IT jobs, as easy as falling off a bike?
Hopefully you spend it ‘on stuff’ that the business needs.
IT is of course particularly attractive as there’s a shortage of good IT people to do all the things that NZ businesses need their IT folks to do. Lots of Kiwi IT folks head off to Europe to get ‘more experience’, or to Australia to get access to more opportunities, or promotions etc. So in general there’s a brain drain of experience from NZ IT circles. Although the latest INZ study claims there is no such thing as a brain drain, and I get their point, what they’re not saying is that those with in demand skills are leaving – just as much as those with general skills. So they’re right, there isn’t a specific brain drain, it’s just a drain.
A random IT qualification does not equate to either experience or practical skills, nor does it guarantee you a job in any country. Employers are actually looking for specific IT qualifications and experience, with the qualification matching the experience. The big issue here is that there are an awful lot of careers that come under the general heading of “IT”. Where you YOU fit in that huge melting pot? Do you have a general “IT Diploma” or do you have specific networking or software development skills? Are you an architect or a field services engineer? Make sure the qualifications you do have match your experience.
Now, some companies in the IT industry are indeed guilty of promoting various qualifications as being the golden keys to a fantastic & well paid career in IT. Only the qualification they are promoting is the administration equivalent of being qualified to open a letter, or perhaps put letters in the post box.
Unfortunately while most IT qualifications are applicable world wide, almost none of them are officially NZQA recognised. One exception is that CCNA is recognised as being NZQA Level 3, making it a secondary school level qualification.
So despite spending years pursuing these IT qualifications, if you don’t have a University degree (a Bachelors degree is NZQA Level 6 or 7) they count for bubcuss in the immigration process. The official line from NZQA being that none of your study is likely to have been either full time or for at least three years.
When I think about how much I learned in my first three years in an IT company, practical experience, mistakes, being taught by different people who all had years more experience than I did. Doing some three year degree in computing science would have been a complete waste. IMHO.
Not that IT degree’s really existed when I was at Uni. And my brother seven years later was learning the basics of ethernet & TCP/IP only in his third year at Uni!! So it’s nice to see some practical IT qualifications filtering their way below University degree’s into the mainstream school curriculum now.
Getting the right qualifications, a the right time in your career is vital. Enough to stretch yourself and learn something new, while also validating some of your existing experience. Also something that is the sort of qualification needed for the role you want to be doing in a couple of years. Give it a year, you have the qualification, some more relevant experience and you can start applying for ‘that’ next career move. Easy eh?
Of course not. You need to polish the CV, find a mentor, get a few {practice} interviews for that job of the decade you really want but don’t have a realistic hope of getting. Polish the CV some more and then you’re ready for the next job of the decade that comes along. Look at other CV’s, if they are better than yours, copy them. Although you shouldn’t lie or plagiarise someone else’s achievements.
Don’t fall into the trap of just thinking your CV is something you send out to people when you want a job. You need to keep it updated, and impressive. I’m on V8.3. of my main CV. That is how often it gets updated. I also have a second CV of recent projects. I was thinking of changing the versioning to align with the year and month (it would be 12.2 now), but Microsoft have already stolen that idea and I didn’t want to be accused to plagiarism.
And then there’s the voluntary work for the IT community. A great way to meet people and ‘network’ in the social sense. Other than having drinks down the pub after work. I’ve been a slow convert to LinkedIn and networking in person as a whole. I’m looking back at what I might have achieved if I’d done the whole networking thing properly years ago. Instead of assuming that my good work spoke for itself.
People often measure your success and make comments like “it’s easy for you” or “it’s all right for you”, as if I’ve got some magical or Jedi power. I wish I had. Imagine Alec Guinness saying ‘press the donate now paypal button on Avalon’s website’.
No success comes without hard work, I remember one particular occasion taking a 3 hour drive into London at 8pm on a Friday evening. Avalon sitting in the passenger seat reading out practice exam questions, as final prep for the six hour exam I was due to take at 9am Saturday morning.
Of course, that was easy compared with how long it took Avalon to teach me how to use the off button on the mobile phone. That took a lot of practice, more than a few reminders, various ‘discussions’, practical demonstrations – you get the picture.
No job in IT is easy. Certainly not the types of job that pay $100k+ and are in high demand in NZ. But then I don’t suppose that is the case in any industry. If you do start in IT, you’ll at least have a broad range of career options ahead of you.
