It’s finally happened, the woman billed by some as the Princess Diana for the new millennium, Jade Goody, has died. She battled long and hard against Cancer and has been hailed by everyone from the Prime Minister down to the average reader of Heat Magazine as a gem, a star, a heroine of our time.
A spokesperson for Heat even said that Jade talked about numerous important issues in our time, such as when she spoke out about racism.
What the hell? Jade didn’t speak out against racism, she was an outspoken racist.
Yes she died of Cancer, it was horrible and something no one should have to go through, but many people do. Many far more caring, dignified and brilliant people than Jade Goody have suffered the tragedy of Cancer. So why does Jade Goody deserve all of the plaudits, where others more deserving get none?
As for being the Princess Diana for the new millennium; I don’t remember Lady Di ever calling an Asian woman ‘Poppadom’, nor did she sell her wedding photos to Heat.
The world is not a poorer place for the loss of Jade Goody, not by a long stretch.
Regular readers of this site will know that the UK delivery firm known as Home Delivery Network have been the subject of a great many posts, with their atrocious attitude towards customers, their appalling delivery record, their racist drivers and hundreds of dissatisfied customers all coming forward on this site.
It’s come to a head now as a delivery driver with Home Delivery Network has issued me with a death threat. I’m honoured, I truly am. Have a read of this imbecile’s comments:
From: [home delivery network driver] lewis2279@hotmail.com
Subject:
im not gonna write a lot on here because personally i cant be bothered just wanted to say i think u win this years award for the biggest wanker on the internet. hope ur next hdnl driver gives u a fuckin twatin and u end in in hospital and then fingers crossed maybe die?? now theres hoping xxx
The construction of the email tells you we’re dealing with a man of great intellect, probably why he’s a delivery driver. Putting his own email address in wasn’t smart either, but again, probably why he’s a delivery driver.
Should I be scared? Somehow I doubt it. Firstly, HDNL never show up when they say they will, and secondly, the odds of this idiot finding my house, even with my address written in front of him and a sat nav to guide him, are slim to none.
Nice to know the sort of people that Home Delivery Network employ though isn’t it? Do you want them representing your company and delivering your products?
I just tried to order some pizza from Dominoes Pizza in Cheadle Hulme, Manchester, using a voucher that I have that gives me 1 pizza free when I purchase a regular pizza and a starter.
I checked their website, because I didn’t have a menu, and chose the following pizzas:
Medium Mighty Meaty – £11.99
Medium Hot & Spicy £10.99
Potato Wedges £2.99
The cheaper of the pizzas, the Hot and Spicy, was free, making the total £14.98. Yet when the guy turned up with the pizza, he said it was £15.99.
What gives?
He said he couldn’t change the price, so I had to phone them back, which I did. The woman told me that the Mighty Meaty was actually £12.99, not £11.99. Despite my telling her the price on the website, she refused to believe me, so I got the guy stood at the door to read the price from the website to her. She believed him, but didn’t want to do anything about it.
I was then put through to the manager, all the time with the delivery guy stood on my doorstep holding the pizzas. The manager said that they had changed their prices, and the price on the website was nothing to do with him because he was a Franchisee, so was not responsible for the incorrect price. He refused to let me have the pizza for the price that it was advertised for, despite my pointing out that he was in breach of trading standards.
You can see the price on the website here.
Incredibly, I had to refuse the pizzas and send them back, where they were no doubt thrown away, all for the sake of £1.01 (not sure where the extra penny came from?).
The manager at Dominoes Pizza in Cheadle Hulme needs to realise that you can’t change the prices of something when it’s advertised somewhere else for a lower price, and not honour the price.
It was suggested to me this week that the 700 job losses at Home Delivery Network were my fault. I of course rebuked this claim, but after some consideration there may be an element of truth to that.
For example, if you’re distribution manager for a firm such as Littlewoods or Vodafone, and you’re looking to cut your costs by switching from Royal Mail to another delivery company, you’d obviously Google the company first to check their reputation. By Googling ‘Home Delivery Network’ you’ll find MrDaz.com on the first page, right behind their own site, with the story of how they tossed my parcel over the gate into a puddle. You’ll also read over 100 comments from other dissatisfied customers who’ve had the displeasure of dealing with HDNL, and also comments from HDNL delivery drivers who are proud of their lack of care and attention, openly racist and abusive towards customers.
For example, here’s one comment from a Home Delivery Network driver, and this is one of the more intelligent ones:
Chris
Chris@home.net
193.200.150.47
Wow, “Mr” Daz, I’m really in awe of your incredible intellectualism and well-honed debating skills which mean you would NEVER, EVER have recourse to childishly using four-letter words.
Now “Mr” Daz, I suggest you take a long, hard look at yourself and ask yourself if it was REALLY such a big deal that the packaging of your silly little toy got a little damp?
Also, reflect upon the FACTS that
1) You’re NOT the only person on this Earth
2) The world is an imperfect place.
and
3) Real people who do REAL jobs (ie – they get their hands dirty and actually SWEAT) such as driving for HDNL are NOT on this planet solely to wipe your sweet, perfumed backside.
Would you want your brand associated with that sort of company, when their staff don’t care that they throw parcels over fences and they’re openly abusive towards customers? Of course not.
