[Closed] So anyone avoiding Amazon, Starbucks and the like?

shoplift

I dont like paying tax and would happily pay less legally.

If my business didnt try to be efficent with costs I would be worried.

Shop local avoid nestle like the plague and always talk about it . The boycotts are only part of the impact the general negative publicity also has a significant impact . It will be easier for politicians to make a stand against the multinationals if public opinion clearly supports that action.

Have avoided Amazon since I first realised they were shipping from Jersey.

Would rather pay a quid more for a DVD and support a smaller business.

If my business didnt try to be efficent with costs I would be worried.

As a business owner I certainly don't try to pay more than I have to, but I'd be worried if I could get away with paying nearly nothing.

Yes. Best thing to do is boycott companies and write to them saying why, write to your MP, also make a donation to UK Uncut

Have stopped using Amazon altogether - I always bought most books and music from local stores but I was using amazon for hard to find / out of print books but I've stopped

Starbucks - stopped using them years ago as coffee is so poor

Apple - that's harder, still supporting them

Google - still using them, just making sure I never click on any ads as that's revenue for them

Facebook - I only use on mobile devices so no ads or ad revenue

So do we all still use the German online sellers for bike stuff ? They are exploiting a VAT loophole which benefits German tax revenue and hurts the UK ?

LBS for me jambo, on principle will not use big faceless corps if it can be avoided, sure you pay a little more initially up front,but there is a much bigger picture- its not a race to the bottom.

been sticking it to Starbucks for years. In fact last week in King's Cross me and and my 14 month old rammed it right up their tax-dodges. His nose was running, no tissues. Walked in, lifted a bunch of napkins, walked out, no purchase. Yeaaah!!!!

I went to Starbucks for the first time in ages last Friday, had a really crap cup of coffee, it was also packed with people, no seats to be had, lots of people working/having meetings.

So I doubt any small gesture of individual boycott, writing to MP etc would have any impact, given that negative reporting on accounting practices doesn't seem to have.

I had three hours to kill so went next door to Burger King and had one of their coffees, was much much better. Burger King are ok aren't they?

So, what are the alternatives to Amazon for books and CDs?

im trying to use http://www.fairsharemusic.com for my downloads rather than amazon or itunes

tbh i should change my vodafone contract too

I was thinking the other day that someone should produce a list of approved non tax dodging companies

[quote=kimbers ]im trying to use http://www.fairsharemusic.com for my downloads rather than amazon or itunes
tbh i should change my vodafone contract too
I was thinking the other day that someone should produce a list of approved non tax dodging companies
Is it only tax-dodging you object to or are there other moral issues that would make you avoid certain companies?

trouble is small businesses can be just as guilty

[url= http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/16295dfe-3307-11e2-aabc-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2CwcbW9xr ]Revenue ‘overwhelmed’ by tax avoidance[/url]

No, I see no reason to avoid them. You lot are weird.

Have avoided Amazon since I first realised they were shipping from Jersey

Not so - they have a mahoosive warehouse and shipping unit in Fife.

I have always avoided Starbucks since reading [i]No Logo[/i] many years ago, they actively/agressivley seek to drive small business' out of areas - frankly shame on anyone who does use them. (selling coffee is a big part of my business)

Have thought twice about Amazon but then other than their books they are more of a distribution network than "producer" as such so all the small/med business' selling through the network are paying tax on the goods so they are not quite so bad as Starbucks IMO.

Do think that tax avoidance is a serious offence and frankly beleive that paying tax is a civic duty. (I must be Swedish or something).

Can't avoid google at times, but don't do FB.

list of approved non tax dodging companies

good luck with that!

I would look closer to home than just picking out US firms that are in the headlines, most Starbucks are franchises too run by UK staff.

list of approved non tax dodging companies

I'd like to know what the difference between tax dodging, avoidance and minimisation is, first.

[img] [/img]

Not so - they have a mahoosive warehouse and shipping unit in Fife.

The money seemed to be going to Jersey though.

I was vaguely aware they probably weren't physically sending millions of parcels from the Channel Islands. They've got a big unit beside the M1 as well.

Why would I want to inconvenience myself by going to a local shop when I can get everything I want from Amazon et al?

Amazon Prime is the best thing ever!

I'd like to know what the difference between tax dodging, avoidance and minimisation

Dodging = not paying the taxes you are legally required to.

