annabel42

Mr Barber As directed I duly phoned the Counc after 6 pm. Of course their offices were closed despite the person I spoke to assuring me there would be someone to speak to at that hour. We cannot have a dialogue with the contractors if you are lucky they speak once and then they leave message and that is that .There is no way of speaking to them again. The message is invariably negative of the everything is ok why areyou bothering us type.. We need someone to come round and discuss our health and safety concerns not dismiss them in this cavalier fashion. Would it be possible for you to help please?

Up. PLEASE can you help? Incidentally I am a director and also the Administrator as we are self managed.

Dear Mr Barber I live on a private estate off Forest Hill Road which althoughSe23 is in Southwark. Between Christmas and New Year our recycling bin was locked meaning there was recycling all over the ground attracting foxes and mice from the woodland behind. The only response to my email as directed by Southwark Council was that they visited in response to my email and there was no problem - obviously not as they unlocked the bin. No explanation as to why it was locked. Our refuse bins were not emptied last Friday nor have they as yet been today. Iknow we have to wait until 6pm but I am reporting for LAST Friday. If they are not emptied by 6 30 I can then phone the Council and they will send round AFTER the weekend. With refuse overflowing attracting foxes mice etc this is simply not good enough especially as there are seventeen properties many with young children sharing 2 refuse bins and one recyckling bin. And now they ar about food waste - over my dead body! To cap it all, the binmen leave a terrible mess which we have to clearx u

Forgot to say the envelopes are slashed and resealed with such expert precision that it is only on close examination after finding that the contents have gone that one can see the interference. Postmasters and sorting office staff are aware of the problem, but there seems little they can do as the theft can happen anywhere in the chain. One large Company in EC1 had so many thefts that they now have a dedicated RM person watching over their special deliveries but, even so, still have thefts, albeit a tiny fraction of the original losses.

Sue The reason they do it is because the receiver signs for the envelope and then only discovers afterwards that there is nothing in it, Also the contents could have been taken long before the envelope got to thepostman, as you correctly say.

Make sure you keep the envelopes - with special delivery, they will not do a thing without being given them, don't know about ordinary delivery, but, if you're claiming compensation, presumably the same applies. Keep a photograph of the envelopes - preferably taken by a postmaster.

You have to go through all the motions as laid down in their complaints procedure. I sent two special delivery next day guaranteed insured envelopes containing cash to two people - the envelopes duly arrived, but, in one, some of the cash had been removed, and in the other, all the cash had gone. The envelopes had been resealed. A third envelope never reached its destination although the sorting office at the other end admitted that they had received it. After many months of going through the proper complaints procedures with no success I eventually emailed Royal Mail's chief executive [email protected] who referred the matters to some other high up executives. After that all my cash was refunded very quickly indeed. Even at that stage, though, I still had to stand my ground and have a long interrogation by another of Royal Mail's senior executives. And to think this special delivery postage/insurance is now close to a tenner a time! With all complaints to Royal Mail you have to keep chasing all the time. It is really hard time-consuming work, particularly as you are never put through to the person dealing with your complaint - only to some-one reading from a computer screen.

And those strange new things are of no use to people who suffer from claustrophobia.

Try the Rose 108 Forest Hill Road. Speak to Nadia.

We older people are children of the sixties - old modernizers! Yes, shops in ED probably don't cater for us, specifically, but we are made very welcome in pubs and restaurants. Our minds are still young (until Alzheimers sets in!) and we would love to go to book clubs, food clubs, sporting fixtures on T in pubs etc but do not do so because (quite wrongly I am sure), we think, being old, people may think we would cast a damper on things and we would feel out of place. (I think a ladies club on this forum suggested an upper age limit of 45 but I may be wrong). Therefore the following suggestions; 1. Anyone advertising an event on this forum state specifically that all ages welcome, if this is, in fact, the case; 2. Anyone of "the older generation" PM me with suggestions as to how to get us bettered catered for in East Dulwich; I promise to follow up: (perhaps a group for over 60s?) 3. Any owners of businesses come forward with their suggestions - the "silver" cash could prove profitable, especially with special offers. I hope I am not being presumptuous but Google and the Minkey have a point, which I identify with and which I think should be addressed.

