Posts

A Warning to all eBay Sellers – Fraudulent Return Requests are on the increase again

Image
  Editors note: I first encountered this disturbing issue in May of last year, having fallen victim to it myself as an eBay seller.  I've just  been caught again by the same 'querk' in eBay's returns system whereby a buyer's request on grounds of 'Not as Specified' gives them automatic 'carte blanche' for a refund with the seller paying the return postage. The only recourse you have as a seller is to accept the return and report the buyer for a fraudulent claim. And even then, eBay refuse to tell you what, if anything, they've done after the event. Needless to say you don't get any of your money back, and are left with an item that may have been deliberately modified or even damaged by the buyer. Please note also that the old 'Appeals' process also seems to have been withdrawn, leaving the unfortunate seller little or no recourse. My recommendation to anyone thinking of selling on eBay the near future : Allow for at least 10-20% of y...
Post a Comment
Read more

When Is Bins ? - A Light-Hearted Look at our Domestic Refuse Collection System

  Editor's note: See recent update 28.6.25 at the end of the main article for the latest news on the new UK.GOV plans for reorganising recycling collections.... ---------------------------- As one of the more incisive questions of our age, "When is Bins ?" definitely deserves some attention…and hopefully a reliable and effective solution for those afflicted by the recent changes (i.e. most of us!). In days of old, life was much simpler when it came to getting our rubbish collected…. The majority of households had just one dustbin. We put it out for the dustmen (as we affectionately referred to them in those balmy 'pre-pc' days) on the same day each week, and with a bit of luck it got emptied sometime on that day.  Life is much more complicated nowadays when it comes to dealing with our domestic waste. The advent of recycling and climate change awareness, which admittedly was overdue  and necessary, given our profligacy with the earth’s non-renewable resource...
Post a Comment
Read more

Will Starmer and Reeves Steal Your State Pension This Autumn ?

Please excuse the rather hard-hitting question in the title of this blog, but needs must - this is potentially pretty serious, particularly if you're one of our many hard-up pensioners….. The Labour leadership is getting desperate now, and as we all know, desperation often leads to serious mistakes…this certainly would be a monumental one. OK, what's all the fuss about ? There are a number of evil rumours abound in the media (and not just the socials) that Reeves is now actively considering means-testing the State Pension in November as part of her 'Black Hole filling' project.  The Inter-generational Foundation think tank is reported to have gone as far as recommending it to government as a way of  "..distributing resources more fairly between the generations..". Starmer has already been challenged on why he has allowed the tax threshold freezes to bring some pensioners, who have the state pension as their sole income, into the basic rate tax net at ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Winter Fuel – They Thought it was All Over - It isn’t

  This summer, Labour back-benchers finally managed to force Starmer and Reeves to backtrack on the draconian restrictions to Winter Fuel Payments (WFP) first announced by Reeves shortly after the election i n July 2024. For that we should certainly be grateful to them. They weren’t, however, able to reverse the damage completely. Instead of agreeing to re-instate the benefit for everyone, Starmer and Reeves insisted on applying a means test based on an income threshold of £35k p.a. This set the scene for yet more pain for the leadership and the Party…. Let’s take look at the practical implications of this move to find out why.... As we understand it, the plan now is for DWP to reinstate the £200 (£300 for over 80s) payment for all pensioners who were claiming their entitlement in 2024 before the axe fell (i.e. ca 10 million). HMRC will then deduct this sum from the bank accounts of everyone earning above the £35k threshold that year . And therein lies the problem that wi...
Post a Comment
Read more