Call Sign Feb 08

Call Sign February 2008 Page 34
Where is Power Pill?
Many drivers have asked Call Sign the same
question over the past few months – whatever
happened to Power Pill? All claim that it
worked and that they used it regularly to save
fuel and cut emissions. Now Mel Edwardes,
wife of Dial-a-Cab driver John (H5), has
hinted of a fuel companies-inspired plot to
get rid of it. Did Power Pill work too well?
The idea of fuel companies combining or perhaps
even an MI5-inspired plot sounds fascinating
– especially at a time when major fuel
suppliers are bringing out their own fuels
containing special additives at an increased
price over and above their already high
prices.
Going onto the Ubiee Powerpill main website
(not the UK one), it seems obvious that the
whole system is designed not for those who
want to buy packets of the amazing pill, but
for those who want to make a living at selling
it. The main difference between this scheme
and many others like it is that the Ubiee Power
Pill worked! They have developed a platform
Xmas online purchases
Since it’s now a fact of life that most of us
do our Christmas shopping online, I wonder
how many of you had problems with
online stores regards returns and refunds?
Last Christmas I bought all our Christmas
presents online, basically sticking to large
online stores such as Amazon, eBuyer and
Ernest Jones. Generally, my experience
has been relatively good, however with
some gotchas.
I started buying my presents in late
November to avoid the rush and usual
Christmas delivery delays. So by the second
week of December I had virtually completed
all of our Christmas shopping, bar the essentials
such as fruit and veg. Come Christmas
morning, it was obvious that I had bought the
wrong presents for some, had pieces missing
from others, while some just didn’t work as
advertised. So after New Year, I began the
onerous task of contacting the appropriate
online stores.
eBuyer provided a superb returns process
for the item that did not do as it was advertised
- basically the helicopter did not
hover! They issued an RMA number and
collected the item within days; excellent!
However, they subsequently sent a replacement
that we refused to accept and we’re
now awaiting a full refund. eBuyer were not
so helpful regards the two 4GB miniSD
cards that I incorrectly purchased – I
should’ve bought microSD… doh! Because I
had purchased them in November, they
would not accept them as returns, even
though I explained that they were
Christmas presents.
I didn’t have any items to return to
Amazon, but what used to be a showpiece
that they claim ‘guarantees’ your success, but
involves spending (in Euros) 590 which gets
you a personalized website for marketing the
pills. There are other promises too, but the
bottom line is that this is a marketing ploy. You
join not to help the world, but to earn money.
The fact that you do, indeed, help cut emissions
is a by-product.
According to the website, you will earn 1
on each pill sold – good if you sell thousands.
The person behind the UK scheme was Leon
Warner who provided our drivers with packs
at greatly reduced prices – often giving up all
his commission to try to gain future buys. As
Mel’s letter shows, he achieved his aim of
making everyone aware of the pill and so far
as Call Sign was concerned, deserved to do
very well on future sales. But there was one
problem – sales needed to be on a regular
and much larger basis to make it pay as a full
time job and there was only one way that
could happen - he needed the PCO to allow
drivers to use the Power Pill instead of fitting
ridiculously overpriced emission contraptions.
Call Sign introduced Leon Warner to Roy
Ellis, then Head of the PCO. He read the genuine
reviews that DaC drivers had written in
this mag and agreed that the product
appeared to work. Roy brought up one prob-
online store is fast becoming a nightmare. I
regard myself as being very technical, but
somehow I managed to order two expensive
Canon lenses and of course it wasn’t my fault!
Amazon now allow Partners to sell through
their online store, however Amazon’s integration
with their Partners system is not as seamless
as you’d expect. I ordered a lens, but did
not receive confirmation of the order and
could not see the order in my current or order
history, so I contacted the Partner to see if
they had received the order; which they
hadn’t. So I ordered again and funnily
enough, both orders came through at the
same time even though they were placed over
24 hours apart! Luckily enough the partner
recognised the order and cancelled one, but
that could have been an expensive blunder.
So my lessons learnt for next Christmas?
Only order within December and try to avoid
buying through Amazon using their Partners
system, it just causes too much hassle.
And Ernest Jones? No problems with the
jewellery at all.
lem that turned out to be insurmountable –
how would the PCO know drivers weren’t
using Power Pill for a week before the overhaul
to get emissions down (it worked immediately)
and then stop using it for the following
11.5 months?
Many DaC drivers were using it regularly
and still ask Call Sign if there are any other
outlets, but the nature of life means there
would be others who used it just for the overhaul.
There was no way Leon could prove that
everyone would use it – after all, it wasn’t free
and eventually he had to give up trying. He
tried convincing the radio circuits to buy large
quantities at discounted prices, but we
weren’t talking about a few hundred quid – it
would have involved many thousands of
pounds and the problems of storing and
reselling.
It is sad because Power Pill worked, but
other than giving it away for nothing, it seems
it will never be a major selling product in the
way it is marketed. Where Mel is probably
correct, I can’t see the fuel companies agreeing
to sell it at their sites in opposition to their
own fuel!
Computer Chinchat
from Vince Chin
Alan Fisher
Fields of Flanders
My youngest son is in his final year of GCSE
and recently went to the fields of Flanders and
returned a changed lad. It seems that actually
visiting the memorials, cemeteries, trenches,
field hospitals etc, has brought home what
sacrifices our ancestors underwent. It also
helped that the wife had researched and
found members of both our families who took
part in the Somme and Ypres; one died, one
lived, respectively.
The company my son’s school went with are
all ex-military who have researched the subject
and brought to life vivid true stories of events
during those battles. My son managed to record
some of those stories, which were superb. I will
definitely be taking a trip to Flanders, hopefully
this year. There are many web sites promoting
battlefield tours as it’s now big business, but my
son highly recommends these guys:
www.angliabattlefields.co.uk/.
Be Lucky and see you next month
Vince Chin
Call Sign online