SWIFTWATER — The Route 611 project in Swiftwater has been giving residents headaches.For Silvio Vitiello, his headache has turned into a migraine.Vitiello, owner of Pocono Brewery Company, claims that carelessness by Leeward Construction when installing drainage pipes caused the basement of his business to flood and cause an estimated $150,000 in damages.“It’s like a kick in the ass on top of everything else,” Vitiello [...]
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الجمعة، 10 أغسطس 2018
Alaska Airlines Clips the Wings on Its Generous Price Matching Program
It’s imposing big restrictions on its popular price guarantee feature, much like changes made to its generous change fee policy earlier this year.
After Sept. 1, it will be nearly impossible for customers to get a price match guarantee refund.
What’s Changing in the Alaska Air Price Guarantee Policy
Previously, if you booked a flight at alaskaair.com and later saw the price of the same flight drop, you could receive a credit for the price difference — whether it was $5 or $100.
New restrictions require any price guarantee request to be submitted within 24 hours of the purchase.
Found it $5 cheaper on Orbitz? Not gonna fly anymore.
The price difference also will have to be more than $10, according to the price guarantee terms and conditions.
There’s very little wiggle room, even for Alaska Airlines elite status members.
“I’m sad that’s going away,” said Cyndia Miller, who lives in Fairbanks, Alaska.
She’s used the price match guarantee on a number of occasions, including the time she and her husband each received a $200 credit when the price of their flight dropped.
That $400 credit went into their Alaska Air online wallet toward future flights.
What Else is Alaska Airlines Changing?
Alaska Airlines’ good old days of free last-minute flight changes are no more.
Earlier this year, it announced a new change fee policy that will charge travelers $125 to change or cancel a flight unless they’re elite status MVP Gold or 75k members.
“We have some of the most generous fee structures in the industry,” said Bobbie Egan, spokeswoman for Alaska Airlines.
In June, it reduced the size of carry-on bags from 24 x 17 x 10 inches to 22 x 14 x 9 inches to eliminate compatibility conflicts with other domestic and international airlines.
Other coming changes include extra fees for exit-row seats — which currently are available only to its elite status members — and demand-based pricing for its Premium Economy seats.
The biggest upcoming change, though, is the rollout of Saver Fares slated for early 2019.
Saver Fares will be Alaska Airlines’ version of the basic economy ticket, but without some of the restrictions seen on other airlines.
Saver Fare flyers can select their seats, but only at the back of the plane; they won’t be allowed to sit up front. They’ll board last, be unable to change or cancel tickets after the 24-hour federally mandated period and won’t be able to use an upgrade perk if they’re elite status members.
The upside? Carry-ons are included.
While Miller was bummed about the changes to the price guarantee policy, she seemed optimistic about the introduction of Saver Fares.
“I’m one of those bargain people,” she said. “I like good deals.”
Stephanie Bolling is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s all about basic economy tickets.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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How to Correctly Manage Customer Testimonials to Increase Your Brand Credibility
Establishing credibility is important for all businesses.
There are only so many brand names today that speak for themselves. I’m referring to global giants such as Apple, Nike, and Walmart.
In these instances, consumers know those companies are legitimate. But the rest of us need all the help we can get to establish our credibility.
That’s why in the past, I’ve identified the top elements adding credibility to your website. Today, I want to explain one of those elements in much greater detail.
Customer testimonials.
Those of you currently displaying customer testimonials on your websites are off to the right start. But there is always room for improvement.
If you’re not using customer testimonials, that needs to change.
One of the reasons why these testimonials are so valuable for your business is because they create social proof.
Exactly how much of an impact will this have on your conversions? Here are some numbers you should take into consideration:
- 92% of consumers say they read testimonials and customer reviews when they are deciding to make a purchase
- 72% of consumers trust businesses more if they read positive testimonials about those businesses
- 88% of consumers trust these testimonials just as much as a personal recommendation.
One of the best ways to learn how to do something is by following the examples of those who succeeded before you. I found some great examples of existing companies doing this right.
I’ll show you a bunch of different tips and tricks to help you correctly manage your customer testimonials. Here’s what you need to do to succeed.
Add a photo of the customer
Reading text without any visuals is boring. But adding photos will draw more attention to your testimonials.
Not sure what photos to add? Instead of using a stock image, use a photo of the customer who wrote the testimonial.
Check out this example from the Square testimonials page:
I really like the way this review is displayed.
It’s clean, neat, visually appealing, and easy to read. The images draw your eyes to the review.
Including a picture of the person who wrote the review makes it more personal. It shows that your testimonials weren’t fabricated.
People reading this can do some research and find out whether the reviewer actually exists.
