Living Orkney Column - Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - July 2010

Living Orkney Column - Keeping It Real with Rory Auskerry - July 2010

I don't remember getting many 'black marks' at school. I wasn't particularly clever, nor was I particularly rebellious, I mostly just got on with it. I suspect I left more black marks on the floor of the gym hall from my rubber soled pumps than were ever given to me by disappointed teachers. Coupled with my good fortune in largely avoiding reprimands at school, I am also pretty organised with money. I am a prolific saver and apart from a fairly severe CD buying habit I don't tend to spend much money each month. I was therefore very surprised, and pretty distressed to discover that I had a black mark on my credit report.

The reason this has come up is as a result of some calls I made to estate agents in Manchester. My job will take me North sometime next year and I'm looking to become a first time buyer. Having spoken to some agents, who stressed the importance of a healthy credit rating, I looked mine up. Discovering that a missed payment on my credit card showed up on my report, I called the bank.

You're probably thinking, 'Rory, you didn't pay your bill on time so you've only got yourself to blame?'. Well on the face of it I'm sure that's what it looks. However, the missed payment happened after the direct debit I set up on the card was canceled by the bank without me asking them too. It started last November when I got a letter saying I had missed a payment and would therefore be charged twelve pounds.

I went down to the bank the very helpful staff called the card helpline and explained that a mistake must have been made somewhere along the line to cancel the direct debit payment. The operator on the card helpline had a look on the computer, noticed that a something wasn't right and the twelve pound charge was duly reimbursed. I was delighted with the speed and efficiency in which the both the staff in the branch and the person on the helpline dealt with the problem and I thought that was the end of the matter.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I decided to take a look at my credit report. Discovering I had this black mark, I called the same card helpline and explained the situation. To cut a long story shorter, I basically hit a brick wall. In the end I spoke to five different people, including a very nice lady in the Kirkwall branch, and I must have spend at least 3 hours on the phone.

One of my friends, who used to work on a banking helpline suggested to me via Facebook that I ask to make an official complaint. This resulted in much swifter action. In fact, within 24 hours I was called my someone from the customer services team and informed that they had 'arranged to clear any derogatory information held on [my] credit file'. What a result! I really hope that our newly elected government make some effort to legislate against this kind of behavior. Until then the message I think can be taken from this is that persistence and not accepting no for an answer often pays off, especially with businesses or companies who want your cash.

I'm actually writing this sitting out on my balcony in the sunshine. I've been doing quite a bit of this over the last few days and I'm hoping to do a lot more as the summer approaches. One of the things that's become very noticeable again is the constant sound of planes landing at Heathrow. I know that the disruption caused by the Icelandic volcano has been devastating for some people, but for those who live near or even under the flight path of any major UK airport, and didn't plan to fly, its been a real treat.

While the skies have been temporarily free of vapor trails I've been thinking about the environmental impact the lack of flying has had on the planet. The ash its self can't be good when it lands, but the lack of flying must have saved thousands of tonnes of aviation fuel. All in all, I suspect the grounding of flights has had an overall positive impact. It also raises a question about our reliance on aviation. I'm a big fan of flying, in fact I wanted to be a helicopter pilot long before I got interested in radio. However I'm very aware of the already huge, and growing impact that flying has on our planet.

I wouldn't suggest we park up all the planes because that would just be ridiculous, but It seems that we could do worse that sit down at think of some ways to cut down on the amount of flying we all do, especially within the UK. I think one of the biggest problems is that flying is often much cheaper than traveling by train. Personally I enjoy trains; you get a much better view than you do on most flights, you can stretch your legs a lot easier, there's a lot less waiting around before you travel and you don't have to persuade security that you're not a terrorist. I'm excited about government plans for a high speed rail link to the North and I think this would be of far more benefit to people and the environment than another runway at Heathrow.

Before I finish this month, I thought I'd mention the marathon. To be honest I've never really taken much of an interest until this year. Now that London is home I felt more connection with it, plus I had a better idea of where people were as the cameras followed the runners around the course. Unfortunately I was working on the day, but I finished early enough to be able to go down to the palace and see the non professional runners crossing the finishing line in their thousands. It was really quite spectacular to see and the atmosphere was very nice too. There was a real vibe from all the spectators near me that they were willing someone on. I'll certainly be back again next year, although like the Ba', I doubt I'll be taking part.