Friday 18 November 2011

Bottles 2 clocks

Have you had a look at some of the fantastic bottle clocks and cheesboards over on our updated sister site...?

http://www.bottles2clocks.co.uk/

Some really great original ideas for presents. Unique and handmade from recycled glass bottles. Order on line or visit us at Ballito bay on St Andrew's Street.

Thursday 27 October 2011

Not so random facts...number 2

Autism diagnoses growing in the USA by 10-17% each year !

Times and Tribune


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Wednesday 7 September 2011

The impact of big business indifference

Those of you that have been following us from the Saltmarket premises, will remember that we had a huge struggle getting a telephone line and broadband connection after a lot of empty promises from Virgin Media Business. The trouble started when in December we were told its about a two week turnaround from Order to installation. We submitted the order only for it to go missing. Being human we are reasonably understanding particularly when the bad weather affected everyone. The post Christmas week led us to try and redo the order, only to discover that Virgin Media Business was closed from the 24th of December to the 2nd of January.

Now an organisation that employs 12500 employees and enjoys over a million customers, you would expect that at the very least there would be a skeleton staff to answer the phones over the holiday season. I should have stopped to think, there and then. I was however  blinded by the promise of superfast broadband.

The order was finally placed and accepted in January and we had an install date allocated for the 7th of February. The seventh of February came and went and there was no sign of Virgin. A phone call later and we were told there was a delay and the new install date was the 7th of March.

Bear in mind that this is a business utility  - not residential. BT could have done the install albeit with an ADSL line in under 3 weeks. We started to complain. The impact this had on walk in and online business was entering a high end four figure sum. We could not process credit card transactions automatically and had to make 0845 calls on mobile phones every time we needed to process a transaction. Working on the artists social media project had become nigh impossible impacting negatively on that side of our business.

We started to Tweet, Facebook and Forum notify. Suddenly we had the attention of the Bosses. An installation was organised and finally in March we had our installation.

What has come out of this is that we have realised that we are not alone. Virgin media are hurting businesses all over the country by its indifferent approach to customer service. They are also hurting themselves.

We agreed a compensation package, which was pound for pound extremely short of our losses, but in good faith and in the interests of spending our time constructively we decided to move on. We were asked informally not to reveal the details of this package. VIRGIN MEDIA Remember we signed NOTHING - it was all in good faith.

We moved premises with a promise of a maximum four week wait for our new install. I was told this would be much easier because it was an off network move and that it was an ADSL line installed by BT. A simple plug in, switch on operation.

I have the confirmation email that installation was to be on the 25th of August. I was initially impressed because the technician turned up on the 24th. Opened up the sockets, pressed a few buttons, played with some equipment and left. On the 25th two different technicians turned up  and did the same, announcing it would take a couple of hours and we were ready to go. Neither of the two technicians knew anything about the bloke that turned up on the 24th.

When we realised we had a phone line but no ADSL/broadband on the 26th I called to log the problem, and the previous number still had not been ported.

Since then Virgin have blamed BT,  BT have blamed Virgin. We had a new technician turn up and confirm the ADSL line was live and that it was a Virgin problem.

I have been given a static ip address, which any even slightly savvy person can test and realise it remains unallocated. VIRGIN MEDIA FAIL. This has nothing to do with BT, but everything to do with Virgin media's indifferent and possibly underpaid tech and customer service staff.

We have been given every excuse under the sun, from its a line fault and BT's fault, exchange problem - still BT's fault. Software fault, a reset at Virgin would fix it (Still waiting) - Ummmm unsure what it is and cant give a fix date. Hang on a fix date? It is even properly installed yet. How can you fix something that isn't even installed properly?

I decided to play devils advocate. I called BT business yesterday, gave them the address and postcode and asked for an installation date as well as a time frame. They made no promises. They asked me if they could come back to me. They had to find out about exchange status, line viability and some technical stuff. They came back to me (Something Virgin promises but fail to do) Guess what -Two weeks. The lines are live and active, no problems at the exchange and we can get a better deal. ADSL and lines.

Our telephone number was finally redirected yesterday.

We've just had a call to say they are sending the BT technician over. I am tempted to YouTube the shop CCTV which will capture it, when the technician finds nothing wrong. I really hope he does find something, because if Virgin are being wholly incompetent, we'll be passing business to one of the regular stream of lawyers that pass through our neighbourhood and thus our shop on their way to the courts across the road. And this time it wont be a paltry compensation package. Because consistent bad service hurts business, which hurts the economy and we need EVERYONE small and big business alike to approach economic stimulation seriously.