If you use this strategy for designing your testimonials page, make sure the testimonials look professional. Refer back to the example above. The images are nearly flawless.
If you aren’t great at taking pictures, review my guide on how to take and edit photos without hiring a professional.
If the images look like they were taken on a flip phone from 2003, they won’t add credibility to your website. But a clean photo of the reviewer will make a huge difference.
Showcase the top testimonials on your homepage
Some of you may have your reviews in a separate section of your website. There’s nothing wrong with that.
In fact, I’ll discuss why it’s important to have a page dedicated to reviews and testimonials shortly.
That said, these testimonials shouldn’t be buried. Find your top testimonials, and add them to your homepage.
Here’s an example from the Uber website:
If you scroll down the homepage, you’ll come across these testimonials from the company’s drivers.
When we think of Uber, we normally associate it with the brand providing people with transportation. However, Uber also needs to make it appealing to drivers to join its platform, or its operation won’t work.
That’s why it used these testimonials to appeal to prospective drivers.
These reviews from current drivers will help encourage other people to drive for the Uber network. Uber plastered these testimonials directly on its homepage.
As you can see, the company also included professional photographs of the people who wrote the reviews—a topic discussed above.
Now the testimonials have much more value than they would if they were just words without any visuals.
Those of you who already have lots of testimonials have an advantage over everyone else. Read through them, and select the top two or three to showcase on your homepage.
Share the customer’s credentials
You already know a photo of the customer is important. But what else can add credibility to the testimonial?
Show your website visitors who the customer is and what they do, assuming it’s relevant to your products and services.
Let’s look at an example from HubSpot:
If you are not familiar with this brand, HubSpot offers software designed for sales and inbound marketing.
Now, take a look at this testimonial. It’s from the director of marketing at AdHawk, another company in the digital advertising space.
Showing the customer’s credentials here is extremely relevant.
If the director of marketing at an advertising company was happy with the service, it will encourage other prospective customers to make a purchase as well. This definitely adds credibility to the brand.
Think of ways you can use the same concept on your own website.
For example, let’s say you own a business selling health and wellness supplements. Getting a testimonial from a doctor or physical therapist would add more credibility to your brand as opposed to a testimonial from a lawyer.
Sure, a lawyer may be perceived as someone who is intelligent and powerful, but it’s not relevant in this specific instance. Do you see the difference?
It may be an easy fix for you to add these credentials to your testimonials. You probably already have that information on file. Now just update it on your website.
Create a separate landing page specifically for testimonials
As I said before, you should create a dedicated landing page for customer testimonials.
Yes, your best ones should be highlighted and showcased on your homepage. But it wouldn’t make sense to fit dozens of these reviews on the first page of your site.
You should have a separate page because the volume of reviews will add credibility to the feedback.
Consumers are smarter than you give them credit for. They realize you wouldn’t put a negative review on your homepage. But how do the rest of your customers feel about you?
Website visitors will be able to find this information by navigating to your testimonials page. Here’s what this landing page looks like on the Shopify website:
One of my favorite parts about this page is the title. Rather than calling it the customer testimonials page, the brand refers to these reviews as customer success stories.
Automatically, these testimonials are perceived in a positive light.
Notice what I pointed out at the bottom of this page as well. The company asks customers to share their success stories. I’ll talk more about asking for testimonials in greater detail shortly.
This is another winning strategy for testimonial pages.
Highlight the best quotes
We’ve already talked about highlighting the best reviews. This strategy is very similar to that.
Some testimonials may be longer than others.
If a review is too long, website visitors might be less inclined to read the entire thing. But you still want to display these favorable reviews on your homepage.
Take a snippet of those reviews, and highlight the best quotes from the longer testimonial. Look at how BuildFire implemented this strategy on its website:
BuildFire is a platform for developing custom mobile applications.
It took three quotes from different customer testimonials and showcased them on its homepage. BuildFire did a lot of things right with this strategy.
First of all, it used three very different companies.
Praxair is a brand that supplies industrial gases. Travelers is an insurance company. Preferred Materials is an asphalt and paving company.
None of these businesses are related to one another.
Now, this may sound contradictory to what I said earlier in terms of providing relevant testimonials. But every business in any industry can benefit from a mobile application.
This idea is clearly displayed here by showing versatility of the app across multiple industries. Plus, these testimonials also include the credentials of the reviewer, which I previously discussed.
Ask your customers to provide a testimonial
How are you getting customer testimonials?
You can’t get something without asking. Get out there, and simply ask your customers to leave a review.
Ask right away. If you wait too long, your brand and the experience the customer had with you won’t be fresh in the customer’s head.
Be polite. Make it easy for the customer to leave a testimonial.
