This is my tenth year compiling this column. I have tried and I will continue trying to make the most out of it. I often ask if you have any ideas on how we can maximise on this page or if you can help in some way.

If you have any ideas, or if you think you can help, please send me a letter or an e-mail.

In any case, some feedback would be very much appreciated.

European City Guide

Our file on the European City Guide is getting bigger:

FCCS had a visit by a salesperson who also misled them to believe anything other than the reality behind the request for payment.

After joining, we received a draft of the content to be placed in this directory. On closer investigation after weighing all facts in hand, we contacted European City Guide to inform them that we were not intent on taking the application further and payment would not be effected for the same reasons as already mentioned by the previous organisations who have contributed in your column.

We were later advised that payment would still be sought, notwithstanding our clear communication providing the reasons for default. Several reminders ensued. However, we held our ground and never effected the requested payment, although we still received the bulky guides by mail. (Romain Galea, general manager, FCCS Ltd.)

Here follows a very informative letter:

Stop The European City Guide!

We would also like to join forces in your campaign against the above company, which has betrayed, and is still betraying, individuals and companies around the world.

The micro printing has misled us too and, although our cancellation was faxed on November 23, 2001, we have received a letter from their legal department requesting payment plus dunning fees and interests for delayed payment.

However, I managed to find information on the web giving step-by-step information on what to do, even if you think that it

is too late because you have signed it.

Don`t send any money. It appears that their menace has little bite; they would have to pursue the `debts` through the Spanish courts and then those in your country. So far they have not risked this.

Please remember that the form, although deceitful, is a contract that has a slim chance of standing up at law. Therefore, do not deliberately annoy them. Just firmly refuse to pay.

It is important to note the following:

Paying any money constitutes acceptance of the contract. If you make any payments you undermine your legal position.

The EC Guide may offer an option to make a reduced payment. However they will conveniently not tell you that the reduced payment is for one year as part of a three-year contract. Many people have made what they thought were final payments, only to receive more demands at a later late.

If you pay them you are financing the perpetuation of the scam.

If we all stand together and refuse to pay we would be in a stronger position.

Contact The Catalan Authorities in Spain (address: Generalitat de Catalunya, Direccion General de Consumo y Seguridad Industrial, Avda, Diagonal, 405 bis, 08008, Barcelona, Spain.

Contact the Consumer and Competition Division.

Pay extra attention to your incoming EC Guide mail. If you simply mark it "Not known at this address" and drop it back in the post, they have little chance of catching up with you. (Sonia Ciappara)

I found two other sites: http://freespace.virgin.net/gp.ck/ECGscam.htm and http://members.aol.com/ActionECG/MainPage.html. Finally here follows an excerpt from one of the above sites:

If you are involved with a small business or organisation please read this and let other people know about it. If you receive a form which seems to invite free representation in The European City Guide, based in Barcelona, Spain (or other similar directories based in Liechtenstein or Germany) DO NOT SIGN AND RETURN IT without first reading all the small print.

Close inspection of the small print reveals that it is in fact a contract, and numerous people have signed and returned it unaware of the financial implications. In theory they should all pay well over a thousand pounds for an advertisement that they never wanted (and many can`t afford).

However, action by the Spanish authorities has already been taken against the publishers of the European City Guide, and many `contracts` have been cancelled. For more detailed information, and possible courses of action if you have signed up but feel that you have been duped, visit these Websites, (we are extremely grateful to their organisers for all the help they offer):

http://ecguide.tripod.com/ and http://www.stopecg.org/. We would urge everybody who has been approached by the ECG to visit this site. From here one can also join support and action groups which have become the meeting point of activity related to this scam: http://members.aol.com/ActionECG/MainPage.html.

Not consumer friendly

The Consumers` Association wishes to highlight a particular policy adopted by traders regarding sales, which is not in the interest of consumers.

This is related to sale transactions in which the buyer starts paying instalments for an item to be bought before the said item is given to the buyer. This is not in the consumer`s interest.

To add insult to injury, in such transactions, buyers are led to believe that they are `buying` the item on a `Hire Purchase` basis. This is highly misleading.

In a `Hire Purchase` transaction, the buyer takes possession of the item bought after the buyer makes the first down-payment with a view to paying the rest by instalments.

However, in the referred to scheme, the buyer does not take possession of the item bought until full payment is made. Thus the buyer is risking his/her money unnecessarily.