Virgin you are in breach of contract. Start quoting the small print again and we'll quote the law. The small print does NOT exempt you from the law.

Are you going to pay my advertising costs? Are you going to pay my rent proportionate to loss of revenue? What about my other overheads? If you took the hit proportionately to your revenue that we have taken to ours, it would make business news headlines!

And we are now being contacted by others that have suffered under their bad service, administration and big company bullying. It is a well known fact that when the small guys get together, their shouting is loud and it gets heard. One small voice turns louder with each person/business that emails us and sends us details of their experience. It is the customer that pays your salaries, your rent, your overheads. If we successfully called on every dissatisfied Virgin customer to withhold payment for ninety days, it would be interesting to see what happens to your cash flow!

Creative industries, find creative ways to resolve problems.Virgin should try employing some creative people. By the way that Churchill salute on their website actually looks like the people are standing behind a rude hand gesture! Says so much for what they think of their customers.

Sunday 4 September 2011

Pearsons - End of an era in Scotland

With Pearsons closing down, leaving Scotland one supplier less and no source of Art Glass on the west coast of Scotland, we are going to stock and supply small amounts of bullseye and spectrum glass. We shall also have some moulds and tools available. We wont however seek to be competing with the lovely folk at Retro-Glass on the scale on which they operate.

We'll also be stocking very small sizes and amounts of glass for those of you that want to finish off that essential project without having to buy a full. half or quarter sheet. sizes will be marked by area and/or weight. Either or both. This will incude frit etc.

While our business is primarily aimed at the walk in market, a mail/phone order service will be available.
 We have an excellent book resourcing service and will seek to provide books at cut rate prices.
Books are available to buy, or if youre just looking to resource a project come into our reference library.

While we are strict about copyright issues, photocopying is available for research and students, for a nominal fee.

Monday 22 August 2011

Our new gallery opens at last...

Finally after months of searching and weeks of hard work our new gallery and coffee shop is now open. We've a much larger range of glass art, jewellery and stained glass, and much more room in a huge basement workshop to undertake special commissions and restoration. Our teaching will expand as well so look out for our updated list of Glass classes for September.

We can still offer you great tasting coffee, teas, and cold drinks whilst you browse, or why not join us for breakfast, with lovely bacon, sausage and potato scone hot rolls on offer every morning.

With great music and free WiFi thrown into the mix, why not pay us another visit very soon. We look forward to seeing you :-)

Here are some piccies of our new gallery





Friday 22 July 2011

Fireworks app - from Ballito Bay

Coming Soon...... from Ballito Bay, that web app, glass artists have been waiting for! A Brilliant little app, that lets you choose the make (Bullseye, System 96, Baoli etc.) and thickness of the glass(2mm, 3mm,6mm)  and then what you want to do with it - fuse, slump, cast etc and produces a recommended firing schedule in either centigrade or fahrenheit. The easiest quick access handy helper right in your pocket! Available in both android and iphone!

Soon to follow... other crafters schedules. Watch this space.

Wednesday 20 July 2011

We are moving...

Yes, our search for bigger and better premises has been concluded successfully and we've just signed a lease, and will be moving over the next two weeks.

The new Gallery and workshop will be just around the corner in St Andrew's Street in the building previously used by the Gorbals Art project. It's a much bigger unit, with more floorspace and a huge basement. Plenty of room for all our different activities; teaching and demonstrations, glassworks, Art, and our cafe. We are going to be open later into the evening on some days, and our Saturday Vinyl record sessions will also move to the new Gallery. There will even be space for the occasional live performance !

We'll be having a big opening event pretty soon so watch this space for all the details...


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Saturday 16 July 2011

Your memories preserved for ever ( well, nearly. For a long time anyway!)

We've just started doing something a little different here at Ballito Bay. Say you've got a lovely image or photograph you want to keep or display. We are now able to take a copy and transfer it onto a glass plaque or pendant!

We posted some images on Twitter

If you go though our tweets, you'll see the images ! Or have a look over at our website http://www.ballitobay.co.uk/

Or... Here

And
Here


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Tuesday 12 July 2011

Scooping the news

Jaye signed up to a new social media projec called Scoop it! This online product enables you to curate your own topic and manage the content. Its really fabulous and Ive had a look at what she's done for her project with scottish autism. I have hastily followed suit and truly hope that they will invite us to do the same.

