'The Guardian: He’s ashamed, I’m happy' blog discussion

SaverSarah_2

The 'Are you Martin Lewis?' comment at the end of the quiz made me laugh out loud!

Martin, you're changing people's lives for the better. That's pretty awesome really.

cmidge

sdooley wrote: »

There was an odd question in Martin's quiz in the guardian, askin

Which is the worst deal?
Correct answer: 30% off
You answered: Three for the price of two

I would always prefer 30% off rather than three for two as if I buy one, two, four or five of the product I would be better off than under the 'three for two' offer, and almost the same if I actually wanted 3 or 6.

Quiz is here by the way - got 9 out of 10...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/quiz/2008/jun/14/consumeraffairs

Two of the three answers equated to the same thing:
1) Three for the price of two; and
2) 50% extra free

As an example - lets assume the item costs 50p. Under the first offer you would get three items for £1.00 and under the second you would also get three items for £1.00.

Prof_555

I think you'll find the guy's name is 'Hattenstone', unless the Guardian's sub-editors have been getting it wrong for years ....

Premier_2

I've just read the article and the corresponding guardian item.

As usual, it provide the good tips we have come to expect from Martin and the jovial manner in which the guardian article is written may grab the attention of some who otherwise by-pass financial matters.

One item I did find a little worrying in the guardian article was:

Then the debit card. "OK, you bank with Lloyds. This is a crap bank account - 0.1% interest in credit; average overdraft interest between 15% and 18%. You can get 8.5% interest if you're in credit at the Alliance and Leicester; 0% overdraft at the Alliance and Abbey."

OK, I can't argue with the validity of the A&L offer, but how exactly can one tell what interest is being paid just by looking at a debit card? This is the same mistake that Lloydstsb staff often make themselves with me (I bank with Lloydstsb)
Lloydstsb offer a competitive similar deal at 6%AER/5.84%gross variable for 12 months (reducing by 2% thereafter) - a classic plus account that uses an identical debit card to the classic account where it is true interest only accrues at 0.1% on the total balance.
Both Lloydstsb and A&L limit the high interest rates to the first £2500 credit balance.

It's impossible to tell just by the debit card what interest a customer earns on their balance. Afterall, this means at the very best the A&L customer might only be able to earn about £5 a month extra rather than the implied £200+ per year.

Yes there is also the benefit of an interest free overdraft, but to assume someone needs that facility just by looking at the debit card is rather odd. Furthermore, if they are using an overdraft facility, then they won't be earning 8.5% anyway during that period.

Perhaps this is all down to journalistic licence rather than a real lack in carrying out a proper examination of the individual's circumstances and suitability of a product before advising on it. Let's hope so.

MSE_Martin

Premier wrote: »

I've just read the article and the corresponding guardian item.

As usual, it provide the good tips we have come to expect from Martin and the jovial manner in which the guardian article is written may grab the attention of some who otherwise by-pass financial matters.

One item I did find a little worrying in the guardian article was:



OK, I can't argue with the validity of the A&L offer, but how exactly can one tell what interest is being paid just by looking at a debit card? This is the same mistake that Lloydstsb staff often make themselves with me (I bank with Lloydstsb)
Lloydstsb offer a competitive similar deal at 6%AER/5.84%gross variable for 12 months (reducing by 2% thereafter) - a classic plus account that uses an identical debit card to the classic account where it is true interest only accrues at 0.1% on the total balance.
Both Lloydstsb and A&L limit the high interest rates to the first £2500 credit balance.

It's impossible to tell just by the debit card what interest a customer earns on their balance. Afterall, this means at the very best the A&L customer might only be able to earn about £5 a month extra rather than the implied £200+ per year.

Yes there is also the benefit of an interest free overdraft, but to assume someone needs that facility just by looking at the debit card is rather odd. Furthermore, if they are using an overdraft facility, then they won't be earning 8.5% anyway during that period.

Perhaps this is all down to journalistic licence rather than a real lack in carrying out a proper examination of the individual's circumstances and suitability of a product before advising on it. Let's hope so.

Just to put your mind at rest - i did ask him a couple more questions about the account before saying that...

Zelie

Take one dyscalculic, add a dose of insomnia and mix up with that quiz and what do you get? 8 out of 8 actually though it's cost me money as I'll need a new notepad now what with the amount of odd sums I had to do. Still, I can make up for it by changing my current account tomorrow. And it's almost time to set up my savings accounts. And now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure my broadband charges could do with reviewing...