Resolved Question

MY BAG IS HELD HOSTAGE WITH A COURIER SERVICE~!!?

is anybody else having problems with parcel or courier services??

my bag was delayed on the way to heathrow at frankfurt but was found on the 6th JAN
and on the 7th the courier services confirmed that theyd be delievering to me then
now its the 11th and i cant even get through to their call centres......

is anybody else having the same problem??
i mean i understand that last week it was really bad but i live in central london
and their warehouse is about an hour away...............
i cant even go to their warehouse incase they deliver it while im gone

ive been stuck in this house for 4 days now..

been patient till now and i have been ringing them countless number of times
but its always busy or no answer....

theyre holding my bag hostage!!
help!!

Additional Details

my bag is in a warehouse near heathrow and i live near tottenham court road, the roads are clear as far as i know, coaches are running with no delays between heathrow and london so i have no idea why theyre not giving me my bag BACK!!! whats more annoying is that THREE of their call centre numbers are busy ALL THE TIME

3 days ago

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

I am SO glad I am not the only person in the country that finds that this service industry does not actually serve!
I've not had anything to be delivered from abroad - but of the 6 next day deliveries I paid for on several items from Amazon and other sellers NONE turned up the next day!
One actually said there was no-one in to sign for it (a complete lie) and they didn't card us - so no attempt to deliver!
That being said - one parcel was delivered YESTERDAY (Sunday) and IT was only 4 days late - so maybe things are looking up! Although I AM still waiting for one parcel to be delivered "in time for Christmas". Of course - I should have asked them to stipulate WHICH Christmas!

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Other Answers (2)

• Yes methinks that lots of peeps are using the 'SNOW DAY!' as exuses not to be sending us our post.
• What ransom have they asked?

Resolved Question

I have an idea to sell to a large shop chain, of a service they could offer. how do i go about this?

could i just write them a letter by email and that would be proof that it was my idea, and ask for a fee that they would be obliged to pay if they were to use it? thanks in advance. (uk question)

Additional Details

thanks for your answers. the idea itself is not original, so i couldn't patent it, but my idea is that it would make so much sense for this particular chain of shops to offer this service. given this, if i suggested it to them and they used the idea, would they be obliged to pay me a fee? thankyou.

4 days ago

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Write down your idea, date and sign it and seal it in an envelope and ask your bank to keep it for you. THEN approach the CEO of the shop chain with your idea.
One way is to email them to ask if you could send them your idea and who would be the best person to send it to?
Never mind the fee- that will come out if they like your idea. If they use it later without involving you, you can take your bank letter with all your other correspondence to a solicitor and see if you can sue the chain.

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Other Answers (1)

• Put a bit of research into patenting your idea. If it's actually original, it's definately worth getting the owning rights on it.

Resolved Question

If a cheque is paid in to a bank and cleared is there anyway it can be traced back to the issuer.?

I mean there is physically no cheque once its cleared, or does the cheque number show on your account??

Uk question

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Yes it can be traced back for several years (tax !) If you want to receive money with no trace, use cash.

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Other Answers (2)

• cheque number shows on the statement of the person who issued the cheque, the recipriant's statement only shows the amount paid in.
  
  Its always been like that, is this your first cheque? or are you paying for something by cheque instead of cash in hand?
• the Bank certainly can trace it - for over 7 years.

Resolved Question

What is proprietary financial software and its advantages and disadvantages?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of proprietary financial software and what are the disadvantages and advantages of bespoke software. Also what is proprietary financial software? How could I describe it in a essay?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

"proprietary" typically means 'owned and controlled by some-one else' .. and (as you suggest) often 'bespoke' = reworked / adjusted & 'customised' to your specific requirements ...

Some proprietary packages are written from the ground up to suit your needs .. most will simply be 'reworks' of the vendors existing package.

The main real advantage is that you can ask for some specific function or capability that is not available to other users and thus gain a competitive advantage over other users (the more mass market package will be aiming to address 80% or the requirements of 80% of the market .. if you need one of the 20% requirements (or are in the 20% of the market not covered) you may have no other choice but to go the proprietary route).