The Art glass industry is so diverse and is made up of an international glassy people population that really enjoy sharing their work. This application is great for sharing news and views globally and makes accessing what is happening world widea positive experience.

Cant wait for the invite!

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Wednesday 8 June 2011

Ballito Bottles-part 2

Have a look over at our Tumblr for some lovely ideas for #fathers day coming up very soon. Contact us or purchase through the website contact page.

Enjoy

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Monday 16 May 2011

Ballito Bottles !

We've turned the showroom into the workshop for the next few weeks. This is mainly to catch up on some work and build up stock again. We took delivery of hundreds of empty glass bottles today to be turned into clocks, place mats, serving dishes, cheeseboards, vases, and tumblers.

Lots of jewellery to make as well as more pieces for the whips and chains exhibition that's coming up.

So, if you want to watch us at work turning recycled glass into beautiful jewellery and tableware, as well as some wonderfully erotic art, why not pop along and have a coffee whilst watching us creating :-)


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Wednesday 11 May 2011

More erotica..

More items for the forthcoming Whips and Chains exhibition came out of the kiln this morning... here's a sneek preview of the work involved. The pieces are set on a clear glass with white swirl effect, and sepia olden day style images of various BDSM and LGBT symbols, poses and activity.
Register your interest on the website contact form, and if you'd like an invite to the opening event, let us know as well


Monday 9 May 2011

Whips and Chains...

Is the title of our forthcoming exhibition. To give it its full moniker, Whips and Chains - a Journey in Glass through the world of BDSM Erotica...

Now this might not be to everyone's taste, but some of the planned pieces are going to be really beautiful and certainly thought provoking. And to give you a wee taster, have a look at some photographs of the first pieces. All the pieces will be on sale following the exhibition, some individually and some as collections....Please get in touch using our website contact form if you are interested in an invite to the exhibition opening night, or wish to express a purchase interest..



Thursday 5 May 2011

A redesign for Ballito Bay...

We've had a couple of months now to look at what we do, and one thing which has come up time and time again is a need for more seating. As we're open in the evenings and for meetings and events, the two leather sofa's, nice though they are, just are not enough for what we need, but space is limted and we didn't want to lose the 'living room' feel which so many folks like about our place. So, what to do...

Well, we moved the reception desk. It was just becoming a clutter magnet, so its gone into the void which is the workshop front creating more space out front of house in the showroom. We now have a couple of tables with chairs, and voila... more seating. You can see the results in the pictures below.


















Have a look, and come along for a coffee, a browse, a read, a listen, a chat, a chillax...or hold your group event or meeting chez nous. The space is free and can be yours exclusively.

See y'all very soon

Sunday 24 April 2011

Education in Glass - a paradox.

To be perfectly honest, I have lost faith in formal crafts education. 1st year students learn in one semester at University what takes two years at Further education colleges, possibly more. I know. I've seen both and been in both environments. I will however add that the practical aspect of glass education at college prepares students well for advancement at University, but at the colleges the creative nature of craft and applied arts is stifled in order to achieve the practical outcomes that are perceived as necessary to achieve in the craft once qualified.

University Arts education provides for a much wider creative space for growth and when in the context of applied arts we still see new ideas and concepts developing.

I regularly receive enquiries about short courses, particulalry from people who have had some sort of exposure but need to develop a new area, because they are devloping their creative ideas further. I personally think that the idea of modular qualifications in certain areas of education is ideal and by allowing the student to pick and choose modules, some essential for further development and others for perfecting a particular skill will open doors for mature students and enable them to gain qualifications at a speed that is comfortable and affordable to them. I believe in tasting whats out there, so a lot of what I teach falls in line with what I was taught, and tweaked here and there with what I found made the experience easier.

So here goes - I shall be offering very small modules in glass craft education that will enable crafters to move in new directions or even possibly develop a current skill or indeed overcome problems or shortcomings in the skills they have already developed.

If youre looking for a short course, evenings, weekends or day courses, please let me know or visit our main website and craft blog here

Saturday 23 April 2011

Buckfast in time...and a sneaky peek through the glory hole.


At last, our Buckfast bottles have been put to good use ! We are now proud to be the Saltmarket's only purveyors of unique hand-crafted Buckfast timepieces..

