Totally agree, there will be 5 less viewers from this house next week. What a farce

:mad: Well I'll not be watching again. Cowell has gone on about how bad they are every week, then he goes and does this. There's no point in the rest of them singing every week, he's obviously protecting his ratings. Two weeks in a row he's said the bottom 2 will be judged solely on their performance, then 2 weeks in a row he's taken it to deadlock. Lucie sang far far better and deserved at least another week.

:-oOMG no! - I once had to get of a bus miles from home and walk the rest of the way, cos I couldn't bear sitting down any longer. Dodgy Geezer, hope the toothache is better.

Sorry, but it's sciatica, tooth ache, giving birth - the ear ache doesn't start until about 14 years after giving birth Sciatica is definitely the worst pain I've suffered, at least with child birth you know there will be an end to it, whereas sciatica is like tooth ache & childbirth in one running from back to thigh to knee to toe for what feels like for ever

I'm with you Lexis, I hate soggy cereal, especially cornflakes and weetabix. Gonna check out these bowls right now.

Thanks for the advice Bookie. It's probably not worth it, although on the case front, this is a girl who will probably take enough clothes to change 4 times a day - and that's before she hits Oxford Street

Thanks for the reply. She's going to be away 4 days. She doesn't have an annual policy. Can she just pick up travel insurance the same way as if she was going abroad?

Is travel insurance needed for internal flights? My daughter has a holiday booked in London and thought she wouldn't need it. But what if her cases go missing, or the flight is delayed/cancelled? Might sound a silly question, but I've never flown on a domestic flight so can't help her.

No. As long as someone over 18 is there to sign for the shopping it is left.(and has valid ID if asked.) If a family came to my checkout I wouldn't suspect the parents of buying alcohol for the kids and refuse the sale. Commonsense needs to be used. If a group of teenagers came to the till and one had ID and the rest didn't, looked young and were handing their money to the one with ID, then that sale probably would be refused. Our Tesco checkout staff apply commonsense. I can't comment on any other Tesco's though, only on how I have been trained and our store. Fortunately we don't have a lot of youngsters trying to buy alcohol, they seem to prefer the corner shops, as they are probably easier for them to get to. I came on here to explain what ID we accept and the consequences of selling to underagers. CaptJim, I thank you for opening this debate and treating all the posters with respect, it's remained a very civilised thread compared to some However I'm going to bow out now, there's nothing more really I can add, and I'm just going to end up sounding biased cos I work for Tesco! Cheers Suzi

And what exactly can they do about it? It's the law, so you should be complaining to your MP/local council about alcohol age of consent. If you are over 18, but look younger than 25 then you will be ID'd. Would you rather they just served anyone with alcohol because the customer kicks up a fuss. Leave your shopping on the belt if you want, but if you've just spent an hour battling round to get your shopping, is that not just cutting off your nose to spite your face? You'll just have to go elsewhere and do the same shopping again. What if that supermarket then ask you for ID?

Customer Assistants under 18 are allowed to sell alcohol as long as they get the sale supervised by a member of staff over 18, who must check to see if the customer does look over 25. I have seen people in other supermarkets being refused alcohol as well. At the end of the day, this isn't a Tesco policy, it's the law.

The drivers have to ask for ID if the person looks under 25, same as in the store. Same licencing hours apply. It can't be delivered before 10am or after 10pm.

Fair enough, but you should keep all complaints in writing.Ask for a copy of their (Tesco Personal Finance) complaints procedure, then follow it through. You need to have a paper trail as Fester Tester said. If you follow the complaints procedure they will need to reply to you with a satisfactory answer within a set timescale. If they fail to do this you can then take it to the Financial Ombudsman. All this needs to be done for Tesco Personal Finance, as they are charging the interest on your card, complaining to the store won't help, there's little they can do there. It's all gone on too long by the sound of things - no wonder you sound so frustrated.

Electron99, If we are shown I.D that shows the person is over 18 then they will not be refused the alcohol. 18 is still the legal age. However, if that person looks like they are buying for someone underage, then it will be refused. Years ago when I worked in the cigarette kiosk a teenage boy in school uniform asked for cigarettes. I asked for ID which he didn't have.(He looked about 14) He called his mum over, who started ranting about how she was sick of people refusing to serve him his fags. She took the money from him and asked him what fags he wanted. Then she asked me for them - I had to refuse the sale as I knew she was buying them for someone I suspected was underage. I was not doing it for a 'power trip'. She flipped and we had to get security to escort her out. The easy way out would have been to serve him in the first place. What if he'd been sent by trading standards. Imagine the headline - Tesco's sells cigs to underage kids. Same with alcohol. It's one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't things.

