Advantages: Excellent advice, extremely motivating, author practices what he preaches
Disadvantages: Tacky, too much plugging, dodgy cover

...inspirational stories to demonstrate them. The accounts of successful people, many of whom Canfield interviewed for this book, give the book a lot of credibility and are the most motivating aspect of it. Canfield also uses a lot of quotes from a variety of people, from well-known success stories to random self-help book authors, some of which are extremely thought-provoking and got copied into my quotation notebook and some of which just missed the mark and seemed tacky. Neither does it help that Canfield continually plugs his and other people’s books, websites, products and services – I appreciate the long ‘further reading’ list in the back, but the constant footnotes and mentioning of Canfield’s friends (who just happen to have jobs in motivation coaching and the like) got really annoying after a while. Likewise, the Principles are mostly hits... Read review

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Advantages: Excellent plain english writing, with bullet points and exam tips
Disadvantages: All the figures are in $

...and lecturer were talking about! Then I picked up AS Level and A Level Accounting and it was a small line in the preface that caught my eye 'this book is written for students of accounting who face problems by asking how do I do this?' As this is how I felt I read on. The book separated in to three chapters each of which as a number of subsections Contents 1. The Accounting System a. Double Entry Bookkeeping: cash transaction b. Double Entry Bookkeeping: credit transactions c. Books of prime (or original) entry d. Balancing accounts e. The classification of accounts and diversion of the ledger f. The trial balance 2. Financial Accounting a. Trading and Profit and Loss Accounts for Sole Traders b. Balance sheets for Sole Traders c. Accounting principles or concepts d. Accruals and prepayments (the matching concept) e. Provisions... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Excellent Interest Rate
Disadvantages: Website is not the most user-friendly

...to claim compensation for the scheme. It means the first £2000 is protected and then 90% of the next £33000 is also protected. So if you had £35000 you would be able to get back £31700 under this scheme. Knowing it is regulated in this way, I personally feel my money is probably as safe here as it is in any other UK bank. I am happy to be corrected on this point if someone in the know has conflicting information. The basic principle behind the account is that your HiSave savings account is linked to a current account. You can then manage your HiSave account (transfer funds in from and out to your current account) by logging on to the ICICI website using a Login ID number and a password. Although is easier to call it a passcode as it it purely numeric. No alphabetical/punctuation characters are permitted in the password. Interest paid... Read review

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Advantages: Supposedly a mutual society, with some good accounts which they must 'forget' to tell suffering customers about
Disadvantages: Who ever heard of a society which doesn't deal in cash? Or one which wants all members to have 2.5K to keep in a low paying account just to keep it open?

...The Skipton has been hit hard by the carpetbaggers. To try and deter them, this society has made the minimum opening balances extreamly high, and has been forced to cut some of it's savings rates on the most popular accounts. This is a shame, as it is going against all the principles of a building society. For example, a saver with over 2K in the society's High Street account (the ordinary building society account with instant access using a passbook), will earn just over 1% gross. After tax, this amount is eating away at your money, and is nowhere near inflation. It's only when the balance gets very high (we're talking 25K here), that the interest rate becomes mildly attrcative (4.5% or so). A saver with £100+ in Yorkshire's Access Saver will earn just under 5% gross. Also, the account has a minimum transaction of £500. All... Read review

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Advantages: competitive rates/charges compared to competitors
Disadvantages: customer service, cheque clearance times, branch security, branch privacy, queue times

...' could I appeal this or ask for a manager to look at my request? 'no', why?, 'the computer wont allow it'. Getting to speak to an advisor on the phone (for my account is on-line and therefore I cannot deal with anyone in branch) is ridiculous, 45 minutes is my shortest wait (with no acknowledgement or apology regarding the wait when I eventually got through). I was told that I should consider ringing up at a different time of the day as I was calling over lunch time and a lot of staff were away on their lunch breaks! SORRY?!? WHAT?!? maybe A&L should consider INCREASING staffing levels when they know it is a busy time of the day rather than DECREASING them, maybe they should consider that I also have a lunch break and it happens to be the only time I can call them.....MAYBE THEY SHOULD CONSIDER THEIR CUSTOMERS NEEDS! But, worst of all... Read review