Disadvantages are legion .. starting with the fact that the fewer the users (and your 'special function' may have only one user) the fewer the people finding and reporting bugs and thus a (very) slow rate of bug fixing .. and despite the fact that proprietary software is more 'specific' to your needs, it can often have (much) less 'general' functionality that a mass market 'general purpose' package ...

You will typically discover that you must pay for annual license and maintenance contracts (despite the fact that you may get no bug fixing during any given year) and that should you stop paying the software become unusable .. needless to say, if the vendor decides to drop that package (or goes out of business) you are left without support (or working software) within a year

Finally, compared to 'off the shelf' mass market packages, the cost is always horrendous (and once you start using it you often find you are 'tied in' as it stores your data in proprietary formats (sometimes encrypted) without any means to extract the data in a form suitable for importing into any other package ..

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No other answers.

Resolved Question

Help in calculating the payments to acquire additional Non-current Assets for my indirect cash flow forecast!?

In theory to calculate the payments to acquire additional NCA you do:
Carrying value of the Assets the previous year + Any Additions (purchases of fixed assets made this year) - the carrying value of the assets at end of this year.
But using this method, my cash flow forecast does not add up.
It adds up when i do:
Fixed Assets at Cost the previous year + Any additions - Carrying value at end of this year.
Is this wrong??

In 2008 the figures were
Fixed Assets at Cost 920
Accumulated Depreciation 100

In 2009 the figures were
Fixed Assets at cost 1190
Accumulated depreciation 220

O ye, to calculate the Additions i simply calculated the difference between last years Fixed Assets at cost and last years fixed assets at cost.
Is this right?

If you were to calculate depreciation for 2009 what would you get??

Thank you very much in advance!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

It is always helpful to prepare a T account for the Fixed assets at cost and Accumulated depreciation. However, as far as your problem goes, the additions during the year 2009 are 1190-920=270 and the depreciation charge is 220-100=120. This is assuming that there has been no disposal of fixed assets during the year.

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No other answers.

Resolved Question

What sort of cash flow problems might a business experience...?

...and what actions might a business take to solve these?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Delays in payment from customers for goods and/or services. Actions would be to encourage payment by cash, or direct debit. Ensure prompt invoicing.

Paying too much interest for loans. Actions include shopping around for a better deal.

Paying suppliers too quickly. Actions would be to negotiate longer credit terms, e.g. 60 days instead of 30.

These are the main ones.

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Other Answers (2)

• basic cash flow 101: you need enough funds in you account to sustain your invoice period
  i.e. you invoice your client day 1 but you will not receive payment until day 30...but you need to have funds to run you business in the meantime. calculate your over heads i.e. wages, fixed and Variable costs, petrol, telephone, rent, rates, insurance, interest etc and what time of the month payments are due, if you have enough funding at each point in time throughout the month to meet your bills you have positive cash-flow... if you don't you have negative cash-flow. create a simple cash-flow forecast in excel and you will see if your business is viable.
  
  The problem is, a business does not raise all its invoices on the 1st day of the month, they are produced as services take place or goods are sold so if you raise an invoice on the 20th Jan it might not be paid until 20th Feb but a large amount of a businesses bills often are due at the end of the each month. hope this is helpful

  Source(s):

• You should really go to business school

Resolved Question

Where can i buy padded mailing envelopes from ?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

The post office!

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Other Answers (6)

• In the UK..............
  
  If you need them by the stackload, try an office supplies company such as VIKING DIRECT
  http://www.viking-direct.co.uk/
  
  If you need lots wholesale in order to sell them yourself (or lots of them very cheaply).... the only one I'm aware of is MAGSONS (who went into administration in December 2008)...... but there are others if you put "wholesale stationery" in a search engine.
  There's also of course EBAY http://business.shop.ebay.co.uk/Packing-…
  
  If you just need the odd one or two, try any of these shops if there's one near you
  - BOYES http://www.boyes.co.uk
  - Yorkshire Trading Co.
  - WH Smiths
  - any local independent Newsagents & Stationers
  - some larger supermarkets (e.g. full sized ones, not smaller "Convenience" ones like "Tesco Express" or "Sainsbury's Local" or whatever they're called).
• Any office supply store like Staples or Office Max. You can even find them at Walmart and Walgreens.
• Walmart has a good selection, Staples office supplies.
• post office, stationers,
• walmart.
  /
• e bay.