If you don’t get a response, you can follow up with them one more time. That’s it. Don’t be annoying or pester them for a review.
Here’s a great example of an email template that can be used when you’re asking for testimonials:
It’s short, sweet, and direct.
Use this template as a reference when you’re creating an email soliciting new testimonials.
Use a star-rating method
In addition to written testimonials, you can also incorporate a star-rating system.
Check out this example from 99designs to see what I’m talking about:
This is relevant to the discussion about power in numbers. It’s easy for you to say your customers rate you 5 out of 5 stars.
But how many people rated you? If you have a 5-star ranking but only three people left a review, it’s not significant.
Refer back to the example above. 99designs has a 4.7-star rating from over 36,000 reviews.
In a weird way, it’s almost better it’s not a perfect 5-star review. If 36,000 people all gave your business a perfect score, it would be a little odd. Somewhere along the line, customers won’t have the best experience.
That’s OK.
These less than favorable testimonials will make the positive ones even more credible. It shows people your testimonials are legitimate.
Plus, a ranking scale like in the example above will increase your chances of getting more testimonials. It takes only a second to click on a star as opposed to several minutes to type up a written review.
Add testimonials to your product descriptions
All right. I’ve already said you should include customer testimonials on your homepage in addition to having a separate landing page.
But these are not the only places on your website where you can incorporate these reviews.
Try adding a testimonial to a product description page. Look at this example from Slack:
This landing page is for the company’s product features. It’s giving an overview of the way the conversations on this communication platform are organized.
It includes a relevant customer testimonial in the bottom right corner.
The executive director of technology at a major company explains how his business uses Slack to communicate with people all over the world.
This endorsement is perfect for this product description page.
Include video testimonials
In addition to written testimonials, you can also incorporate video testimonials on your website.
A video has the same impact as a photo of the reviewer.
Adding a face to the review shows that it’s legitimate. Ultimately, it adds more credibility to your brand.
Furthermore, videos give off more emotion than photos. It’s a much more authentic representation of how the reviewer feels about your brand.
Here’s a look at how ChatNow uses video testimonials on its website:
As you can see, they also highlighted the best quote from the testimonial.
If you use this strategy, make sure the videos look professional.
Videos that are shaky with bad cuts and have poor quality won’t have a positive impact on your brand’s credibility.
But you can’t always rely on your customers to send you a professional quality video. Shoot these videos in-house if you can. You just need to find customers willing to be on film for you.
It may be worth offering them an incentive for participating.
Just make sure the incentive isn’t perceived as a bribe for a positive review. Let your customers be honest with their video testimonials. It will ultimately be up to you to decide which ones should be published on your website.
Turn testimonials into a case study
At times, numbers speak louder than words.
Just saying “Company XYZ really helped my business grow” is nice, but how did they do it? You can be more specific with a case study.
Look at these testimonials from Hootsuite as an example:
AccorHotels doubled its reach. WWF received 560,000 mentions for a campaign.
These are specific numbers that explain how the software works.
But those are just the highlights of the case study. The platform offers more in-depth descriptions of the results customers attained with the help of the product.
This strategy also adds a personal touch to the customer experience.
If your prospective customers read these case studies, they’ll know how much effort your brand puts into helping each customer with their individual needs.
I recommend employing this strategy if your business is results-oriented with measurable benchmarks.
Conclusion
Customer testimonials on your website add credibility to your brand—but only if they’re managed correctly.
Add photos of the customers who write a testimonial. Include their credentials as well.
Put the top testimonials on your homepage. But you should also have a separate page with the rest of the reviews.
You can’t get your customers to write testimonials unless you ask them.
Mix up the style, format, and placement of your testimonials. Consider having a star-rating system and film video reviews as well. Add a testimonial to your product descriptions page.
Those for you who are able to measure the results of your customer success stories, write a case study to go with the testimonial.
If you follow the advice I’ve outlined in this guide, you’ll be able to add more credibility to your brand by leveraging customer testimonials.
Where are the top customer testimonials displayed on your website?
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What Value Are You Really Getting?
The other day, Sarah and I were coming home from visiting some friends in another state. Typically on a road trip, we plan ahead a little and pack sandwiches and beverages for a meal on the road or in a park or something because it’s really inexpensive and filling and easy to do on the road. This time, however, we were empty-handed and also trying to hurry to get home, so we didn’t have the time to stop at a grocery store and get items for sandwiches and assemble them.
So, when we stopped for gas, we were right next to a fast food restaurant, so we drove right over into that parking lot and got into the drive-thru. It was a Taco Bell.
As I looked at the menu, just before we were about to order, I found myself wondering what kind of value I was getting here. What am I exchanging my hard earned money for?