On the other hand in a `Hire Purchase` transaction the risk is taken by the seller however the buyer still pays interest, which is fair enough.

Therefore the Consumers` Association encourages consumers to inform the association (PO Box 141, Valletta; tel: 2123-9091) and/or write to me when traders offer such deals.

More importantly however the association encourages consumers not to get involved in such deals and not to sign such contracts. Such an agreement is tantamount to a "pie in the sky".

Maltacom - Easyline

After reading Ms Elaine Fenech`s article about Easyline in the Customer Service Column of March 10, I noticed that she had mentioned all the good points and nothing of the bad.

Since I took up Easyline to economise and prevent my teenage daughters from staying hours on the line, I find that I am spending more money.

The bad points I would like to mention are:

1. There is the hassle of dialling all those numbers every time you have to make a call, which is inconvenient, especially if you want to make a call in a hurry and the redial does not work.

2. Each pulse is at a cost of 7c as opposed to the usual cost of 5c.

3. Where there is only one pulse charged from 6 p.m. till 8 a.m. Easyline starts from 8 p.m. till 8 a.m. - losing two hours of cheap rate.

4. Finally although you are not charged a rental fee, you lose out on the 100 free calls every two months.

This makes Easyline a much more expensive proposition... (A.D. Chetcuti)

I asked for Maltacom`s comments:

Mr Chetcuti made some very valid points and he may be interested to know that Maltacom is in the process of upgrading the Easyline service further. In fact the upgrade is the result of preliminary post-launch service research undertaken to identify factors that will enable us to improve the service.

Among others, the upgrades will include the extension of the off-peak rate, which will commence at 6 p.m., as with the normal telephony service, and the simplification of the process to complete the telephone call.

The actual cost of a local call is 6.6c (incl. VAT) not 7c as noted by Mr Chetcuti. Mr Chetcuti may be right in thinking so because the system prompts the remaining balance in the card to the nearest cent; otherwise the prompt and therefore the call process would be longer. However, the call is actually charged to the nearest mil. Furthermore a local call using the normal telephone line (not an Easyline) costs 5.25c (incl. VAT).

Many Easyline customers have found that they have economised on their telephony expenses because now they only pay for their personal telephony expenses, while other users like their teenage children buy their own card and pay for their telephone calls.

I appreciate Mr Chetcuti`s comments thoroughly because only our customers, who use our services every day, can really tell us how we can fulfil their needs. (Elaine Fenech, Brand Manager)

I sent Mr Chetcuti a copy of Elaine Fenech`s reply and he wrote:

I was very glad to hear that some of my comments were valid and that, through their upgrading, Maltacom are improving their services to the public.

I also thank Ms Fenech for pointing out certain small details in the costings, such as 6.6 cents per Easyline call and not 7c.

I appreciate that there are certain circumstances wherein Easyline can have a saving effect on the overall expenses and fulfil certain customers` needs - i.e., controlling their teenage and even younger children in the excessive use of the telephone by having to pay their own bills, even where the public have access to a private phone.

There is also the psychological fact, whereby knowing that your call is costing more, one tends to keep a check on time.

In closing I would also like to thank you once again for such a positive response and, through the customer service column, we have helped the general public to a better understanding of the Easyline service. (A.D. Chetcuti)

I thank Ms Fenech and Mr Chetcuti for their contributions highlighting the kind of meaningful dialogue we want to encourage between consumers and suppliers of products and services.

Discovery Bookshop case

Without going into details, I am pleased to inform readers that the above captioned case has been positively resolved. Mr Camilleri honoured his promise to co-operate and I must publicly thank him.

I must point out that there is more information supplied by Camilleri and Camilleri in connection with the local book selling market which clarifies the current market operations which I cannot divulge at this stage.

On a positive note

When it comes to the `personal` aspect of customer service, my expectations are not always fulfilled. However, contrary to what some people may think, rather than focus on shortcomings, I prefer highlighting positive factors. I strongly believe in the good old "catch them doing something good" policy.

Therefore, without going into the details of the transaction involved, I must commend Arthur Sciberras, who works in CustoMs Apart, for being very helpful.

He went out of his way to give me all the information I needed and, regarding matters which were not within his sphere of responsibilities, he tried to obtain the information on the telephone without success, but promised he would call us at home. Sadly, such promises are often made and no calls materialise.

However, on a positive note, subsequently Mr Sciberras did call to give me the relevant information.