BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

[PanBiker]

Mine were 0.01p followed by 0.03p, all confirmed.

Do you really mean pennies, not £ or $?. If yes, then are we going to start seeing goods priced to the second decimal place? They'll be selling things at £9.9999 next!

Yes sorry Peter, should have put £0.01 and £0.03. Micro payment transfers, if you think about it, Ebay will have to do this with every user so even at that outlay it will add up to a bob or two. They only do it for confirmation and will reclaim the payments from my account in due course.

[Stanley]

House prices. I think you're right David, it was cock-up rather than cunning plan. I think the start was giving income tax relief on house mortgages. The more you spent the more you saved.
Later... The government will repeat their latest mistake today by introducing mortgages for first time buyers with as little as 5% deposit. Trebles all round at the house builders.

[plaques]

First time buyers can now get thee 5% discount on properties up to £600,000 (six hundred thousand). How many on minimum wages could possibly even start dreaming of buying at this level. Meanwhile, house prices will automatically rise 5%, "because you can get a grant". City prices including rental accommodation will also rise. The end result is that the tax payer is paying for inflation while being held at 1% pay rises. Austerity by the back door.

[Tizer]

But as I noted a couple of days ago even the big banks are worried about the scheme leading yet again to negative equity problems and some have said they won't allow it on new properties because the developers simply bump up the prices.

[Stanley]

I can remember a time when we had Price Control....

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report on the latest stage in the Post Office Horizon scandal.
"A group of 42 sub-postmasters and postmistresses will learn later whether convictions for stealing money will be quashed amid a Post Office IT scandal. They were convicted, with some imprisoned, after the Post Office installed the Horizon computer system in branches. The system was flawed and postmasters and postmistresses have spent years trying to clear their names. Judges at the Court of Appeal will deliver their ruling later."
My best wishes to them, I hope they get a good result. Lets not forget the hundreds damaged by Horizon and the PO attitudes who aren't included in this judgement but are waiting in the wings.

[Tizer]

As was said on the radio this morning, those Post Office men and women were often among the most highly respected and trusted people in the community. The postmistress at our small Post Office in the Somerset Levels village was past normal retiring age and had been doing the job for many decades; she had hip trouble and difficulty walking; she worked alone; she knew most families in the village and could direct you to any house; she was trusted by everyone (she kept a spare house key for us in case of emergencies) and known by everyone.
-------------------------------------------------------

I'm glad that more is being exposed about these companies but we need more and faster action from the government and regulators. Note that Paypal is now operating a Klarna-type scheme.
`Charities sound alarm over buy-now-pay-later debt' LINK
`A group of charities has sounded the alarm over the growing use of buy-now-pay-later to buy goods. Citizens Advice...said many users were getting into debt and struggling to pay for food and bills. Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) is increasingly popular among young people buying online, and at some High Street outlets. However, Citizens Advice said many consumers regretted using it. The charity network did not want to name BNPL firms, but called for tougher regulation. It found that 45% of 18-to-34 year olds have used the payment option in the last 12 months....The charity network said that, overall, 27% of UK adults have used these firms in the last 12 months, rising to 37% of disabled people and 45% of people with a mental health problem..'.

[Stanley]

Just announced. As expected all 39 convictions quashed more details will come. The other 700 cases have been asked to come forward if they believe their convictions are unsafe. This is massive and devastating for both the Post Office and the government.

[Stanley]

As we noted last week the people prosecuted under the Horizon management programme have all been cleared and given leave to claim restitution. This verdict is causing ripples further afield. See THIS BBC report about the former chief executive of the Post Office who is to quit her role on the board of the retailer Dunelm following the IT scandal which led to the wrongful convictions of former postmasters. The announcement on Paula Vennells - first reported by Sky News - is expected to be made on Monday morning. The Post Office boss from 2012-2019, has been a non-executive director at the home furnishings chain since 2019. She is also stopping her duties as an ordained Church of England minister.
This was a dirty business and is nowhere near over yet. We can expect many more claims on the Post Office and repercussions for those who 'managed' the affair by denying culpability even though they knew that the IT system was the cause of the shortfalls in accounts.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report that Elon Musk has said that Tesla will not accept Bitcoin for the purchase of their cars. I can understand that, I wouldn't trust an artificial coinage, but what I don't understand is his shift in attitude. Is there more to this than meets the eye?

[Stanley]

The last of the 97 Debenham stores reopened after lock down will close today signalling the end of the brand on the High Street. From now on it will only exist online as a brand owned by Boo Hoo.

[chinatyke]

The last of the 97 Debenham stores reopened after lock down will close today signalling the end of the brand on the High Street. From now on it will only exist online as a brand owned by Boo Hoo.

In the meantime Amazon announces the creation of 10000 jobs in the UK. Sign of the times.

[Stanley]

Yup China, things are changing. Despite reassurances, the centres of cities and main streets will never be the same again.

[plaques]

People are social animals, some being more social than others, with lots of people simply going out shopping just being out in a crowd indirectly enjoying the company of others but not necessarily interacting with them. Closing city centre shops removes this activity and substitutes a lap top and a picture of things to buy. No need to leave the battery hen home just shop on line. No point in taking a trip out to another town the roads being taken over with white van man which incidentally they still have to maintain and pay for. Meanwhile the real profits are taken by Amazon who arranges its taxes to be payed abroad. We can't turn the clock back but we can adjust it to be more equitable so that profits go to providing those social engaging opportunities that we are losing.

