a. they are both useless

b. their "customer service" is appalling

c. they will try and rip you off

d. all of the above

The answer of course is d. I am currently banging my head against a brick wall with both of these companies as I attempt to sort out a lost parcel with Royal Mail which they refuse to compensate me for and charges from Virgin Mobile for 1 second "calls" where their network has failed, and phantom internet access.

I've got to the point where I question the value of continuing either complaint as it is taking up my time which might be better used in something more productive. But on the other hand there is a principle involved and neither of these companies should be allowed to get away with ripping off their customers.

They are sticking to their positions, ignoring my questions and generally being obstructive and unhelpful. My only option looks likely to be taking matters further with relevant ombudsmen. But what powers do they have? Are they any more likely to see common sense? Does common sense even apply in the modern world? I'm beginning to think not.

I've referred the Royal Mail complaint to their review panel, a supposedly independent ring-fenced unit "outside" of the customer service department (I have my doubts). They will take a little time to look into it so I don't have to do anything on that front for the time being.

Virgin Mobile, on the other hand, will need another letter asap, when I have time to write it. I will sleep on it before deciding whether to proceed with another complaint. I have a feeling I have to write again as the standard of their first response was lamentable and, as usual, ignored the pertinent points made in my initial letter, presumably because they have no defence to the claims.

What has happened to customer service in the UK? Is there any company out there who treats its customers with respect and as human beings? If so they are becoming a rarity. Looks like both Royal Mail and Virgin Mobile can be added to Vodafone and Cheltenham and Gloucester in the list of utterly useless companies that must be avoided at all costs. None of them will be getting any business from me in the future and I will continue to make sure they get as much bad publicity as possible.

Ripping customers off may result in short term gains but in the long run is unlikely to prove a profitable business model.

It isn't that long since I was singing the praises of Virgin Mobile. At the end of last year they dealt well with a replacement phone under warranty and I've not had any problems with my tariff or contract.

So I not only decided to renew my own contract, getting a nice E63 for upgrading, but I got a second phone on contract for my wife for Christmas. Big mistake.

Unfortunately, unlike my contract, Virgin Mobile now don't rollover unused minutes and texts from month to month. They also insist on charging a minimum of 1 minute for all phone calls, no matter how short. More of that later.

I, of course, was unaware of either of these facts expecting my new contract to be identical to the existing one, as it was on the same tariff. They don't exactly make you aware of these terms in big letters either, preferring to hide them away in the usual lengthy Ts and Cs.

At the end of January our son was ill, a bug picked up from playgroup. My wife was in touch to see how the other kids were and had to use the mobile as many of the other mums don't have landlines (an increasing trend these days). This resulted in her going 19 minutes over her 100 minute allowance.

Well the bill has arrived now and the total extra cost is £19. In other words the equivalent of £1 per minute. The reason for this amount is that although my wife has only actually used 19 extra minutes in calls, the minimum 1 minute call extends this substantially. By the way she was 23 minutes UNDER her allowance the month before so with rolled over minutes no extra charges would have occurred.

This prompted me to look at the bill in greater detail which led me to find that Virgin Mobile are indeed ripping their customers off. There are several "calls" on the itemised bill of 3, 2 and even 1 second. All of these are charged at 35p, the minimum 1 minute charge. If you extrapalate this based on a 1 second "call" it equates to £21 per minute!

The reason the word "call" is in inverted commas above is that these are not telephone calls. Exactly what sort of a conversation can you have in 1 second? These are dodgy connections, dropped before any call can take place. So Virgin Mobile are charging £21 per minute to provide their customers with no service! Brilliant!

There are also 5 seperate "Internet" charges, even though my wife has never accessed the internet from this phone. The reason for this is simply that Virgin Mobile choose to place a direct link to the internet in the most awkward place possible so that as many people as possible connect by accident. This is deliberate to maximise their revenue by stealth.

I appreciate that Virgin Mobile are a business and I don't object to them making a profit. My wife has exceeded her minutes and I don't object to paying a little extra as a result. What I do object to is being ripped off.

There is no justification for charging for 1 second "calls", nor phantom internet usage and, if they don't sort it out they will not only lose me as a phone customer but I will be moving my Virgin Media account too as my contract has recently expired.

I suggest you think long and hard before taking out a contract with Virgin Mobile because what looks like a good deal on the face of it could turn out to be a costly mistake, as it has proven for me.