Resolved Question

How come my ebay item wont get any bids?

its been 5 days and nothing, I think the price is good but because the stuff is heavy im only able to accept pickup , is that the problem?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200424364676&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

I checked out both your auctions, and there are 4 and 7 days respectively to go. You could get a lot of interest in the meantime, especially on the last day. Having pick-up only restricts potential buyers to your own area. I have been interested in particular items stating pick-up only, and asked sellers about the possibility of postage or arranging a courier to collect. Most said no, local collection only, even though if a courier is calling to collect from the seller's home (after I have paid for the item, of course) you can't get much more local collection than that. Usually the item ended with a final price below what I was willing to pay.

Another thought - people everywhere are tightening their belts, and it is just after Christmas, so your potential buyers may be just a bit skint at the moment.

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Other Answers (5)

• It probably just theres no one looking for that particular product or the right person hasnt come along yet, plus theres like millions of items on ebay and probably more than one of what your selling, just be patient, it only been 5 days.
• no bidders r just doing the smart thing and waiting till last minute to bid, to ensure they get the item at the lowest possible price, don't worry
• Hopefully someone in your local area will bid but do not expect any offers till the last day .
• I will wait for 4 days to accept pickup.

  Source(s):

• cos its crap

Resolved Question

Can i set up an online raffle or prize draw website?

I'm from the UK. Would it be legal for me to set up a website where users enter prize draws or buy raffle tickets (maybe enter for free) to have the chance of winning product prizes like electrical goods etc.
Are there laws against it or licenses to get and such like, as i would be doing it for profit?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

I can't speak for the UK, but in the US there are strict regulations about contests, raffles and sweepstakes. You have to prove that prize winners are chosen in a truly random fashion, that the odds of the contest are clearly provided to all entrants, and of course any profit you make from the giveaway is taxed. I'm sure the UK has very similar rules and requirements. The best place to start is probably with a tax attorney.

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Other Answers (1)

• Yes, it would be legal to set website.

  Source(s):

Resolved Question

Anyone heard of a company called FM cosmetics/perfume, are they genuine?

I've had a phone call from a lady claiming to be from this company after I asked about more information on a website regarding selling perfume. She has sent a link to her own website however there is no headquarters address on there and it clearly states that isn't simply a website set up by herself. I'm astute enough to realise anyone these days can set up a website so i'm just curious if it's a scam. They also want money for start up kits etc which makes me rather dubious as they'd then want my bank details which in this day and age is rather risky, if anyone has dealt with them before please let me know, cheers. I won't be doing it anyway as it sounds too much hard work for earning little money in return, rather like the Avon catalogues where it's the person above you that makes the big money out of you.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

i assume u r in uk; if so then this is what you need

Name & Registered Office:
FM COSMETICS UK LTD
7 NORBRECK PARADE
LONDON
NW10 7HT
Company No. 06224812

Source(s):

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No other answers.

Resolved Question

How to use Western Union money transfer?

I want to buy an item from the U.S for $125.00 the person selling me the item wants me to pay through western union. I understand i have to find an agent and fill out a form, do i have to convert sterling in to dollars myself of how does this process work, will the agent do this for me. I know this available to do on-line but i would rather do it in person. PLEASE HELP

Additional Details

I have started filling out the form but there is a question that asks question and answer with spaces provided. What does this mean

4 days ago

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

There are plenty of Western Union agents around, many corner shops are now agents, all branches of "Money Shop" are branches.

All you need to do is to ask the agent for a "Send" form which you fill in, tell the agent you want to send US$125 and he will tell you how much to pay in sterling including the fee. Once you have paid the agent will enter the details from your form onto the computer which will generate a number unique to that transaction.

You send this number to the person you want to pay and with the number and their ID they can get their money.

Be careful though that you have all contact details of the person you are dealing with - you don't want to have paid $125 plus fees and then not receive what your goods.

