Looking Back: Part 13

Originally published January 23rd, 2020.

Introduction

Hello, and welcome back to Mortgage Advisor on FIRE.  There’s a lot to talk about this week, including a fantastic meal out for my girlfriend’s birthday, a couple of complaints I have had to make as a customer, a case of cold/Warrior Flu and some developments on a potential career change.

Weekly Update

One of my vices is food, and I love fine dining.  To some people, it may come across as pretentious, but I love how food can become an art form.  The way simple ingredients can be elevated in the right hands is incredible, and when this is mixed with the right atmosphere and service it can be such a memorable experience. 

In Sheffield, there is a restaurant called Rafters and a few months ago myself and my girlfriend ate there for our anniversary.  We agreed it was the best meal we had eaten in Sheffield and so I decided to surprise my girlfriend with a meal for her birthday.  We went for drinks in their cocktail bar and their Experience One menu.  It was an amazing night except for the sudden onset of a cold/Warrior Flu midway through the dinner service.  That cold kept me off work all this week, but the meal was truly spectacular. 

Rafters is amazing. I’ve eaten there a couple of times since this post in 2020. I would eat there more often but for the price, which is generally at least £75pp without drinks.

​The meal started with a selection of small plates, alongside Thornbridge Stout and Black Treacle Bread, with Henderson’s Relish Butter.  Since watching Rome, I find it impossible to eat any bread without saying “Good bread, this.”  My girlfriend found it funny at first, but several years later it seems to be wearing thin. 

We then had Salt Baked Celeriac with nasturtium and hazelnut pesto, and a brown butter hollandaise. The next course was Moss Valley Pork, with fermented barley followed by a chocolate, hazelnut and coffee dessert and an extra cheese course.  With fine dining restaurants, it is normal to have a few smaller courses in between the main dishes.  Although each dish looks small, by the end of the meal you are well-fed. 

It is the little things that set these types of restaurants apart.  They realised we liked the bread, and so they sent us home with a free loaf from the kitchen.  They saw on the booking it was a birthday meal, and so they made my girlfriend’s dessert a little fancier.  It is these smaller touches which make the difference in Rafters when compared to Joro, another fine dining restaurant in Sheffield.  When dining in Joro, it seems like the expectation is that you should thank them for dining there.  I’ve eaten in Michelin-starred restaurants in other countries and it’s the service as much as the food which sets them apart.  

I want to like Joro but I normally come out of there feeling deflated. Something about it doesn’t sit right.

As you are probably aware, from the title of the blog at least, I’m a mortgage advisor.  There is potential for me to transition into investment advice in the next year or two and I’ve spent the day in Manchester meeting with a manager in that area.  Over the coming months, I will find out if I will receive funding to qualify to give that advice.  It’s an exciting opportunity and I could see myself thriving in that environment. 

This whole potential move ended up coming to nothing. Later in the year, I had some personal issues come up and most of 2020 was horrible, and one of the most difficult times of my life. There were six exams to pass to earn the qualification, and I passed the first two. I recently(ish) tried picking up my studies but I just couldn’t do it. Since 2020 there have been several different things that have left me feeling diminished, with less cognitive capacity than before.

For the meeting today I realised I would need to wear a suit but with my health problems over the last year or two, my other suits are a little tight.  So, I decided to buy a new suit. 

I did not want to spend a fortune and went to Next thinking I would get a simple suit that would see me through to when I can fit back in my other suits.  I picked a suit off the shop floor and checked with a lady at the counter that I was fine to use the fitting rooms, and  I was quite shocked a few minutes later when a male member of staff opened the curtain in the fitting room with me standing there in my boxer shorts.  As I’m sure you can understand, I was angry.  It was not so much about another guy seeing me in my boxer shorts, but it could have been anyone in the fitting room from a child to an elderly man.  It could have been someone with anxiety.  The point is you don’t just start opening changing rooms at random. 

I made a complaint in the store, but the “manager” did not seem particularly bothered, so I spoke with Next’s customer service helpline and they registered the complaint and sent me a £25 gift card.  I bought a suit elsewhere but the whole incident made me very angry.  It could have just been an innocent mistake, or it could have been predatory behaviour from a sexual deviant.  I did not see the member of staff again as he had vanished from the shop floor by the time I was dressed. 

I still can’t understand what happened here, but it freaked me out a bit when I’m stood there in my boxers when someone ripped open the curtain. This is why fitting rooms should have doors with locks.

Virgin Money

In another example of poor service, I had to make a complaint to Virgin Money about the credit card I have with them.  I run my card at an almost constant zero balance.  I spend on the card to collect airmiles but hate leaving a balance on there for more than a couple of days. 

A few weeks ago, I spent £2,000 on new furniture but ended up cancelling the order.  No big deal, the retailer was very accommodating and was happy to refund the order.  However, the money had to go back to the original payment method. 