Obviously, I’m hungry and I’m a little thirsty, too, and I’m pinched for time. Those are needs.
I wouldn’t mind something tasty that meets my cravings. Ideally, it’s easy to clean up if we’re eating in the car. Those are wants.
But what I’m not initially considering are other factors.
I want to have something healthy. I want to feel full enough so that I’m not hungry until after we’re home, but at the same time I don’t want to overstuff myself with calories. I want something that’s likely to be prepared in a sanitary fashion so I don’t get sick.
For all of that, I want to spend very little money.
Is any of that really addressed by that fast food menu?
To keep the cost low, a good approach is to order water as my beverage. That will quench my thirst better than pretty much anything else.
What can I eat that’s healthy and relatively inexpensive on this menu? I wasn’t sure, so I fired off a quick Google search and ended up ordering a bean burrito with some extra sauce packets. Total cost for me? Less than $2.
It checked off a lot of boxes. It was (comparatively) healthy. It sated my hunger. It tasted reasonably good. The water took care of my thirst. It kept the cost low.
The thing is, if I hadn’t thought through what I really wanted out of that meal, I would likely have spent between $5 and $10 on food that would have been a lot less healthy. It was that process of stepping back and asking what value I’m really getting that changed my order.
I got far more value out of my $1.50 bean burrito and my glass of water than I would have from $8 in food and beverages that I could have ordered. Both sate my hunger and thirst and both tasted reasonably good, but one was far less expensive, easier to clean up, and healthier.
The thing is, a surprising amount of the money we spend is on things that have extremely fleeting value, whereas the things that provide real value are usually much less expensive.
For example, a bowl of oatmeal and a hard boiled egg fills me up in the morning and is healthy and reasonably tasty for a fraction of a dollar. On the other hand, I could have two breakfast burritos, which would also fill me up and be perhaps even a little more tasty (a fleeting thing), but it would overload me on calories and cost a lot more.
Another: I could go buy some board game that seems amazing, costing me $40 or so, or I could play a game that’s already on my shelf. Sure, the new game would give me a burst of fun in the short term as I enjoy unpacking a game and reading the rules, but soon it becomes just another option on my shelf, of which I have many. One more option doesn’t make a great game night, so why add one more at a cost of $40?
The key in all of the stories is the straightforward question of what value am I really getting out of this expense? What is it that I’m getting in addition to what I already have, or what the least expensive option is?
Then, consider just that additional value in comparison to what you already have. Is what you’re getting beyond a single dollar menu item and a cup of water worth the extra $5? Is the new addition to your media collection worth the price compared to the value you can get from just watching what you already have access to?
What value are you really getting? And is it worth it to you?
The thing is, this is a great question to ask whenever you’re making a purchase, but the real power comes from making this your default approach. For me, I think it is my default approach in most situations, but not always. The more my normal routine is shaken up, the more likely it is that I don’t think in these terms.
So, how does one make it their default? How did I make it my default way of thinking in most situations, and how do I continue to move in that direction?
First of all, I think through these kinds of ordinary decisions in my spare time. I’ll literally walk through spending decisions like these in my mind when I’m waiting for my kids after soccer practice or taking a shower or driving somewhere. When they get really sticky, I’ll write about these kinds of decisions in my journal and work through the details with care.
I work through recently-made decisions and figure out if I made the right choice or not. I work through decisions that I know are coming up in my life.
The more you do this kind of critical thinking of your own choices, the more likely it is that you’ll end up making a great choice when similar choices appear in the future.
I don’t restrict this process to just spending decisions. Rather, I use it to try to improve all of the decisions I make and actions I take in life. It’s a really powerful process for self-improvement.
Second, I know what my values are and refine those values fairly often. This often overlaps with the above thinking process. If there’s something that I feel like I shouldn’t care so much about or that I should care about more, it’s usually because there’s some underlying value that I can feel but I don’t really understand. Digging around and rooting out that value and really understanding it makes it easier to make good decisions in everyday life.
For example, one of my big recent projects has been finding low cost and healthy foods, figuring out how to prepare them in a way that I really enjoy and then finding ways to get as many of them as possible in my diet. Oatmeal is a prime example – how can I make that as appealing to me as possible so that I’m cool with eating it most mornings?
I know that I value eating healthy, more than I used to when I was younger. I also value eating inexpensively. Yet, I don’t really like a plain bowl of oatmeal, which checks both of those boxes. Why not? What’s missing in that equation? Obviously, I value food having some protein content and being at least somewhat palatable to me, so how do I make oatmeal palatable enough so that I’ll eat it frequently? Pairing it with a hardboiled egg works, as does adding some fruit to it and letting it soak overnight in almond milk, which still adds up to a breakfast less than $1.
