Cllr Paul Bell | Working for Telegraph Hill

Below is the text of the letter I have send to my MP and the London Mayor this morning.

Why is it so difficult to get to work in London?
You would think that when our economy is still unwell that we would be encouraged and supported in getting to work. However, my experiences over the last week with two railway companies has been quite the opposite. First Capital Connect and Southeastern seem to have failed monumentally in providing train services, instead choosing to hide behind any excuse that they can use including blaming each other.

Let me take you through the journeys I have attempted to make this week to give you an understanding of how both these companies should not be running transport in this country.

Christmas Eve – 08:30 Trains from Crofton Park to St Pancras
Despite there being no snow and the tracks perfectly clear, for reasons no one has explained in any intelligent way, services from around 08:30 have all been cancelled. After coming back from the train station this morning, I logged onto the National Rail website and found that all my trains had been cancelled up to 10:30 at the earliest.
Therefore today, I am forced to work from home to maximise my working time; I am lucky I can do that, but many other people cannot and have either had to take the day off or lose pay.

December 23 – 17:48 Train from St Pancras to Crofton Park
I discovered with glee and excitement that there were some trains running last night, so I skipped and I hopped to St Pancras and waited for the 17:48 Sevenoaks train that would take me to Crofton Park. Little did I expect that a thirty-minute journey would take an hour. At about 18:05 we stopped between Farringdon and City Thameslink and waited in a tunnel. About six or seven minutes later the train driver announced that we were waiting behind a number of trains, as First Capital Connect were waiting for a relief driver for a train that was effectively parked at Blackfriars without a driver. About sixteen minutes after we stopped, the train began to move. Then between Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye, we stopped again just outside Peckham Rye station. We waited there, with many people standing in the carriages and were eventually told that we were waiting for a signal. We waited and waited and waited again. Finally we started to move and to our delight we arrived at Peckham Rye to cheers and a crowd filled welcome. Well not quite. Off we went again and the train finally arrived at Crofton Park one hour after I boarded it. I think on Virgin trains I could have travelled from London Euston to Birmingham in that time.

December 23 – 08:30 Trains from Crofton Park to St Pancras
Again no trains were running after 08:30 this morning. I questioned the one staff member at a Southeastern station and she blamed First Capital Connect and it was nothing to do with Southeastern. Now that was news to me as they are sharing services, though we do board 19th Century First Capital Connect carriages…they remind me of the good old days when British Rail was in existence. Oh wait, they are British Rail carriages! Anyhow, so this news filled me with such a warm glow, I had to get the bus and ended up being one hour late for work and had to spend £2 on a journey I had already paid for in my season ticket.

December 22 – 17:30 from St Pancras to Crofton Park
Oh what a journey did I hence enjoy. The sturdy British travelling public did rejoice at a train and hence piled on to magnificent and extremely uncomfortable proportions, as First Capital Connect and Southeastern had conspired to run very few services. This train journey, late and without regard for health and safety did eventually get me home, but reminded me of train journeys in India. No know the ones with people hanging off the train and stepping over others to get off.

December 22 – 08:30 from Crofton Park to St Pancras
No direct services on this morning. Oh no! To travel from Crofton Park into St Pancras involved going south to Bromley via a stopover in Catford before boarding the train to London Victoria then catching a tube to St Pancras. Delightful. The bus again at more cost to me, eventhough I had purchased a ticket from Southeastern.

December 21 – All day
Well you be forgiven in thinking that we had entered a new ice age, or at least Kent. I stayed at home and did not use my ticket – no trains at all.

So why am I writing this to you. Well the answer is simple, I want my money back and despite my attempts at contacting Southeastern, all have failed. I am sure in due course when the pigeon reaches their headquarters deep in the massive profit jungle that I will get a response, but I would like you to do the following, if you are so inclined:

1.            Write to the Department of Transport and pose the question why is it so difficult to get to work in this country? Furthermore, why are franchises given to these two companies when they are quite clearly incompetent? Finally, we pay very high fares, subsidise the fat cat bonuses of these train executives and shareholders and they cannot even try to run a train service.

2.            Write to the Chief Executive of both companies and explain that people need to get to work and their excuses will not be tolerated.

3.            Help me get my ticket refunded and if there is any decency in these people, maybe compensation, as financial penalty is the only language they understand.

Now before any one claims we have had severe weather conditions, in the time I have used this service from May 2009, they offer many excuses as to why they cannot run a service and the weather is the latest one. My favourites at all times of the year and not just now are:

1.     The train has been cancelled due to driver displacement;
2.     The train is delayed / cancelled due to an earlier operating incident;
3.     The train is cancelled due to no member of train crew available for this service;
4.     The train has been cancelled due to a technical incident.

They are ripping off taxpayers and the travelling public. Urgent action is needed. Surely it is the job of the London government to make sure that people can get to work, or the economy will not recover anytime soon.

Yours sincerely,

Paul Bell
Paulbell1971@gmail.com

I have updated my website to this new design which I hope will be more user friendly and clearer. The whole point of providing the content is to give people an insight into what I believe, who I am and what I am doing. The old blog will run in parallel with this one for various reasons and can be found by going to http://pkbell.blogspot.com

If there is a campaign that sums-up for me the difference between the main political parties, it is the Leeds refuge workers campaign. A struggle that seems to be the choice between the Tory and Liberal Democrat view that the low paid, the poor, and working people, should pay for the economic crisis that the bankers and light-touch regulation has caused. This campaign was fought to prevent the council from cutting the already modest pay of refuse collectors from £18,000 to £13,000 a year.

