There’s some big noise being made downtown in Auckland City, and if you haven’t heard it (or smelt) yet, you’re missing out. Sal’s Authentic New York Pizza has arrived and they’re shaking up the way people are consuming their pizza. Based on Commerce St, Sal’s quickly got too big for their boots in the early stages of their existence, they literally burst the seams of their first premises so packed up and moved on to bigger things – next door.

Whether it’s the fact that they’re giving away free pizza during All White world cup matches, the massive plasma screen offering a welcome distraction during lunchbreaks, free deliveries on a segway – yeah you heard me, a segway, or that they’re simply good buggers making delicious Authentic New York pizza – they ‘re going places and you don’t want to be the last to experience the all-round goodness going on at Sal’s.

Finally, don’t let the size of their pizza slices overwhelm you during the ordering process, take it from me, you’ll definitely need to back it up with a legendary garlic knot or pepperoni wheel just in case.

Check them out – sals.co.nz

The following is an article as seen in on nzherald.co.nz by Anna Rushworth and Matt Nippert on Sunday Jun 13, 2010.

Sales staff at banks are using scare tactics to pressure low income families into buying products they can’t afford, a whistleblower said last night.

It came as a survey showed 25 per cent of staff feel uncomfortable about encouraging customers to take on overdrafts and credit cards.

The bank worker – who spoke on condition of anonymity – said staff discussed sales strategies for individual customers after retrieving their income details from bank records.

When selling life insurance, they commonly raised fears about “what would happen to your children’s future” to force a sale.

The employee, who works at a major high street bank, said the constant pushing of products on to customers was similar to the McDonald’s philosophy of asking: “Do you want fries with that?”

He said each worker was expected to make at least 25 sales a week – and targets didn’t drop even if a customer is in financial strife.

“The philosophy is around selling something to everybody. It’s a fine line. You feel like you are throwing them a lifeline when in actual fact it’s an anchor.”

The source said some banks even use staff names and account details for training.

“Everyone goes around and says what they would sell to this person.”

The bank he works for set up a stand on a university campus to tout for business using young, blond, female bank staff.

“I felt it looked a little bit weird because they were all a certain type. It almost looked like a cheerleading squad.”

The survey, by the bank workers’ union Finsec, of 585 bank staff revealed that 25 per cent feel uncomfortable about selling debt-causing products to customers.

A further 45 per cent said they felt debt selling to customers had become a higher priority.

Almost four out of five workers said they wanted banks to reduce sales targets during times of recession.

Finsec deputy president Maxine Mullen said staff were “terrified” about failing to meet sales targets.

She said: “If they are not meeting these targets they’re feeling bullied into doing things. They feel they must ask the customer the question if they can see that the customer hasn’t got a credit card or life cover.”

Mullen said staff are made to write a list of their sales targets at a meeting every morning.

“Basically it’s a pledge as to what they think they can do for a week.”

Banks spoken to last night denied the claims.

Westpac head of corporate affairs Sue Foley said Finsec’s surveys had revealed her bank’s staff were the least pushy.

“Like any organisation in retail we do have targets, but our staff don’t have set targets for certain products. We’re there for the customers,” she said.

Kiwibank communications manager Bruce Thompson said the source’s criticism didn’t apply to his bank:

“The targets and incentives that operate in the Australian banks are quite different to the way Kiwibank operates. We don’t have individual performance targets.”

Director of Massey University’s centre for banking studies David Tripe said bank’s retail operations were legally constrained by the Banking Ombudsman and the Fair Trading Act, and the evidence suggested the source’s criticism was not widespread:

“We don’t see large numbers of judgments or prosecutions brought against the banks.”

Avoid getting in debt:

* Work out your finances before you go to the bank so you know what you can and can’t afford.

* Learn to say no. You don’t have to agree with the bank that you need what they’re pushing.

* Seek independent advice on-line or through a budget adviser.

* Think ahead. Plans like having a baby will change your financial position.

