Consuming Interest

Advise and Dissent

By LESLIE ADRIAN ADvicE-GiviNo is an irre-

sistible attraction But as with most sports. amateurism is having to give way to the profes- sionals these days. Though just how professional they really are remains open to question.

Recently, a householder wanting a new water- heating system sought expert guidance from several self-appointed advisers of the consumer. There is, in fa.n. only one golden rule about taking advice and that is to take it only once. This consumer, however, a glutton for punishment, took it from eight advisers. Getting eight conflicting answers, he fell into confusion, grew sick of the subject, and his plans all 'languished and died. He had 'written asking the most labour-saving method of heating water in a small detached house. to produce two baths a day plus water for a washing machine and for washing up. He addressed his inquiry to the Building Centre, Good Housekeeping Institute, Gas Council, Elec- trical Development Association, Women's (;as Federation, Electrical Association for Women,

oal Utilisati,M Council, and the Women', vistiry Council on Solid Fuel.

The consequence was a deluge of

turers' brochures and leaflets sixt■, all told. Of these, only four were duplicates. This wouli,1 have left him with the prospect of choosing between fifty-nine appliances, but that many had no relev- ance at. all to his inquiry (some dealt with coal- effect fires 'and bathroom heaters, for examrde). Those that were. Pertinent were, on the whole, un- informative: long on adjectives but short on facts. Any one can pick up armfuls of such stuff at any showroom; and it was precisely this kind of thing which our inquirer had hoped to better when applying to the advisory bureaux for guidanee.

The following v, as his bag:

The Building Centre: A lot of gas and elec- trical leaflets, no letter.

The Good housekeeping institute: A Few solid fuel leaflets; and a letter suggesting these or elec- tric stork gee heaters, and giving useful informa-

lion about sizes, and addresses of local distri- butors.

Gas Council: One leaflet on central heating; followed by several phone calls and two visits from the local Gas Board.

Women's Gas Federation: Passed the buck straight to the local Gas Board.

Eieetet, •al Development Is.sociathm: A collec- tion.of leaflets.

Electrical ..i%vodation c f W(Wien: Seat lots of leaflets and re,ommended storage s■ stem on

cheap night tariff. •

Women's Advisory (found/ on Solid Fuel: Copious leaflets, and, in a short letter with three spelling mistakes, recommended small thermo- statically-controlled boilers.

Coal Utilisation Council: Numerous leaflets: plus useful information about suitable sink and boiler sizes, and addresses of local approved sup- pliers.

In fact, our man would have done better to have borrowed a good book from the library. Where the choice of any .major appliance is con- cerned 'Consuming Interest' recommends, as a first step, any of the following, which give dis- interested comparisons: Kay Smallshaw's House- wife's Book of Home Equipment (Odhams, 18s.), Elizabeth Gundrcy's Your Money's Worth (Pen- guin, 7s. 6d.), or the Hoover Book of House Man- agement (Hutchinson, 21s.). But the last, though surprisingly objective—despite its sponsorship— in comparing different products and fuels, omits water heating.

High Speed Gas. Having a gas water heater this slogan had always puzzled me a trifle. I was therefore diverted to hear from a gas fitter that, putting in a . new gas appliance for an elderly couple in their North London flat, he had been asked to make sure that they got the new high speed stuff, and not the old slow coal gas.

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Overcharging. (or wine at the table is one way in which restaurant proprietors hope to get rich quick. It's a fair way to make a margin if the patrons are getting too good a thing out of the food, but where the food is overpriced too. wouldn't even put them on my swindle sheet.

Egon Ronay, in a recent letter to the Daily Telegraph, pointed out that a flat percentage mark-up on wine (he mentioned 100 per cent as quite usual at many restaurants) might moan a 10s:rake-off on a LI bottle and 30s. on a £3 wine, although the second bottle called for no more careful handling and service than the cheaper

one. And this penalises the customer who would prefer a better wine.

One reply to this letter discovered for me the Hampstead Steak House, where the proprietor supplies a carafe wine (a Medoc) for 4s. 9d. The carafe holds three glasses. His competitors in the area, who seem to have a gentleman's agreement to charge 6s. for the same quantity (and in some cases a Spanish 'burgundy' at that) have tried to talk him into taking a larger profit. But he finds it pays to be generous to his customers. 1 hope he prospers.