[chinatyke]

I think people have voted with their feet. People are the customers, and many have failed to support the retail stores and small shops thereby causing the downfall of the social experience of shopping. We used to have a good day out at Cheshire Oaks when I lived in Wallasey, much more exciting than on-line shopping.
Incidentally, I'm one who makes most of my purchases on-line, it's a rare occurrence for me to go into a shop. My wife wouldn't like to be without shops and markets!

[plaques]

I did say "some being more social than others",

[Stanley]

I fear you are right Ken. I admit that I am naturally anti-social, I said so when lockdown started, I think I was born for it. A crowded bar, shopping centre or even a street is no good for me. Part of the problem is that the crowd seekers are often the people who say they are bored, there isn't enough going on in their heads to keep them happy on their own. I find I can populate my world simply by thinking. (Or going into the shed!)
(Reading the above makes me wonder if I am actually a smug B*****d...)

[Tizer]

...Amazon announces the creation of 10000 jobs in the UK.

And they're not just for pickers in the warehouse, they are looking for a lot of engineers and other technical people and are investing a large amount of money into a training scheme for these skills. We tend to forget that Amazon does a lot more than simply sell us stuff and it's expanding into other areas!

[Big Kev]

...Amazon announces the creation of 10000 jobs in the UK.

And they're not just for pickers in the warehouse, they are looking for a lot of engineers and other technical people and are investing a large amount of money into a training scheme for these skills. We tend to forget that Amazon does a lot more than simply sell us stuff and it's expanding into other areas!

AWS (Amazon Web Services) is big business.

[Stanley]

From some reports the biggest earner in their portfolio.

[PanBiker]

Having to jump through hoops with our Bosom Friends Ebay account. Ebay are moving away from using PayPal and are asking user for their bank account details so that payments can be made directly to their accounts. They don't take into consideration though that the person who's name the account is in is not necessarily the name on the bank account. This is what we have fallen foul of. We are registered as a UK charity with Ebay and as such qualify for their charity support giving scheme. We receive regular payments from them which is a proportion of the funds donated to charity by buyers on Ebay. The update your details email has links that trigger the update procedure but it also automatically populates the bank account name with the Ebay account holders details. In our case this is in Sally's name as she does the transactions on behalf of the group.

I hasten to add that PayPal have all the information they are asking for already, so apparently they don't talk to one another. The email notification cannot be replied to and it has just taken the best part of two hours to find a telephone contact option. Why don't they just make the bank account name editable?

[Tizer]

There was something in The Times about Ebay and Paypal splitting up and I got the impression Ebay are trying to do the job themselves but don't really know how to.

We've recently encountered a daft problem with Etsy. We use our Opermail accounts for these purposes but it was taken over some years ago by Fastmail. Opera has decided (after all that time) that it doesn't want Fastmail to use the Opermail name so we've had to be switched to the Fastmail domain. I then found that Etsy couldn't recognise my new Fastmail address when I tried to change my account details. I had a `chat' with Etsy and they changed it for me but couldn't give an explanation of why it hadn't worked for me. Mrs Tiz wasn't a member and was trying to register but it wouldn't accept her Fastmail address. They couldn't change it on the chat and said a `technical' person would have to do it and would be in touch. About 6 weeks later she finally got a message back but it was a generic one and no help at all.

I scoured google for help on the problem but couldn't find anything - until finally in an obscure forum I found that if you'd made a purchase on Etsy as a Guest before registering as a member then Etsy regards the email addressed you used as `taken', as if you were a member. So when she tried to register with the same address it wouldn't accept it because `it belonged to someone else'. She hasn't followed this up - she's fallen out with Etsy! It's another example of incompetence in big companies - basically they don't know what they're doing.
----------------------------------------------------------

Breaking news. One of the big banks, not named yet, is going to ban it's customers from having cryptocurrency accounts.

[PanBiker]

Yes Ebay bought PayPal I think in 2009 for about £15B they split in 2015 but remained partners for financial processing. Ebay are moving to an e commerce financial processor based in the Netherlands and will be independent of PayPal by 2023. They will deal with users directly through their bank accounts in the meantime, that's the plan anyway. The upside is that there will be no PayPal fees so it is being sold as a move to benefit the sellers.

[Stanley]

As you know I hate the leasehold system. Here's a concrete example of how it works.
In order to complete probate of a will a flat has to be sold which is leasehold but unfortunately the lease is up for renewal. In order to sell the flat the lease has to be renewed. This costs £27,757 for a 158 year lease. (No, I don't understand why that precise figure.)
The flat is now on the market for £275,000. The leaseholder has made £27,757 for doing sod all.
It's unfair and feudal.... Don't ever get trapped in one!

[Tripps]

In order to sell the flat the lease has to be renewed.

I don't think that is so - however if the lease has less than 80 years to run, then no on will lend on it. It can be sold with a short lease but the price asked will have to reflect that, and it narrows your market, as it rules out all except cash buyers.

Not all bad though - many older properties in the North are leasehold, but the term is 999 years and the Ground Rent is trivial - maybe as low as £2 per year.

Avoid leasehold property is still good advice.