Darling warns banks on loan rates

From the BBC News:

The chancellor is to quiz bank bosses over how much they charge small firms for loans, saying he is “extremely concerned” their rates may be too high.

Alastair Darling said the cost of loans seemed to have risen, despite the UK’s record low base interest rate of 0.5%.

He told the BBC that banks had a duty to restore lending levels, saying the government did not rescue the banking sector “out of some charitable act”.

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Airline complaints ‘on the rise’

BBC reports

Complaints from customers about the airline industry have risen by 11% in a year, a consumer support group says.

So is everything really bad when it comes to customer service in the airline industry? Well no…

It accepted that complaints came from a “tiny” minority of passengers.

Companies should not ignore complaints but often they rise to the top of the agenda as people are more likely to complain then to praise. Likewise it is important to deal with them, as people not happy with a service will often tell ten other people about it, while people who had good service often tell only one person. Says more about society than the level of customer service though.

£1 or 99p – which is cheaper?

Over the past year, the four largest UK grocers have been swapping their 99-pence price tags for round-pound sales. In bad economic times, consumers may just be willing to fork out an extra penny at the till. But why?

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‘Pre-pay’ holiday money

Useful video from BBC on ‘pre-pay’ holiday money.

How much rubbish?

BBC reports

UK supermarkets should be forced to reveal how much packaging they produce, local councils say.

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Vodafone agrees new Carphone deal

BBC News reports on Vodafone allowing Carphone Warehouse to start selling Vodafone Pay Monthly contracts again.

Carphone Warehouse is to restart selling Vodafone mobile phone contracts, three years after Vodafone pulled the products from the retailer.

Vodafone stopped allowing Carphone Warehouse to sell its range of pay monthly deals in 2006 after a dispute over how much commission it had to pay.