Avoidance = seeking loopholes to legally avoid paying the taxes you would otherwise be required to.

Minimisation = not a term that I'm aware has a commonly agreed meaning in the wonderful world of tax

The money seemed to be going to Jersey though.

iirc this was a ploy used by Amazon, Play etc to ship from Jersey to avoid (or minimise) charging vat to the customer. Seemed to apply mainly to media- cd's, dvd's etc. Was in the news a year or two back about closing the loophole, but not sure whether anything was done.

Hmmm, interesting question. I find that I'm getting more and more angry with deceitful companies including those who blatantly avoid paying the tax quota that they should. I am equally angry with our weak, self-serving politicians who allow this to happen.

I don't own an Apple product and never will, why would I want to drink crap coffee at Starbucks,, very rarely use Facebook. So we're left with Amazon and, yes, I do use them. But I will be actively looking for alternative suppliers.

Google - is there an alternative?

Yes as for those who dont and dont see why the less tax the country gets from business the more we all have to pay and we are a bit skint at the minute.

All business will try to minimise tax but does anyone actually think starbucks does not make a profit in the UK?
it may well be legal , it may well technically/legally be just avoidance but it is morally tax evasion and everyone can see this.

Whats more it harms local small business who cannot compete as their cost base is higher as they actually have to pay tax as well as compete

We had a costa than a Nero.

Correct me if I'm wrong (Quite possible) but don't Amazon useother businesses as suppliers? As in I ordered some Wii accessories from them and they arrived from someone else?

Google - is there an alternative?

Try [url= http://www.bing.com/search?q=search+engine&form=MOZSBR&pc=MOZI ]googling "Search Engine"[/url] and see what you get.

I trust none of you Google-boycotters are using an Android phone...

it may well be legal , it may well technically/legally be just avoidance but it is morally tax evasion and everyone can see this.

The trouble is, I find it very difficult to see where to draw the line- with extreme examples like Amazon, Starbucks etc, it's quite clear that something's not right.

On the other hand, we knowingly bought into this with the EU, and presumably our own businesses and hence the exchequer benefit from the cross border trade, and vat, which would otherwise be missing. Big companies have a legal and moral obligation to their shareholders as well, which incidentally, is likely to be our pension funds.

btw, I'm typing this on a laptop that I quite happily put through my company, though there's nothing work related on it. 🙂

I have always avoided Starbucks since reading No Logo many years ago, they actively/agressivley seek to drive small business' out of areas - frankly shame on anyone who does use them. (selling coffee is a big part of my business)

Come to Cardiff, serve better coffee than the big three in town and I'll be there.

Can people who think Starbucks coffee is bad please post which coffee you prefer? Cos I've not found many widely available coffees that are better, just the odd place here and there.

Google - is there an alternative?

Of course there is. Google it. 😀

Bing, Yahoo etc

Can people who think Starbucks coffee is bad please post which coffee you prefer?

Seriously - McDonalds. That's all we ever buy from there, coffee and ice cream both of which are very good. 🙂

Avoidance = seeking loopholes to legally avoid paying the taxes you would otherwise be required to.

I think while there is a lot of anger directed at individuals and companies that exploit these 'loopholes', these are schemes and processes they use are legal, exist deliberately rather than by accident and put in place by the government for a reason (even if its not the reason why the company is using/abusing it). So when we shine the light on Amazon, or Vodafone, or Jimmy Carr, or David Cameron's Dad why do we not we not also shine the light on the the government and the HMRC and ask what is the purpose of this tax scheme that they are using or abusing is?

I am equally angry with our weak, self-serving politicians

Exactly.

I don't use Amazon or Starbucks, but I don't blame them for being as "tax efficient" as possible. You can't expect a company to have a conscience.

The law just needs amending so that if you sell goods here, you pay tax on the profits of those sales here.

I'm pretty sure you could find something to object about almost every company or individual you deal with.

Presumably you are using a computer to read this? Happy with where/how all the components are made? You don't know where they components are made? What about who made them? Whether they received a fair wage? Whether the manufacturing process is poisoning the environment?

True but just because we cannot do everything it is no reason do nothing

aye-- and so called self employment in the building industry, its a way of keeping it casual and therefore cheap( for the employer)-- oh who makes these rules, why the very people who it benefits.....

Stopped visiting Starbucks - shame as I am partial to a cappuccino with an extra shot.

