TV LICENSE

NO TV LICENSE? I'LL STOP THE DIRECT DEBIT THEN!!

Due to my work I don't usually get home till after 7pm so imagine my surprise when I got home tonight and saw the letter from the TV Licensing people telling me that they were planning to take further action because according to their records I don't have a TV license.

I might not be the best organiser in the world but the TV license was the first thing that I did when I moved into my flat, actually didn't even have a TV yet when I did it!! This is the second time that I have received a letter like this the first time I called and advised the girl at the end of the phone of my TV license number and she advised she would put a note on the system, this time I tried to visit the website (tried calling first but they were closed) and it is under construction!!! So if you are out there TV people I HAVE A LICENSE and a DIRECT DEBIT to prove it.

SNP EDUCATION POLICY

WHAT A JOKE

I am not long back from work and I have been checking out the news on the BBC website and happened to notice the SNP's new education announcement, what struck me the most -apart from it falling short of their election promises- was that they have said that the Scottish Executive will absorb the £9 Million cost involved without telling you where they are getting it from?

As my gran used to say 'It was worth a try' but how long did they think they would get away with doing this?

In other not so new news, the SNP's transport policy is going down the drain after their previous announcements that they would scrap the trams and rail link in Edinburgh (no they would look at them, no they would scrap them, fiasco) the Auditor has come back pretty much saying that the only problem with the Rail link is that key decisions have yet to be made, pretty much down to the SNP floundering then! They were desperate to have the Edinburgh trams stopped saying we could spend the money better (before the auditor had actually come to any decisions that is), now what will be the tune?

CUSTOMER SERVICE?

MOBILE PHONES

I am sure there are mobile phone networks that are really good at customer services but the one I am with (who for the moment shall remain nameless) is absolutely awful!! I have spent a total of two hours on hold over the last two months trying to get a decent upgrade for my phone (once for half an hour on the option I am THINKING of cancelling my contract), I have been with them for sometime and spend a significant amount of money with them (I rarely use my home phone) and they are still moaning about it, they even went as far as to give me the code I need to transfer my number over to someone else.

It got me thinking though, I spend a fair amount on my mobile and I have been looking around for a better deal always keeping in mind that I have to check the signal for the areas that I am most likely to be in first, and there are some great deals out there, from unlimited texts and calls at the weekends to free mobile Internet for two months, yet something is missing. Is it just me or have the UK mobile phone companies yet to convince the UK population that the service is about more than the phone? I want a Nokia N95 (Highly unlikely that I will end up getting one) and have been looking around as to who will give me one Free of Charge, then looking at the deals they offer, for me it is the functionality of the handset then the network deal.

You can see they are trying to move away from this towards the service they provide you only have to look at the most recent adverts by T-Mobile and Orange concentrating on the web and walk and pay as you go reserve tank respectively, did you hear a phone make or model mentioned? I understand why they do it, but I must admit I think they are on a losing battle at least one of the networks has been doing this for about three years and as yet they have been largely unsuccessful because when your contract is up all you want to know is.... What kind of new phone can I get and is it free?