News in November 2006
- 30 Nov 2006 Supermarket Champagne beats big name brands Supermarket Champagnes from Sainsbury’s and Somerfield have beaten big name brands in the latest taste test carried out by Which?.
- 30 Nov 2006 Family restaurants dish up junk food to kids Many of the UK’s biggest family restaurants are failing to offer healthy food choices to children and parents, a report claims.
- 30 Nov 2006 BA planes grounded in radiation scare British Airwayshas been swamped with thousands of calls from passengers after revelations that "low levels of radioactive traces" have been found on two of its aircraft at Heathrow airport.
- 30 Nov 2006 Getflashing.com under investigation Which? is alerting readers not to use online retailer Getflashing.com after concerns were raised about the site.
- 29 Nov 2006 Motorists still sceptical over road pricing Most motorists don't believe that road pricing will sort out the problem of Britain’s heavily congested roads, a new poll has revealed.
- 29 Nov 2006 Passengers too wide for aircraft seats Air passengers are getting too wide to fit comfortably into some aircraft seats, a new survey has revealed.
- 28 Nov 2006 EasyJet to sell 'board first' tickets Passengers on no-frills airline Easyjet will now have the chance to jump the queue at boarding on flights for a charge of between £2.50-£7.50.
- 28 Nov 2006 Cosmetic surgery on credit More than £5 million will be taken out in personal loans this year to fund cosmetic surgery, a new report claims today.
- 28 Nov 2006 MPs demand new safeguards after Farepak collapse The collapse of Christmas savings firm Farepak has highlighted a ‘serious lack’ of protection for consumers, an influential group of MPs warned today.
- 27 Nov 2006 'Ethical' shopping overtakes booze and fags The amount spent on ‘ethical’ products in the UK has outstripped sales of beer and cigarettes for the first time, a report out today says.
- 27 Nov 2006 iTrip transmitters for iPods legalised Transmitters that allow iPods and other MP3 players to be played over car stereos and home entertainment systems will become legal from next week.
- 27 Nov 2006 NHS cot locator service launched A new service to find the nearest vacant hospital cot for critically ill and premature babies is launched today.
- 24 Nov 2006 Expert slams 'vile' alternative cancer treatments Cancer patients should be protected from ‘vile and cynical exploitation’ by the alternative therapy industry, says a leading expert.
- 24 Nov 2006 Motorists switch from cars to buses High petrol prices and concerns over the environment means more motorists are switching from their cars to buses, it was claimed today.
- 23 Nov 2006 Kids bombarded with junk food marketing Food companies are resorting to increasingly sophisticated and underhand marketing to push unhealthy foods to children, a new Which? report reveals.
- 23 Nov 2006 EU court blocks cheap online booze A legal bid to allow online shoppers to buy cut-price cigarettes and alcohol from anywhere in Europe has been thrown out.
- 23 Nov 2006 Fire-risk furniture alert Fire-risk furniture is being shipped into the UK from Eastern Europe, a watchdog warned today.
- 22 Nov 2006 Holidaymakers warned over hidden costs Budget travel companies and airlines are continuing to mislead customers with cheap internet prices, the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) has warned.
- 22 Nov 2006 Record numbers to shop online this Christmas Royal Mailsays it’s ready to deliver a record 100 million online orders in the run-up to Christmas.
- 21 Nov 2006 Scambusters target doorstep conmen Trading Standards officers have been given a £1.8 million cash boost to help step up their war against cold-calling conmen who prey on the elderly and vulnerable.
- 21 Nov 2006 UK is 'card fraud capital of Europe' The UK is the card fraud capital of Europe with over seven million Britons suffering from credit card scams.
- 21 Nov 2006 Frustrated householders admit to flat-pack fury Flat pack furniture may be growing in popularity but many householders blow a fuse trying to put it together.
- 20 Nov 2006 Fiat to fix 21,000 cars From today, Fiat is writing to around 21,000 UK owners of its popular Grande Punto supermini, advising them to take their car to a local Fiat dealer for a free-of-charge safety modification.
- 20 Nov 2006 UK 'fails to tackle Nigerian fraud' Financial scams originating in Nigeria are a ‘large and pressing problem for the UK’ but not enough is being done to tackle them, a new report has warned.
- 20 Nov 2006 Govt consults on compulsory water meters Millions of households in England may have to install water meters under proposals being considered by the government.
- 17 Nov 2006 Health watchdog facing Alzheimer's challenge The government's health watchdog is facing a legal challenge over its decision to denyAlzheimer's drugs to tens of thousands of patients.
- 17 Nov 2006 Junk food ad ban is 'public health fudge' Which? has called for the government to step in after Ofcom ruled out a 9pm watershed ban on junk food adverts.
- 16 Nov 2006 Probe into free-range egg scam claims The government is investigating claims that millions of battery farm eggs may have been sold to shoppers as free-range.
- 16 Nov 2006 Apple iPod flies into turbulence There's confusion over a deal to allow airline passengers to use their iPods through a plane’s in-flight entertainment system.
- 16 Nov 2006 Mobile operator 3 boosts broadband offering Phone company 3 is to launch a new service which it says will enable its mobiles to ‘unleash the true power of broadband internet’.
- 16 Nov 2006 Digital TV recorders for Freeview Freeview branded digital TV recorders in the shops in time for Christmas.
- 15 Nov 2006 Flora rapped by advertising watchdog Claims that corn covered in Flora is ‘healthier’ are ‘misleading’
- 15 Nov 2006 Burger King drops kids TV ads Fast food chain Burger King to stop advertising to kids - Which? says its a step in the right direction.