I boycott Amazon only when things are available for the same price elsewhere. Admittedly it's sacrificing my principles, but I don't want to get hit in my own pocket by making what is in all likelihood a futile gesture.

The law just needs amending so that if you sell goods here, you pay tax on the profits of those sales here.

A bit difficult to do I would have thought, in light of our eu membership.
How do you think that will affect exports, if everyone does the same?

Can people who think Starbucks coffee is bad please post which coffee you prefer? Cos I've not found many widely available coffees that are better, just the odd place here and there.

I already did - Burger King, but for chains I would head for Nero above Starbucks and Costa.

Bar Italia on Frith St in Soho makes a pretty fine espresso 🙂

but for chains I would head for Nero above Starbucks and Costa.

at least Nero have some degree of portion control and sell coffee in cups (innovative!) rather than buckets. There is an agreeable quantity of coffee somewhere between a tablespoon full of espresso and a pint.

If I'm in Costa I have to ask them to only half fill the mug, even their smallest is just too much water.

With reference to the 'You can't expect a companies to have consciences' remark, I came across [url= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefit_corporation ]Benefit Corporations[/url], which in the US are required by law to create [i]general benefit to society[/i] as well as shareholders - useful for when your successful organic hippy ice cream company doesn't want to be bought by Unilever but you can't get enough money per share with your counter offer. Allegedly.

They receive tax breaks in many states. Are these tax breaks OK?

Correct me if I'm wrong (Quite possible) but don't Amazon useother businesses as suppliers? As in I ordered some Wii accessories from them and they arrived from someone else?

Yes. Other companies can use the Amazon Website to list their goods for sale. Amazon then take a cut of the price of any goods sold this way.

Amazon also has subsidiuaries sellling goods on the site. Abebooks for example is often listed on Amazon as a source for secondhand or out of print books. Abebooks was bought by Amazon a while ago.

I suppose a way of depriving Amazon of their cut of third party sales would be to check if the company listed has it's own website which you can buy the item from direct.

A bit difficult to do I would have thought, in light of our eu membership.

Not really.

EU law can also be changed, particularly if the UK, Germany and France want to change it.

list of approved non tax dodging companies

The way I see it it's a continuous scale from incompetant companies who pay too much tax, through companies who pay no attention and pay high levels of tax, companies who actively try to operate in the most efficent way within existing structure, companies who actively change the way they do things purely for tax effiecncy up to the companies who exploit legal loopholes to minimise or avoid tax at all costs.

Every company you deal with will be somewhere on that scale, most will be nearer the Starbucks end that you realise.

The people we should be angry with are HMRC and the government for not closing the loopholes. It's not impossible. Why do you think all these companies floated in the USA try to avoid reporting proffit in the USA? Its becuase its much harder to legally avoid tax on proffits made in the USA and their corporation tax rates are higher.

People wouldn't stop buying coffee (with the knock on effect to jobs and the economy) if Starbucks had to pay more tax but sucessive goverments have been afraid of scaring big business away from the UK with effective tax regulation.

What is a lefty to do?

Get a wash 😀

I find my tax gets wasted on stuff, spent badly, spent on things I dont agree with, spent by organisations that couldnt run a bath let alone a business/council/organisation etc.

If those who used my tax were more accountable Id be happier paying it.

At the moment I see no reason to pay more tax than you legally have to.

Interesting point made on Question Time last week as there was a guy on there who owned a Starbucks franchise.

He is essentially a small independent business owner who pays his royalty to Starbucks and pays his tax to HRMC independently of the global Starbucks business. He has therefore done nothing wrong (apart from having the wrong sign over his shop), unlike the larger Starbucks franchise organisation.

Given the fact that he employs 50 staff, boycotting businesses like his does little to hurt the larger Starbucks organisation, but has a significant effect on his business & therefore the local economy.

I think it's easy to lose sight of the effect general boycotts can have on the exactly the type of business most people would actually like to support in tough times like these.

It is the governments responsibility to make sure that the tax loopholes exploited by Starbucks, Amazon etc are closed. General boycotts can be counter productive in my opinion unless it is crystal clear where your money is actually going.

I'm pretty sure you could find something to object about almost every company or individual you deal with.

Very true. That leaves us back to my recent thread title - "Are some people just too anti for their own good..."