For me now; time to get back to some IT related study, polish the professional profile, respond to emails from potential clients. All in a days work. On a long holiday weekend.
Easy eh?
The joy of a $5 bookshop
Filed under: Cost of living, Hubby's Views, Life in New Zealand
Along with hideous (for us) quantities of money being spent on stuff in Melbourne, I also spent some time hunting down cheap books.
As you’ll be aware, this is one of our pet peeves with NZ – a ‘cheap’ book is only $30 for a normal fiction paperback. ’only’ $50 for a fiction hardback. When compared to the whole 3for2 at Waterstones, reading becomes an expensive dalliance. It’s also no wonder that Borders & Whitcoulls in NZ have gone bankrupt. Try selling over priced stuff, just because you think people will pay for it? Nope – that’s the magic of internet shopping.
Even second hand books are pretty pricey, which probably reflects the retail price of new books. Arty Bees in Wellington – an emporium for booklovers and stockist of impressive quantities of Sci-Fi and Fantasy will charge $15 – $20 for a second hand novel. Up a bit from the 50p we would be paying at a UK Car Boot Sale.
So it was with some pleasure that in Melbourne I spotted a $5 bookshop.
Now its set against Minotaur, where I spent the best part of an afternoon just oggling books. And that was before I looked through all the other merchandise; or Of Science & Swords, with too many cool t-shirts too! I wasn’t expecting much in the way of Sci-Fi at the $5 shop. So I wasn’t disappointed on that score. They did have a large selection of general fiction though. So it was nice to browse around and wander through a bookshop that had more books than we do at home.
My bargain for the day – Jonathan Stroud’s Ring of Solomon. UKP5 at Amazon, NZD30 in the shops here. AUD5 over in Melbourne. So that’s one thing off my Amazon wish list.
Shopping trip to Melbourne.
Well, that was fun!
We have just got back from 3 days of intensive shopping in the metropolis of Melbourne – a veritable temple of consumerism and overspending compared to Wellington. I highly recommend some hard-core savings plans before attempting a similar jaunt.
But – O. M. G. was it amazing fun. After several years of the shopping desert of New Zealand – to be faced with dazzling choice, shiny (and huge) department stores, and architecturally pleasant arcades full of quirky stores and cafes – it was actually a little overwhelming at times.
The downside is that it is VERY expensive. The upside is that you can buy an awful lot of stuff that just isn’t available here in New Zealand.
We actually took my Mum on this trip – and it was solely for the purpose of shopping – unlike previous trips to Australia which were work trips for hubby. Mum has never been to Australia, so its another stamp in the passport for her.
One of the highlights was a much needed coffee break at the Hopetoun Tea Rooms in the Block Arcade. It’s incredibly old-fashioned inside – but the service, the coffee, and definitely the cakes – are absolutely top-notch. They do serve High Teas (the scones don’t come with clotted cream – but Aussie double cream is nice and thick) but you have to book 48 hours in advance.
You may have to queue to get in – it’s that popular. I highly recommend doing so – or visiting at about 3.30-4pm which seems to miss the queues.
They also have this stunning etched mirror:
Immigration equality
Since April 2011 British immigration rules have tightened up. Kiwi’s, Aussies and other Commonwealth countries that have previously enjoyed very favourable immigration status in the UK, are being put on a more measured footing. While as Brits emigrating to NZ or Australia there’s a limit on the number of places, we have to demonstrate our worth and in most instances have a job to come to (or stacks of cash), the same hasn’t been the case if you were a kiwi heading to the UK.
So what’s different if you’re heading to the UK?
Well, for a few years now you’ve needed to apply for a visa anyhow. It’s not been granted ‘as of right’ when you show up at a UK airport fresh off the long flight. At the time, the requirement to get a photo taken for your new visa was predicted to kill off all and any OE’s & working holidays to the UK. Only it didn’t. And the new rules will have a similar effect, people will just work with them.
Existing visa’s granted on the basis of ancestry are unaffected. It’s just those people coming to the UK who wont be on a temporary (albeit two year long) working holiday visa, will now have to jump through similar hoops that Brits coming to NZ do.
So now, prospective kiwi’s wanting to spend 2+ years in the UK working will have to have skills. Plus a job offer from a legitimate company for a job that is in high demand in the UK. And they’ll need to apply early as there’s an annual cap of approx 20,000 places available. And the job will probably have to have been advertised across the entirety of Europe for anyone there to apply ahead of you.
