Author Profile
Sam Thewlis
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Article History:
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Driving Licences go paperless from next week- how do you hire a car now?
Ideas of paperless driving licences have been floating around for some time, with the days of the paper counterpart being numbered. From next Monday, the counterpart will disappear completely and has been replaced by the DVLAs new View your Licence service. This online log-in based system allows you to view your driving record, eg vehicles…
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Is your car insurance higher because of claim you didn’t make?
Everyone knows that you have to disclose an accident or motoring conviction when buying car insurance, and if you’ve made a claim, then your insurer is going to know about it anyway. But what about the situation where there has been an ‘incident’ that was not your fault and you haven’t made a claim? Well,…
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Latest EU lightbulb ban delayed by two years
Good news for anyone still trying to read a newspaper indoors after dark, the latest phase of EU meddling with your light fittings has been delayed, with some halogen light bulbs getting a stay of execution for two years after the European Commission (EC) delayed the phasing-out of halogen bulbs until 2018. The original ban,which…
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Brown and beige cars making a seventies revival
They say everything in fashion goes around in circles, and those of us who lived through Eighties’ fashion the first time are watching it again in stunned admiration. But it isn’t just clothes fashions of yesteryear that make a comeback, it seems. Car valuation firm CAP Automotive reckons that, platforms and bell bottoms aside, it…
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Which is the best bacon? Important consumer testing from Which!!!
Bacon is an important human right*, and getting the right quality bacon, at the right price, is a cause of great consternation to many Bitterwallet readers throughout the country. However, consumer champion Which!!! has now swooped in to the rescue, having recruited some 'bacon testers' to sample bacon sold by the country's supermarkets in order…
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Changing the date your car insurance starts could save you 50%
There are any number of tips and tricks to reducing your car insurance, including selecting the most insurer-friendly job title, and including more experienced drivers on your policy. However, one variable you’ve probably never considered when getting an insurance quotation is thestart date of the policy- and according to Which!!!, that alone can save you…
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Co-op charge almost ten times as much for identical painkillers
Good old Co-Operative Food. You know, the one founded on ethical principles? Well, it seems they are as ready to swindle consumers as any less ethical supermarket, by making false claims on their products, and then attempting to charge almost ten times as much for the hyped-up product. If you have a headache, you might…
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Is Spark Energy the worst energy supplier ever?
Sometimes, businesses are so bad it is almost literally beyond belief, and smaller energy supplier Spark Energy has now been fined by Ofgem for falling squarely in that category. The crime? On top of sky-high charges and inaccurate billing systems, Spark Energy simply ignored customers’ requests to leave the supplier and just continued to bill…
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Is a guaranteed IVF scheme worth the money?
Nothing in life is guaranteed, except its eventual end of course, but we are always a fan of a consumer guarantee, that gives you peace of mind that you are getting value for money. Now, however, an IVF company is offering a guarantee on life itself- if you don’t get pregnant, you get your money…
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Ryanair fined €550k for poor customer service
We like consumer championing here at Bitterwallet, and once again the Italian competition watchdog AGCM has brought out the big guns and landed a massive fine for unscrupulous business practices. This time, its budget airline Ryanair, who have been slapped with a €550,000 (£412,000) fine for poor customer service practices, including “extreme difficulty” and exorbitant…