Sue

That's interesting Fuchsia. Cynically, maybe the NHS don't care - being able to tell staff they get the "benefits" of local discounts, it makes them look like a good employer, and what's it to them if the businesses involved are getting lied to and ripped off?

:))

SteveT Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Lidl have some very good 'bins' for ?6 small light > and powerful. > > Buy now and save till chrissimus. xxxxxxx Blimey that's a bargain, have they got them in Peckham? Hope I'm not becoming a twitcher :))

Sorry, post deleted, I think I must have posted on the wrong thread, though who knows how? :-$

I was stuck on a 176 :-S But too lazy to walk :))

Sounds very similar I must say, but Medicare do have a glossy website with NHS and DVLA plastered all over the homepage. Sounds a similar pitch though, "only three of your kind of organisation" and "must sign up today."

One of the things about wrens is that they have very thin beaks, which are quite long in relation to their tiny bodies, or always look that way to me. Also "rounder" bodies than pied wagtails I think. And I think they are completely brown, not with a white flash anywhere. But I don't have the energy to look up my bird book :) I love wrens, had one who used to be about my (very small) garden a lot a few years back.

lenk Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > > > xxxxxx > > > > What frog place?? > > Frog on the Green on Consort Road. > > Great deli, barely any scoffing EDites make it > over there either due to Nunhead's rampant crime > stats and hourly drive-by shootings. Meaning you > can usually get a seat. > > I don't think opening another deli within 5 > minutes' walk would really do anyone any favours > though... xxxxx Thanks - will check it out :) Is it new?

Write to a councillor. They'll have to provide you with a written explanation within a certain timescale. They'll make sure they get it :)

beef Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The duke, and all it's previous incarnations have > failed because it doesn't work as a social space. > Someone needs to turn into into a nice deli, like > the frog place nearby. xxxxxx What frog place??

Erm, no, what did it say?

Cassius Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If there is a discounted product but the discount > doesn't come up on the till, then it is NOT the > fault of that particular member of staff - it > means that the tills haven't been adjusted > accordingly and the staff don't (I think) have the > ability to over-right it. xxxxxxxxxx No of course it's not their fault if it's wrong on the till - but taking eight quid off the till with a note saying "product not required" and refunding four pounds in cash when the original bill was paid by card is, erm, a bit of an odd way to rectify the situation, no? What happened to the other four pounds? According to the till note, the bottle of wine was returned to the store. In fact, it was in my bag.

Also, the money they ask businesses for is not, as I originally thought, a one-off payment. You pay hundreds of pounds a year. Plus VAT. And they told me my details would be sent out "with payslips". I know from previously working at King's that it is actually quite difficult to arrange for information to be sent out with payslips, so I'd be quite surprised if this was the case - anybody know?

Louisa Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Formerly the Edinburgh Castle and then something > else that i'm sure a yuppy on here will remember > the name of. On Nunhead lane near the traffic > lights. > xxxxxxxx I'm not a yuppy - do they have good memories or something? I don't know what this place became immediately after the Edinburgh Castle, but it was the Page One Bar for some time, then the Village Inn or something similar with a hideous sign nothing like an inn for a short time, then it became the Duke.

Surprise Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I've never been overcharged but it is a strange > place. Two out of the three or four times I've > ever been in that Somerfield (I normally just do a > big shop at Sainsbury's) I've been offered > cashback, said yes, and then not been given my > cash until I realised outside the store and went > back. xxxxxxxx This has happened to me, and I have witnessed it happening to someone else. I no longer think this can be due to staff incompetence or inexperience, and I also don't think there is just one person involved. In future I am going to report each of these "mistakes" to Somerfield management. But surely they must be aware???

Well on the basis of the above, they don't really deserve to prosper, do they? That's a terrible story!