Sounding familiar?
Now, there’s a lot of Kiwi & Aussie interests who are crying foul about this. Yet, I don’t see an issue with it. Although this sort of system is never going to solve the domestic problems the UK has due to immigration – with 350 million+ Europeans having the right to enter the UK and apply for any job, limiting the potential for 25 million Aussies+Kiwi’s to enter the UK isn’t going to prevent an overwhelming flood.
Sure it means Kiwi’s & Aussies might be more likely to only stay for two years. Surely that’s a good thing though?
NZ & Australian Govts. spend a lot of time and money encouraging ex-pat kiwi’s & Aussies to return home. They have skills the home country needs, there’s loads of jobs etc. So while these people have gained valuable European working experience, <rant on> which somehow never translates into better salaries once you return home mind you because none of that is suddenly apparently relevant to the home market <rant off>, suddenly bringing these people home to share their skills & experience is an unfair thing?
Compared with the UK, neither NZ or Australia have a significant unemployment problem. Sure there are certainly groups in all societies who have higher unemployment than average. The social engineering that is UK immigration policy is much bigger than simply unemployment.
Compare & contrast; in Wellington we have a few dozen people peacefully camped out as part of the ‘Occupy’ movement. While in London a few months ago you had thousands of people rioting and pillaging for nights on end. While there’s no excuse to steal stuff from the One Pound shop (read $2 shop), it reflected discontent, inequality, general grievances with the ‘system’ and the Government. And at last count there were hundreds of people camped out in front of St Paul’s cathedral in the heart of London.
We’ve got it good. We don’t really appreciate how good. Whether that’s in NZ, or as Kiwi’s heading to the UK even under the new immigration rules. Let’s just get on and make the most of what we’ve got.
Where to live in the world?
It’s index time, apparently, with the OECD Better Life Index & Vision of Humanity Global Peace Index coming out with their best places to live in the world annual surveys.
The OECD survey is quite interesting as it allows you to give weight to particular things you care about, be that quality of life, jobs, income etc. They do produce a summary report with analysis which makes fascinating reading.
Everything being equal, NZ only scores bottom in the ‘employee’s working very long hours’ category – which appears to mostly be driven by the relatively low average income. Although at least the Aussie’s & the UK score badly for that factor too. Turkey skews the average results a bit by having a very high level of weekly hours worked. So 10 out of 38 are ‘above average’.
At $18k USD NZ average income is below the OECD average. Interestingly this compares with being the seventh best in terms of levels of employment, and fourth ‘best’ for long term unemployment (i.e. fourth lowest).
(Another) interesting outcome is that NZ comes second, behind Sweden, for environmental factors. As it turns out this is actually a measure of pollution in the air in cities of over 100,000 people (NZ=7, Sweden=5). Which as a generalisation for the majority of the population is probably a fair assessment.
We’ve mentioned the GPI before, and this year it puts NZ second place – behind Iceland. So assuming you ignore the bankrupt banks, stagnant economy, exploding volcano’s – sure Iceland is a great place to be. We’ll ignore our own earthquakes, buggered-ish economy and the Rugby World Cup for the moment.
Funnily enough the NZ drop in score is for curious reasons;
More Police officers – delivering on a Govt pledge to put ‘more police on the street’;
More people in prison – possibly linked to the greater number of Police;
And an increase in involvement in International conflict! I hadn’t noticed NZ invading any other countries recently and I don’t think lots of Kiwi’s going to Aus really counts as an invasion let alone a conflict. Unless they were thinking of the international jousting tourney in Taupo?
ho hum.
Commonwealth Bank Of Australia lose the plot.
It’s an Aussie bank. but they own ASB, and if you emigrate from the UK and want to bank with ASB, these are the people that you would open the account with in London. So you need to know what the imbeciles have cooked up now as their latest scheme.
According to The Australian (thanks to Kiwiblog):
THE Commonwealth Bank has threatened its employees with disciplinary action, including dismissal, if they do not report criticism of the bank made by others on social media channels, including Facebook.
Bank employees have been told they must immediately notify their manager if they become aware of “inappropriate or disparaging content and information stored or posted by others”, including non-employees, in the “social media environment”.