True but just because we cannot do everything it is no reason do nothing

Again, very true, but in that case realise that mose people are the same, but for different reasons.
I, for instance, don't give a toss about the politics of it, but:
I don't ever go to Starbucks becasue they're so bloody expensive and the coffee is only average
I only buy free range chicken and get my meat almost excluseively from the local butchers, becasue I like to think the animals have been treated better and the meat is nicer
I've not eaten 'food' from McDs for maybe 15 years, becasue it's crap. The coffee is better than Starbucks though, and 1/4 of the price. Ditto BK, except the coffee!
I won't, on principal that it's CRAP use Microsoft products any more if I can help it. So I paid through the nose for several Apple products, which aren't.
Yeah, the profits I spent at Apple go straight back to the USA. Big deal. They rent and fit out big posh stores, and they employ loads of (Very polite and efficiant IME) staff, and they spend advertising revenue in the UK, at least, so it's 6 of one and half a dozen of the other IMO. 🙂

If one was to avoid everything that was bad for you, morally or ethically wrong or whatever other objection there may be, you'd sit there naked and starve/freeze to death! 🙂

I wonder how many people who object to nuclear power generate all their own electricity? 8)

I find my tax gets wasted on stuff, spent badly, spent on things I dont agree with, spent by organisations that couldnt run a bath let alone a business/council/organisation etc.

Have you considerrd voting or standing for election?

If those who used my tax were more accountable Id be happier paying it.

At the moment I see no reason to pay more tax than you legally have to.

Fine but those of us who work and do PAYE have no choice as do those small business based here who compete with these giants have no choice and the burden will pass to us[the ones who cannot avoid paying it]

That does not seem fair either but only little people pay tax

I wonder how many people who object to nuclear power generate all their own electricity? 8)

[url= http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/ ]ecotricity 8)[/url]

http://duckduckgo.com/ is a decent Google alternative with privacy benefits as well.

ecotricity

Looks good, thanks, I'd never heard of them.
You're still tapping into the same grid as everyone else though, but the principal is good I think, a good alternative. 🙂

Is there an alternative to Google?

Of course there is. Google it.

Bing, Yahoo etc

But Google is much more than just a search engine now.

Can people who think Starbucks coffee is bad please post which coffee you prefer? Cos I've not found many widely available coffees that are better, just the odd place here and there.

+1 for Nero being the best of the big 3. Starbucks isn't coffee, it's something that tastes kida like coffee, but isn't. Costa varies too much from place to place, sometimes it's good, other times it's un-drinkable. The local Nero actualy worked out cheeper than boradband for me, £5 for a coffe and cake, once or twice a week was better than £30 for BB and line rental!

Seriously - McDonalds.

I drink their coffee too. It's ok but pretty similar to Starbucks in style. They seem to use whole milk though which bucks will do if you ask.

The coffee is better than Starbucks though, and 1/4 of the price

No, it's £1.69 there for a large latte and something like £2.40 for similar at Starbucks.

Starbucks isn't coffee, it's something that tastes kida like coffee, but isn't.

Stop being so f'in childish please. It's obvioulsy coffee, it's a dark roast and it's made the same way as everywhere else in the same kind of machine.

It's just a matter of taste, that's all. You prefer Nero, I really don't like Nero, I prefer Starbucks and Costa over Nero. Stop being such a bloody snobby pillock, it drives me up the bloody wall. Nero is just another big identikit chain, serving up basically the exact same thing except it's a different blend to suit a different taste. That's it. It's not inherently better or more worthy.

Oh and ecotricity are a brilliant company to deal with - no BS, just sound customer service and a commitment to renewables. Sign up now.

Shop local[b]ly[/b]
Are we boycotting adverbs now?

😆

Every company avoids tax where they can.
As stated above, by boycotting these huge companies, you are damaging small UK based business owners. Starbucks franchise, Amazon use local sellers and delivery companies, android phones are sold through many retailers.

lobby to change the laws.

Firstly, the Starbucks coffee discussion....its pish.

Sickly sweet, caramel, cinnamon and seemingly any other flavour you want to ruin the coffee with nonsense, cream on top, american version of what they think coffee should taste like....it is truly crap, instant stuff tastes more like coffee.
Get a grinder and some filters, buy some beans and make your own....costs about £20 for the initial outlay....thats what coffee tastes like.

