Tag: Business
Another Company Not To Trade With
Warning
If you are travelling anywhere in the world and you go on to a comparison web site such as Skyscanner which is a very useful comparison site for flights as we have found, beware of this company Netflights.
As some of you know, I am making a very important trip over the Christmas period. I cannot tell you where I am going as it would endanger the people I will meet, except I am going to east Asia. My experience of this company has been their internal policy is not very professional when booking a flight. I found myself losing £552 which is now to be recovered by the credit card company. I cannot give a recommendation to this company as I have found they are a company lacking in grace. When I first booked my ticket with this company we went on their web site, we followed their procedures, but their web site did not work. We were then given a number to contact which cost 10.5p per minute which unfortunately they take so long to answer this will cost you money. When they do answer on the first trip was quite smooth. My problem came when I had to change the dates owing to events beyond my control. I then contacted the company again which took me a considerable amount of time. I ended up paying £4.50 for the privilege and when I did finally get through they charged me £137.50 for the change of the ticket which is normal practice. I felt everything at that point was OK but here is the rub. The minute you book with this company you have no recourse. It is like playing Russian roulette. On arriving home to see the confirmation the same day I found out they had booked me not for December but November. On seeing the mistake I contacted the company and was told they believed I had asked for November and not December. The problem with this, as many of you know who travel, most reputable companies give you 24 hours to check your paperwork.
This company I believe is a bucket shop. Their only interest is to extend their bank account and not look after their customers as they have no procedure for you to check your confirmation, which is a common practice with reputable companies. On seeing the mistake I contacted the company by two emails, asked them to contact me and they did not even bother. I gave them reasonable time to respond and then contacted them. I was then told there was nothing they could do and my flight was booked for November and a dispute ensued. To say their attitude was aggressive would be an understatement and it seems that once they had my money they were not interested. So I found myself with a ticket to a land that I need to go to on the wrong dates and then they told me if I wanted to change the flight again it would cost me another £137 to change the tickets, but to add insult to injury I would lose the first flight and I would have to pay another £152 to change my flight again. That would be the price of the flight and the £137 admin charge.
I think a few hundred years ago there was man called Dick Turpin and he was a highway robbery man, as some of you know from history. So I would say this company Netflights (remember their name) are bandits. And therefore like Vodafone, TalkTalk, Tesco, I am afraid they go into God’s hall of shame. We may not be watchdog but we serve one who is more powerful than any human organisation, the Almighty God, and He says, ‘Vengeance is mine, says the Lord’.
So, my brothers and sisters, please share this with your friends and family and your Facebook, Twitter, etc, as we need to be aware of these companies and their underhand tactics.
We have also found this company was first owned by Thomas Cook. In February 2014 the company was acquired by Dubai-based air service provider dnata, whose CEO is Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. So if you do have any disputes with this company I cannot see you getting much redress, as there seems to be nowhere to write to except the London office, which, as I have already said, I believe is just a bucket shop.
So beware. The Bible says we have to be as crafty as serpents and as gentle as doves; therefore I have left this matter in the hands of the Lord. Yes, I have lost £552 but, as many of you know, I live by faith and have done for many years. They have not stolen from me; they have stolen from the Almighty God. If this company Netflights had behaved in a respectable manner and looked at some way of recompense they would not find themselves in God’s hall of shame.
So if you know of other companies such as these please let me know, as we live in perilous times, and I will be pleased to publish it if is supported by evidence and truth.
God bless you
Rev Ross Rennie
Is Sunday Really the Most Miserable Day of the Week?
Minister of State (Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise) for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Rt Hon Anna Soubry declared to listeners of the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that prior to the introduction of Sunday trading, Sundays had been ‘the most miserable day of the week’.
Rt Hon Anna Soubry MP
Ms Soubry added, “The only thing to look forward to was Sing Something Simple on the radio. Goodness me, if that didn’t sum up a miserable Sunday.”
How sad! One can imagine Ms Soubry pacing restlessly up and down in the front parlour in the early 1990s, the only sound the ticking of the grandfather clock and a bluebottle buzzing at the window, endlessly repeating, “I can’t take much more of this! If only it were Monday. I’m desperate for a fix from Woolworths.”
Ms Soubry is not satisfied with the six hours of ‘retail therapy’ she has been able get at the temple of Mammon since 1994. She is now supporting Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s plan to hand responsibility for Sunday trading laws in England and Wales to towns and cities, allowing them to decide how long shops can stay open.
Rev Ross Rennie writes:
It is a sad day when a politician says Sunday is the most miserable day of the week.