Just received another pathetic letter from the Royal Mail in relation to my lost post item. They are still refusing to compensate me for the lost item without giving any sensible reason for their refusal.

They are also refusing to answer any of my questions, probably because it would expose their position as ludicrous, trying to get out of a compensation payment which they should rightly be paying.

The Royal Mail are arrogant and contemptuous of their customers. This is borne from their many years as a monopoly supplier. If your customers can't go elsewhere and have no choice but to use your service why treat them with respect? After all they have to keep using your services.

I can't wait until their monopoly position is broken and they have to compete in the real world. They are in for a real shock and I can't see how they will survive given their shocking customer service.

I've expressed my disgust with them via a new service from You Gov - Tell You Gov. By the looks of it I'm not the only dissatisfied customer. The Royal Mail are no longer held in much esteem due to their lack of integrity, amply demonstrated by their handling of my claim.

But I'm not leaving it here. I will be writing back and escalating the matter as far as I can. Why should I suffer financially due to the incompetence of the Royal Mail? They lost the item, which was sent by a method entitling me to compensation, and now refuse to compensate me.

Beware the Royal Mail, do not trust the Royal Mail as you too could face trying to get what is rightfully yours from an organisation that is morally bankrupt and determined to refuse compensation under any circumstances, no matter how legitimate.

Royal Mail - if you really don't want to pay out compensation here's an easier way - STOP LOSING PEOPLES MAIL!

I've been working on a project for some friends of mine building a mortgage comparison website called MortgageFinda. It's nearly finished now, just needs them to start entering their latest mortgage plans into the database.

As credit brokers they have suffered tremendously during the financial crisis but things do seem to be perking up a bit and mortgage lenders are starting to appear again.

Although it is still not easy to obtain a mortgage, particularly if you are self employed or have had credit problems, there are mortgages out there and if you have found it difficult getting a mortgage elsewhere try the mortgage finder service to see what they could offer you.

It literally only takes a couple of minutes to enter your details into the simple system and get quotes for a new mortgage or remortgage (or even a buy to let mortgage). Indications of monthly payments are included on the site for both repayment and interest only mortgages.

These are subject to status and the final payment could be more depending upon your circumstances. Applying for a mortgage will take a little time and effort but if you can save money each month or get the property you really want it will be worth your time.

You can borrow from £25,000 to over £3million. The amount you can borrow will be based upon your earnings and circumstances. If you are self employed proof of earnings will be required in order for you to obtain a mortgage.

By using a mortgage broker you keep your options open and can choose from a number of lenders, many of whom will offer specialist mortgage products for applicants like yourself. Don't restrict yourselves by going direct to a bank or building society. You might end up paying more than you have to and over the course of 20 or 25 years this can add up to several thousand pounds.

For your own personal mortgage comparison visit MortgageFinda.

After my recent woes sending a parcel with Collect Plus I have gone back to using the Royal Mail. I've never had a problem with them before and the mail always seemed to arrive. Until now that is.

Before Christmas I posted out a brand new Samsung U600 mobile phone. I sent it by recorded delivery as I thought that this would improve the chances of it being received and also I could track the delivery progress. I was wrong.

Like many people I assumed that as a tracking number was issued the parcel was tracked. At the point of sale in the Post Office I was informed of the maximum compensation of £39 and assumed therefore that if it was lost I would be compensated. Wrong on both counts.

Recorded delivery signed for mail is sent with the standard 1st and 2nd class mail. It is not tracked on its journey, but a signature is recorded if it does arrive!

When they do lose mail the Royal Mail will try everything to weazle out of paying compensation, even though they acknowledge they have lost the item. In my case I have intially been given 6 x 1st class stamps, even though it says on the Royal Mail website that the minimum compensation for a lost item is 12 such stamps!

They have made no offer of compensation to replace the lost item, seemingly because I do not have a standard purchase receipt. This is because the phone was a warranty replacement. I have sent them a copy of the delivery note which would suffice as proof of purchase for normal commercial transactions.

It states quite clearly on their website - "if your mail gets lost, we’ll give you a minimum compensation of 12 First Class stamps. However, if there was something of value in your mail, we'll refund the actual loss, up to a maximum value of 100 First Class stamps or up to the market value, whichever is the smaller amount."