My other half always orders something like a Caramel-Mocha-Latte-with cream on top-and chocolate dusting (you get the idea).....tastes like a vaguely coffee flavoured milkshake....rancid stuff.

Now, big companies avoiding tax....yep, all for it if it keeps their prices down, as a consumer i want good products at cheap prices....also if their profits allow them to expand and employ more people then thats fine by me too....its down to the government to sort the loopholes, perhaps if government expenditure wasnt so vast they wouldnt be whingeing about lost tax from these companies?

If i could pay less tax i would too, i honestly believe its the duty of everybody to pay as little as possible and to force efficiency on the government.

By boycotting these companies you take your money to a UK based company so you are harming them more than the UK - not least because they pay no tax and they loose revenue and the county gains revenue.

Samurai starbucks makes a loss in the uk so how would be harming an organisation that cannot make a profit it should close down if it were true.

PS
http://www.whichfranchise.com/feature_template.cfm?featureId=308
First Starbucks franchise to open in the UK

The rumours are true, Starbucks is to franchise in the UK! Following a period of exceptional trading, coffee giant Starbucks has recently revealed it will open its first Starbucks franchise in the UK before the end of 2012.

Aiming to open the first UK Starbucks franchise in the South of England, and the first Starbucks franchise in the world, it is a very interesting time for UK franchising.

The reason for the UK being picked as the location for the first Starbucks franchise is simply down to our passion for coffee and the expected future growth of the UK coffee market.

Starbucks currently operates its own stores and via licenses. It will however be introducing Starbucks franchise opportunities within the UK to enable stores to be opened in small towns where a franchisee would be able to contribute their local knowledge.

Starbucks has indicated that it plans to open 200 Starbucks franchises in the UK by 2017.

Find out more about coffee franchises in the UK

Dont believe the hype

These debates are interesting to me as I think they tend to highlight the fact that applying an inflexible "Black and White" moral code to the businesses you choose to use can't really work and everyone has exceptions and caviates, everyone operates in a grey area or two I reckon.

The criteria vary from person to person too, some are more concerned about Tax dodging others chopping down rainforests, others use of forced or low wage labour there five times as many dimensions to ethical judgement as there are companies to apply them to...

It all comes down to the degree and types of questionable ethics you are really willing to accept as an individual Vs what you are willing to spend, I very much doubt anyone can honestly sight a completely ethical, whiter than white company but it seems those who claim ethical business practices amongst their USPs often charge a premium...

I think I'd be interested to know out of all of the most "ethically objectionable" organisations which of them "offset" their evil deeds through charitable acts and donations, and does that sort of thing carry any real weight with consumers?

[img] [/img]

Samuri + 1

It's the big accountancy firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers that come up with these clever and legal tax loopholes, like I said in my earlier post, look closer to home, Glaxosmithkline, Top Shop, Sky, Northern & Shell etc etc.

[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17993945 ]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17993945[/url]

But if it makes you feel empowered to buy coffee elsewhere then carry on, but it won't change laws.

Fail

Every company avoids tax where they can.

Yes and no. Every business will seek to be tax efficient, but only some will deliberately exploit loopholes. We know this because (for example) Costa pay rather more tax than Starbucks.

I've decided that I will no longer use Amazon. I've never used Starbucks because the coffee sucks.

Starbucks is to coffee what McDonalds is to food.

Starbucks is to coffee what McDonalds is to food.

And what All Bar One is/was to pubs.

Not that it's got anythign to do with their tax arrangements.

Why do you think all these companies floated in the USA try to avoid reporting proffit in the USA?

It's actually the opposite. Corporate tax rates are lower in the US than here so the tendency is to recharge as much centralised cost to the higher tax location such as the UK, and thereby maximise the profit in the lower tax location, such as the US.

We know this because (for example) Costa pay rather more tax than Starbucks

Costa is owned by Whitbread so the tax will be paid by Whitbread on their profits. Whitbread paid about £36m in tax at an effective rate of 26%.

Sickly sweet, caramel, cinnamon and seemingly any other flavour you want to ruin the coffee with nonsense, cream on top, american version of what they think coffee should taste like....it is truly crap, instant stuff tastes more like coffee.

a) It's not like you HAVE to order the syrups
b) All coffee places sell that stuff too.

Amazed at the bellendery on display with regards coffee. Why can't people just say 'actually I prefer X other brand' without such idiotic tribal willy waving. FFS.