Good luck

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Other Answers (2)

• Western Union is an unsafe method of payment, too easy for the money to 'disappear' and you will have no claim back, better to pay with credit card or Paypal.
• do you have a lot of money

Resolved Question

Fraud. Advantis Credit. Virgin Media. Help!?

okay. so i got a letter through my door a couple months ago saying a company was looking for me and that i owed them money. I phoned up and they said i owed virgin media £130 from a previous address. I'm with virgin media at my current address but before i moved here in feb 09, i'd never owned anything to do with virgin media before. so i explained this and they put me through to fraud team and explained that it was my mothers previous address where the bill was run up, but it's in my name.
I have no proof of living anywhere else at this point because i was living with family elsewhere and had just closed my bank account. so i have nothing to prove i was never living there. they say my only option is to pay the bill....or to sue my mother for fraud. I refuse to pay this bill because i really cant afford it and i didnt run it up the first place!
How would i go about getting this resolved?

Additional Details

I didnt use my name for this..my mother stole some sort of Id from me and opened the account herself. I didnt DO this.
I dont speak to her anymore and i dont even know where she lives.

1 week ago

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

Don't pay it. I strongly recommend that you speak to your local Citizens Advice Bureau. They're great, do it now!

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Other Answers (2)

• Ask at www.consumerdirect.gov.uk
• If Virgin Media are genuinely owed the money, you need to ask your mother to sort this out.
  
  Edit: if your mother stole your identity, this is a truly tragic situation and I feel for you. This debt must be the least of your pain.
  
  I suggest you firmly tell Virgin (not the scabby debt collector) that this is not your debt, that you signed nothing and tell them they will have to find evidence to prove otherwise. Hold your ground. Give them no information, not even that this was an address where your mother lived. Just say you never had a Virgin Media account, end of story.
  
  You do not have to prove you were not at that address because that is not relevant. You could have given this to your mother as a Christmas present for instance. You don't have to prove anything, they do.
  
  As you now have your own account with Virgin Media, you know what you had to do to set it up. I'm sure they needed a signature and a debit/credit card. At a guess, the debt collection company knows perfectly well that they don't have enough evidence to hold up in a court room and are faking it.
  
  If they take you to court, be sure not to miss the date.
  
  Remember, nobody can collect a debt from you that you never authorised. They cannot prove you authorised it if you did not.

Resolved Question

When you are ordering goods from UK so your currency is pound on the USA website, how is it with paying?

I mean, for example, i want to order ugg boots from US website for 140 dollars and when I convert 140 dollars to the pounds, it is something around 90 pounds. So does that mean they will charge me those 90 pounds or so? Is it actually possible to order goods from US website with GB credit/debit card?
Thank you.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

You pay by c/card and Mastercard or Visa will automatically adjust to make the payment in USD. Your statement will show the rate used, which is usually not bad!

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Other Answers (2)

• It will show up on your statement in pounds.
• http://zealmall.com/5439-ugg-boots

Resolved Question

In the UK how cold does it have to be outside before you get sent home from work? x?

Just wondering?

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

The law only states for min temp INSIDE a building (outside work may be different) IF your building's heating went down THEN it's a health and safety issue and IF the company cannot repair or secure heating THEN when it reaches min temp they will send you home.

Other than than they won't and cold weather outside doesn't matter.

They may send people home early so people do not get stuck but they don't have to, that is down to company discretion.

Check out the link below for the health and safety guidelines regarding minimum temp at work

Source(s):

40% 2 Votes

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Other Answers (4)

• Well if you work in a building site then yes you would be send home as the work out side would be impossible, but if you are working in an office so it would not matter how cold it is out side.
  Some companies do send their employers early if there is a chaos on the roads or the transports to give them more time to get home safely/

  20% 1 Vote
• It doesn't matter how cold it is outside you would still have to work providing inside work is at a suitably warm temperature to work in. You would only get sent home if there were adverse weather conditions e.g snow which may prevent you from getting home later in the day.

  20% 1 Vote
• It depends what kind of work you do. The general answer is -5 but for some businesses it would be more or less.

  0% 0 Votes
• There are no laws for this, so it is at the company's discretion!

  20% 1 Vote