Finally, I experiment constantly until I find something that seems unequivocally good. After I make a choice, I’ll look back on it and ask myself whether it was an unquestionable win. If I can’t honestly say that it was, then I know the decision has room for improvement and that new approaches are worth trying.
That means I go back to the drawing board. Is there a more cost-efficient way of doing this? Is there a healthier way to eat that’s still satisfying? Did I get what I wanted out of this purchase? Did I have a good social interaction? Did I make a good professional move?
I try to come up with a better way of approaching things until I feel very happy with the results, and then I try to hammer that down as my “default” way of handling that type of situation and move on to other things.
In the end, I am of the belief that a well considered life is a better life, and that’s how I express it. The time and effort you spend sharpening your axe is time and effort that almost always pays for itself, provided you keep testing the axe and actually use it when it’s sufficiently sharp.
Always consider what value you’re getting out of a particular situation and whether the money, time, health, and effort you’re spending beyond the minimum to cover your needs is actually worth what you’re giving up by using that money, time, health, and effort in that way.
What value are you really getting?
The post What Value Are You Really Getting? appeared first on The Simple Dollar.
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I Know It’s a Terrible Idea, but I Really Want to Borrow From My 401(k)
I love that you admit to knowing the answer to your question while you ask it. But hey, I don’t blame you for asking. We’ve all done it, right? If mom says no, ask dad. If the Google consensus is no, call a friend just to be sure.
Let’s go over the basics of taking a loan from your 401(k) before thinking about the specifics of your situation.
You can borrow as much as half the balance of your employer-sponsored 401(k), up to $50,000, without penalty. You can only withdraw money you contributed to the plan, and you typically have to repay the loan within five years. If you leave your job, you’ll have to pay back the loan within 60 days or take the amount as a heavily taxed distribution.
The basics aren’t too exciting, and there’s too much wiggle room for trying to justify taking this type of loan. So I, too, decided to phone a friend: Lillian Karabaic, author of the “Get Your Money Together” workbook. She promised me plenty of opinions on taking a loan from your retirement account. And she delivered.
“If you could pay off the 401(k) loan before retirement, why would you not just pay off the student loans instead?” she said by email. “Interest rates are less important than your behavior. If you're considering this at all, it sounds like you're looking for the easy way out of this debt.”
Since student loan repayment terms are typically 10 years, and parental loan repayment can’t be extended, repayment will take you right up to retirement age anyway.
“There's also nothing saying you can't pay off that student loan early on your own,” she said. “No need to borrow from your future self to do so.”
She advised paying these loans from your income while you and your wife are still working, rather than borrowing from your eventual retirement income.
Still not convinced Karabaic doesn’t like borrowing from 401(k)s? “I’d rather see you sell your house than take out a 401(k) loan to pay off other debt,” she said.
Yikes, right?
If you’re concerned about the market, she said to consider reallocating your portfolio to focus more on bonds than stocks, which is a usually good plan as you near retirement age.
“Don’t borrow from Peter to pay Paul,” she said, “Or in this case, borrow from yourself to save Sallie Mae.”
I hope you’re feeling the weight of this peer pressure, Perplexed. Don’t let us down out there. As my college roommate used to implore before a night out: Make good choices!
The inbox is open. Submit a question or send your worries to dearpenny@thepennyhoarder.com, and I’ll see what I can do to help.
Disclaimer: Chosen questions and featured answers will appear in The Penny Hoarder's “Dear Penny” column. I won't be able to answer every single letter (I can only type so fast!). We reserve the right to edit and publish your questions. Don’t worry — your identity will remain anonymous. I don’t have a psychology, accounting, finance or legal degree, so my advice is for general informational purposes only. I do, however, promise to give you honest advice based on my own insights and real-life experiences.
Lisa Rowan is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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5 Ways to Save Money (Besides Giving Up Lattes)
Check out these five clever strategies financial experts suggest for saving a ton of money each year.
Source Business & Money | HowStuffWorks https://ift.tt/2OrZ8Sw
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5 Ways to Save Money (Besides Giving Up Lattes)
Check out these five clever strategies financial experts suggest for saving a ton of money each year.
Source Business & Money | HowStuffWorks https://ift.tt/2OrZ8Sw
Source Business & Money | HowStuffWorks https://ift.tt/2OrZ8Sw
Why the Bank of England won't accept your 'round pound': what to do with old £1 coins
I have to admit I don’t use cash much these days. Living in central London, one finds a myriad of ways to pay, from contactless to cardless, to phoneless – cash simply becomes a vague memory in the face of such technological options.