The Buckfast Clocks are now on sale.

The bottles are lovingly collected from the more salubrious parts of Glasgow's fair city and delivered to our workshop by many of the local 'characters' who inhabit these environs.

They are stored in our drinks cabinet (you can see the picture to the left ) where the glass is aged and allowed to stand. the bottles are then ready to go through the arduous and time-consuming journey to clockhood...

Washed thoroughly, with their labels carefully removed, the bottles are then placed in one of our kilns on the specially prepared and balanced kiln shelves, and heated to only the highest temperatures. Indeed, the programme takes the heat up to over 800 degrees ! The bottles slowly collapse, or 'slump' as the process is known in the trade, and cool down. A sneeky peek through the glory hole during this process reveals an incredibly shiny bright orange knob of glass. the bottles are then removed from the kiln, cleaned again, drilled and the clock face fitted. After the labels have been reglued, the clock is then ready for sale....and you can find them in our showroom or on the website for mail order




Saturday 16 April 2011

Saying what you really want to say.......

Have you ever itched to say something but haven't because it might be considered inappropriate or you may feel embarrassed or judged by the listeners.

As I get older this itch seems to get more the better of me and I have found that my core beliefs take more of a controlling effect that my upbringing. I was raised not to make a fuss in public, keep the stiff upper lip or to walk away with dignity.

Well I have news for you. You can have your say AND still keep your dignity. My other half makes that perfectly clear too.I'll probably blog about this more over the next few months but the first issue I'm going to raise is Double Standards and saying it like it is.

Double Standards are rife everywhere, very much with the "well if they can do it, so can we" approach, local authorities, and central government being particularly to blame. This culture of passing it on has truly filtered down to the man on the street.

Wednesday 6 April 2011

Scottish Autism

We had a lovely chat with the ladies from Scottish Autism ( used to be the Scottish Autistic Society, I think) yesterday afternoon in the showroom :-) They talked about their plans for the future and the services they provide to people on the Autistic spectrum and their families and friends, and the tough times ahead for all charity service providers and agencies, as well as the struggle to raise awareness and fundraise for what is sometimes a really hidden condition.

Now its easy to understand the devastation this lifelong condition can have on people and families. Those affected often look no different from anybody else on the streets of our towns and cities, but when you know a little more about Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Aspergers Syndrome, you start to realise just how it impacts on everybody connected to the person affected. Most often, care is provided by these families with little or no outside help and little or no funding ! Indeed, the families save the government millions of pounds annually by providing this care with little respite from the daily struggle it can sometimes become.

Imagine not being able to leave books, magazines, or paperwork anywhere because your child rips it up, removes the pages, and rearranges them in reverse order. Or insist a on straightening up all the DVD's and CD's inside their cases before leaving home everyday...

Sunday 3 April 2011

Brand new at Ballito Bay

We'll be setting up a range of tutorials in pdf. and video format, both with supporting notes. These are mainly structured for those of you that are unable to travel to our classes and to help complete beginners. All material is copyrighted and there is a notional fee (between £1.99 and £5.99) to watch them, and use the notes however they are are downloadable and come with unique passwords.

There'll now be a weekly project tutorial, including how to's and of course discount codes if you would like to follow on to buy a DVD with all the video content and print copies of the tutorial.

Thursday 17 March 2011

Virgin - The end of an era !

Well, well, a real surprise today. We noticed some fellows with discrete Virgin logo's on their apparel lurking outside our gallery this morning. They were earnestly discussing stuff in a huddled bunch, pointing at the road, pavement, roof, sky, everything really. Then all of a sudden - armageddon ! six vehicles turned up, each loaded with an assortment of diggers, drills, big rolls of cable, and chaps in hard hats (and one girl in a hard hat as well - she was bossing the navies doing the digging !) Cones were deposited, pavements were cordoned off, tools were unloaded. And the work began.

Apparently, according to the chaps, it had been ordained that our services were to be installed-by hook or by crook. So instead of waiting until April, we now have all our Virgin Media services, and we can now have our stationery printed and receive phone calls on a bona fide landline number (which, by the way, is 0141 572 0513 if you should feel the urge to phone us for a goss).

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Passover

Our latest products for passover are now on the website. We are now taking commissions for Seder plates, Matzah plates. Decorative stained glass and Mezuzot are also available if you are looking for a gift, or just to refresh your home this year. We are bookmarked on Delicious

 Or take a look at our website at http://tinyurl.com/49pb8kv 

Advertising or controversy ?


