On 2007-12-23 15:36:33 +0000, Alan said:

Your name and address will be used to send a mini catalogue or a
notification of 'sales' every couple of months.

"There's a sale at Penneys"


You may be asked if you have an email address by the cashier at the
till - my reply to this question is always 'yes' - and nothing else.

Nice.

"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:476e3fcc@qaanaaq...
On 2007-12-23 09:47:38 +0000, "Brian Sharrock"
said:


"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:476db4ef@qaanaaq...
On 2007-12-22 22:40:30 +0000, "Clive George"
said:

big snip

"Christmas" is the universal excuse for poor service from traders,
restaurants and most other places selling goods and services. It
isn't
as though this is the first year in which Christmas has happened, so
there
is no excuse for not planning for it.

It's not just traders and Christmas ....

Because of my age ; I had to contact the Department for Pensions (or
whatever it's called this week ...).
Now; I'm, a fully paid member of what's called the 'Baby Boom' ....
whose
birth was related to that War Basil Fawlty tells us not to mention.

The Government has had Sixty-Five Years (that's half-a-century plus a
decade
and a half) to prepare for this 'demand'. Yet my initial contact, a month
before the retirement date, was met with a 'Due to unprecedented demand
we
are unable to process your claim currently, please phone fourteen days
prior
to your retirement date!"
[Or words to that effect]

Hmm... I think that when the time comes, I will get my accountant to
sort this one out. He has been known to reduce tax inspectors to tears
(as it should be).

Hmmm .... just _why_ a 'tax inspector' would be involved , I shudder to
think !

The department is a 'Benefit' office that's reluctantly paying me OUT for
all the pennies I've been obliged to pay IN.

Apparently they said that the Left Hand (receivers of Contributions) hadn't
informed the Right-Hand (Payers authorises of State Pensions et.al.) that
the 'demand' was about to rise and this was causing a back-log in the
processing of applications.

[BTW, a swift email to my MP resulted in the Minister's attention falling on
the case, and I soon had a (very polite) man-from-the-ministry 'phoning me
and sorting everything out. ]

During my conversations with the 'phonier, I pointed out that the 'Family
Records Office' held the indices for BDM and a casual glance at the green
'Birth' Indices stacked on the shelves showed the quantity of people born
each year and that their staffing should be based on the anticipated demand
(65 ~62.5 ~ 60) years hence.
B*gger me; they've not only removed the indices off to some warehouse near
Poole(?) but they're also making folks work longer to qualify for a State
Pension.

If you can't / won't resource to meet the demand ... reduce the demand !

--

Brian


..

In article , lid
says...
But you have to give them your name and address before they'll let you
shop.

Lie.

Thanks for that.

First time I went to Matalan they asked me for my name and address and
wouldn't take a made up one - they wanted to see ID.

I thought it was so bloody stupid I never went back.

--
Skipweasel.
Never knowingly understood.

On 2007-12-23 21:45:34 +0000, Skipweasel said:

In article , lid
says...
But you have to give them your name and address before they'll let you
shop.

Lie.

Thanks for that.

First time I went to Matalan they asked me for my name and address and
wouldn't take a made up one - they wanted to see ID.

I thought it was so bloody stupid I never went back.

That's ridiculous.

Do they have some kind of club membership? If so, it might be a
planning permission and insurance issue - i.e. commercial vs. retail
premises.

Andy Hall wrote:

W1A 1AA works well (the postcode for BBC Broadcasting House). It's a
way of testing the sentience of the assistant.

I use a postcode that exists but no one is supposed to know. I sometimes
wonder what they do with the mail.

Stuart Noble wrote:

How far the mighty can fall. In the clothing sector formerly respected
brands like Farah and Ben Sherman have ended up in Matalan.

I've seen the products made by an Italian friend who is an artisan baker
in TK Maxx. The shock of seeing such goods on sale there is second only
to the shame of having gone in to have a look.

It's a bit like seeing a Versace kitchen on sale at MFI.

"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:476ee544@qaanaaq...
On 2007-12-23 21:45:34 +0000, Skipweasel said:

In article , lid
says...
But you have to give them your name and address before they'll let you
shop.