I called Virgin Money and explained that my card was at zero balance but a refund of £2,000 would be received in a few days.  I wanted to know if this would cause a problem as credit cards are not supposed to have a positive balance.  The advisor assured me it would not be a problem and I could either leave the balance as credit and use it up over time or have the money sent to my account.  At no point was there any mention of fees. 

Virgin Money is awful. Last year I had more poor service from them, but that’s a story for another time. Some firms, not just in finance, seem to be able to get by just on their brand name despite being unable to offer basic services.

​A few days later, when the refund hit my account, I called to move the money to my current account.  At no point was I told there would be a fee.  I was somewhat surprised to see a fee of £85 for a “money transfer” hit my account a couple of days after the transfer.  I called up and queried the charge and was told it was because I had requested a cash advance.  It was at this point I became quite frustrated and explained I was not borrowing money but was receiving a refund and at no point was I told this would result in a fee. 

I quoted the times and dates of my previous two calls and was told it would take five working days to investigate.  I explained this was not acceptable.  The total call time of both calls was less than fifteen minutes.  I stated I would hold the line whilst they listened to the calls and rectified the mistake. 

Twenty minutes later it was confirmed I was not told about the fees and that they would be cancelled.  Fair enough, I got what I wanted but it should not have taken the call in the first place.  The lesson here is always to check your statement and always question fees or charges.  Although I got the fee back, it has shaken my confidence in Virgin Money as on two occasions I was not told about the fee.  

Companies that put process above people are the worst. They make a mistake and then expect the customer to work according to their timetable when it comes to resolving the mistake the company caused.

Financial Update

Assets

Premium Bonds: £12,450 (up £950 from last week).

Stocks and Shares ISA: £8,251.23 (up £445.52 from last week).

F**k It Fund: £1,511.85 (up £350 from last week).

Property Value*: £173,501 (no change from last week).

Total Assets: £195,714.08 (up £1,745.52 from last week).

Debts

Credit Card Debt: £197.96 (up £197.96 from last week).

Loan Debt: £3,570.33 (down £230.16 from last week).

Mortgage Debt: £134,279.11 (no change from last week).

Total Debt: £138,047.40 (down £32.20 from last week).

Total Wealth Figure**: £57,666.68 (up £1,777.72 from last week).

Investment Income in 2020: £0.00 (Target £2,000)

*valued at £173,501 according to lender’s index.

**total assets minus total debt

​It’s been quite the week with increases made to my different pots.  My credit card will be back at zero next week, it’s just with feeling ill I have not made the payment yet.  I am getting so close to my deposit target that I will have to start thinking about how to reallocate funds once I get my Premium Bonds up to £14,850.  One option is to hammer the loan for a few months to clear it in full before throwing more money into my ISA and saving again for the second BTL deposit.  I still have some time to decide on this though. 

Financial News

There was an interesting documentary on the BBC this week which looked at Property Investment Courses.  The show focused on the story of Danny Butcher, a 37-year-old from Doncaster who killed himself after spending over £10,000 on property training courses.  I’m not going to comment too much on the show, or this specific tragedy.  I don’t know all the facts and I’m fully aware that any undercover investigation is coming from an agenda.  However, it does seem strange that there is no regulation of businesses that offer property training courses.  There is not a large leap from offering training to offering advice, and to offer financial advice you need to be regulated. 

A few years ago, I attended a free seminar with a friend who is also a mortgage advisor.  This was a property investing seminar and it was one big plug for the paid courses.  As finance professionals, we were sceptical of the claims being made but as I looked around the room I could see people who were desperate to make money and from talking to them in the breaks, it was obvious they lacked the knowledge and experience to realise that you don’t have to spend thousands of pounds for material that is often freely available online. 

There simply has to be better oversight for courses that claim to teach people how to make money. The FI blogging community have made the point over and over; building wealth is simple and the process can be summed up in a few words; invest regularly in low-cost, index funds, and then watch the money grow.

I’m not bashing all property investment courses.  I know there are some courses out there that add value for those who already have a foundation of knowledge and experience, and I am a passionate advocate for financial education in general.  I just do not believe you have to spend insane sums of money to educate yourself.  I’ve read dozens of books on finance and investing, but the total I’ve spent on those books is a fraction of what one of these courses would cost. 

I would love to see accurate figures for the number of people who attend property investment courses and a follow-up as to how many of those people make money from property over the following years.  I’m not opposed to the concept of courses for property investing but I suspect the real value is in very specific courses that help people systemise HMOs, or Serviced Accommodation as opposed to courses that teach people how to use Rightmove. 

My sympathy is with anyone who has spent money on these types of courses based on inflated promises.  Property investing can be very rewarding but it’s hard work and it requires a lot of research.  If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Final Notes

​Thank you for reading and if you have any feedback or suggestions for future discussions, please leave a comment.  Next week I will have a look at Fear Setting and how this has helped me progress towards my goals.