welcome to www.muscatinglott.net
Dear Consumers,
I have been very deeply involved in Consumer Affairs since September 13, 1992
when I took over the Sunday Times Customer Service Column. My dialogue with you
has been, and still is, through various radio and television programmes but
mostly through the Customer Service Column. I must thank you for your continued
support particularly through your letters. I trust and hope the same will apply
to this website.
The Consumer Guide is our source of
revenue in order to keep the site alive. Our contributors are Mr. Benny Borg Bonello, President of the Consumers'
Association, and Dr. David Fabri, a leading
Consumer Laws expert who has a direct input in our Consumer Laws.
I believe that, from a Consumer Affairs point of view, we made considerable
progress particularly in the area of lodging complaints and standing up for our
rights. We also improved our Consumer Orientation but we still have a long way
to go. A particular aspect of our Consumer Orientation which still needs
addressing is that we do not take an interest in consumer related issues of
general interest. We only take an interest in Consumer Affairs when we have a
'consumer' problem/complaint.
This website is helping us address our lack of interest in consumer issues of
general interest rather than just complaints. My son Matthew, who is my
webmaster, my cartoonist (Customer Service Column) as well as my personal
advisor, came up with the idea of setting up this website in the first place
and it is due to his encouragement that I decided to take the plunge. I cannot
tell you how many times he re-designed the site and, after so many changes, we
decided to go for it. Our two contributors, my friends and colleagues (in
alphabethical order) Mr. Benny Borg Bonello, President of the Consumers'
Association, and Dr. David Fabri, a leading Consumer Laws expert who has a
direct input in our Consumer Laws are still with us.
I made it clear from the start, and I kept re-iterating that this is not an
extension of the Sunday Times Customer Service Column and definitely not about personal complaints.
We have enough avenues where we can have personal complaints dealt with.
However, despite our clear and repeated messages explaining that this is not an
extension of the Sunday Times Customer Service Column, we still receive a high
number of letters of complaint sent by e mail. Therefore, in the prevailing scenario,
we have no other option but to blatantly ignore e mailed personal complaints.
Complaint letters can be sent by ordinary postal mail to:- The Customer Service Column, The Sunday Times, P.O. Box 328, Valletta,
P.O. Box 328, Valletta CMR 01 in accordance
with the terms and conditions published in bold print in the Sunday Times,
Customer Service Column. With a particular focus on consumer issues of general
interest we have an interaction/link in this website. Your ideas are welcome.
Another important issue is financial. If you are a frequent browser you
may have come across messages in various websites informing browsers that the
site had to be shut down "due to lack of funds". We can avoid this by
offering advertising. However it must be different. We have a specific kind of
advertising based on verification. Only suppliers and companies who were
mentioned in our Customer Service Column "On a Positive Note" will be
allowed to place adverts based on the respective positive note. However, if any
advertising transpires to be misleading, the respective advertisement will be
removed from the website without refund. In any case, the most important aspect
of this Website is that its success or failure depends on us. It's what we make
of it and, in this spirit, your ideas are welcome.