There's been quite a lot of interest in our latest car sticker!
Now, most folk think its mildly amusing, funny, even, or downright hilarious, however, I'm not sure absolutely everyone would agree.

So, tell us what you think. Here's a photo of the sticker in a friend's car..




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Thursday 10 March 2011

More crap from Virgin Media..

The saga continues, in true epic form, like a macabre twisted Barbara Taylor Bradford potboiler.
They still refuse to reply to emails and continue to run around like Laurel and Hardy on a bad day. The installation dudes turned up on the appointed day after their contractors had dug up the pavement, and installed the underground access point by our gallery. Virgin dudes turned up and cabled the gallery, promising to return the next morning and link us up externally. Great, you'd think. The cack handed tossers had finally got their shit together and done the job they had promised back in January.

Wrong.

Because after doing all that expensive construction work, they still couldn't complete our installation because their survey hadn't picked up the fact that their conduit was too full of other cables for ours to fit !

So back to their drawing board then. And meanwhile, the compensation bill is mounting....


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Friday 4 March 2011

The ongoing saga of Virgin media's failure

Well, they've been at it again ! the Virgin Media 'customer service' team (if ever there was a misnomer, that phrase is it ) called today to let us know that they are finally going to come along and grace us with their presence on Monday. Woop de fuckin woo........

This is the installation which should have taken place in January, except they close down for nearly two weeks over Christmas and New Year (well, their business account customer team does !!), and then February, except they forgot to tell us that they couldn't install and tried to put the blame on Glasgow City Council ( Fail - they just forgot to deal with the paperwork so thought they'd blame the cooncil).
Anyway, they did send flowers and chocolates, so, thats supposed to be all right then ? and they did offer to discuss compensation for all the lost credit card busines over the Valentines weekend, one of our busiest trading periods, so thats all right then ?

WRONG.......

At least according to one of their rather aggressive hectoring so-called customer service dudes who goes by the name of Matthew Middleton. He grandly informed me that Virgin does not pay compensation - even when they are in the wrong and have admitted it. Its in the 'contract' you see. No matter that they broke their contract with us. No matter that they cost us oodles of lost sales. No matter shit...

The lordly Mattew Middleton then got even shirtier. He informed me that if we were not in on Monday when his installation team arrived, we would be charged ! Can you believe it, you really could'nt make it up could you ? When I said I was going to raise another complaint, he told me that I could do whatever I wanted, in a matter of fact sort of way these eejits do when they know their company's complaints proceedures are so tortuous that no one ever manages to get any sort of resolution to a complaint, usually giving up through sheer obstefuction. They do after all have the modern day back up which invariably goes with accusations of poor service, which goes something like... "I don't like the way you are speaking to me" or "I'm finding you aggressive" or "please don't speak to me like that"... No shit Sherlock. If you didn't give such crap customer service mate, I wouldn't have to complain would I ?

So let me just get this straight. Virgin won't pay any compensation if they don't come when they say they will, and don't let you know, BUT if you aren't there when they come, they charge you..

Needless to say, I got rather fed up with this hectoring rant from the arrogant Matthew Middleton. There was a tax collector in the bible called Matthew. Virgin's Matthew this morning had a lot in common with his biblical namesake's early life..

And if this is customer service from Virgin, then they deserve to go bust. Our wonderful 3-dongle does the biz for WiFi, and there's always good old BT for a phone line for credit card transactions. Alternatives to Virgin, should they continue to be so crap....

Our compo claim against Virgin is mounting, and after Matthew Middleton's call this morning, we're not in much of a mood to negociate...

And if you're a business contemplating broadband and telephone service installation, DON'T go to Virgin Media. In fact, you'd be better off anywhere else.

Anywhere but Virgin...

Friday 25 February 2011

The power of Three

Our problems with Virgin Media have almost become legendary, amongst the twitter community. While the dust settles and we now not only have no business phone, we are also without a home phone for nearly a week!

The next post will cover the trouble with Virgins very poor customer services communication, and total inability to comply with disability legislation, but lets save that for then. This post is about Three. Yes, the people at three.co.uk , the unassuming excellent service, slightly smaller telecommunications company that I predict in the next decade is going to kick the arrogant butt of the really big guys.