Therefore anyone looking at hiring a delivery firm would discount HDNL (quite rightly) perhaps accelerating the company’s decision to cut back on staff.
If you remember the follow up programme that BBC Watchdog did on Tariq Zaman, some kind soul has uploaded it to YouTube so you can watch it back. It shows Nicky Campbell interviewing students in Leeds saying how Zaman has withheld money owed to them. In this video you also see Zaman looking around a student’s accommodation, and finding it immaculately kept, and promissing the students that they’ll get their deposits back when they leave.
The video isn’t the best quality as it appears to be recorded using a video camera pointed at the TV. You get the gist of it though.
Jack Tweed and Jade Goody have finally tied the knot in a public ceremony designed to make her some more cash before she snuffs it.
Seriously though, what does Jack Tweed see in Jade? She’s one of the thickest people on the face of the planet, she’s openly racist, she’s obnoxious and she’s pig ugly. Even the fact that she’s a millionaire can’t be enough of a reason to marry her?
Unless of course you consider this fact, from the BBC website:
Goody has spoken of how Tweed, 21, proposed to her shortly after doctors told her she may only have months to live.
Ah… he’s only got to stay with her for a few months, then once she’s dead, he can inherit her cash. Makes sense now doesn’t it?
It makes even more sense when you consider the fact that Jack Tweed is actually serving time for hitting a teenager with a golf club. Clearly Jack’s a very nice lad, and deserves his terminally ill, millionaire bride.
How does someone like Jade get to be so rich in the first place? When we live in a society that rewards people like Jade Goody with fame and fortune, and girls aspire to be just like her (famous for doing nothing) instead of actually making something of themselves it’s no wonder our country is in such an economic crisis.
Now, I’m not blaming the recession on Jade Goody, but her loyal ‘fanbase’ who look upon winning the lottery or being on Big Brother as career goals has surely helped.
A few weeks ago (January 20th) I asked the CSA to send me a breakdown of what I paid to date, and what I owed. I recorded the phone call, because I knew they’d either lie about my requesting it or just muck it up. Sure enough, when I phoned back some weeks later they had no recollection of my having called (even though I had) so I asked the same question again.
This time a chap named Barney said he’d send me the details, which to his credit, he did. I did tell him I was recording the call though, so he’d have struggled to worm his way out of it.
I received my details through the post in a timely fashion; however, I also received something else. I received something which highlights a level of incompetence and lack of organisation that only the Child Support Agency has the ability to display. They sent me a printout of internal email between one of their accountants, Natalie Walters, and Patricia Corris. In the email, Natalie asked Patricia to update the details on a PWC (parent with care), and printed the woman’s bank account number and sort code for her building society.
This email was printed out by Patricia Corris, left lying around on the printer at the CSA in Birkenhead, and then picked up and posted to my address! In doing so, Patricia Corris broke data protection laws.
Here’s a copy of the email, with the bank details removed (because I’m not incompetent like the CSA):
Sorry trish am on training now and the phones have been mad im trying 2 do me 2 pieces of post b4 she has me ha.
Will you update iico please for pwc bank details sc 165521 acct num ******62 thanks don’t forget
Natalie
OA3 Accounts
Ext 2463
You’ll notice by the mix of broken English and text speak that Natalie isn’t the sharpest tool in the box, and by the fact that Patricia printed an email containing someone’s bank details and left it lying around on the printer for some other bright spark to pick up and post to random people, it’s clear that the CSA isn’t really filled with geniuses.
So, if you’re a parent with care and your bank is the Cumberland Building Society, Cumberland House, Castle Street, Carlisle, CA3 8RX, with the sort code 16-52-21, your bank account details may have been printed out and posted to me. Perhaps they’ve been posted to other people as well? Who knows!
The real question is, what did the CSA have to say about this? Let’s ask them!
Here’s the recorded phone call of what happened when I phoned the CSA to tell them of their gross negligence.
As you can hear, they ‘claim’ they’ll contact the PWC to let her know about the screw up, and they ‘claim’ that a manager will be involved. I doubt either will happen, so I phoned the Daily Mirror and got a journalist on the case. He spoke to the CSA, and received a grovelling letter back from them admitting the mistake, but I have yet to hear back from them, either in writing or by phone call. I was promised that Patricia Corris would call me to apologise, but she hasn’t.
Hopefully she’s been sacked. Hopefully the whole of the Birkenhead office has been sacked, but sadly I doubt it. This type of cock up is hardly out of the ordinary, and I expect the CSA will continue to do this until the whole organisation is shut down amid mass public outcry. How many screw ups will this take though? How many CSA mistakes must we endure before something is done?
If I wasn’t laughing so hard I’d be crying right now.
The Leeds letting agent, the Student Property Shop, was featured on BBC News this week in a news report that is also available on the BBC website. Students have been lobbying outside of the office of the Student Property Shop, trying to get their deposits back from the previous occupants of the premises.
When asked, the Student Property Shop denied any connection with the previous occupants of their office, Providence Properties.
Watch the video and see what you think. The report closes with the narrator stating that Trading Standards are now investigating the Student Property Shop for a possible fraud concerning the £70,000 in deposits that the students have yet to be returned.
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