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Advantages: good range and prices
Disadvantages: None

...As a shopaholic I am fussy when it comes to the stores I shop in, Principles is one that scores highly on my list of favourite shops. I regularly shop here as i find the quality and price of the goods to be above average. Staff are polite and always willing to help and like most shops thesedays you can try most garments on before you buy. There stores are generally well laid out and tidy and most have sufficient access for the disabled, something which should not be overlooked these days. Watch out for their regular sales as there are some excellent bargains from time to time. Most items are available from stock but if you like something they haven't got in your size they will try and get it for you. Not too much waiting around to be served.... Read review

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Advantages: comes with access to online content, lots of colourful diagrams and flow charts
Disadvantages: weighs a tonne

...I bought Principles of Anatomy and Physiology for university last year. The book cost £25.00 for the hard back and came with a CD ROM and access to the eGrade Plus website. The book itself is well written, clear and concise. Like all medical texts it requires a good knowledge of biology and biochemistry to fully appreciate though there are excellent diagrams and flow charts for those who are still getting to grips with the subject. It is easy to find what you need in the book as chaptesr are laid out according to body system starting with the structure and function of the system and then going into more detail on more specific aspects of anatomy and physiology. The CD ROM that came with the book was brilliant and contained interactive quizes, more diagrams and a game where you can play surgeon. The Web content is much... Read review

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Advantages: Very funny office-related humour
Disadvantages: Some repetition

...Scott Adams used to work for Pac Bell before decided that rather than sit in an office cubicle, it’d be far better to quit that job and make a living writing cartoons about office life. His Dilbert cartoons are popular in newspapers - featuring a poor geek-y engineer (Dilbert), his (generally incompetent) co-workers, his (even more moronic) boss and a variety of animals (Dogbert, Ratbert, etc). Perhaps it says something of their popularity that my spellchecker recognises ‘Dogbert’! The Dilbert Principle (first published in 1996, and Sunday Times no. 1 best seller) declares itself to be “A cubicle’s-eye view of bosses, meetings, management fads and other workplace afflictions”. That pretty much sums it up really. It’s the funniest management book you’ll ever read! The introduction begins with an acknowledgement from Scott Adams... Read review

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Advantages: Well spaced, attractive layout, good quality
Disadvantages: Pushy sales assistant!

...My sister is getting married at the end of May and I've still to find something to wear at the wedding. The end of May could be scorching hot as last year or the British climate could do the dirty on us - more likely. So what to wear and where to buy it and what to spend and should I buy a hat? Wednesday, I took the day off from work. My daughter was at nursery till three thirty and my son at the childminder's until three. What greater opportunity could there be for a trip to the shops and a hunt for the perfect item of cloth. I headed in to town and parked in the office carpark, not really supposed to on a day off, then joined the Easter throng in Shrewsbury's vast array of shopping centres, little streets and squares. The first place I tried was Principles in the hope that I might score first time and then spend the rest... Read review

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Advantages: Online/telebanking very easy to use and flexible, Can earn more interest
Disadvantages: Can be difficult to track large numbers of transactions, Only limited counter services are free

...The Open Plan Current Account is a strange beast of a bank account. It was brought in about 3 years ago now, and I've had mine since November 2000. Please note that this opinion is concerned with the current account itself, not the Open Plan mortgage. Prior to that I had a standard current account, which I had no problems with. But that account was held jointly with my ex, and having to remortgage and get my own cheque account they would only offer me an open plan current account. I operated the account in association with a Woolwich mortgage for over a year, before transferring my mortgage elsewhere. I have noticed no differences in how the account operates, you'll be pleased to hear. Now it's pretty much a typical current account, and like all accounts you have to make sure it will work for you. I operate most of my banking... Read review

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