But this weekend past, cash reared its ugly head in my wallet. I visited my dad up in Northamptonshire. We were invited to an old friend’s son’s wedding. The do was to be held in the middle of the countryside, and we were warned to bring cash (for the bar).
On having a conversation with my pa about withdrawing some cash, he noted that he had five old £1 coins, and that he had been to two banks in town to change them – neither his own as he as he banks with an online-only bank – but had been told to take them to the Bank of England instead.
As my dad’s not one for the city, I offered to take them. Plus, it just so happens that Moneywise HQ is a 10-minute walk from the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street.
So once I was back in the office, off I marched to the great institution, to cash in the old coins for new – ‘round pounds’ were replaced with new 12-sided £1 coins on 16 October last year.
The building always strikes me as a statement of intent. Its walls high and windowless – a fortress in the middle of its empire. I walked up to the entrance. The security guard asked me what my purpose was. I showed her my handful of old coins. She shook her head and told me that the bank doesn’t change coins, only notes.
I incredulously asked if she was sure. She told me to go in and check anyway (sounds like I’m not the first to fall into the trap). And lo and behold, it was true. The Bank of England does not take old coins. I left miffed (I wanted to see the inner guts of the place – I guess I’ll have to visit the museum instead some time).
What to do with your old round pounds
What the Bank did impart on me was to check the Royal Mint website, as it is the institution in charge of coins.
This is what the website says: “The round £1 coin lost its legal tender status at midnight on 15 October 2017. However, the round £1 coin can continue to be deposited into a customer’s account at most high street banks in the UK. Specific arrangements may vary from bank to bank, including deposit limits. It is recommended that customers consult with their bank direct. Round £1 coins can also be donated to a charity.”
This presented something of an issue. Being one who spends his time writing about money, and financial products, I am a vociferous adopter of the latest tech. It just so happens that I have three different current accounts. But all of them are online-only banks. So, how do you change coins in-branch if your bank doesn’t have any branches? Especially when according to the Royal Mint, there are still £169 million worth of the old style £1 coins out in the wild.
I looked up from my phone and saw a branch of Nationwide Building Society not 300 yards from the Bank of England. Being a bit of a chancer (read my column on haggling in the August edition of Moneywise) I thought I’d try my luck and see if it’d take the coins off my hands.
The friendly-looking attendant who asked me if I needed help informed me it could only accept old coins from customers, as the bank would deposit the money into the customer’s account so as to record the transaction digitally.
I pleaded helplessness due to the lack of branches from my providers, and after pausing for a moment, the teller took my coins and came back with a nice, crisp, plastic fiver.
And so, I had changed my money and was able to buy my lunch with my dad’s sofa coins.
What can you do if you don’t have a local branch?
What strikes me as odd is that we, as the general public, are ever-more railroaded into moving our financial lives completely online.
But with many providers in the process of closing local branches it is becoming increasingly difficult for customers to engage with their banking providers. In terms of making deposits, the first port of call if your bank isn’t in your hometown is to go to the Post Office.
It says it’ll accept deposits of old £1 coins from the following no-branch banks: First Direct, Cashplus, Smile, and Thinkmoney.
But this leaves providers such as Atom Bank, Monzo, and Starling Bank. Moneywise has approached all three for comment on what their customers should do. While all three declined to comment specifically on the issue, Starling Bank noted that it will be providing deposits through the Post Office from September.
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Direct selling: Make money at your leisure
If you are good with people and are confident about making a sale, then direct selling could be a way to boost your existing income or build a successful new career. Moneywise finds out how it works and highlights the pros and cons.
Mention direct selling and most people think of Tupperware parties or the dulcet tones of a bright and breezy sales rep saying “Avon calling”, but it is a vast sector. More than 425,000 people in the UK work in direct sales, according to trade body The Direct Selling Association (DSA). In a £2 billion home-based industry, they sell anything from cookware to jewellery, clothing, spa products and books, to a third of the population.
Stay-at-home mums or those with caring commitments particularly welcome the flexibility direct selling offers, although men now make up nearly a quarter of the workforce.
With direct selling you are your own boss. You are not an employee of a company but an independent contractor who markets and sells products or services in return for commission. You can do this online in your home, door to door, or even hold some great parties.
If you are not an extrovert who can comfortably market to friends and family and be something of a self-starter, then this job is not for you. But if you are good with people and want a job with hours to suit you, there are many possibilities.
First, be sure to find a product that you love. It can be soul-destroying selling something that you think is poor value for money or you don’t believe in. There is plenty of choice: the DSA has 53 member companies with interests ranging from health and beauty to children’s books. Its website (Dsa.org.uk) is a useful resource for anybody interested in becoming a direct seller.
