travesty of justice when reading the BBC news web site. It reported that staff at three LU stations are staging a 24 hour walk out over the sacking of a colleague.

What did he do? Defended himself from attack by a member of the public on New Year’s Eve. The quite justified response to this sacking  was for the RMT to call a strike.

Here’s the full report from the RMT web site:

AROUND 100 RMT Tube station staff at Elephant and Castle, Charing Cross and Lambeth North and are to strike for 24 hours from 19:00 tonight to demand the re-instatement of a colleague dismissed after defending himself against a violent assault on New Year’s Eve.

Station assistant Jerome Bowes was sacked for defending himself against the assault from a member of the public who had already been involved in a fight on Elephant and Castle station, even though neither the Metropolitan Police nor the British Transport Police deemed that there was anything to arrest him for.

RMT members at the three Bakerloo Line stations, who voted by a margin of nine to one to strike to demand Jerome’s re-instatement, will not book on for shifts that commence after 19:00 tonight.

“Jerome Bowes was sacked for defending himself against an attack from behind from someone who had already been involved in a fight on the most volatile night of the year, and that is unacceptable,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

“Neither the Met nor the BTP found any cause to arrest Jerome, who was walking away towards a place of safety when he was assaulted, and it beggars belief that LUL has seen fit to dismiss him.

“The message London Underground seems to be sending out is that defending yourself against violent assault is to be regarded as a disciplinary offence, and it is no wonder that our members are angry and disgusted.

“Rather than train up inexperienced office staff in an attempt to undermine our members’ strike, LUL should be asking itself why they voted so overwhelmingly to take action and re-instate Jerome Bowes,” Bob Crow said.

Probably for ‘legal reasons’ nobody mentions ‘drunk member of the public’ but it isn’t rocket science to arrive at that conclusion is it? It was New Year’s Eve for god’s sake.

As a now retired Tube worker I have experienced the way LU management treat their staff, particularly RMT members, and I hope that all staff from all stations will support Jerome Bowes. It wouldn’t take an all out strike either just an overtime ban and refusing to work on the grounds of safety.

These two actions could bring the whole Tube to a halt within days, so come on comrades TAKE ACTION!

Sources used in this report:

http://www.rmt.org.uk/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7527779.stm

The W…. err…. Bankers squeal like stuck pigs

For years banks have levied penalty charges against customers who, for one reason or another, go overdrawn without their Bank’s permission. These charges are an illegal rip-off. One bank charges £39 for even minor infringements.

If an individual were to impose fines like this on captive customers they would probably find themselves charged with extortion and jailed. But these *ankers are the pillars of society and they think they are above the laws applied to the ‘little people’.

Thousands of ripped-off bank customers have demanded their money back, with interest and won! This was hurting the banks and they were squealing like stuck pigs so several banks agreed to submit to a test case by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). In return the OFT, a body who is supposed to be protecting the public, allowed the banks to put settlements on hold until the test case was decided in the High Court. However, no restrictions were put on the banks to reduce or suspend the illegal charges.

Test case result announced

The test case started in July 2007 and the result was handed down on 24 April 2008, This case wasn’t about an individual claim but was to assess legal principle. It centred around two points: whether bank charges fall under unfair contractual terms laws and if they can be considered penalties.

The High Court came to a mixed decision but did decide that consumer contract regulations, known as ‘Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations’ do apply to bank charges. Click this link for the full judgement.

So what’s next? A case conference is scheduled for May 22 and both parties will reconvene to decide how to proceed. This case isn’t over yet and being the *ankers they are, the pillocks-of-society, will continue to levy these penalties until it is. It could take years.

That shouldn’t stop you claiming though. Experts are of the opinion that the eventual decision of the OFT will go against the Banks. Putting a claim in immediately will ensure that you are can claim up to six years of charges from the day you claimed.

Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert.com has a very comprehensive section on his site explaining just how to claim. He has template letters you can download and an interest calculator. Oh and just for fun click on the Bank Charges Song below.

For more on the “Bank Charges Song” click here.

Links to organizations mentioned in this article

Money Saving Expert

PDF of the 119 page Judgement

Office of Fair Trading (OFT)

The way the Banks treat the majority of their customers is appalling. Of course the well-heeled won’t have a clue what I am talking about here. The rich are treated differently and will not only experience lower fees for their use of the bank but are also clued-up as to where to buy cheaper financial products.

The pressure put on the lower-paid to buy over-priced and often useless products is enormous. If you think your bank wouldn’t lie to you think again. Next you at your branch ask the account manager if Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) is good value for money. The correct answer is “No, It’s a scam!”

My experience with HSBC Bank plc and the PPI they sold me is a living example of why no bank customer should ever buy payment protection from a bank. But I may prejudice my case against HSBC if I expand on this story so for the time being click through to this article. Time To Clean Up This Swindle!