Top 10 Tips to Avoid A Christmas Debt Hangover
Every year Citizens Advice publish advice articles to help people navigate the festive period. you can download their 'debt hangover'' advice hereWell Worth It
Generalist adviser Clive saw a gentleman last week who's attempt to purchase a car had gone a little badly. The gentleman had visited a car dealer to buy a VW. He had intended to purchase the car outright but was persuaded by the salesman to take out a credit agreement and he signed over a non refundable deposit. On returning home the client changed his mind and asked the garage to cancel the agreement and refund the deposit. The dealership refused because he had signed to agree the deposit was non refundable.Following our advice the client used social media to complain to VW who responded with an apology and £500 in compensation. A second letter of complaint to the dealership led to the cancelling of the contract and the refund the deposit. Well done to our client for getting a great result, well done Clive for helping him get there and well done VW and the car dealership for doing the right thing in the end.
Staff & Volunteer engagement survey
Thank you to the 25 people who completed our questionnaire. The overall picture you painted of working for TCAB was very positive. Happy.co.uk the company who organise the survey congratulated us on another very strong result and for the third year running we exceeded the benchmark scores on every single factor measured.But this year you were slightly less positive on issues around communication, management and pay. You told us that you felt that often we were not as organised as we should be, do not communicate as well as we could and did not innovate enough. Thank you for this feedback, please be assured that we get the message and will do our best to respond in these areas.
The Local Government pay award (we follow their terms and conditions) has now been agreed and will be passed on as soon as the new scale points are available. Staff can view the details of the pay award here
Diary changes
Our new Frontline Advice project started at the beginning of November. Whilst it only involves two of our caseworkers directly in the delivery the knock on changes have made some difference to the working week of nearly everyone.The seven different projects which account for the majority of the bureau's funding all require different combinations of specialism, experience and location. Balancing this with the skills of our adviser team both paid and voluntary sometimes presents a bit of a puzzle to achieve the best solution. we hope that we have settled on the right changes until march 2015 but there will inevitably be further changes then, potentially affecting everyone a second time although we will try and keep changes to a minimum.
The TCAB Christmas Bash
Over 30 staff and volunteers of the bureau joined together for our Christmas Meal at the Unicorn in Pontypool last Friday. It was a lovely afternoon for good food, good wine, good company and chat. It was great to spend time talking to some that I have not had the chance to talk to before as well as old friends and colleagues.A special message goes out to the Secret Santa who chose my present. The vintage stilton is excellent. Good choice.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
This will be the last Blog before 2015 so I wish you all well and thank you for your hard work and generosity in 2014 and look forward to an even better 2015.Feedback
Diary dates
This Blog is prepared for the staff and volunteers of Torfaen Citizens Advice Bureau