Should the police not investigate?

They had only one complaint !

Type in hoopers pub - about 4th down the list

Www.selcamra.org.uk/hoopers -bar -se5 -under - threat /

I have never been to Hoopers but as a a very old woman rugby fanatic thought I would go to watch the 6 nations so checked out their exact location. There is disturbing news on their website . Suggest you check it out there is a message from the owner.

I have never been to Hoopers but as a a very old woman rugby fanatic thiugh I would go there after reading this thread so looked up their exact location. There is disturbing news o their websit check it out type in complaints.

Waitrose delivers to me off Forest Hill Road, free of charge for orders over ?50. They have been late only once - and gave me a bottle of wine as an apology. They bring the groceries from their Beckenham store, and the drivers could not be more helpful. There are people that are not catered for by the existing LL shops - large sizes, for example (- the boutique type shops tend to cater for small and medium sizes) - and men's clothes, as far as I know, so an M & S would be useful, unless of course smaller shops open catering for things like this. The smaller shops tend to have a narrower target market - perhaps M & S would have a wider appeal without detracting from the appeal of the independent shops - they seem to exist side by side in most other parts of London. As has been pointed out, there is an M & S in Brixton, but for those of us who don't drive, it is more than five minutes away on a bus and quite a costly taxi ride. Where I come from, the larger chains actually pay people who can find them sites which they subsequently purchase - I was approached by some-one on behalf of a chain to do just that - does this system not operate in the UK?

So it is not a question of whether we want a Waitrose or M & S but whether they want us?

Tarafitness James Barberstarted this thread by saying he could think of a site for a Waitose or simila but did not want to pursueit unless he first canvassed reactions. Perhaps you could pursue this with him ?

Louisa I agree with you wholeheartedly. I think there was a M and S or similar in Peckham many years ago. I believe Peckham in those days was quite a prestigious shopping centre. For those saying a Waitrose would take away business from independent shops, in marylebone High Street there is a Waitrose, a Tesco (express or metro?) A fishmonger, a cheese shop,wine shops and a butchers nearby. I am not a Telegraph reader/latte drinker and don't have a butler (I wish!)but I do feel that having an M & S and a Waitrose would have a beneficial effect on the area.

I think it could be existing Sainsburys Tescos and Co-op customers who would go to Waitrose. People supporting local shops would have built up a rapport with those shops and I think would remain loyal to them as would newcomers who prefer going to individual shops. Some of us through age, disability etc simply cannot manage to do the rounds of several independent shops.

I don't drive so would love a local M & S and Waitrose. I agree completely with supporting local businesses, but I would certainly prefer Waitrose to the Co-op.

There is also a machine in Sainsburys, London Road, Forest Hill.

The Asus eeepad comes with or without a separate keyboard as well as the built in keyboard. New model coming out shortly.

In the last couple of weeks I have been in Si Mangia and the Rose. There were families with children in each of these establishments. The children were very well behaved, I think because these were proper family outings arranged for the benefit of the children as well as the parents where the parents (and their friends) were interacting actively during the meal with their children. Of course, these establishments, like all others, also have naughty children, but the annoyance to others does seem to arise when the children are left to their own devices. As in everything else, there are, of course, exceptions. I agree that mutual tolerance is the answer, but not to the extent that parents should expect some-one to leave the pub or restaurant in question because their child is annoying that person and others by their bad behaviour. I do not know whether this is still the case, and I am not saying I agree with the policy, but at one stage Wetherspoons would allow parents with children to have one drink only after their meal and they then had to leave. Apparently this was because the children, having had their meal, started running round the pub. This involved the staff spending much time in having to deal with these issues to the detriment of service to other customers.