There are many instances in the Bible that show how man has done that which is right in his own eyes, such as when Abraham tried to help God by taking Hagar. We know the result: Ishmael.
There is also the account of Abraham pleading for just ten righteous people in Sodom (Genesis 18: 23-33).
But there is a passage that is seldom read in our churches about what happened to Lot and his two daughters (Genesis19: 30-38). I suggest you read it for yourself and see the depths of depravity that man can descend to.
Last year we saw the unravelling of marriage as we know it. Some may say it is good thing, but I as a fundamental Christian know that it is not, and what mankind sows that shall he reap: a harvest of destruction. I understand grace, that God forgives us our sins through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, but I do know to my own cost there is a consequence to sin. As Jesus said, we become slaves to sin, and if sin is our master then it is a terrible master and it can destroy Christian and non-Christian alike. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14: 6).
We now have so-called ministers of the gospel debating on what Jesus said.
Many years ago I was a member like many of us of Keep Sunday Special. It was only the power of the multi-nationals and I would say the corruption of politicians allegedly that overturned the most sacred day of the week. Life now, as many of us know, is so pressured. Families do not even sit down for one meal in the week. They are glued to the television, their tablets or their smartphones, and even in some households they are playing on their phones while eating their meals.
This, I believe, is the start of the new order. George Bush first spoke about it many years ago and many politicians have spoken about it since. Our dear brother Barry Smith, who has gone to be with the Lord, spoke about this and people laughed at him and ridiculed him, but some of us listened.
Now we have a government minister saying that prior to the introduction of Sunday trading, Sunday was the most miserable day of the week. I would say the problem was not with Sunday but with the person, as God’s creation has never changed. The beauty of walking with your family or your friends in the countryside or by the sea or even in a park has all been wiped away by commercialism.
Unfortunately, whether you believe it or not, this is part of Satan’s master pan to homogenise the world into a one-world government and a one-world religion.
But as Isaac said (Genesis 22: 7) when his father took him up the mountain, “Where is the lamb?” There is only one Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world and His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.
So, my brothers and sisters, I will pray for your countries and your leaders, that they turn back to God, as unless they do they are leading mankind to destruction. John Bunyan wrote about this in the 17th century. I suggest you read the book The Pilgrim’s Progress.
I would also ask, where are the leaders of the body of Christ? The Bible also says even the elect will be led astray (Matthew 24: 24). So, my brothers and sisters, we need to watch and pray as the Lord will be back soon to take us all home.
God bless you all
Rev Ross Rennie
Companies Not To Trade With
In this article I share with you some bad experiences with companies I have dealt with in personal and business life. I recommend that you and your family, friends and colleagues do not trade with these companies.
Vodafone
I used to be a satisfied customer of Vodafone. Then in 2011 their representative persuaded me to sign up to a contract that he promised would cost me no more than £50 per month.
In March 2012 I received a bill for £380. I had exceeded my monthly inclusive voice call allowance and Vodafone had charged me at an exorbitant rate for the excess. They had no system for alerting me to the fact that I was nearing or exceeding the inclusive allowance. I complained, but received no satisfactory answer.
Then in June 2013 I received another astronomical bill, this time for more than £430. I could not afford to pay the whole amount in one sum, so I offered to pay so much per month. Vodafone refused and said they would hand over my debt to a debt collection agency.
Update, early August 2013:
The final bill at the end of my contract was £527. Vodafone have admitted that they have no way for a customer to pay a debt by instalments. Either it is paid in full or they sell it on to a debt collection agency. I find this astonishing. The company is greedy, dishonourable, inflexible and completely lacking in compassion for the victims of its aggressive charging regime. If you are considering using Vodafone’s services, think again. If you are locked into a contract with them, beware, and get out as soon as you can.
Update, late August 2013:
Having been threatened by Vodafone with court action I reluctantly paid the bill. Imagine my astonishment when I then received a further bill for £3.52! A very rude call centre employee in India again threatened me with legal action if I did not pay, but a much more polite and helpful employee, this time in Egypt, resolved the matter to my satisfaction.
Steer clear of this company.
TalkTalk
Some years ago I was trying to resolve a dispute with TalkTalk. Whenever I telephoned I spoke to someone in South Asia who seemed to have no authority to do anything to resolve the problem.
Steer clear of this company.
Tesco
We have written elsewhere about Tesco’s support for the London Gay Pride festival. Tesco have never repented of this action, so, if you disagree with their policy, our recommendation is to do your shopping at another store.
Steer clear of this company.