Hit the BACK button now because it’s World Book Day on Thursday 1^st March.

It’s a sad fact that for some people the mention of books is an instant turn off unless they’re about to go on a holiday.

This is especially true for teenagers if they never see their parents reading a book during the year.

So as part of World Book Day why not promise to buy yourself a book and either take or tell your kids to go to the Apple Store this Thursday.

Here’s why.

This Thursday as part of World Book Day, the Apple Store in Covent Garden will have 3 great authors in the store. They bill them as children’s authors but they’re way more than that.

Their books are often aimed at teenagers which in this day and age must be the hardest group of people to keep entertained.

Yet these authors have been doing it for years and even if you don’t know them I’m sure your son or daughter will.

So go up a couple of notches in your kids esteem and tell them that Charlie Higson, Malorie Blackman and Sophie McKenzie will be at the Apple Store in Covent Garden.

And if your kids are not into books, this could be great way to spark their interest. There are bound to be other teenagers there and the authors will be reading extracts from short stories and doing a Q & A.

The event starts at 4.30pm and is free. For more details click here.

Thanks for your time.

Also if you’re thinking of buying a car this year take a look at my new site at CarBidOff.com or read this article I did about buying an Audi A4.

UPDATE: I don’t know if it was this post. But a few hours of the post going live I got a call from Rated People apologising about the delay.

To cut a long story short, they’ve now suspended Phoenix Construction’s membership. Nice job by Rated People.

If you’ve had problems with a company let us know. If we can put the story on our site you might also get a good result like this. Leave your story in the Naughty Step Award comments.
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So are Rated People cowboy trader protectors or just inefficient… you can decide after reading this. But I think they’ll be getting the next Naughty Step Award.

Here goes.

You know when I wrote about the cowboy roofers at Phoenix Construction Solutions I also contacted Rated People about them.

The reason I did this was that I came across Phoenix Construction Solutions via the Rated People site. So considering what Phoenix had told the National Federation of Roofing Contractors I wanted to know whether Rated People would ban them from their site.

Now if you want to complain about a tradesman on the Rated People site you can leave a rating about them.

Because I left a negative rating I was given an email and a number to call to let Rated People know I was unhappy.

I thought that an excellent idea on their part.

After completing the email a few minutes later I received an automated email message saying someone would get back to me as soon as possible. I sent that on the 9^th February.

I had a lot of other things to do but after not hearing from them I decided to call them on the 17^th.

Deep down I knew Rated People wouldn’t get back to me

A friendly lady took all my details and said someone would be in touch. Knowing what they had been like in the past I asked if she could send me an email to confirm the conversation we just had.

When I heard her answer I knew there was no chance they would get back to me.

She said she could not send out emails they could only take inbound messages, but someone would definitely contact me.

It’s now the 27^th February and of course no one has contacted me.

So are Rated People cowboy trader protectors or just inefficient in dealing with complaints. What do you think?

Thanks for your time.

Also if you are a trader have a read of an article I did that will save you money on getting your car or van serviced or repaired. Click car repairs.

Let me tell you about London Town

But wait I can’t

There’s too much going down.

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You see no one man or woman

Can tell you all there’s to do

So here’s the top 10 London blogs

That won’t fail you in 2, 0, 1, 2

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So in no particular order

I’ll give this my best shot

And on purpose I’ve left open one spot

If you know of a blog that you think is hot

In the comments tell us what they’ve got.

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Seems like they’ve been going

Since the beginning of time

And with some excellent writers

The Londonist is still doing it fine.

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If cycling in London is what you do

Whether it’s in fair weather or foul, this one’s for you

Andreas at London Cyclist has a route for you

Check out his site and his ebook too.

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Ian my man where would we be without you

How do you find the events you do

For one off events he’s the man

Ian Visits still holds that crown.

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Biased I know but I don’t care

Telling it how it is with no PR puff here

So give it up for the 3 Guys on the London bus

You know our blog is a must.

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Laura Porter is still going strong

Helping tourists enjoy London town

Links and info that they’d appreciate

Give Laura’s blog a look if you’re here on a break.

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He’s obviously not tired yet

Everyday there’s some new angle he gets

This is the blog all London bloggers know

Tired of London Tired of Life, please take a bow.

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What kind of list of London blogs would this be

If I didn’t mention the Londoneer to read

With good info and photos that he shoots

This is a worthy blog to include.

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New to the list but well deserved

Londontopia is the blog you’ve never heard

Helping tourists feel more like locals

It’s another one to read when your vacation calls.

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Last but he’s not least because he’s cool

The London is Cool blog has a very personal view

Wander with him through the streets of London

And realise how much you’re missing.

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That’s my top London blogs for 2012, now it’s your turn

I’d really appreciate it if you shared or tweeted this to help me out. Cheers

Also if you need to get your car repaired visit Ronnie’s new site CarBidOff and if you want to save money on petrol click here.

Just to show it’s not only big companies who can give you terrible service. What a terrible time I’ve had with a cowboy roofing Company called Phoenix Construction Solutions.

Rather than go into too much detail about the whole sorry tale of broken promises, poor workmanship and outright lies.