In previous blogs, I have talked about UNISON's new initiative to show that the worker's have the power to change and improve their working lives and this dispute is evidence that it is needed.

The dispute in Leeds where the council is controlled by a Liberal Democrat/Tory coalition is a wake-up call to those that are thinking about not voting for Labour in Lewisham. The Liberal Democrat leader, Richard Brett, of Leeds City Council told the striking workers that they were 'lucky' to have a job at all owing to the current economic conditions. Who does he think he is? Well I can tell you, for his elected position he pockets £45,883 a year; Neil Evans, the Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods, the directorate responsible for the refuge workers, had his salary increased from £117,679 to £132,593 last year. Staggering isn't it. These people are the same people who fought to stop a "Leeds Living Wage" that a Labour and Green Party coalition tried to secure in December 2008. So when you hear the Lib Dems in Lewisham proclaiming that they support a "London Living Wage", then ask them "How come the Lib Dems in Leeds do not support a "Leeds Living Wage"?

The refuge workers dispute has lasted for 12 weeks and has finally been settled thanks to the rejection of the Lib Dem/Tory proposals by the workforce and public opinion. However, it is not without a price. Many of the workers were already struggling before the dispute started, now they have been without pay for twelve weeks. For them, it was a campaign they had to win and they have. Public opinion does not favour punishing hardworking people who have done nothing to cause the recession.

All of us are in this situation together and it is unacceptable that the low-paid pay to get us out of it. According to the Guardian, "We are now seeing groups of workers ready to stand up to oppose deteriorating wages and conditions. They feel the economic crisis should not be solved at their expense and are showing a real combative attitude when attacked. The Leeds bin workers' stance and their ultimate victory under extremely difficult circumstances prove that working people are not willing to be turned over; their example will be followed by others."

With responsible and accurate journalism, toegther with the support from ordinary members of the public we can all fight and win against those politicians who claim to be on the side of the workers, while stripping them of every last penny. Leeds refuge workers did, we can too in Lewisham.

With Christmas shopping in full swing, the Money Saving Expert is offering guidance, using his SAD FART method.

Know your stuff and you'll save £1,000s over a lifetime not having to buy duplicate goods if something goes wrong.

The Dos

DO: Take items back as quickly as possible
If something's faulty - in other words it breaks the SAD FART rules - returning it speedily is crucial.

Within four weeks: You can usually still get a full refund as you're unlikely to be seen as having 'accepted' the goods. After that only expect an exchange, repair or part refund.

Within six months: The shop must prove the item wasn't faulty when the transaction took place. After that period you must prove it was.

DO: Write 'it's a gift' on receipts
Legally only the person who purchased the item has a right to return faulty goods. Yet, if the assistant writes on your receipt and their copy (ie the debit/credit card slip) the item's a gift and who it's for, the rights are transferred.

Of course, some shops allow recipients regardless, but it's worth doing just in case.

DO: Check it's suitable before buying
The 'as described' part of the SAD FART rules is crucial. Imagine you buy speakers for your TV, take them home and they don't connect to your specific telly. If you've proof the store said "it'll work with your TV" (take notes if possible), then the speakers aren't as described, so you can return them.

Yet if you didn't ask, and it's not specified in the manual or any other paperwork, it's your problem; not the shop's.

DO: Return it to the store, not the manufacturer
If the item breaks the SAD FART rules, your agreement's with the shop you bought it from, NOT the manufacturer. So the retailer MUST deal with it - don't let it palm you off.

DO: Ensure Christmas delivery's specified
If Christmas goods are late, you can only complain if you or the retailer specified (and you can prove) it was for pre-Christmas delivery. Then it's breach of contract and you've a right to a refund. Though even if Christmas delivery isn't specified, things should be delivered within a reasonable time.

DO: Consider paying by credit card if it's over £100
Pay for £100+ goods on a credit card and the card company's jointly liable with the retailer if something goes wrong. This applies to gift cards and vouchers too, provided each denomination is at least £100. Though only do this if you can clear the card in full next month to avoid interest.

This gives you extra legal rights, but for full details see the Section 75 Refunds guide.

The Don'ts

DON'T: Assume you can change it if it's the wrong size
Unless items break the SAD FART rules, you've no legal right for return. So don't buy clothes for someone thinking you can change the size if it doesn't fit, or colour or anything else.

Many shops will allow it, but they don't have to. Unless that is, they have a published returns policy allowing it, as then it's a contractual condition of sale, so they must obey it.

DON'T: Think buying online means less rights
You've more rights online (or telephone/catalogue) due to the Distance Selling Rules. This gives a legal right to send most goods back within a week, for a full refund, even if there's no fault. Though you'll usually need to pay for the return delivery.

DON'T: Think 'no receipt' means 'no return'With faulty goods, you simply need proof of purchase. This could be the receipt, but any other legitimate record (eg a bank statement) should be fine.

However, if you have no legal right and are just utilising a store's returns policy; if it requires a receipt, you need it.

DON'T: Think buying from eBay doesn't give you online rights
Buy from a trader who makes some or all of their living selling on eBay and you've the full SAD FART rights. However, buy from an occasional private seller and as long as the goods are as described, the only rule is 'let the buyer beware'.

DON'T: Think you've no rights with freebies
If a freebie comes as part of a purchase, for example a bike with a gym membership contract, you've exactly the same SAD FART rights regarding the freebie as if you'd bought it.

It's all about expectations, as well as rights
Even if you don't have a legal right, companies' reputations depend on giving decent service. So you can always ask - and tell them you're disappointed if they don't help.

This text is entirely from: Moneysavingexpert.com