Three has the most affordable and cost effective solutions at prices that make the other telecoms companies look like Dick Turpin and his rip off gang.

I have become a Three convert over the last six months, and in all honesty have only one gripe - There is no signal is the tiny Norfolk village of Methwold Hythe. That said, they really do make the difference.

As of tomorrow we will have been in our premises for three months. We run a number of business activities that especially require the services of a phone and broadband provider, one of our backoffice activities includes web presence for creative people and introducing small business people to social media marketing. No internet - very hard to do business.

Of course we also market our business online, both by having an online shop and by using and maintaining social media relationships with our target client base.

In South Africa there is a saying "'n boer maak 'n plan" - translated it means a farmer/afrikaner makes a plan. - basically no such thing as cant. So in true South African style, we looked for a solution.

I already had a Three dongle that came with a special offer on my daughters netbook, which made a perfect gift for her. While having a dongle that provides 15G of interent juice at a time,it was only keeping one of us online.

Step in the Three MiFi dongle. I must be honest, I had my doubts - this is essentially mobile phone signal internet - not fibre optic. How wrong I was. We bought a Mi-Fi on pay as you go. It does exactly what it says on the box. It connects up to five wireless devices to the internet at the same time. The only time, there is any strain is if several people try to stream video at the same time.

I honestly feel that not only do I get what I paid for, the value is fantastic. I can control the access to the wifi from a small dashboard on my computer, and my customers can have their free wi-fi access.

Now after my misery with the 02/BT/Virgin giants, I have noticed Three, and Three you shine! Over the next six month my iphone contracts will end and guess what 02 - we're leaving you! I'm going to Three. Not only am I leaving you, I am taking, my friends, family and client base with me. so the £200 a month that you will lose (a seeming drop in the ocean extrapolates. You will be losing what would have been 120 retained and new client every month. That works out at £24000, now over a year that becomes over £280 000. That may still be a drop in the ocean to you, but when those clients spread the word, in this economic climate surely that must make you uncomfortable.

Three it's your gain and you didnt even have to try very hard. Your staff are courteous and friendly, your deals are the best on the market and your equipment works. I bought an ipad for my partner to use for business and all going well we'll be getting more.

Saturday 19 February 2011

#Virginmediafail

Bloody Virgin Media ! A bunch of flowers, however well meant, is no compensation for your total and absolute cock-up over our services installation.

They did the site survey, assured us that there was no problem and it was a pretty simple job, even phones us subsequently with an installation date. So far, so good ? Too good. Something had to be wrong...and, well, No shit, Sherlock, it sure did.

Installation day came, and no sign of Virgin. Phone calls and email elicited no response. Now being ignored realy winds me up...badly. So we started tweeting about this cock-up and poor service using the hashtag #Virginmediafail. And lo and behold, Virgin have a very nice and helpful team of folk who tweet, and aparently, watch out for tweets about their business. These guys picked up on our tweets and tried their best to sort shit out for us. We finally made contact with their business instalation department who gave us a load of old fanny about our installation.

The upshot is that we weren't told the whole story. Seems our sales account manager had ommitted to tell us about a problem, tried to put the blame onto Glasgow City Cooncil, and generally flipped about like a fish speared on a gaff.

So now, we won't get our installation until March, week 2. No internet (for free wifi) no landline and internet either, which of course means no credit card machine operation either. And over Valentine's weekend, which as the more savvy of you, dear readers will no, is a very busy time for people who sell jewellery and other gift-like products. So its cash or cheque only here..lost business galore too.
We got the very nice and very helpfuk folk at 3 to sort us out with a dongle which allows up to five internet users, and this is quite good for now, except that it costs quite a lot of money to use...

And so the compensation claim is mounting, people at Virgin, if you are watching. Going up.
So no more flowers please, however well intended. Just better service.

#virginmediafail

Wednesday 16 February 2011

Text for Coffee

You thought paying for parking using your mobile phone was a good idea? What about the ringtones and music you order? Well now we have TEXT FOR COFFEE. Yup why struggle for the change in your pocket, or pay by credit card for a £1-00 piece of cake?

Ballito Bay is bringing you Text for Coffee, which means two things - Our customers can come in and pay by text, if they have no cash available, or they can order coffee if the are within a two block radius. Office workers, lawyers in the courts and fellow shop keepers will now be able to text for coffee.