I just want to warn people if they have any roofing jobs to avoid this Company completely.

I came across these cowboys via the Rated People site and they had good reviews so I got them to replace a flat roof and replace the main roof tiles.

That was easily one of the worst decision I’ve ever made in my life. I’ve now got a leaking flat roof and main roof and this is all due to the poor workmanship of Phoenix Construction.

The NFRC haven’t been able to help so far

Luckily or so I thought they are members of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors. The Federation say that if you have a problem with one of their members they will help to sort it out.

Unfortunately for me after nearly 4 weeks of waiting for them to do something I’ve now been told there’s nothing they can do as the owner of Phoenix Construction, Paul Kelly, is ill.

They did however say I could use another one of their members to complete the job but at my own expense.

So there you have it. The cowboys win again and there doesn’t seem to be much I can do about it apart from letting you guys know.

Therefore Phoenix Construction Solutions win the Naughty Step award for cowboy roofers of the year.

Thanks for your time

This first post is for small businesses in London and it’s about some business events going on at the City Business Library over the next few months, it’s aimed at helping small businesses get ahead and it’s covering every topic you could think of to do with running your business, with special events about Twitter, LinkedIn and creating a blog.

The majority of the events are free and it’s worth you running down the list because I’m sure you’ll find something there that’s worth going to and because the events are only for 2 hours it’s not like it’s going to take a huge amount of time out of your day, plus you’ll get a chance to network with other business owners, it’s a win, win really.

For more information about the events click City Business Library.

Now for the parents

Looking through some of our recent posts I noticed we haven’t really mentioned events aimed at children for some time, so to make up here’s reminder about one of the nicest places to go with your children in London on a Saturday morning and that’s the Barbican Family Film Club.

Do you remember when you were a child and went to the Saturday morning cinema, well the Barbican have been doing something like that for years now and it being the Barbican, it’s safe and not full of rowdy children because each child has to be accompanied by an adult.

I’ve mentioned it before and although it’s changed slightly it’s still a great place to go and do something different, which explains why when there’s a popular film it gets booked up quickly, the Bugsy Malone film on the 11^th being a good example of that.

If you’ve never been visit the Barbican Family Film Club website, it’s free to join and the cinema tickets are only £3.

Also visit Ronnie’s new site CarBidOff if you’re buying a Mercedes or need to get your car serviced or repaired. And if you want to join Chris’s email list, Click here.

Also I’d really appreciate it if you shared or tweeted this to help us out.

If you’re a movie buff the Apple store on Regent Street is the place to go this week.

Last year they held some amazing talks there like Colin Firth talking about the Kings Speech and some of the Harry Potter cast talking about Deathly Hallows.

Well this year they’re kicking off their Meet the Filmmakers season with the director of Shame, Steve McQueen and the director of War Horse, Richard Curtis.

Both directors will be talking about their films and doing a Q & A. All I can say is if you were thinking of going to see these films, these talks are a must.

The Steve McQueen event is on today starting at 7.30pm and ending at 8.30 and the producer of the film will also be there.

While the Richard Curtis event is on this Friday 13^th and starts at 6.30pm and is again on for an hour. However this time one of the actors in the film, Tom Hiddleston, will also be there.

These events are always very busy and it’s best to get there well before the time because seating’s on a first come basis.

With the Richard Curtis event also having Tom Hiddleston it’s bound to be extra busy. So that you don’t miss out it might be a good idea to get there a couple of hours before just to be sure of getting a seat.

That’s about it and as you’d expect from Apple both events are free. Click here for more details.

Thanks for your time and if you found this useful click one of the share buttons below. Thanks again.

Also if you were thinking of buying a Ford Focus ST click Ford Focus ST and if you want to see FREE concerts & films, Click here.

You can go to the London Ice Sculpture Festival and learn all kinds of things

But why not close your eyes and pretend you’re a sculpturing king

Living an ice sculpturing dream.

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Baby you did it last year and you were so cool

You sat there and looked so beautiful

Making all the others feel like fools

Will you do it again for me?

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Make me feel like the King

Do it again in front of them

So soft to the touch

I’ll carve out my love

Even though it won’t last forever

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Baby you did it last year and you were so cool

You sat there and looked so beautiful

Making all the others feel like fools

Will you do it again for me?

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With their eyes full of sin

Wishing you were with them

And a body they’d die for

You’ll be the queen in this Festival dream

And the sculpture to be seen

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Baby you did it last year and you were so cool

You sat there and looked so beautiful

Making all the others feel like fools

Will you do it again for me?

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The weather’s doesn’t matter

I’ll keep you under cover

I’ll do whatever you ask

I know it’s a hard task

So baby will you sit for awhile

And let me see your beautiful smile

It won’t take forever

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The London Ice Sculpture Festival is on at Canary Wharf on the 13^th and 14^th January and looks like it will be the best ever. It starts at 10am and goes on until 6pm each day and is free with lots of opportunities for you to have a go at doing your own bit of sculpturing at free masterclasses.

For full details click London Ice Sculpture Festival

Also if you want to save money on your car servicing read this Car Servicing guide and if you want to see FREE concerts & films, Click here for more details.