.tastes like a vaguely coffee flavoured milkshake

Good example. Wtf exactly is wrong with a coffee flavoured milkshake? Do you slag off people who want strawberry milkshakes because they aren't eating real strawberries?

Samurai starbucks makes a loss in the uk so how would be harming an organisation that cannot make a profit it should close down if it were true.

It's not true - it does make a profit in the UK, they have just rigged it to look like they aren't.

Shop local ....... avoid nestle like the plague

I live 300m from a Nestle factory.

I'm confused now 🙂

We have the usual nonsense Coca-Cola and Nestle bans here at the Uni in which I work. Meanwhile they're more than happy to sell cigs. Love those kiddies playing at politics. We'll boycott it as long as it doesn't affect us.

Caffe Nero are also on my list of places not to go now it's been revealed they have paid no tax at all on £39.5m of profits:

http://www.marlboroughnewsonline.co.uk/news/all-the-news/1241-a-boycott-call-follows-revelation-that-caffe-nero-pays-no-corporation-tax-in-the-uk

[i]Starbucks has indicated that it plans to open 200 Starbucks franchises in the UK by 2017.

Find out more about coffee franchises in the UK

Dont believe the hype [/i]

I always completely ignore all hype. I believed the chap who was on question time who said he owned a franchise.

I fancy the manageress of the Starbucks near work.

I am waist-deep in a moral dilemma. 🙁

Not that i really go to starbucks, but it was this that really put me off them

http://starbucks.co.uk/blog/starbucks-commitment-to-the-uk/

They tried to justify it on the basis that their employees pay tax (then changed their statement)! On that basis, i shouldn't pay income tax as i buy stuff and pay VAT on it.

Its just like the MP's expenses scandal or media phone hacking, they haven't grasped the level of public annoyance and are continuing trying to justify the semi-legal methods in blissful ignorance of the damage its doing to their companies image.

Oh and ecotricity are a brilliant company to deal with - no BS, just sound customer service and a commitment to renewables. Sign up now.

Agreed.

Had nothing but positive experience with Abel & Cole too.

It [i]is[/i] up to governments to sort it out, but the dealbreaker for me was the John Lewis chappie saying that long term they could not compete with Amazon in a market where JL were paying their full taxes and Amazon wern't. So if something doesn't change, the future is going to be worse.

For me, I'm a very good amazon customer, but I needed a washing machine this week and John Lewis got my business.

For smaller things I usually prefer to click on "fulfilled by amazon", but from now on I'll be looking for their smaller suppliers.

Its internet shopping, it takes almost no effort to avoid giving them your money (or just give them less).

If they start losing in sales the 10% (or whatever) that they are saving in tax, maybe things will change?

It is up to governments to sort it out, but the dealbreaker for me was the John Lewis chappie saying that long term they could not compete with Amazon in a market where JL were paying their full taxes and Amazon wern't. So if something doesn't change, the future is going to be worse.

Yip. That pretty much sums it up to me.

I don't believe all this bleating.... its EU competition law. Honestly, we can't do anything about it. Really we can't.

I'm sure they could do a lot about it. if there was the remotest will to do so. But there isn't. And why....

because we all know that when this lot are voted out, they'll all be popping up as non-exec directors on the boards of the banks that fleeced us, the tax-dodging companies leeching off us, and the Serco's and G4S's of this world, making a fortune on the back of newly privatised public services. Just the same as the last lot are now.

Payback time! And if the rest of 'the little people' pay the price for this revolving door, then who cares. As long as we can pick up our enormous 'salaries' (tax free of course) for our 'consultancy' work

Don't see how I'd cope without Amazon (and especially certain sellers on Amazon's marketplace)these days. (I buy a LOT of music on CD.)

For CDs DVDs and books, shops have had their day. Sad but true.
They carry NO stock other than popular mainstream stuff (which I'm not into) charge top whack and I'd have to waste at least a half-day of a weekend to get to and from town.
I can order any day on-line and be guaranteed a parcel in the next morning's post and save a fortune.
There are worse things to worry about than their tax avoiding as far as I'm concerned. Most big companies skirt around the edge of legality to save money.

On the other hand I've never been to a Starbucks in my life and have no intention of doing so...

Oh and ecotricity are a brilliant company to deal with

Unfortunately, they're less than brilliant in the way they treat their employees.