Our text for coffee menu will include a code each for regular priced drinks, large priced drinks, cakes and biscuits. The customers text to the code, and specify whether they would like a Latte, Cappucino, Machiato and/or cake/biscuits. They leave their name and the destination e.g text to xxxxxx latte, Greg, district court no 6.and we turn up with the drink minutes later.

So let us know what you think and go to the website - an example of the text for coffee menu will be up and running by Monday.

The next step will enable customers to buy glass by text. If they want to purchase an item they can and we'll ship it next day or they can come in to collect!
submit to reddit

Sunday 6 February 2011

Verification post

Its not that I usually have to write a blog post, so that it can be verified by the likes of Technorati, but we all know that these bookmarking sites are vital to the appearance and survival of our sites in cyberspace. So I thought that I might add a few notes to those that come to read the blog at least about social media and marketing.

I do not know many people that are not on facebook and even fewer that have never heard of it. I advertise on facebook and my daily budget gets used up very quickly. This simple method of reaching out to targeted audiences has left my google stats standing. That doesn't mean Google isnt any good. Google is great, but for direct targeting facebook is far better.

We use Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Technorati, Linkedin, Plaxo and many others to raise our profile and it does in fact work. But thats the whole idea.

The more the little places are mentioned in cyberspace the bigger the fight against the corporate giants. I love Yelp. It means that I can recomend the really good small business around me and deter people from the places that prevent people from returning to our side of the city.

If youre connected on any or all of these platforms, please look us up, join and of course say hello, we acknowledge you because youre importnat.

ANd for the folks at technorati heres your verification code. PC6DV2FHXXCH

Saturday 5 February 2011

The first of many

While we twitter prolifically and of course use facebook as a fabulous social media source, blogging is also a great way to communicate and get the message out.

Today I was muttering at the sheer lack of passing punters when in the distance I heard a marching band. I shook my head and rubbed my ears and established that I wasnt hallucinating. Now this is early February and the Marching season is traditionally April to July, so I had to take a look. Yes the Orangemen were out and in force.

Huge hat and long trousers
I love entertainment and display and while I acknowledge that many view the Orange marches as sectarian, I have to admit that they add some colour to the otherwise grey and dismal Glasgow landscape. But the march was peaceful and the uniforms attractive. It was entertaining to see a few of the younger members in uniforms that were too large and are clearly going to take a few years to grow into.

I have no idea why they chose today to march, but the change of regular bypassers at the very least made the day interesting. No offence to my Catholic friends.

I was wondering why we dont see the Catholics march, although it has been suggested to me that they already do - at every Celtic Football club game.....now now - tolerance please!

Our shop is open to all, protestant, catholic, muslim, jew, hindu, atheist, I only ask that they wipe their feet when they walk in.

All that aside, for a city that has a rapidly declining Jewish population, I am selling more Judaica than anything else! It seems that jewish art is popular, well roll on the customers, more judaica will be finding its way onto the shelves and walls next week. And latte remains the coffee of choice.
Freezing Glasgow in February - note the bare arms!

"Begin at the beginning" - Lewis Carroll

This is the beginning, of a new chapter in our lives. I have driven Jaye crazy, my children were already crazy and I've only made them craier and to be honest, I must be the craziest of all.

Timing was awful but in mitigation, I didnt count on the coldest and most hazardous winter to hit Scotland in 27 years. We were crazy about it though, moving house and fitting and moving into a new shop at the same time. Then the cold struck. I am simply not cut out to be refitting a shop in sub zero temperatures. The draughty shop averaged an ambient -5 while it was -11 outside. I think fate has an evil sense of humour. If the opening scenes of our personal drama were not enough, Jaye and I then had the misfortune to contract both the swine and the seasonal flu simultaneously while trying to fit our shop and unpack and settle into our new home.

But persevere we did and there is still huge scope for triumph so I'd rather be a glass half full than a glass half empty. The conditions in which we worked have been incredible, cold, draughty and then of course the ratty, moody, ill tempered remanats of the flu managed to get under our skins as well. With any other partner, I am rather confident we'd be booking a date in the divore courts by now. But not Jaye - When the dust settled, and the days came to an end, she held me in her arms and washed away the aggravation with that all important phrase - "I love you".

Our little business is not only built on bricks, mortar, hard work and financial anxiety come genius. It is also built on love, tolerance, support, sacrifice and all those things that involve human relationships.

Ballito Bay could not have started without the two of us. And the beginning has now begun.