Which I guess means that anyone reading this who works for the bank needs to report that I think these people are absoulte tossers, who would look really comfy in a George Orwell book. If they had the brains to read one. Which I doubt, because if they had they would understand just how unbelievably stupid and evil this is.
(Hubby would like to express his surprise – which can also be reported – that it took me till the second line to call them imbeciles. He would further note that he prefers to term Cretins (actually he said something else, but that’s using foul language and I wont allow that on this blog).
It says the content may damage the bank and its reputation.
Because, clearly, you need the help of people like us to totally ruin your reputation and look like a bunch of blithering idiots with all the humanity and common sense of dung beetles.
As well as notifying their manager, employees must assist the bank with any investigation into the material, and its removal.
Good luck with that. I’m sure said employee, when telling you with a single finger where to stick this idea will find employment at another bank who values then as human beings and valuable staff members rather than forcing them to act as spies and thought police.
So, CBA (and ASB) if you ever take offence at anything I say about you which is uncomplementary – then please – do not fire your staff because of it. Instead – may I suggest you get off you fat overpaid arses and listen to the fact that a customer of yours is pissed off with your crap service and do something about it.
Where the hell do these people get these ideas? And they have the sodding gaul to charge me money for this shite?
“The bank will amend the policy, where it is considered reasonable to do so, to ensure that all of its staff continue to be treated fairly.“
Ahem, too late (and due to the inevitable backlash in – you guessed it – social media). You threatened your staff, and more importantly you have basically threatened us (the customers who pay you money you ungrateful little scrotes) that if we say something bad about you and you find out – you will threaten us and force us to take it down. What are you – China?
Get a sodding grip and run your bank – which is after all what we actually pay for you.
Why do so many Kiwis leave for Australia?
Filed under: Cost of living, Economics, Getting to New Zealand, Life in New Zealand
The herald ran a piece asking kiwis for thier thoughts on whether they are considering moving to Australia. I thought it was interesting because for a lot of immigrants there’s a bit of a toss up between going to Aus or NZ – things like this give a different perspective on the whole issue. A frequent complaint about us immigrants from Kiwis is that we only come here so that we can get residence for 2 years and then go to Aus. Of course it ignores the fact that people also get residence in Asutralia as a way of getting into NZ because it’s easer for people to get jobs in Australia.
It also completley ignores the fact that the vast majority of people so sick of New Zealand that they move to Australia – are KIWIS.
Not Immigrants.
Here’s a selection of some of the more colourful comments (inclusion in no way should be taken as a sign that I agree with these comments)- but I really recommend working through them all.
“NZ – where we are forced to pay global prices for our products – but cannot earn global incomes. As a social experiment, NZ is a failure, if not a disaster.
New Zealand employers need to realise that they are in a global contest for talent. To attract and retain the best workers they need to benchmark pay and conditions with the rest of the world, especially Australia.
Of course, we may never be able to match what is offered overseas but more of our companies must strive to become globally competitive to “raise the bar” on our wages and salaries. New Zealanders are some of the most mobile people in the world and have proven they have no qualms about leaving New Zealand for greater opportunities
I am going to Australia because of the complete lack of job security and career options in New Zealand. Five years out of ten NZ has a recession and there is no sign that change is on the horizon.
Number one is because of the money but a close second is all the PC rubbish that goes on in this country. A particular annoyance is the prefrential treatment of Maori and the amount of tax dollars spend on Treaty settlements that would be better used elsewhere.
Our polititions have been way too sucessful in making their policy buying billionaire mates very rich. Unfortunately they forgot to leave some leftovers for the local peasants.
Yes me and my family are moving in october, we have A young family with two kids under the age of three and the only way we can give them the best in life with more opportunities is if we move over.
I have to say I love new zealand but with our pay rates staying the same and only climbing A little each year but the price of everything going up including mortgages, rates, rent and normal cost of living were only going around in A little rat race and only have the option to move.
We live in australia (qld), but cant wait to return to nz, the weather is awful, too humid and hot, in the winter its always very windy so we dont even get to use our boat, the fishing is crap also.
The aussies dont look after their elderly and nz’ers get no help unless you become a citizen (not even nz flood victims), we wish we had never wasted so much money and come over.Its not all its cracked up to be, cost of living very much the same as nz, fuel rising, food prices high, nz is still the best place to be.
