The Captain's Blog ™

O2 launches iPhone SIM-only offers

Captain Consumer — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:57:35 +0000

O2 launches iPhone SIM-only deals Once the UK’s monopoly provider of iPhones, O2 has just upped its game to reflect the increasingly competitive marketplace for iPhone deals. Rightly deserving of a few headlines, O2’s newly launched and cheapest SIM-only iPhone price plan costs just £15 per month and provides 300 inclusive minutes along with unlimited* texts, data and Wi-Fi [...]

Interest rates: when they were up, they were, urm…

Captain Consumer — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:28:41 +0000

Scanning today’s news reports online, I was perplexed to find the following contradictory headlines: » Fed rate rise sparks fresh slide in sterling (Times Online) » Pound slides further on surprise Fed rate cut (Telegraph.co.uk / Reuters) The facts? Yesterday, the US Federal Reserve increased one of its key interest rates from 0.5% to 0.75%. That’s… hang on… yup, [...]

ScottishPower Online Energy Saver 9

Captain Consumer — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:31:22 +0000

Scottish Power has revamped its prices again, with ScottishPower Online Energy Saver 9 now taking the lead. This online-only tariff for gas and electricity offers the utility company’s lowest prices for UK residential customers and takes up position as one of the UK’s cheapest gas and electricity price plans. » Get an online quote direct from [...]

The Ryanair vs OFT dummy spitting contest

Captain Consumer — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:49:27 +0000

In what may prove to be a warning shot across Ryanair’s bows, the chief executive of the UK’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has likened the airline’s practice of levying charges for all but an obscure card-based payment method as ‘quite puerile’ and ‘almost childish’. Mr Fingleton’s comments, reported in an interview with The Independent newspaper, [...]

British Gas EnergySmart / Energy Smart

Captain Consumer — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 19:49:47 +0000

Available to existing and new customers, British Gas EnergySmart / Energy Smart is a FREE add-on service that aims to help customers save money and have better control over their utility bills. British Gas EnergySmart / Energy Smart is available with many (but not all) of the utility supplier’s gas and electricity tariffs, including dual fuel [...]

E.ON’s casual approach to customer care

Captain Consumer — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:18:28 +0000

In the course of researching recent developments in the residential gas and electricity market, I found myself needing to speak with someone at E.ON. Just a quick phone call to check a couple of facts. Their call centre was obviously having a busy day, as I found myself in a queue. This wasn’t entirely unexpected and [...]

ScottishPower Online Energy Saver 7

Captain Consumer — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:39:19 +0000

ScottishPower has launched a new online-only gas and electricity tariff that makes it the cheapest of the UK’s big six suppliers for households with average dual fuel energy use. The offer guarantees that prices will stay at least 3% cheaper than Scottish Power’s standard gas and electricity prices for customers who pay by monthly direct. The guarantee [...]

The mobile phone safety debate

Captain Consumer — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:40:01 +0000

Can mobile phone use cause brain tumours? Does using a mobile phone damage your health? Given that these are clearly such important questions, should we be surprised that the scientific community seemingly has yet to agree on the answers? One of the most recent contributions to the debate was published last month by a group of international activists who [...]

British Gas WebSaver 4 & Energy Saving Shop

Captain Consumer — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:51:39 +0000

British Gas WebSaver 4 British Gas has launched a new version of the online-only WebSaver price plan in the form of WebSaver 4. At the time of writing, British Gas says this is the “cheapest nationally available online dual fuel tariff at average consumption”. Available to to credit meter customers only, WebSaver 4 includes a minimum 6% discount against their [...]

Memo to TV producers (esp Channel 4)

Captain Consumer — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:36:59 +0000

I’m fed up with television programme producers who assume that the average member of their viewing audience has the memory span of a goldfish. Actually, after a quick fact check, I’ve discovered that’s unfair to goldfish: they can apparently remember as far back as three months – who’d have thought? Still, you get my drift. Why (oh [...]