Going out isn’t always cheap but if you are heading off to any well-known restaurant chain then there are often many vouchers that you can print off from websites that will offer discounts ranging from 50% off, to buy one get one free offers. The best place I’ve found to get updates on these vouchers is on Martin Lewis’ Money Saving Expert website where there is a section especially for restaurant vouchers, deals, and offers.

Currently there are offers for Burger King, Pizza Express, Pizza Hut, Strada, Café Rouge, ASK, Zizzi and plenty of others. Yesterday I printed off a voucher for for ASK which offers 2 for 1 on main meals, and went out to ASK in Canterbury with Emma. I had Polpette al Forno, Garlic Bread, and a coke, whilst she had the Terrina Mediterranea and a coke and this came to and a grand total of £17.45. Bargain.

If you are planning on going out for a meal then it’s worth remembering that there are plenty of offers out there, and a couple of minutes on the web can save you a fair bit of money.

In the tunnel

Yesterday I went to Calais, but instead of going on the ferry, I went with Eurotunnel and I must say that it was such an easy experience. Everything about the process was very simple and I would definitely consider using Eurotunnel again. Check-in was 30 minutes before departure, and I was pleasantly surprised when all I had to do was drive my car up to the barrier, which then automatically recognised my numberplate and printed out my boarding card.

After a bit of waiting we drove straight onto the train and after about half an hour we were driving back-off and making the short journey to Cité Europe. I bought lots of booze, some bread, and also picked up some snails too. I’d booked the 4:50pm (local time) return, but we were all done by 2:30pm and managed to get on the 3pm return train instead, which yet again was very helpful.

Job well done

It all made for a good day out, especially as tickets were only £15. On Sunday I am back over to Calais but this time with P&O and will be visiting for the last day of the Christmas Market. Less booze cruise this time and more of a cultural visit although I shall have to wrap up warm as yesterday it had been snowing in Calais and the lakes and ponds had frozen over.

Below is a video showing what it’s like on the train.

Yummy Leffe

I’m off to Calais today with Eurotunnel and it’ll be the first time I’ve ever driven abroad. I’ve got Ian with me as my wingman so I’m sure he’ll warn me if I forget!

The aim of the day is to buy booze. I’m sure I’ll get a few crates of Saint Omer, some lovely strong Leffe, some wine, some random alcohol, and probably pick up some random groceries whilst I’m there too.

Wish me luck!

Since I bought my house, I find myself checking out the prices of other homes in the immediate area and seeing how they compare to what I bought mine for in March this year. I’m not looking to sell of course but it was a big investment so it’s nice to see how it’s all panning out and if there has been an increase on its valuation.

Do any of you do the same?

Of course the prices people are putting their houses up for sale for are not necessarily the value someone wants to pay for them or indeed their true value, but it does give a ballpark idea if quite a few houses in the same area are going for roughly the same price.

I’m happy to say that at the moment it looks like I’m quids in (having seemingly bought when the market was at it’s lowest), but as we have seen, situations can change very quickly, and I’m in this for the long run so it doesn’t really effect me that much. It still won’t stop me looking though.

I thought it would be nice to get a real Christmas tree this year and so for the past week or so I’ve been looking around to find one that looks good but is also not too expensive. ASDA had potted ones for £18 but they were quite small and didn’t look to be in great condition and there were several market stalls in Ramsgate had them but they were more expensive £30-£40.

In the end I went to Focus and picket up a 7 ft Norwegian Spruce for £19.99 which I was very happy with. A quick google show that Homebase also have trees at this price too.

The tree came in netting and so I’ve put the tree up and am leaving it for a couple of days to settle and take its natural shape, and then it will be time to decorate!

Ready to be decorated

Yes, that really is what this post is about, so prepare to be amazed by the following film someone has made.

For those of you who wish to see more elevator action go to www.youtube.com/user/benobve or who could forget my Schindler’s Lift post…

Click here to go to the site

There we go, I’ve just booked my £15 tickets to France with Eurotunnel. I’ve never driven abroad so it should be a bit of an adventure! Just a reminder that this offer runs until 17th December so book your tickets whilst you can if you fancy a bit of a day-trip.

In true British fashion I think I’ll just be stocking up on beer and wine in preparation for my New Year’s Eve party.

What are your plans for New Year?