Most direct selling companies insist that you buy a business kit and a range of sample products, but these rarely exceed £100 initially. The law governing direct selling does not allow an investment of more than £200 in the first seven days. It is not normally necessary to buy goods before you make any sales to consumers.
Direct selling is a £2 billion home-based industry
A word of warning, though – check that your home insurance covers your stock. It would be a disaster if a fire or flood damaged your livelihood.
Some sales consultants can earn commission, not only for sales of products and services they generate, but also from a percentage of the sales of other people who they have recruited into the business.
While for most people direct selling can be a useful top-up, perhaps to save few extra pounds for Christmas, a tiny few have struck it rich – Avon’s first millionaire, Debbie Davis, became an Avon lady after being made redundant from a printing factory in 2004. After just a week, she had recruited her partner, Dave Carter, to join her team as a representative and during a three-week selling bonanza they racked up sales of more than £18,800.
They went on to build an 8,000-strong team and earn more than £1.4 million from the company.
More recently, Leanna Biagioni from Ongar, Essex, turned over an impressive £161,000 in her first year with Avon, joining in January 2017. The 36-year-old now sells exclusively online, earning £1,500 to £2,000 a month.
“I was actively looking for the right opportunity,” says Leanna. “Both my children have special needs, so I needed something to work around my responsibilities as a mum. I’d been struggling to find a local Avon rep and I loved the products, so thought I would start my own Avon business to earn and enjoy the incentives that came with it.”
As well as selling products herself, she manages her own team of representatives. “You could say it’s the best decision I’ve ever made.
I can now afford music tuition, sports lessons, birthday parties and Christmas presents for my children, which makes a huge difference to our lives.”
“For some it might mean extra money for ballet lessons”
But Leanna’s not stopping here – she’s an ambitious, driven businesswoman whose next goal is for her husband to be able to give up his job as an operations manager for a construction company and join her in running her business.
More commonly, according to the DSA, around 60% of those doing direct selling have another job and more than half (51%) work less than 10 hours a week on their business.
One publisher that hires direct sales people to work from home is Usborne Books. I spoke to one of its organisers, Marina Roberts, based in south-east England, who has been working for the company for five years.
She says: “For some, it might be extra money to pay for swimming lessons or ballet classes. For others, it would be finding themselves again, making new friends and enjoying simply being called by their first name, not just ‘Mummy’. And for those with bigger plans, it could be a great successful business, full-time income and new career.”
All new joiners buy a starter kit from Usborne costing £38, which contains books worth £150. Basic commission is 24% of the cover price of the book.
PartyLite, which specialises in fragrances and candles, offers three deals to its prospective sales reps: no initial investment, which offers 10% profit, then once sales reach £60 you get 20%; a £39.95 kit, on which 20% commission is paid; and an £84.95 kit, on which 20% commission is paid.
Never be tempted to buy more stock than you are certain to sell, and find out whether you can get a refund for unsold goods if you decide direct selling is not for you. For example, at Mary Kay cosmetics, a starter kit costs £99, with commission of “up to 40%” on offer. The company will buy back certain unused products at 90% of the original net cost if you change your mind.
Finally, beware of rogue traders: steer clear of any companies that are not members of the DSA and those that ask you to commit large amounts of money to get started.
‘Direct selling teaches you the ability to bounce back’
Sarah Beeny (pictured, above), presenter of Channel 4’s Four Rooms, Double Your House for Half the Money and How to Live Mortgage Free has been an advocate of household appliance firm Vorwerk for over two decades, since first working there as a sales adviser.
The 46-year-old broadcaster and property developer credits the skills she gained while working at Vorwerk as having a real impact on her career. “I was 19 when I started working as a sales adviser with Vorwerk, selling vacuum cleaners via home demonstrations,” she explains.
“I was more confident leaving Vorwerk, compared to when I first started. I think, in life, confidence is important, but the ability to bounce back when things don’t quite go your way is almost a greater skill. In fact, that is what direct selling really teaches you.
“I sold my first vacuum to my parents and, shortly after that, I ended up demonstrating to the Duchess of Wellington in a big stately home. There I was, in this long gallery doing my demonstration, thinking, ‘Wow, this is a bit strange!’
“Luckily for me, the duchess was really nice and said, ‘I’d like two, please.’”
Stephanie Hawthorne is a freelance personal finance writer for publications including The Times, Financial Times, Independent, Sunday Telegraph and Mail on Sunday
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Common excuses consumers face - and how to deal with them
Unhappy with something you’ve bought or a service you’ve received? Then don’t be shy about complaining. Make sure you know your rights so that companies can’t dismiss your gripes with a host of excuses.
It’s normal to have a positive experience when shopping for goods and services. But when something does go wrong, some companies will try to fob off those who complain.
