Greengramaphone

I can recommend Mia Kawada who you can contact directly on 07877 719807. More information here: http://www.geradkite.com/pages/about/mia_kawada

Looking for someone who has a vehicle able to transport 2 wooden panels of a small summer house which wouldn't fit in a standard Zipvan. Wooden panels are 2 meters squared and not very heavy. We are happy to do the lifting ourselves, it's just that the panels were too large to fit in a standard rental van. The panels need to be transported from Brixton to East Dulwich. Please PM me with rates if you're able to help. Thank you!

Hi Sue, I'd try SMBS Organic and Health Foods at 75 Lordship Lane if you haven't already found it! x

Hi Karen, you likely already know this but if not, thought it'd be worth mentioning that you can get advice for free from a solicitor through the Citizens Advice Bureau. I've used their free, one on one, in person, solicitor consultation service before and it was very helpful. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/how-we-provide-advice/advice/

Have PMed you :)

Have PMed you :) !

pommie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > should ring wildlife aid or fox project rather > than the RSPCA Pommie, you'll see in my posts above that I did actually think of calling the fox project first but found that they can only help between 9am-9pm and that outside of these hours they advise to ring the RSPCA. As it was 1am, that's what I did! I have to say, from what I'd heard on here about other people's experiences calling the RSPCA, I didn't really anticipate that they'd be willing to do anything and so was brilliantly surprised and found it so assuring that they answered the phone right away, took the situation very seriously, offered phone advice and said that they would come out right away, at any time of day or night. Would you not recommend them? I didn't know about Wildlife Aid but I see that, like the RSPCA, they do have a phone line you can call 24 hours a day.

Blue Brick Cafe is the best :) ! Would also recommend Senzala in Brixton Village which does delicious savory crepes!

Here here! Best bike shop I've been to :) ! He's the only one I've found that is willing to cheerfully work on maintaining old "vintage" bikes. I've had many other South London local places turn their noses up at working on old bikes and have been told repeatedly at several other South London bike shops that I should buy a new bike instead and that they can't work on mine, etc. Paul's have been absolutely the opposite, so helpful and friendly and up for a fixer upper challenge. Wouldn't go anywhere else now!

Have PMed you :) !

Brilliant, thanks very much Louisianna :) ! Would you mind telling me (by PM if you prefer?) the name of the vet you saw there? They seem lovely and very professional judging from the woman I spoke to on the phone for more information and from popping in to their shop one time, but I have been nervous to go with them as a friend wasn't happy with a vet he saw there.

Noone :) ?

Hello, I would very much appreciate any vet recommendations, particularly if you've had a dog spayed with them! I need to have my puppy spayed and, being surgery, would love to go with a recommended vet. Thank you!

Walked up and down both sides of Bassano street and checked underneath all the cars and in house entrances but no fox! Hopefully that's a good thing as means it recovered enough to move? If anyone else sees it and it needs help, please call the RSPCA at any time on 0300 1234 999. You'll need to be with / be able to see the fox when you call and apparently they'll send out help immediately. They should have a case already open for this fox with Bassano Street as a reference!

There is a charity called The Fox Project that can help between 9am-9pm but outside of these hours they advise to ring the RSPCA. I've just rung the RSPCA and they've said that they will send out help right away if we can see the fox when we call (as they said that foxes are quite resilient and that it's possible this fox may have already moved at this point). I'm going to check if it's still there now and will call RSPCA from there if it is!

Hi Michelle, I'm looking for a few balls of colored yarn (any texture/fiber OK) to make some pom pom holiday decorations. If you'd be happy with some of your yarn turning into pom poms, I could pick up as soon as is convenient, including from your Tuesday night meeting (tomorrow?). Sadly, I'm not a member of SnB as can't knit :( !!

Really? That's crazy! I asked & asked for clarification & as far as I understood, putting down the 1st ?500 meant that we would have the opportunity to raise our offer if rejected FIRST before any other offers could be considered! Your explanation makes sense though because LT kept contradicting this by urging us to put the 2nd payment down to take it off the market. . .