I’ve recently written about the importance of good customer service and the benefits it can have for local businesses, and via Thanetonline this article in the Times has been brought to my attention which features local fishmonger Eddie Gilbert’s.

Click to view the article

The article details ways in which local businesses have managed to increase their sales by concentrating on the local area and by delivering good service and integrating themselves into a local community they have won out over much larger competitors. The article also mentions the Shop Local scheme that the council is running, which shows that even Thanet District Council can benefit from promoting local through local initiatives rather than just irresponsibly throwing money at problems.

Eddie Gilbert’s will be the next business in the ‘Promote Local’ feature, following on from Tara Plumbing.

Tara Plumbing are a local company based in Ramsgate who I would recommend to those who need plumbing, central heating work, etc done. This is the first of my Promote Local posts following on from my post where I decided that I should promote those local businesses who provide good customer service and who warrant the extra promotion and publicity. I won’t be giving ‘stars’ or marks out of ten for these posts but would rather just focus on my experience and then you can decide what you want to do.

My new boiler

When I bought my new house earlier this year I needed to get central heating installed, something which is a big outlay and not an everyday purchase, and so I had to look for a company to fit a boiler, pipework, and radiators. There are many many plumbers and central heating installers out there and it can be a bit of a minefield with very little information around except for a name and a phone number, so I went to the internet and did some research.

I opted for local businesses based around Thanet and only those who had email addresses and websites and then I emailed them all with my requirements and asked them for a rough estimate. In the end I opted for Tara Plumbing for several reasons:

• Prompt email response
• Web presence (Business website & Mrs Tara Plumbing blog)
• Variety of contact methods (Post, local landline, email, freephone, fax)
• Friendly and sociable correspondance
• Brand awareness via local advertising

They came to my house, looked around and then gave me a written quote which was very detailed and outlined all that was included. I was booked in for a few weeks later and when the time came it only took them two days to install a complete central heating system including boiler, pipework, and radiators. They were very prompt, very clean, and very trustworthy (I left them my keys whilst I was at work and they are of course Gas Safe registered). Another bonus was that they were able to accept bank transfers so that I didn’t need to write a cheque, and was able to pay via my online banking. Nice and Easy.

When it came to getting a new gas connection for my gas hob I had no hesitation in calling Tara to do the job, and when my mum needed a new boiler and radiators for her house I recommended Tara who yet again did a good job.

I think the point is that if you do a job well, communicate well, and provide a good customer service then your business can benefit greatly.

Company: Tara Plumbing
Website: http://www.taraplumbing.co.uk
Phone: 01843 60 71 92 / 0800 16 95 32 0
Email: TARAplumb@AOL.com

I am currently completing my ILM Level 3 award in First Line Management and recently had to write an assignment on ‘Managing Customer Service’ and it is clear that this is one of the most important areas of running a business or organisation but one area that is often neglected

Customer service is an important part of running an organisation for many reasons, the main being aiding retention, gaining new customers, and improving the organisation. This is even more important nowadays as there is more competition, customers are better informed, and customer have higher expectations making them more valuable

It is clear though that there are a lot of companies around who miss out on opportunities for positive publicity and are clearly lacking in regards to their customer service. Research into customer service and specifically the cost of poor customer service suggests that £1 spent on preventing poor customer service will save £1,000 in subsequent lost trade through delivering poor customer service. Businesses need to realise that without customers they are nothing, and that they are not an interruption to work but the reason for it. This seems to get lost on some and at the end of the day it will mean lost business at a time when they should be doing everything they can to increase it.

I’m sure we’ve all received good and bad customer service and the fact is that if I receive good service I will promote that business to 5 other people, but if I receive bad customer service then you can be sure that I will relay that to 25 people, and the fact is that no matter how good your advertising may be it is word of mouth can make or break you.

I enjoy promoting local businesses and if I’ve had a good experience then I am more than happy to promote them on this blog or recommend them to friends so I think I will start writing a few posts on here to reward those who have provided good customer service. Those who have failed miserably can no longer expect support from me (you know who you are). This should not only give good businesses some more exposure but should also help you the customer when deciding on where to spend your money. Of course these are only my views and customer service is something that needs to be constantly monitored and improved, but I know you are all intelligent enough to know this and to use this information as a guide along with other information available to you.