Clearly a brand new mobile phone has a value, regardless of how much was paid for it intially, and I now have to pay for it to be replaced. This will cost in excess of the £39 compensation limit. The fact that Royal Mail acknowledge they have lost it but refuse to make good their error speaks volumes for the company and its attitude towards its customers.

I would strongly advise against using the Royal Mail recorded delivery signed for service. I cannot recommend their special delivery service either, as it would appear their attitude to compensation means that attempts to claim for lost items may prove futile. I can only recommend using other couriers for your parcels given the poor service received from the Royal Mail in this instance.

After a good start to my new year's diet I'm finding myself going down the slippery slope again. Although I'm not due to weigh myself again until tomorrow morning I have a fair idea that I'm likely to be back where I started at the beginning of the month.

I haven't had any major problems, like a chocolate binge, but I'm just not stringing together enough good days to keep my weight going down.

What I'm finding is that in any given week one bad day can easily undo the other six good days, and I'm having enough trouble managing six good days.

This week has been spoilt by a buffet at work which my boss insisted I ate and a meal out on Friday with huge portions. It's the portion control I really struggle with - I just cannot leave anything on the plate going to waste.

This is OK at home where I can cook less, but when going out I am at the mercy of the restaurant. By the way, the pub/restaurant concerned, The Old Spot in Arnold, Nottingham, is highly recommended, although not perhaps for dieters unless they have a lot more willpower than me!

The staff there were all extremely friendly, helpful and professional. The restaurant was spotlessly clean and big enough to spread out a bit and the food was not only excellent tasting but incredible value (we had some vouchers from the internet). It's the first time we've been there but it won't be the last.

Anyway, back to the weight loss (or lack of it). It looks like I'm going to have to start again tomorrow. Maybe it's time for something drastic to really get things going.

Whilst sensible weight loss of a couple of pounds a week is the best way to go, if you have a bad week it's too easy to undo all of the good work. I need to crash through the 90kg barrier to give myself some impetus to get down to the 75kg I really should be.

It's exercise that's really let me down. I'm finding it so hard to motivate myself to do any sort of exercise which I need to burn off the calories. I'm going on Ebay now to look for some cheap exercise equipment.

Despite my optimism in previous posts, and my continual entering of hundreds of competitions every week I'm still awaiting my first competition win of 2010.

That's just the way it goes, I had a great December which has spurred me on to enter more comps but I've just been unlucky so far this year. But the luck does tend to even out so a big competition win could be around the corner.

I have enjoyed a competition prize this year, although it wasn't won by myself but by my Mum. She received an email from a PR company last Monday informing her that she had won two tickets to the Strictly Come Dancing tour taking place on Tuesday!

Very short notice which is always a problem with ticket entry prizes. They should allow at least a week so that people can move any plans they have made and sort out their travel plans. At least this one was for a local venue.

Anyway with only two tickets she couldn't really choose between either of her two best friends so passed them onto me. The tickets had to be collected from the Box Office on the night so myself and my wife went along.

When we got there we were informed that we had actually won 4 tickets and a meet and greet with the stars after the show. Very annoying as we wasted two tickets and couldn't go to the meet and greet as we had already made travel plans to return home after the show.

The seats we got were fantastic (front row) which made it all the more galling to waste two of them. It was a brilliant show which I would recommend to anyone who likes the TV show.

Anyway I'm still entering all of the online competitions I can at the moment, even though slightly disheartened, and keeping my fingers crossed that the next prize is a big one. Good luck to all the other compers out there.

I've recently been looking into moving house. This would entail moving my mortgage to another property so I asked C&G whether this would be a problem. Unfortunately so! Despite having several mortgage over the years with them and making every repayment on time I am not eligible for a new mortgage to the value of my current mortgage!

This leaves me unable to move house, and C&G still lending me an amount they consider I cannot afford (despite making every repayment on time over several years).

It is a ridiculous situation but it does underline how ludicrous the current mortgage market is. Whilst the mortgage lenders may have been a bit too cavalier with their lending in the past, they have now become seemingly incapable of lending any money to anyone.

I'm lucky as I still have an existing mortgage but I wouldn't like to be a first time buyer looking for a new mortgage at the moment.

So what is the answer? Use the internet firstly, there are other lenders who may not spring instantly to mind who may have a more flexible approach to mortgage lending. There are also still some mortgage brokers left, although not as many as there used to be before the recent financial disasters.