Was it a Tesco credit card you used? I've just has an updated T & C's sent. These don't take effect till Nov 1st. However, this one may be why you're being charged interest. 'For any purchases(including 'Tesco Buy Now Pay Later' purchase transactions), balance transfers and advances we will charge interest from the day the transaction is applied to your account, on the amount of the transaction.' The old T&C's just said 'for any purchases', never mentioned BNPL. You should phone your credit card provider as it's them that are adding the interest, I don't really know how much they can do instore to help, as no-one but you can discuss your credit card with your issuer. I'm not to up on credit cards as I've not used mine for over 4 years, but I assume the BNPL amount shows on your statement and that's why they are charging interest, although you won't have to make any repayments on the balance until your 6 months are up. Don't know if any of this helps, but good luck anyway.

None of my collegues get a kick out of refusing an alcohol sale - we dread the shouting match that usually follows. I checked at work today about foreign customers. A foreign passport or ID card is acceptable as long as there is a photo and date of birth. I personally do think Challange 30 is going too far. Think 21 was fine. My daughter is 19, looks about 16. She carries ID everywhere and always has to use it. My son on the other hand is 15, could pass easily for 18. However he would not pass for 21 or 25, which means he should be ID'd, then be refused alcohol. A lot of under 18's could pass for 18, but not 25. Putting it up to 30 is over zealous. Even I might get asked for ID then (she says hopefully!) Trading standards with the police do routine test purchases with underage teens. You never know if that youngish looking customer in the queue is real or a test purchaser. We need to ask for ID if in ANY doubt. My main job is not checkouts, I only go on if it's busy, but I still had to go through a 2 hour training workshop to comply with the new Scottish alcohol laws. The thing is, it doesn't stop the kids who are determined to get out their faces on Buckfast or alcopops. If they have a friend of 18, they all club together and send in over 18 to buy it. If they come in, in a group and you suspect most of them to be underage, then you can refuse the sale, even if the purchaser is over 18. However in our store we don't really have that problem. They seem to prefer the corner shop, they buy it, then stand outside drinking all night.

As an employee of Tesco, if I sell alcohol to someone under 18 I can be personally fined £5000 and get a criminal record,and the store can lose it's licence. It is very hard these days to tell the age of someone, the older I get, the harder it is! Would you not want to be 100% sure before you risked selling to someone under age? The only acceptable forms of ID need to have a photograph & date of birth, Photo driving licence, passport, portman ID card, or a card with a PASS hologram over the picture (as in a Young Scot card, don't know if England has anything similar) Old style paper driving licences are unacceptable, as are birth certificates, as you can't prove they belong to you. The days of getting a fake student ID card and being served are well gone! As part of our 'Think 25' training we are promised that management will back us up if we refuse a sale. We don't have many problems in our store, most people seem to carry ID if they think they are going to be asked. Of course, in Scotland, we have the added complication of the new alcohol laws. It can't be sold before 10am now, it's only allowed to be displayed in the alcohol aisle, so no stacks at the front door, or around the shop. Can't really comment on the racial side, in my store it's definitely age we go on.

(11) Fleet Street ?