- 15 Nov 2006 Government unveils pension reforms Plans to raise the state pension to 68 for both men and women by 2046 have been unveiled in the Queen’s Speech.
- 15 Nov 2006 Crackdown on rogue estate agents Which? has welcomed plans to make it easier for consumers to take action against rogue estate agents.
- 15 Nov 2006 Govt to shake up legal profession Plans to radically overhaul the monitoring of the legal profession must not be ‘watered down’, Which? has urged.
- 14 Nov 2006 Eurostar moves to St Pancras from November 2007 The new £5.8 billion Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) service into London’s St Pancras will begin 12 months from today.
- 14 Nov 2006 Microsoft launches Zune to rival iPod Software giant Microsoft has launched its long-awaited Zune MP3 player in a challenge to Apple’s domination of the digital music market.
- 14 Nov 2006 New time limits for clearing cheques Banks will have to clear cheques faster under new proposals.
- 13 Nov 2006 Supermarket shoppers making greener choices More supermarket shoppers check packaging to see if it can be recycled.
- 13 Nov 2006 UK shoppers could buy duty-free online UK shoppers may soon be able to buy cut-price European cigarettes and alcohol over the Internet.
- 13 Nov 2006 Ford S-Max is European Car of the Year Journalists from across the continent have voted the Ford S-Max the 2007 European Car of the Year.
- 10 Nov 2006 Atlas beats sat-nav in race from A to B The good old-fashioned road atlas beats modern technology in getting motorists from A to B, a Computing Which? test found.
- 10 Nov 2006 Vodafone joins broadband battle Mobile phone giant Vodafone has unveiled details of its £25-a-month 'Vodafone at Home' broadband service.
- 10 Nov 2006 PlayStation 3 launches in Japan Sony's much delayed PlayStation 3 (PS3) finally goes on sale in Japan tomorrow ahead of a UK launch in the spring.
- 09 Nov 2006 PC World overcharged for repairs Staff at some branches of PC World failed to diagnose basic computer problems and overcharged consumers for easy repairs as a result, Computing Which? says today.
- 09 Nov 2006 Vista to hit stores in January Microsoft’s long-awaited Windows Vista will be in stores from 30 January, the software giant has announced.
- 09 Nov 2006 Airline to allow mobile use on planes Passengers flying with Dubai-based airline Emirates will be able to use their mobile phones on board from January.
- 09 Nov 2006 Starbucks fined over mouse droppings Coffee giant Starbucks has been fined £12,000 after one of its London branches was found infested with mice.
- 08 Nov 2006 Capital One slammed over credit card cheques Capital Onehas been reprimanded for sending customers more than a million pre-written credit card cheques last year.
- 08 Nov 2006 Ryanair TV ad rapped for '£0' fare that wasn't Ryanairhas been caught promoting flight prices without including taxes and charges - again.
- 08 Nov 2006 HBOS donates to Farepak fund Thousands of victims of failed hamper savings scheme Farepak have been thrown a lifeline after a fund was set up to rescue their Christmas.
- 08 Nov 2006 McDonald's to cut dangerous trans fats Fast food giant McDonald's is to cut the amount of dangerous trans fats in products sold in the UK.
- 07 Nov 2006 Passengers to sue Ryanair over missed flights Ryanairpassengers who missed their flights because of long airport queues are taking legal action after the airline made them forfeit their tickets.
- 07 Nov 2006 Phishing scams on the rise
- 07 Nov 2006 Scottish restaurant scores go on display Diners in Scotland can now see the results of inspections at their local restaurant or takeaway, following a successful Which? hygiene scores campaign.
- 06 Nov 2006 Tour operators missing out on singles market Holiday companies are missing a golden opportunity by failing to tap into a growing singles market, a new report reveals.
- 06 Nov 2006 New rules on flight liquids The ban on carrying liquids in hand luggage has been relaxed at all UK and EU airports.
- 03 Nov 2006 Customers sick of soaring energy bills Householders are becoming increasingly fed up with energy suppliers due to a soaring prices, a new survey has found.
- 03 Nov 2006 Carphone Warehouse facing 'silent calls' fine Carphone Warehouse may have to pay out thousands of pounds after coming under fire from the telecoms regulator for making silent calls.
- 03 Nov 2006 Asbestos found in barbecues Homebase has withdrawn hundreds of barbecues after they were found to contain asbestos.
- 02 Nov 2006 Which? reveals supermarket finance deals to avoid Some supermarket financial products are at best average and at worst distinctly bad value, says Which? today.
- 02 Nov 2006 Shocking secrets of dirty hospital kitchens Today Which? reveals the dirty hospital kitchens infested by cockroaches and mice.
- 02 Nov 2006 Save hundreds by shopping online Shoppers seeking electrical goods can save hundreds of pounds by shopping on the internet, Which? Online research shows.
- 02 Nov 2006 Cereal bars packed with sugar Many ‘healthy’ cereal bars are packed with sugar and saturated fat, Which? reveals today.
- 01 Nov 2006 Watchdog backs Rice Krispies ad A complaint from Which? that a Kellogg’s Rice Krispies TV advert was exaggerating the cereal's healthiness has been rejected by the advertising watchdog.
- 01 Nov 2006 Public don't trust finance industry on pensions Consumers don't trust the financial services industry to a run low-cost retirement savings scheme in their best interest, Which? can reveal today.
- 01 Nov 2006 Abbey lends five times your salary Abbeyis raising the amount it will lend for a mortgage to five times a salary to help people get a foot on property ladder.
- 01 Nov 2006 Isas to stay after 2010 The government has announced that tax-free individual savings accounts (Isas) are to be made a ‘permanent feature of the savings landscape’.