Fuchsia thanks, I am going to write to King's - the name on the letter they showed me was one I recognised. Funnily enough, I put the phone down on them during my initial conversation with them because I was convinced it was a scam, but they phoned me back and (sort of) convinced me it wasn't. However as soon as the sales person told me I had to sign up that day, it was clear that it must be. No reputable company uses that kind of sales tactics. Also, the only possible place they could have got my name was from a directory, because the details they had (eg the way the business was described as "Quiet Earth Magnotherapy" and the description of me as a complementary therapist), could only have come from that directory as I have never used them elsewhere. So to say I had been recommended by several local people, and that they "only use people who have been personally recommended to them" was quite clearly a complete lie. OK, I'm on their case - just to add to all the other stuff on my to do list (and I'm supposed to be working today, as I type :)) )

In this case there was a whole display full of the special offer, clearly marked ?3.99. The issue I am raising is not just the overcharging at the till, but the way the refund was made.

What was the nature of your overcharging, PR?

Oh come on, it's quite big, a pond is quite small :))

When I said that I had worked at King's in the past and had never received any info about discounts with local businesses with my payslip, they said that this scheme was "just starting in this area". ??? :-S

I was phoned recently by someone asking me to sign up to a scheme which apparently offers "benefits" to NHS staff and is just starting up in the East Dulwich area. They claimed at least three local people had recommended me as a "complementary therapist" and that if I offered discounts to NHS staff this information would go out in payslips of staff at King's. They told me of other local businesses who had already signed up, including, bizarrely, the dental practice I go to (I haven't checked this out yet) and that make-and-paint-your-own-pottery place. I would have thought that was a breach of confidentiality. They said they couldn't email me information about the scheme (can't remember why) and couldn't post it because "that would be too expensive" - however they managed to send out a hard-sell guy in a car, presumably that was much cheaper than the post. They said that of course the NHS couldn't be seen to be spending money on a staff benefit scheme, so I would have to pay to be in it - they wouldn't divulge the amount on the phone. To cut a long story short: I am not a complementary therapist. I do have a sideline selling magnotherapy wristbands, after I used one successfully myself for arthritic symptoms and migraines. Most of my business is mail order from recommendations, and I am quite sure there aren't any local people who would have recommended me as I have never sold any locally. The only place I have been described as a "complementary therapist" was when I was offered a free entry in a local directory (where this category was the only place my very part-time business would fit). The guy who came to see me went through a process like a double-glazing salesman would - is anyone else involved in the business with you, if so they must be present, you must sign up today, can't have time to think about it etc etc etc., he had official-looking letters from HR people at King's and Lewisham hospital, etc etc.. (I think these were genuine, I recognised the name on the King's one as I used to work there). he said "what sort of percentage increase would you be looking for" etc etc etc Anyway - no way would I sign up to something without being given time to consider it, and the minimum "investment" (his words) involved was hundreds of pounds. Is this genuine? I googled Medicare before agreeing to see this guy, and they do indeed seem to be being used by both the NHS and DVLA. But the way they are going about things makes me very very suspicious indeed. Anybody else been approached? Can anybody shed any light?

bigbadwolf Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Get yourself down to the Crapitol (J.D > Wetherspoons) on London rd Forest hill for an > afternoon session that involves sitting in a > deathly silent shithole where the only other > drinkers livers paked in years ago and are only > being kept alive by the heat of the radiator and > ramnble random and bizzare Mick Oirish drivle into > their pint glass pausing only to give the dog a > 'Top up'. You'll then feel the overwhelming sense > doom and wasted opportunity sweeping through your > body only being broken from the spell once you've > seen a pidgeon shit in your pint. > > Beers cheap though. xxxxxx Hey, that sounds good :)) Weekend solved then :)-D

Yes Firezza, had them at a party once, head and shoulders above other pizza deliverers (is that a word?)

Mick Mac Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The seats in the back needed refurbed/replaced at > least 5 years ago. I'm not sure if they have > because I no longer go in that part - but I'd say > the pub is really well positioned and could have a > big catchment if it got its act together and did a > proper refurb. > It only seems to be busy on sports events. xxxxxx But the lack of a "proper refurb" is why it's such a great place. Though OK, they could do something with their planting out the front, and also the Ladies :)) And if they brought back the Adnams Broadside instead of the bitter, that would definitely make me go there more. But I like both the bars as they are. I noticed at the weekend that they had done something to the ceiling in the "old" bit, but it still has that unreconstructed feel :) Edited to say: If Dan was the guy who kindly gave me his Little Miss Sunshine tee shirt, respect :)