There are rules - and there are RULES

[Lighttouch]

It may come as no surprise that I have a tendency to challenge rules and regulations - anything official.

I'm talking about formal regulations imposed by the police, banking system, health care, any service provider rules, pricing structure - if there's something you don't like do you question it or ignore it? (there's no right answer).

For instance I noticed that there were better deals being offered by my internet provider to entice new customers to join. Would you be happy or feel let down? I was a little bit annoyed so I complained and because of that I now have superfast broadband up to 150mb up from 100mb for £12 less than I was paying.

I never take anything at face value. Everything is negotiable!

What's your experience of making change

[Kodiak]

It may come as no surprise that I have a tendency to challenge rules and regulations - anything official.

I'm talking about formal regulations imposed by the police, banking system, health care, any service provider rules, pricing structure - if there's something you don't like do you question it or ignore it? (there's no right answer).

For instance I noticed that there were better deals being offered by my internet provider to entice new customers to join. Would you be happy or feel let down? I was a little bit annoyed so I complained and because of that I now have superfast broadband up to 150mb up from 100mb for £12 less than I was paying.

I never take anything at face value. Everything is negotiable!

What's your experience of making change

This will only work if you have some leverage, ie plenty of competition. Great if you live in a highly populated geographical position, but if you live where I am and there is virtually no competition, then it is a case of Take it of Leave it.

I envy your internet connection of 150mb speed as I only get between 1.5mb to 5mb download speed and for this privilege I have to pay £20 a Month. No point in me going to another provider as no one give a faster speed and if you go to one who will give you a cheaper price then the speed is so slow it is just not worth it at all.

Competition, this it what makes negotiation possible, without it you are stuck with what you have.

This is the down side of living here but of the upside we have virtually No Crime at all, Beautiful place to live and surprisingly with usually have pretty good weather as well, never too hot and never too cold, quite moderate.

So personally I would rather live here than anywhere else in the UK as all the good points outweigh all the bad points.

[Lighttouch]

If there's only one person using the internet at a time you don't need the speeds offered - 50mbs is enough for downloading music or watching streamed films. 150mb broadband just means you can stream films in HD full size on a big monitor without waiting or buffeting. Everything is instant but you take that for granted so never notice it. I've been a customer of Nynex that changed to Virgin that changed to Cable and Wireless to ntlworld and lately Virginmedia. All use fibre optics. As I'm a long standing customer I call the shots and don't intend to move custom - not sure why.

Scotland is a beautiful rustic country with fantastic landscapes. And we’re all looking forward to seeing the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow - hope you have a few tickets to watch some games.

http://www.glasgow2014.com/tickets/


Talking of rules . . . we all know the rules about speeding. If you’re caught speeding on the motorway you can be fined up to £10,000. So if a policeman pulls you over for speeding the rules mean you’ll get a fine and points on your licence - or does it!


Over the years I have been pulled up for speeding but was let off by the policeman at the scene and just given a warning. Your best action is to admit guilt right away as that takes the wind out of their sales/ Remember that you can’t win an argument with the police - it won’t happen.


I remember in my youth receiving a letter saying a camera caught me speeding and I released that if found guilty I’d be banned from driving. I put a letter in explaining ‘mitigating circumstances’. A month later I’d heard nothing back so I phoned the ticket office. The man who answered the call said he remembered reading such a letter but suggested that I shouldn’t call the ticket office to find out about progress. He implied that there was a possibility that the paperwork for my case might get lost and that if I hear nothing from them over the next 6 months then I was in the clear.


So sometimes officials can tell you’d suffer hardship and can have empathy so just don’t process paperwork - the rules can be bent to suit the situation at their discretion. So there’s always hope when your worst nightmare arrives. There are rules and unspoken rules.

[Richard]

I did that with the AA on their web site it was far cheaper for a new member than I who had been with them for years, so I phoned them up and got it at the cheaper price.

[Kodiak]

Scotland is a beautiful rustic country with fantastic landscapes. And we’re all looking forward to seeing the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow - hope you have a few tickets to watch some games.

I would love to go to the Commonwealth Games but it is just too far for me to travel. Also it would take me two days to drive down to Glasgow and then the expense of staying in Hotels........Well I could not afford the Hotels and by what I have been told about the cost of the tickets, my oldest son who lives in Edinburgh has bought several Tickets, I could not afford them either.

So I will stay at home and have one of the best seats in the place, right in front of my TV Set. I have already tuned my SKY Box into the Commonwealth Games Channel so I am all ready. Bring on the Games.

[beau]

Always wise to barter. Car insurance is another one where you can often get a price match or even a reduction on a quote from another company. If this happens it saves the hassle of all the form filling again.

[Lighttouch]

Always wise to barter. Car insurance is another one where you can often get a price match or even a reduction on a quote from another company. If this happens it saves the hassle of all the form filling again.

Good point beau. After leaving Motability I was looking for car insurance on price comparison websites - all very expensive until I tried 'Fish car insurance' who only offer car insurance to Blue Badge holders. Their quote was hundreds of pounds cheaper than mainstream competitors. I was happy with the quote but my bank said they could knock 20% off any quote.

Well. I told Fish about the special deal offered by my bank so Fish matched the offer and I gave Fish the contract.

When you're given a quote - remember that they don't expect you to jump in with both feet first - it's just an opening gambit to start negotiations downwards.

Buying a house -
Never offer the asking price - put in a bid for 10% lower for a quick sale. if the owners are eager to move they'd rip your arm off!! The rules are - 'there are no rules!'

[beau]

When we bought our house 20 years ago we were cheeky and put in an offer of half the asking price to start the ball rolling. It had been empty for several years and boarded up even though it was only 20 years old at that time. It was in a very neglected state and needed quite a bit doing to it to just make it even clean enough to live in. We didn't get it for that but got it for about £3000 more than half listed price. In fact we couldn't afford it at the asking price or anywhere near. It offered everything we wanted and more so decided to go for it and luckily it went our way. We camped for months whilst working plus working on the house every evening. It was well worth the effort.

We now have a lovely, very large home with a massive garden. Lots of our blood sweat and tears plus money over the years went into it , bit by bit, as we could afford it. Without bragging we now have quite a valuable property that is much larger than any of the same era and in a lovely semi rural setting. It is also pretty unique as it was built especially to the original owner's plans as part of a land deal.

So in buying a house, it does pay to be cheeky and it may fall your way.

[ivb]

Always wise to barter. Car insurance is another one where you can often get a price match or even a reduction on a quote from another company. If this happens it saves the hassle of all the form filling again.

Absolutely too right. You'll be surprised how these companies will 'price match' each other. Virgin Media reduced my monthly bill by £10 last December when I pointed out to them that Sky would be £10 cheaper if I switched.

[Kodiak]

Absolutely too right. You'll be surprised how these companies will 'price match' each other. Virgin Media reduced my monthly bill by £10 last December when I pointed out to them that Sky would be £10 cheaper if I switched.

Excellent, but this is due only to competition. If there was only the one TV Company you would either have to accept their prices or not have any at all.

I am with SKY but since we do not have Virgin we do not have the chance to negociate the price with SKY. Competition is a good thing and I wish there was more of it in Caithness.