A mortgage broker can look at a number of different mortgage options for you, dealing with many lenders and able to help with bad credit and credit problems too. They may charge a fee which can be added to your mortgage loan.

Mortgage comparison websites abound, allowing you to compare mortgages, view the latest mortgage rates on offer from the lenders and the best deals on any given day.

If you are in the lucky position of being eligible for a mortgage you then have to make a number of choices. Although interest rates are historically low, many mortgage lenders are not passing on the low rates to their customers. You need to check and compare the mortgage interest rate on offer when comparing different mortgage products.

Do you want a tracker mortgage, fixed or capped rate mortgage, flexible mortgage? A repayment mortgage or interest only? I was in the process of fixing my mortgage rate a few weeks before interest rates were slashed. Luckily I used the 28 day cooling off period to switch back to the standard variable rate. Had I not I would be paying around £160 per month more than I now am! This illustrates the need to make the right choice.

Interest rates look set to stay low for another year to 18 months, that is the "word on the street" from the banks and estate agents I talk to. If that is the case you don't have to worry about a sudden surge in rates so can focus on current low rate deals.

Many mortgage websites have mortgage calculators on them which can indicate how much you might pay dependent upon the amount you borrow and prevailing interest rate. Be sensible, make sure you can afford the repayments, you do not want to be facing repossession or get into credit trouble in the future.

If you are self employed the bad news is that there appear to be very few self cert mortgages, if any, still available. This may leave you with nowhere to turn if you don't have the necessary accounts and proof of income required by mortgage lenders.

Those who are employed might be shocked at how little they can now borrow based on their earnings. 3-3.5 times salary appears to be the norm now. Perhaps mortgage lenders think everyone is spending their wages on booze and fags instead of paying their bills. They certainly don't seem to appreciate that people are all different and their spending habits differ too.

Unfortunately the "one size fits all" model doesn't work with mortgages. More variables should be taken into account. Applying an arbitrary multiple to peoples earnings regardless of their spending is nonsense.

As previously mentioned I have discovered a new home insurance company offering a range of benefits, best of which is cheap premiums!

I've added the details to my finance related website and you can find them at Financeworx Home Insurance and I've also added a link to my saving money page.

If you've never looked into home insurance online and got a quote it is very likely you are paying too much. It is possible you are paying a hundred pounds or more above what you need to pay. Every penny you save on your home insurance is an extra penny in your pocket to spend.

You might have used price comparison websites in the past. A good idea, but I've found that for home insurance I was better off elsewhere, saving quite a bit of money on the best compared quote.

It's always worth getting a second opinion. So before you renew your home insurance spend a minute of your time (that's all it takes!) filling out the online home insurance quote form to see what they can offer you.

It's low cost, not low cover so you don't have to worry about getting less for your money. Additionally they don't charge for payment by monthly direct debit so you can spread your payments making your budgeting easier.

You can choose from buildings cover only, contents cover or a combined policy. No claims discount is offered and there is a dedicated 24 hour claims line.

It's easy to sign up and it gives you peace of mind that your possessions are covered should the worse happen.

2010 hasn't been a particularly good year so far. No competition wins for a start - a bit disappointing considering how many I've entered recently.

Plus the weather is playing havoc with travel plans and getting to work. Can't wait for the snow to go and things to get back to normal.

I've added a little free download to the free stuff page. This is an analysis tool for your computer. It tells you, amongst other things, the make and model of the motherboard and chipset. This is useful info for anyone looking to upgrade their computer.

I'm also working on a new project in conjunction with Britcover Home Insurance. They offer really good savings on home insurance, buildings insurance and contents insurance. If you are currently paying £20 or £30 each month you could be paying £10 or £15 instead. It adds up to a big money saving over the course of a year.

I will be posting more info on this and putting up a dedicated home insurance page on the site in the coming weeks.

Another site I've been promoting is The Online Business Directory. This lists businesses across the UK in a variety of categories. If your business has a website you can list for free and drive targeted traffic to your site.

Finally I have a number of items posted on Ebay for sale currently. If you are looking for a 42" rear projection TV, 6MP Olympus digital camera, King Keg half full of beer, Reddyvac vacuum cleaner, old computer bits or a DVD recorder visit my ebay page and get bidding!