The grumpy thread

[Timewaster]

Pa had a little piece of asbestos from am old ironing board.

He rang the council who said he had to take it to a waste facility 40 miles away,which he did.

He had to go over the weighbridge and the guy said his weight was the same in and of so they couldn't charge him.

Lucky really as the minimum change was for quarter of a tonne.

I think the woman on the phone sent him to the wrong place.

[Cavcraft]

Oddly enough my Silverline buffer has been playing up. If you hold it facing down it's mostly ok, but sideways it just shuts itself off. My neighbour (who's pretty good with these things) reckons it'll be the brushes: there's a cover (on the top, near the grab handle, I think) that you unscrew and he says the brushes are in there. I haven't tried to source them yet, he suggested trying an internet search or eBay.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

you can check/change the brushes dead easy, theres a little black placca plug on each side, under which live the brushes. They cost nowt off eBay too.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carbon-Brushes-for-Silverline-129659-polisher-sander-1-PAIR-DW2-/131524838093

[Bren]

11th anniversary of my old man's death. He'd have been 80 next month. Been a rough couple of days

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Know how you feel. Talking with wife last night - we both conclude that as you get older and shit happens life becomes something of an anti climax.

[Bren]

Indicated 35 is probably more like 31-32 and hopefully low enough to not get a ticket for it. Cross your fingers! I passed a camera van today, but you could see it half a mile away.My grump - people and money.I did a clutch on a focus this week, for the daughter of someone I've known over 20 years. When she arrived to collect she was about £50 short even though I told her on the phone how much it would be. She promised to bring it in today, I let her take the car.Guess what? No show and her phone's turned off.I rang her mam instead. Waiting to hear back.

If she doesn't pay just make it clear she goes elsewhere in future - somewhere where she doesn't get her keys until she's paid.

[Richard]

My friend has an SOC type garage and he reckons that unpaid bills represent good VFM because he never sees the non - paying customer again.

[Sheefag]

 

 

 

My grump - people and money.

I did a clutch on a focus this week, for the daughter of someone I've known over 20 years. When she arrived to collect she was about £50 short even though I told her on the phone how much it would be. She promised to bring it in today, I let her take the car.

Guess what? No show and her phone's turned off.

I rang her mam instead. Waiting to hear back.

 

Pint of milk in the air intake.

[chaseracer]

Know how you feel. Talking with wife last night - we both conclude that as you get older and shit happens life becomes something of an anti climax.

 

Wise words.

 

We lost the monster-in-law back in March; for a tiny Irish lady of 84, she's left a very large hole in a lot of people's lives.

[twosmoke300]

For people that don't pay me ( small amounts ) I consider it a cheap way of finding out that some one is a cunt

[dave21478]

Getting real fuckin tired of this shit.

 

 

Its just impossible to keep coolant inside this mofo.

 

Its been flushed and cleaned and pissed all over the road and refilled so many times the coolant is now perfectly clean bright green with no hint of rust. Stat is new and seems to work, cap is new, heater gets nice and hot, rad fan works as it should, hoses dont get too pressurised, header tank doesnt smell of exhaust and has no bubbles, exhaust isnt greasy, the engine runs well so probably not HGF.....

This time its leaking from under the cap again. Its a new one, so I reckon changing the header tank itself is the next step.

Are these still available?

 

 

[dave21478]

Of course they are not still available. Google suggests an injection mini tank can be made to fit.

 

EIGHTY FUCKING QUID?

 

Looks like a sweaty day spent lifting bonnets in a scrapyard looking for something that will fit beckons.

[scaryoldcortina]

If she doesn't pay just make it clear she goes elsewhere in future - somewhere where she doesn't get her keys until she's paid.

 

That's normally how it works here, she only got the car back because I know her mother.

 

My friend has an SOC type garage and he reckons that unpaid bills represent good VFM because he never sees the non - paying customer again.

Yup, I know that one too - I once invented a £30 charge for something just so the debtor would never come back. It worked!

 

 

For people that don't pay me ( small amounts ) I consider it a cheap way of finding out that some one is a cunt

Well, given that she didn't show this morning either and her phone is mysteriously turned off again....

[stripped fred]

 

That's normally how it works here, she only got the car back because I know her mother.

 

 

Yup, I know that one too - I once invented a £30 charge for something just so the debtor would never come back. It worked!

 

 

 

Well, given that she didn't show this morning either and her phone is mysteriously turned off again....

If she's still not paid in the next few weeks i would send her a formal letter, recorded delivery, asking for payment and mentioning the small claims court! Download a template off the internet for free.

[panhard65]

If she's still not paid in the next few weeks i would send her a formal letter, recorded delivery, asking for payment and mentioning the small claims court! Download a template off the internet for free.