Would NZ accept TSA style “security” at airports?
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, Life in New Zealand
If you take any notice of world news, you will probably be aware that there are issues in the US (where else) regarding the next level of “security” measures being foisted on the travel public. The issue is that the TSA (Transportation Security Administration – a government agency) has been using high level X-Ray scanners for a small proportion of travelers. These basically give an image of your body underneath your clothes. I don’t think too many of us would be comfortable with that. You can choose to opt out of this – but at that point you are then given a pat-down. Now this is NOT the usual pat down you get if you happen to set off the metal detectors becuase you have a forgotten hair grip in your pocket!
No – this is a full pat down, which includes having your breasts groped, and having someone feel between your legs.
It is being likened to sexual assault, something I can fully understand. I would not accept that. I am not alone in that, and there are now hundreds of complaints being made in the US about these screening procedures. These procedures were even being done on children, Now the TSA has said that children under 12 are exempt – but that still leaves teenage children at the mercy of adults touching them in a way that is considered inappropriate, but somehow is allowed when the US Government does it. Why?
The images from the full body scanners are not supposed to be saved or stored, however Gizmodo has managed to get hold of 100 of these “they will never be stored” images. Apparently the people involved are relatively lucky in this imager was not taking the clearer pictures where little is left to the imagination.
Theres a very good blog showing the issues with this latest “Security” measures, from John Tyner, who refused a body scan and a pat down. Please do read it if you ever intend to fly to the USA. You need to know just how you could be treated, and that you are likely to bullied and threatened if you choose to stand up for your right to be treated with dignity.
The TSA believes “if you don’t like it – don’t fly”. Which is why we refuse to travel to the USA, and have done since they started requiring fingerprints for us to travel there. We are clearly not the only ones who refuse to travel to the US, and it looks like rather than things improving over time, the “security” is getting more extreme, not less. And “freedom” in the USA is a distant myth – with too many people willing to give up their dignity (and that of their children) for the sake of a 1 in 25 million chance of being caught in a terrorist plot on an airline. It’s barmy.
And the barmiest thing of all:
TSA estimates that fewer than 2 percent of the 2 million passengers screened daily, or 40,000, are given the patdowns.
This is what people really need to get their heads round with airport security (in fact any security). This is a procedure that is being carried out of just 2% of the people you are flying with. 98% of the travelers on your plane will NOT go through this extra screening – they could well have set off the metal detector and got an old fashioned pat down. So all this grief, all this mis treatment of people, all this groping of peoples genitals – covers a whopping 2% of the flying public. If the danger was real, everyone would have go through it. Not just 2%. 2% isn’t going to “catch” another “underwear bomber”.
So what does this have to do with New Zealand?
Well, there is an issue with travel to and from NZ. When we first came here, we could not choose to fly with Air New Zealand, as they only fly from the UK via the US. As more and more people refused to fly via the US, Air NZ opened up flights via Hong Kong. I think that says quite a bit about how many people won’t fly via the US.
But more worrying, as a result of the latest media interest in the new scanning procedures, the Dom Post ran a (totally unscientific) poll on whether people thought the pat downs were justified.
It worries me that more Kiwis aren’t mad about these issues. 40% thinking this behavior is acceptable is actually worrying.I wonder if they realise just what these patdowns entail. I hope that if ever the NZ government loses the plot and for some strange reasons think that these invasive and demeaning measure will somehow stop terrorists, that the NZ people tell them to get stuffed. It wont. The only terrorists here are the TSA who are treating the American Public like paces of crap and hoping that continued fear will keep the public in line. Unfortunately it seems to be working.
Interestingly – in Australia, the “security du jour” is an explosives test, where people are ”randomly” taken out of the normally security line and given an extra test. Now its annoying, and honestly, I’d love to know if they have ever found any explosives residues, cos I imagine it’s just as pointless. What I can say is that is It is not in the slightest bit random.
You see, until this trip, every single time I have been though an Aussie airport, I have been given this extra screening. I finally figured out why I was being targeted. It’s becuase Hubby takes longer than me to re-pack his laptop up, and I wait for him before heading off to the shopping area. I’m a target becuase I’m standing around. I got through without being screened this time, because I didn’t wait around at the security check, but went on through. This meant that poor hubby got the explosives test instead of me, because he was waiting round too long.