- Source: NZ Federation of Family

UP: Dana, you’ve just successfully reached your goal of $400 for some new sunnies – Well done buddy. Firstly, can I ask what the hell you’re needing sunnies for during the New Zealand winter? Or is it that you’re planning on heading somewhere hot?

DJ: Sun still shines in winter buddy…but basically needed a new pair of sunnies and why not try Uncle Percy to get there…?

UP: $400 for a new accessory, you’ll be able to pick up some sweet specs for that price – What style are you going to go for?

DJ: I’m thinking some aviators…but now I’ve got the money I can start looking – who knows…?

UP: Had you used Uncle Percy before, and what did you make of the experience?

DJ: First time… I’m a hopeless saver so the system works well for me. Once the money is in I can’t rip it out again willy-nilly.

UP: What did you find to be the real benefits of the Uncle Percy savings network?

DJ: Ease of saving the cash and contributing bit by bit to see you goal getting closer…your friendly updates were a good reminder to slip in some more $ when I could.

UP: Would you use Uncle Percy again, and if so, what for?

DJ: Sure I would. I’m thinking holidays and travel are good things to save for – we’ll just have to see now won’t we. Cheers Guys.

On behalf of the team at Uncle Percy – A massive congrats guys!

Finance does have a sensible use and reason for existence for thousands of people however. Yes, financing a house or business is commonplace. And this is the beauty of finance – borrowing money for something that has the ability to make you money. But a dark side lurks, and it’s designed to trap the very people who they know don’t have the ability to climb out of the trap once the jaws shut tight. The players in this field are all massive, ‘reputable’ and generally well-known finance companies.

Upon having a twiddle with a New Zealand finance company’s repayment calculator’, it became clear how much money fellow Kiwis were coughing up to these ‘big outfits’ just to have something now. It also became crystal clear how much better off these people could have been if they exercised a little discipline.

One example I played with unfolded like this: The price of a laptop I wanted was $1500, less the $150 deposit I made, making the total amount of finance required $1350. Following this amount some other fees joined the party to blow out my figures. Interest of 21.90% ($503.54), a booking fee of $55.00 and lastly a monthly service fee of $2.50 per month ($90.00) were added; the grand total ballooned to $1998.54 – It doesn’t take rocket science to work out that’s pretty much 25% more than the original cash price. I guess this is the point where I could saturate you with an array of analogies like ‘the Olympics would never make Usain Bolt run 133 meters’, but the math is plain for all to see so I’ll spare you anymore unnecessary garbage. Remember, this is an asset that’s basically worthless once it’s walked out of the store! It’s hard to understand why anyone would pay $2.40 for petrol worth $1.80 a litre just because they needed it now? Whoops, there I go again.

The old mantra of putting some pennies aside seems to be lost on some. Perhaps they didn’t have the right the tools for the job. Uncle Percy is a positive tool to help people from falling into these types of traps – An alternative and sensible way to get the things we want without Mr. Debt Collector chasing our tails. Yes, we understand that some things are needed now, but consequence is a bugger when it’s monthly repayments you can’t afford after the initial buzz of your shiny new purchase has worn off.

Uncle Percy is a new disciplined way to saving, helping Kiwis get the things they want. There’s no hidden fees, just a one-off closing fee of $7.95. And because we’re not a bank or finance company we can have a bit of fun, it’s true, saving can be fun. Whether it’s letting you upload pictures of your goal(‘s), letting you share them with the people in your life using email and social media applications, letting you share your stories and reasons for saving, letting you interact with your networks so they can encourage you and watch your progress along the way or giving you a heads-up and a high five to let you know you’re half way to your goal. We do it all for the greater good of achievement – Genuinely helping you get the things that you want. An Uncle Percy account is non-transactional, meaning you can’t dip into your goal savings for a box of beers on a Friday night. It’s your money, not ours, so we don’t touch it. You say when you need it and we’ll get it straight back to you so you can go and spend the cash guilt free! Achievement is a great feeling.