Thanks for the Ludlow Thompson insight data90x! Interesting to hear how it works from an insider's view and having just let a flat from Dulwich Ludlow Thompson, I experienced much of what you described but took much longer to obtain this information directly from them! As others have mentioned, the admin fees were a main issue and LT seemed to be pulling numbers out of the air. First they were ?360, then ?405, then ?420, then ?457!? No one explained that they are calculated as a % of the rental price agreed until the last possible moment under much questioning. When I did question it, finally (with management permission) we were given the ?420 fee, which we were assured was the lowest they would go to. (Reassuring in a way to hear that confirmed in your post above!). That?s crazy about LT taking all their landlord fees at the beginning of the contract, our landlord just mentioned having to wait to do some work on the flat as LT have taken all their fees out already. I had heard negative reviews of Ludlow Thompson and we were avoiding them when looking for a flat. Unfortunately a flat we really loved the sound of ended up being let with them and we went to see it just in case, all the while thinking we wouldn't take it because we didn't want to let from LT. Unfortunately it was the best fit flat for us we saw and we ended up deciding to just be vigilant in everything we signed, make sure we understood/questioned all steps and to take the LT risk/hand over double admin fees, in return for the reward of the flat we wanted. My biggest issue with LT is the amount charged for admin fees. They are the highest I have ever encountered although I think this is becoming a general agency issue. However, I let with Winkworth Herne Hill before which charged ?117.50 admin fees + ?25 per applicant referencing fee. The ?500 to make an offer and ?500 to hold a property is also really unreasonable and much more than other agents I've experienced ask for (Winkworth Herne Hill asked ?200 for this). It's annoying and inconvenient but as Tom clarified, this ?1000 is taken off the full amount due for deposit/fees/1st month rent so if you definitely want the property then it's just having to come up the money sooner. I don?t think there's any way for them to justify charging ?400 plus for ?admin? fees though. We asked for a breakdown of the admin fees but were told they are to cover referencing (which costs much less than this) and legal fees. The funniest thing is that in their subsequent emails they asked us to print the contract out at home and bring it in to the office! So for ?400 plus, they were suggesting they weren't even going to cover the cost of printing the contract! Ha! Well, in the end they did. . .so that was a relief!? I researched agency fees and there?s a lot written lately about how agency admin fees are getting out of control and going up and up with no justification/explanation. Interestingly enough I read that they should be going down since in this new age of internet with gumtree/forums, the landlord/tenants can find/communicate between each other directly much more easily, do reference checks themselves online and actually agents now need landlords/tenants more than we need them! When making the offer on the property, I asked Ludlow if they'd be managing the property or not and we were told we'd work that out later (?!). I am SO relieved after reading everything here that they are thankfully not managing it but just doing rent collection (despite an erroneous message we received from Ludlow saying the contrary). We have however just experienced the strange "Spark Energy" phenomenon. Our property was already with Eon, we received an estimated bill from them after moving in and then called to set up an initial DD tariff. I received info from Spark in the mail (which I thought was just advertising) and included them in my call around to compare different other energy rates available. When I called Spark by chance, just to get their rates, I learned we were actually in the process of being switched over to them (??!), as approved by Ludlow. My first reaction like other posters on here was to be annoyed and angry. They said there was probably a clause in my rental contract about it. I checked and it said that "The Tenants acknowledge that at the start of the let the Gas and Electricity for the Property will be provided or will be in the process of being provided by Spark Energy. However this will not prevent the Tenants from changing to a different energy provider if desired." When I read this out, Spark confirmed that we were free to cancel the change up. The ?check list? from Ludlow worded it slightly differently though saying ?Tenants notified of their responsibility to arrange for ALL utilities to be put into their names - Spark Engery can assist them with this for Electricty and Gas. Hometelecom can assist with telecom and broadband.? This definitely makes it sound more casual and not that they?ve already switched you! We also received calls from Hometelcom with offers but they (apparently) didn?t have permission from Ludlow to take over our service. When I got Spark's unit rates for their Direct Debit Advanced 4 Tariff (you have to ask to switch to this tariff, it?s not the one you?ll automatically be on from switching over), and compared them with other energy companies based on our actual usage for a month (not an estimate), it turned out surprisingly that Spark?s unit rates are actually cheaper than all the other companies I contacted (Eon, Scottish Power, Npower, British Gas, EDF). The rate is not fixed so in theory could go up in the next year but they have to give you notice of this and as there is no exit fee and it is cheaper at the moment, we decided to stick with it and try it. Having now read reviews online for Spark though, I'm feeling a bit nervous as it seems that they try to send you a huge estimate bill, make you pay, make it difficult to leave and have terrible customer service :/ ! I have to say though, they?ve been fine in the interactions I've had with them. The office I called seemed very small, the 1st person I called gave me his name and said to call back and ask to speak to him! Guessing that may be because I'm a new potential customer though. I did feel the cut throat atmosphere referenced above in Ludlow. When reading over my contract there were sales agents who seemed to be laughing together about the client that one agent had been speaking to on the phone after the agent hung up. I thought it was pretty unprofessional, especially as I was sitting there! When going over details of my contract/new flat, I asked a question that the agent laughed/sneered at incredulously b/c apparently he had just answered it beforehand. There?s a lot of info to take in when letting a new place and I didn?t really feel that was called for! Having said that, I?ve heard nightmare agent stories of agents showing up to viewings without keys/not showing up, etc, and the negotiators we dealt with were accommodating in arranging a last minute, time-specific viewing for my partner and were courteous and punctual. There were mistakes on the offer form and rental contract but we just made sure to read/double check everything we signed. We went in prepared that letting through LT may be difficult and sad to say this thread has confirmed we're likely in for more issues but fingers crossed that's not the case. . .

I've emailed you :)

So sorry to hear this :( ! On the lookout for your bike! I saw a similar one in tulse hill on the weekend & took a photo of the plate to check when I got home but it was a different number to yours. Unless you think they might have changed it? Best, Gg

**Black Astra Car Parked On Barry Road Near Silvester Road You Left Your Lights ON!**

The Patch is dog friendly too :)

Could it have been from a bus on Barry Rd with the red paint?

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