The one thing I don’t like about Avon is no matter how much you spend you still need to pay delivery, most places nowadays offer free delivery if you spend over a certain amount but Avon doesn’t no matter how much you spend. Free delivery is always an incentive for buying but with Avon their standard delivery charge is £3.50 no matter how much you spend. I know it doesn’t seem like a lot but if you only need a few items and it comes up to a mere £20 then adding £3.50 to that doesn’t really seem worth it.

Avon free delivery
Of course you can always contact your local representative and have them deliver it for you free of charge but I find that they are not always reliable and delivery can take weeks in some cases. Also I have had problems with free gifts that are also supposed to come with certain products, they are not always guaranteed through your local Avon representative. Ordering online is easier and also stock is guaranteed.

Avon poor delivery service

On the last few occasions that I have ordered Avon products I have found that the box that it all arrives in is damaged completely, not a squashed box but ripped open. When I called them and complained they said that there was nothing they can do! The call centre is in India so beware, then customer service said to check the box and if anything was missing they would replace it free of charge. I had ordered £200 worth of Avon products, I was very tempted to call and say half of the items were missing but then I was afraid that Karma would come and bite me in the bum so I didn’t. Looking back if I had the time I would have tried my luck but I am very disappointed in Avon for not taking action.

Also Avon does not let you order more than £200 worth of goods at a time if you go over you need to call customer service. I know it seems like a lot of money but I order for my mum and other family members so we don’t all have to pay the delivery charge, plus I am A-List member and get many products cheaper than those who are not. One of the Avon moisturisers that my mum uses is £25 so buying a day cream plus a night cream already costs £50 it’s very easy to spend £100 without realising especially when you are tempted with so many offers.

Notifying HSBC of my travel plans
I thought I would do it myself through internet banking but it was too long, I had to put day to day where I would be and as I was going to be away for two weeks it would’ve taken me a long time. I didn’t stay in one place for more than two days so I decided to call HSBC and talk to a customer service advisor. I informed them of my plans to travel and told them where I would be going, I also asked them what the likelihood of my card be ‘frozen’ would be and they said that unless I was spending by the thousands then I would be fine. Also because I notified them of my plans to travel they were aware that my card would be used abroad and the chances of my card be blocked were non-existent.

Luckily for me my husband thought it would be best to change some money before travelling so I didn’t really need to withdraw any Euros. A week into my holiday I needed to top up my mobile phone so I could wish my mother a Happy Birthday as I was not there to do it in person. My card is linked to my mobile so I called up on my mobile and topped up my mobile phone with £15 using my debit card.

The next day I got a call from HSBC fraud protection from a lady I couldn’t understand, it sounded like and Indian call centre staff member, she said I had to call them back urgently in regards to my debit card. Because I had only spent £15 I didn’t bother to call back as the call charges are really high for international calls. I left it at that and said I would chance it.

When I got back 14 days later I didn’t get a letter it email from HSBC so assumed it was drama for nothing. I went online to make a few purchases totalling £400 in one day, it was now a month since I had been on holiday, I got a phone call from a lady in India telling me she was calling from the fraud protection services and my card has been flagged and would now be cancelled. I was a little shocked but couldn’t really understand her so couldn’t ask what the problem was.

I found it a little strange that my card would get cancelled like that after spending a mere £15 abroad but spending hundreds in the UK meant that my card had to be cancelled. Luckily I got a new one 2 days later but I’m still baffled as to why it had to be cancelled. I told them I was going away, spent a meagre £15 topping up my mobile abroad and still my debit card was cancelled. I have since found that this has happened to many people using their HSBC cards abroad, I’m glad that HSBC are so vigilant but I think they have taken things to the extreme. Also why can’t they employ staff we can actually understand and ask questions to, Indian call centre staff talk to quickly and have a very heavy accent that makes a lot of people put off to calling in the first place?

Opening an account with Lloyds TSB was very fairly straightforward and the financial advisor was very helpful. After receiving my new card and account details I was ready to set up internet banking to further keep an eye on my finances.

I called up customer services and advised me that I could do online without having to speak to someone first. I went onto the website and found this to be incorrect and had to hold another 15 minutes before my call could be answered. I had to wait for my internet banking ID to come through the post before I could continue. After 5 days my internet banking ID came through the post and was advised to set up a password and internet ID code. This was very confusing as the internet banking is not very straight forward. After not using my account for 6 months when I tried to login it didn’t work. I had to call customer services again to reset my account, which they finally did.

I was informed that I would receive a monthly statement so I could keep track of my money, I never did receive a statement the whole time I banked with them. I was with Lloyds TSB for 2 years and I have to keep calling to get them to send a statement and even then I was lucky to receive even one a year. I have called in to the branch several times and they still didn’t sort out my statement delivery. They don’t even send an email like HSBC do to say that the statement is now available online!

When you open an account with Lloyds TSB you are asked to sign in a box and they keep this as proof of signature. I did this when I first opened my account and even though I did this they still asked me to do this 3 more times, which I refused. I have even handed over my proof of signature personally to the branch and they still didn’t have the audacity to update their systems!

I have now closed my account and withdrawn my money, closing the account to less than a minute and it’s the best decision I have ever made. If you want good customer service and reliable, easy to understand internet banking then this is not the bank for you. Save yourself unnecessary grief and bank elsewhere.

Over Christmas and New Year I’ve had up to 20 people round to visit with the majority of them staying over, in food and drink alone I have spent over £500! If I were to buy presents for everyone then I would never go on holiday and would not be able to but my mum and sister presents for their birthday which falls the following month.

How to not let Christmas ruin you financially?

Many people that I know use the January sales to stock up on things for the following year. For example this year my sister-in-law will use the sale to save up to £100 on decorations and a new Christmas tree for the end of the year. Decorations can be sold for as little as 25p and a Christmas tree worth £60 sold for as little as £10. The same goes for Christmas crackers, tinsel and Christmas cards. We should all take this opportunity to get organised and save some well deserved £’s for the end of the year. My best friend also used the sales to buy toys for her children that will be 5 and 7 this Christmas she saved £300 by buying reduced presents.

If Christmas is very important for you and your family you should start putting money aside as early as August. Most people fail to realise that you still need to pay bills at the beginning of the month so by planning early you shouldn’t have to default on mortgage, council tax, gas and electricity bills.

Remember Christmas isn’t about spending obscene amounts of money of everyone but to have a good time and catch up with all the people you love and don’t get to see as often as you would like. It’s also a time to reflect and make positive changes to the forthcoming year as this is the time of year people of for a career change.

She told me once that while in Primark she decided to stock up on underwear, her favourite are boy shorts costing £1.50 each. She bought 6 bringing the total to £8, when she came home she was so happy that she bought bargain underwear.

If it were me I would’ve gone into La Senza or Marks and Spencer costing me £4 each.

The next day she decided to wear her favourite out of the 6 that she had bought. They were very comfortable and bright red. A few hours later she went to the toilet when pulling up her new boy shorts they ripped across the top leaving a huge gaping hole under the elastic. Hence the difference between high street fashion compared to designer clothes!

Upset she burst into my room and pulled down her trousers for me to see, I’ve never laughed so much. There was no point in sewing them up they would’ve only ripped again so she threw them all away after wearing them only once.

I will to stick to La Senza and Marks and Spencer because although I buy new underwear every few months I can guarantee they won’t get holes, lose shape or tear.

What my sister thought was a bargain turned out more expensive because she had to re-buy new underwear costing her an additional £24 bringing the total she spent to £32.

If buying £4 a pair is too expensive look out for 3 for 2 offers that can bring the cost down.