''Teaching maths in 1970 1. A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit? 2. Teaching Maths In 1980 A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. His cost of production is 80% of the price. What is his profit? 3. Teaching Maths In 1990 A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. ; His cost of production is £80. How much was his profit? 4. Teaching Maths In 2000 A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. His cost of production is £80 and his profit is £20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20. 5. Teaching Maths In 2005 A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habit of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. Your assignment: Discuss how the birds and squirrels might feel as the logger cut down their homes just for a measly profit of £20. 6. Teaching Maths In 2009 A logger is arrested for trying to cut down a tree in case it may be offensive to Muslims or other religious groups not consulted in the felling licence. He is also fined a £100 as his chainsaw is in breach of Health and Safety legislation as it deemed too dangerous and could cut something. He has used the chainsaw for over 20 years without incident however he does not have the correct certificate of competence and is therefore considered to be a recidivist and habitual criminal. His DNA is sampled and his details circulate d throughout all government agencies. He protests and is taken to court and fined another £100 because he is such an easy target. When he is released he returns to find Gypsies have cut down half his wood to build a camp on his land. He tries to throw them off but is arrested, p rosecuted for harassing an ethnic minority, imprisoned and fined a further £100. While he is in jail the Gypsies cut down the rest of his wood and sell it on the black market for £100 cash. They also have a leaving BBQ of squirrel and pheasant and depart leaving behind several tonnes of rubbish and asbestos sheeting. The forester on release is warned that failure to clear the fly tipped rubbish immediately at his own cost is an offence. He complains and is arrested for environmental pollution, breach of the peace and invoiced £12,000 plus VAT for safe disposal costs by a regulated government contractor. Your assignment: How many times is the logger going to have to be arrested and fined before he realises that he is never going to make £20 profit by hard work, give up, sign onto the dole and live off the state for the rest of his life? 7. Teaching Maths In 2010 A logger doesn’t sell a lorry load of timber because he can’t get a loan to buy a new lorry because his bank has spent all his and their m oney on a derivative of securitised debt related to sub- prime mortgages in Alabama and lost the lot with only some government money left to pay a few million pound bonuses to their senior directors and the traders who made the biggest losses. The logger struggles to pay the £1,200 road tax on his old lorry however, as it was built in the 1970s it no longer meets the emissions regulations and he is forced to scrap it. Some Bulgarian loggers buy the lorry from the scrap merchant and put it back on the road. They undercut everyone on price for haulage and send their cash back home, while claimi ng unemployment for themselves and their relatives. If questioned they speak no English and it is easier to deport them at the governments expense. Following their holiday back home they return to the UK with different names and fresh girls and start again. The logger protests, is accused of being a bigoted racist and as his nam e is on the side of his old lorry he is forced to pay £1,500 registration fees as a gang master. The Government borrows more money to pay more to the bankers as bonus’s are not cheap. The parliamentarians feel they are missing out and claim the difference on expenses and allowances. You do the maths.

scored 12, but now need a lie down in a darkened room

Keep the clothing figure seperate. I did that on my income and expenditure. As long as you can justify it and it isn't an extravagant figure most creditors will accept it.

This is from Sequenci's 'How to get out of debt' thread which is a sticky at the top of this forum. It gives amounts for housekeeping etc. Good luck STEP TWO: YOUR OUTGOINGS When it comes to outgoings it is vitally important to ensure you consider all the essentials that you will need to pay each month. These include the obvious payments such as housing costs, housekeeping and utility bills. You should also factor in the less obvious outgoings such as TV licence, health costs and emergencies. The key to an accurate budget is to ensure that your figures give a fair snapshot of how things really are, one thing to bear in mind is that a month is NOT 4 weeks, if you pay for items on a weekly basis you will need to multiply that figure by 52 and divide it by 12 to get the correct monthly figure. One of the key stalling blocks for many is the figure for Housekeeping. This is the figure which includes food, toiletries, cleaning materials, newspapers etc. It should also include a small figure for entertainment. Your creditors will have general guideline figures that they will expect you to adhere to, if you have any reason as to why your figure might be higher than normal you will need to quantify it, perhaps you have a special dietary requirement for example. To get you started a typical housekeeping figure for a single person is £140/month, for a couple it is £230/month, for each dependant you’re looking at an additional £85/month. Please bear in mind these are very rough guideline figures and you may actually spend a bit more or possibly less. I really wish to stress that creditors will refuse a budget if you have a ridiculously excessive housekeeping figure. If you’re savvy you can shop around to find bargains, don’t be afraid to visit Aldi or Lidl and also your local food market. When calculating your travelling expenses please remember to factor in monthly amounts for items such as road tax, maintenance, MOT, insurance, Roadside assistance as well as petrol. If you have purchased your vehicle via a lease, HP or Bill of Sale arrangement you MUST record this figure in your essential outgoings too, the reason being is that the creditor may be able to use repossession if you fall behind on payments. It is perfectly fine to have a Sky or Virgin Media package so long as you are only paying a reasonable price, invariably this means that you may need to consider cancelling the premium channels such as movies and sports. If you’ve been with your supplier for over a year you might be able to renegotiate a cheaper package and keep these channels for a much cheaper price. You may also be able to do this with telephone and broadband packages. You might have an entitlement to free prescriptions, dental treatment and glasses. Contact the health costs advice line on 0800 917 7711. If you cannot claim free prescriptions you might be able to reduce the cost by buying a prepayment certificate. It is important to also factor in amounts for clothing, birthdays, Christmas, emergencies and other miscellaneous expenses, remember you might need to quantify your figures.

And another question - are your thoughts in French or English?

Been off line for a bit, just catching up. Things seem to be moving quite quickly for you. Like the fact that, with interest, they owe you