Forewarned is forearmed, so here’s how to prevent and challenge some common tricks that retailers and service providers use, and ensure you benefit from your consumer rights and are not left out of pocket.
1 “You don’t have the receipt”
The law says you only need ‘proof of purchase’, so a bank statement, for example, would suffice.
2 “You caused the fault”
If an item develops a fault within six months of purchase, the onus is on the retailer to prove that you caused the fault. After six months, you may have to prove that the fault was apparent at the point of purchase.
3 “Contact the courier”
The steady increase of internet shopping has led to a rise in lost parcels and returns.
Your contract is with the trader you paid, not the courier, so you should contact the retailer if you have ordered goods that don’t arrive or arrive damaged. Be clear that your contract is with the retailer and you expect it to spend the time resolving the matter, not you.
While on the subject of online retailing, remember that if the item is faulty, not as described, not fit for purpose or not of satisfactory quality, the retailer must pay for the return postage. If you just change your mind – and that includes an item not fitting as envisaged – then you may have to pay return costs, although most large firms won’t charge.
4 “Contact the manufacturer”
If the item you bought is faulty – say your hairdryer stops working after two months – you don’t have to return it to the manufacturer, just to the retailer.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, you are entitled to goods that last a reasonable length of time. Two months is not reasonable. However, note that it is after 30 days since purchase, so the retailer can offer you a repair or replacement rather than a refund, but at no cost to you.
5 “You ate the food you were served, so there is no discount”
If you ate some food and then found that it was cold, or some of your party were served a long time after you were, you are entitled to a partial refund.
If you ate a mouthful and returned the rest of your meal without eating anything more, you don’t have to pay anything. And if the table service you received was poor, you don’t have to pay for that element. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 covers restaurants and other services.
6 “We don’t take items back that were in the sale”
If the sale item had a fault that was pointed out when you purchased it, such as a mark on a jumper, and that’s why it was reduced, then you can’t return it. But if a kettle stopped working a week after purchase, you most certainly can take it back for a refund, even if it was in the sale.
7 “It’s in our terms and conditions”
If it is an unfair term, you can break the contract. A term is deemed unfair if it tilts the rights and responsibilities between the consumer and the trader too much in favour of the trader.
The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (amended in 2014) also prohibits contracts that are likely to harm the economic interests of the average consumer, and covers various practices, including misleading omissions and aggressive sales tactics.
8 “It must be returned in the original packaging”
If the item is faulty, you do not need the tags or the box.
9 “We are a second-hand shop, so we aren’t covered by consumer law”
Whatever you buy, and wherever you bought it, you are still covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, so you can return an item if it doesn’t work, for example. However, the price and age will be taken into consideration, too.
“Go to the chief executive if your matter is very serious”
10 “You should have paid for an extended warranty”
I have yet to see any warranty that provides more than your existing statutory rights, unless it is also providing insurance that covers something extra, such as accidental damage.
Let’s say you bought a fridge and it broke down after two years. One would expect a fridge to last for longer than that. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, you can claim for a repair or replacement regardless of whether you took out the extended warranty – although you are unlikely to get a full refund, and if you did, it would be the replacement cost minus something for the use.
Top tips for complaining
- Always put your complaint in writing. Get the names of anyone you speak to if you do have to use the phone, following up in writing. This gives you the evidence you need should you have to take the matter further.
- Be assertive and factual, but polite – and that includes saying “please” and “thank you”! That way, the company is likely to help you more readily. Don’t apologise for complaining, though. If you are legally in the right, there is no need to apologise.
- Be clear about what you want – is it an apology, a repair, a partial or full refund? Set a deadline for when you expect a reply and inform the company of actions you will take if you don’t receive an acceptable response – for example, sharing reviews on relevant forums or going to the small claims court – and you should mention the relevant ombudsman or alternative dispute resolution scheme.
In regulated sectors, companies must have an arbitration scheme. These include the Financial Ombudsman Service for banks, insurance providers and lenders; Ombudsman Services: Energy for energy suppliers; and Ombudsman Services: Communications or CISAS (Communications & Internet Services Adjudication Scheme ) for telecoms. In non-regulated fields, traders don’t have to be part of a scheme, but many are, such as the Furniture Ombudsman for furniture and flooring. - Go to the chief executive if you believe your matter is very serious or customer services hasn’t resolved the problem, Get the contact details from Ceoemail.com. The CEO is unlikely to respond personally (some do), but your complaint will be seen by the ‘executive’ team, or similar, which often has the power and authority to resolve complaints.
HELEN DEWDNEY is a print, TV and radio journalist and the author of the consumer-rights website The Complaining Cow
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