Lie.

Thanks for that.

First time I went to Matalan they asked me for my name and address and
wouldn't take a made up one - they wanted to see ID.

I thought it was so bloody stupid I never went back.

That's ridiculous.

Do they have some kind of club membership?

AIUI, Yes!


...... If so, it might be a planning permission and insurance issue -
i.e. commercial vs. retail premises.


I think that was the original marketing model - in the seventies IIRC cards
would only be issued to 'clubs'; company HR departments etc. , and women
would pass _the_ card amongst themselves.

Nowadays most Matalan outlets seem to be on out-of-town premises, although
the pretence of 'commercial' versus 'retail' outlets seems to have been
down-played in recent years as these premises are sometimes cheek-by-jowl
with Asda; Argos; etc. etc.

AIUI, Matalan have had changes of management and marketing methods since
their early days in Skelmersdale.

--

Brian

"Brian Sharrock" wrote in message
...

"Andy Hall" wrote in message news:476ee544@qaanaaq...
On 2007-12-23 21:45:34 +0000, Skipweasel said:

In article , lid
says...
But you have to give them your name and address before they'll let you
shop.

Lie.

Thanks for that.

First time I went to Matalan they asked me for my name and address and
wouldn't take a made up one - they wanted to see ID.

I thought it was so bloody stupid I never went back.

That's ridiculous.

Do they have some kind of club membership?

AIUI, Yes!


...... If so, it might be a planning permission and insurance issue -
i.e. commercial vs. retail premises.


I think that was the original marketing model - in the seventies IIRC
cards would only be issued to 'clubs'; company HR departments etc. , and
women would pass _the_ card amongst themselves.

Nowadays most Matalan outlets seem to be on out-of-town premises, although
the pretence of 'commercial' versus 'retail' outlets seems to have been
down-played in recent years as these premises are sometimes cheek-by-jowl
with Asda; Argos; etc. etc.

AIUI, Matalan have had changes of management and marketing methods since
their early days in Skelmersdale.

Still the same Liverpudlian owner, a Mr Hargreaves. They tend to be good at
retail there with the Next founder from there, Littlewoods is there and the
top man at Tesco also from there too. Tesco now take £1 in every 10 spent in
the UK in all retail. Smaller national chains like Ethel Austin and TJ
Hughes are also from that city too. Good buyers and sellers it appears!!!

Aren't Tesco buying Everton FC most of a new stadium? One powerful
organisation. Those Tesco Expresses are clearing up the High Streets.

On Dec 23, 6:49*pm, "Brian Sharrock" wrote:

If you can't / won't *resource to meet the demand ... reduce the demand !

Euthenasia for all who reach retirement age would solve a whole host
of problems.

MBQ

On Dec 23, 11:33*pm, (Steve Firth) wrote:
Stuart Noble wrote:
How far the mighty can fall. In the clothing sector formerly respected
brands like Farah and Ben Sherman have ended up in Matalan.

I've seen the products made by an Italian friend who is an artisan baker
in TK Maxx. The shock of seeing such goods on sale there is second only
to the shame of having gone in to have a look.

There are some genuine bargains to be had but you really have to visit
often to catch them, and know when to avoid the stuff that only looks
like a bargain. There's also a lot of what I would regard as tat.

MBQ

Steve Firth wrote:
Stuart Noble wrote:

How far the mighty can fall. In the clothing sector formerly respected
brands like Farah and Ben Sherman have ended up in Matalan.

I've seen the products made by an Italian friend who is an artisan baker
in TK Maxx. The shock of seeing such goods on sale there is second only
to the shame of having gone in to have a look.

It's a bit like seeing a Versace kitchen on sale at MFI.

Or seeing Queenie on UTube

In article
,
Man at B&Q wrote:
On Dec 23, 6:49 pm, "Brian Sharrock" wrote:

If you can't / won't resource to meet the demand ... reduce the
demand !

Euthenasia for all who reach retirement age would solve a whole host
of problems.

Given the way they're pushing up the retirement age we'll be dead before
we reach it.

MBQ

--
*You sound reasonable......time to up my medication

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.