20 April 2021 • 7:00am
Has a company treated you unfairly? Our consumer champion, Sally Hamilton, is here to help. For how to contact her click here.
Dear Sally,
I have used payments processing service Stripe for my business for years without much trouble. But this wasn’t the case for my son. He recently started a website for his Victorian mosaic-laying business, but when he took his first payment for £701, he had his Stripe account frozen without explanation. The customer has not had the payment returned to him, which means Stripe must be holding the funds.
– VJ, Cornwall
Dear VJ,
It must be maddening for your son to have his account frozen at the very moment he should have been celebrating the receipt of his first customer payment via his new website.
Economic recovery from Covid will bring higher inflation along for the ride
The UK is unlikely to have a strong recovery from the pandemic without an uptick in prices as well
18 April 2021 • 5:00pm
This week brings of a slew of data on the state of the British economy and none will be more closely watched than the inflation figures published on Wednesday.
Having previously taken continued low inflation for granted, over recent weeks the financial markets have woken up to the idea that there could be a period of faster price hikes ahead.
The public’s inflation anxiety could intensify after Wednesday’s figure, which I suspect might show an increase from 0.4pc last month to 0.7pc. What’s more, a jump to 1.6pc is on the cards for next month. And in the second half of the year, the rate could rise to somewhere close to, and quite possibly above, the 2pc target.
Customers need to speak to real people – not chatbots
Automation may cut costs, but it allows companies to build a defensive screen that frustrates people and wastes their time
18 April 2021 • 12:00pm
Q: It’s difficult to believe that 12 months have passed since coronavirus disrupted our live. Looking back, what have been your biggest personal challenges of lockdown?
A: On the plus side, I got accustomed to my own company, improved my cooking and found a different topic to discuss in this column for 52 consecutive weeks. I’m ashamed, however, that I read so few books, didn’t exercise every day and failed to become a pianist or linguist. But I tried hard to make better use of my iPad.
Billionaire brothers behind Asda close in on Caffe Nero takeover
Issa brothers buy up struggling chain s £140m debt pile to put them in pole position of a takeover if it defaults
18 April 2021 • 9:00am
The billionaire Blackburn brothers behind Asda are closing in on taking control of Caffe Nero after buying up the struggling coffee chain’s debts.
Mohsin and Zuber Issa, this week due to find out if regulators sign off their £6.8bn acquisition of Asda, are understood to have bought around £140m of loans from Swiss private equity firm Partners Group via investment bank Morgan Stanley.
Buying the loans will leave the Issas in a strong position to take control of Caffe Nero if the coffee chain were to default on its mountain of borrowing.
Stop giving us your junk, charity shops urge
Store bosses deluged with disgusting items after clear-outs ask public to be thoughtful about donation
A pile of items left outside a charity shop in Urmston, Greater Manchester, last year
Credit: REUTERS
Charity shop bosses have urged people to stop donating patently unsellable items, as they are deluged by mountains of bags from spring cleans.
The Charity Retail Association (CRA) has warned the public to avoid dropping off disgusting or really badly broken pieces to their local shop, as they end up having to be thrown away.
Its warning comes amid an influx of donations, believed to be the result of many Britons spending lockdowns decluttering their homes.