That means the test isn’t random. Which suggests that neither are these scans or patdowns – which begs the question – how are the staff really choosing who to screen? Are they even aware that they actually aren’t picking random travelers?
There are many things to be afraid of in this world, but giving in to terrorism like this is not the way to fight this. The people who flew those planes into the WTC have managed to completely alter the American way of life and sense of what freedom means. If you chose to fly to or from the US, or in the country – you have no freedom.
I hope one day they wake up and realise what they have given up, and decide that the only real way to fight terrorism is to refuse to give up your freedoms. In the mean time – well done to John Tyner for standing up to the TSA and refusing to be terrorised by a bunch of bureaucrats. And I remain grateful that I live in country that continues to refuse to give in to the sillier “security” abuses.
The most stunning jewelery I have ever seen.
Filed under: Cost of living, General Budgeting, Things to do
Unfortunately, the website is “under construction” so you cannot drool over the keyboard. But I popped up into the city today (in search of Tunes – to help me breathe more easily – I didn’t find any). I came across the strand arcade, which I had previously skipped due to overexertion in other malls. The Strand Arcade is a smaller and less ornate version of the QVB – still very pretty though.
Love & Hatred grabbed my attention like nothing else has. The name alone grabbed me. It was all dark wood and dim lighting, with medieval style religious icon paintings in the window. I went in, though it looked ultra expensive (which it turned out to be as it happens). Not only did it look medieval, thats the style of the jewelery, but the shop also smelled divine – cloves and scented woods – a bit like mulled wine and banquets. It actually felt like I was walking into a castle chapel – I even felt the need to whisper!
Now this isn’t cheap stuff. The lowest prices were around $500 for simple earrings. Some of the necklaces are several thousands. But the detail is simply stunning. A fair amount of the jewelry is religious in nature – crosses and rosaries, but all of it has medieval themes.
I really hope that one day In the not too distant future I can afford to buy something from here – I don’t have quite enough left of my Sanity Allowance just now to splurge. But one day – I will be back!
Why the hell does WizWireless want to charge 5.4% Credit Card Surcharge???
Filed under: Banks, Cost of living, General Budgeting, Interest Rates, Credit Cards & Mortgages in NZ
I’ve just had a rather rambling email from WizWireless, our Internet provider, who among other things have said that prices are going up form some people (but don’t actually seem to have told us who and to what – communication is not a high skill of theirs I often have to ask for clarification) and that they will now allow you to pay by Direct Debit or Credit Card.
But they are going to charge a massive 5.4% surcharge on Credit Cards.
WTF???
If their merchant services are charging them that much – they need to change banks, and if they aren’t, then WizWireless need to hang their heads in shame for profiting from bank charges at our expense.
I’m sick of this. It’s rampant here in Australia – all over the news this week (well before a royal engagement announcement anyway) was the fact that about 60% of businesses here are planning on charging CC Surcharges. Cos of course they aren’t already charging an arm and a sodding leg! Restaurants and Hotels seem to be the worst. The Hilton – to whom we paid over $100 for 2 main meals and 2 glasses of wine (using a Bogof deal from the entertainment card) snuck on a 1.5% CC Surcharge at the till.
Turns out we are exempt from the surcharge that the hotel charges. Like I’ve said before – a lot of people will remove the charges if you ask them to. The guy at the hotel asked me in a confused tone why I didn’t want to pay it! What the hell can you say to that?
Um – cos you are ripping me off and I kinda object to that?
I went with:
Because my bank is already charging 2.75% to pay your bill, I really don’t see why I should have to pay another 1.5% to your bank to cover your bank charges as well as my own.
I have asked WizWireless to justify the charge, especially as it is so ridiculously high, and why I should pay their bank charges as well as my own. Depending on the response, I may pass this to the Consumers Organisation.
To Businesses.
If you don’t want to take credit cards – then don’t take them – but don’t charge us for the privilege of trying to pay your sodding bills – which are already way too expensive.
So think twice (or three times) before becoming a customer of WizWireless. This was a great company to deal with before it got taken over (again – I think we are on the 4th incarnation since we put our Radio Mast in 5 years ago). But it’s getting more and more expensive, and now it’s not a straightforward choice on price – they are catching up with the other options. I think it’s time to look at those options. They may well still be cheaper, but I think I’ll actually check and try and fine a company thats a bit easier to deal with.
Avalon’s Guide On Facebook
-