Successful user: Doug Hall. His fantastic goal: Helping his friend – Graham Farmer – who is desperately in need in Botswana. Graham recently watched his house burn down, leaving him, his wife and three kids with nowhere to live. They literally lost everything and all they have is the clothes they are wearing. They have lived in Gaborone for most of their lives and are well known there, so their local friends have organised a fundraising event and opened a trust fund to help Graham and his family rebuild their lives. Doug set up a goal on Uncle Percy to save $2000 to send to him ($10,000 Botswana Pula), and after successfully reaching his goal, he was kind enough to share his experience using Uncle Percy with us…

UP: How did you hear about Uncle Percy?

DH: On TV

UP: You’ve been saving for a great cause; can you tell our users a little about your goal?

DH: I set myself a goal to save $2000 to help a friend in need and I wasn’t sure how to go about it until I saw a piece about Uncle Percy on TV, it just seemed to be a perfect way of going about it.

UP: What made you think that Uncle Percy was a good way to save for this?

DH: Because the temptation to dip into it was removed. If I had started saving into my ‘savings’ account, I would have been easily able to draw on it for other necessities and it would have taken much longer.

UP: Tell us about the features of Uncle Percy you liked the most?

DH: The ease of being able to donate to the goal-just one click, enter a few details and the deed is done.

UP: Can you think of any ways that we could make Uncle Percy even better for our users?

DH: Nope

UP: Would you use Uncle Percy again, and if so, what do you think your next saving goal might be for?

DH: Yes, I would like to save for a 4×4 for myself to explore this beautiful country of ours!

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with us Doug. We’re sure the Farmer family will be extremely grateful for your initiative and generosity.

Basically, Im the personality behind the brand spanking new online savings network – unclepercy.co.nz – I recommend that you take the time to check it out, it’s rather nifty.

Make yourself at home, feel make comments and interact – I wont bite.

Come on in.

Percy.

UP: How did you hear about Uncle Percy and why did you choose to save for your trip using this method?

MW: Well, the first time I heard of Uncle Percy was when I saw a post come down my Facebook news feed that one of my friends had shared about the lady fundraising for the disaster in Chile. I guess I was just curious to see who Uncle Percy was, and it turned out to be a saving website with some different kind of functions and that anyone could use it so I signed up because the features looked pretty cool.

UP: So what were you actually saving for and how did the functionality aid your savings goal?

MW: Because I’m a student I don’t have a lot of money, so when I saw some cheap flights online to fly to Brisbane I just snapped them up on my mum’s credit card. Obviously I didn’t have the money because I was using my old ladies credit card haha so I needed a way to pay her back other wise I’d be on dishes duty forever when I’m at home. The return flights were like $500, so I started by putting any money I had into my goal, then using Uncle Percy’s Facebook links I shared it with a couple of people who owed me some money (you know how students cash flow operates), and by then I was half way there. I put the rest away a little bit each week over the next month or so and I managed to close it last week – stoked!

UP: So has anyone blown your cover about you heading over for your brothers surprise party yet?

MW: Nah, from what a couple of my bro’s friends have told me he’s still clueless. I even saw him write something on his Facebook like… “My 21st is coming up soon and I still haven’t sorted anything!” hahaha lol. It’s kinda funny, it’s going to be a great weekend. I guess choosing only the friends I wanted to see my goal on Uncle Percy helped me keep the surprise alive too!

UP: Can you see other reasons why you might use Uncle Percy in the future?

MW: Yep, I think it’s pretty cool. I kinda hate saving (like most people I’m sure) but it was quite easy to do using Uncle Percy. I think the fact that I couldn’t dip into my savings at the pup helped too haha. That’s one of my big downfalls whenever I think I’m making some progress with something I’m saving for. I’ve been thinking I might get a Motorbike, so between now and summer I might have enough time to save the money if I use Uncle Percy again.

UP: Thanks for taking the time to share your experience using Uncle Percy with us. Hopefully next time we talk to you’ll be boasting about your new Motorbike in summer – cheers.