This is the best advice. I can't remember now how you go about it but you send them the invoice with so many days to pay. If they haven't paid by then then a second invoice advising that you will take them to court if not paid within 30 days. If she still hasn't paid take her to court it costs £50 to start with. This will get you a judgement then it's baliffs and the costs go up but she will have to pay them. I have been lucky and only ever had to go down this route once but a garage I know will go after everyone and took a woman to court for £50. It took a while but they got the money plus interest. In the end the woman had to pay over £300 to stop the baliffs seizing her property, all because she thought she could get away with it as it wasn't a lot of money.

[Sheefag]

It's all online now and takes about 15 minutes, any fees are added to the debt and an extra £60 once you have judgement sends the baillffs around.

I've used the government service 'Money Claim Online' (MCOL) loads of times over the years and have never lost - most just ignore it and judgement is gained by default.

 

I've had debts paid that would never have been otherwise recoverable and I can't recomend it highly enough.

 

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

[scaryoldcortina]

I once had a customer who actually pretended that he had died to avoid a £50 bill, got his wife to ring up doing the weeping widow act! FFS, I'd been fixing his cars for years by then, so it seemed a safe bet. Sadly for him it's a small town and I saw him at ASDA a few days later. Didn't quite get to court, second invoice/letter worked.

 

Other pathetic excuses for non payment include -

 

didn't have all the money because someone else died and they had to buy flowers for a funeral. Suddenly found the extra when the car wasn't leaving the yard without it.

 

don't get paid until thursday.. surely you knew that before you booked your car in on a monday? It will still be here on thurdsay!

 

It's more than I expected - aw, poor you. I'll just take the clutch back out then, yeah?

 

etc etc. Some people get a small amount of tick for convenience sake and others I wouldn't trust to owe me a quid.

 

This one probably thinks she's clever and that I don't have her address but she left her purse in the car with her licence in it

[twosmoke300]

As written in the james Herriot books - use the PNS system

Polite

Nasty

Solicitors

[scaryoldcortina]

I also think I'll get some pics of her and the car off my CCTV and pass them round all the local garages to warn them of the non payer because the clutch master is leaking and won't last long, the OS front brake sticks, the only key for the car is badly worn and sticks in the ignition and probably a bunch of other issues (because 02 focus with 189000 miles).

[twosmoke300]

How long since you did the job ?

[scaryoldcortina]

Two days. She collected it on thursday and promised to return and pay the rest on friday.

 

It's not a lot of time, but the lack of contact/excuses compared to the 15 missed calls she left on wednesday morning (is it ready yet?) makes me think she's going to bunk it.

[155V6]

Trying to find out about some Volvo headlights on eBay.I messaged the seller about a week ago,no reply.I've tried ringing about 7 times since then,it's either engaged or just rings & rings.Today he actually answered,it cut off after about 3 seconds 

[Station]

Can't you just go and see the mother and explain its your livelihood?

[scaryoldcortina]

Yeah, tried that last night, that's what got me a phone call with another empty promise to come and pay.

 

ps, the focus woman is in her thirties, and the mother is a pensioner.

[twosmoke300]

I would personally leave the mother out of it . She's an adult and needs to sort things out herself .

I only start the phone calls after a month to be honest . Unfortunatly chasing money seems to be part of business . I've been lucky not to have been stiffed yet but I'm fair with people and hope they do the same .

[robinmasters]

I took a load of asbestos sheets off the garage roof last year but didn't get around to taking them to the tip so decided to take them this week. I've had to apply for a temporary permit which is OK. What is not okay is that they've started charging £10 a sheet from the beginning of May. Seems there's a charge for a lot of building products now, £3 a slab, £10 a upvc window etc. Bugger. I wouldn't mind so much but it's the same council I work for!

Our council charge for taking wheels; I turned up with 7, no wallet. Had to go home again to get cash, only to be told when I tried to pay that they can't give change, not because they don't have it but because they've been told not to, so I only left worst ones.

 

Possibly shouldn't be in the grump thread, as this was the encouragement I needed to put the rest on eBay; got £55 for them.

[scaryoldcortina]

Yeah, I'm not going to drag her into it except to mention that her daughter only got her car back because she vouched for her, who do you think gave her a lift to collect it?

 

Anyway, assuming I don't suddenly see the money this afternoon it will wait a week or so then the letters start instead.

[Kiltox]

Always worth selling knackered wheels and tyres in job lots on eBay or social media - everything like that has a pikey buyer it seems

[chaseracer]

Just tell her you've got the locking wheel nut key and if she doesn't come for it, it's going in the bin.

 

Even better, don't tell her...

[myglaren]

Our council charge for taking wheels; I turned up with 7, no wallet. Had to go home again to get cash, only to be told when I tried to pay that they can't give change, not because they don't have it but because they've been told not to, so I only left worst ones.

 

Possibly shouldn't be in the grump thread, as this was the encouragement I needed to put the rest on eBay; got £55 for them.

I'm afraid I'm far to idle to sell stuff on eBay but a good result.

Any stuff like that I just leave outside and it is usually gone in no time, scrapman (tatter) comes very frequently.

A washing machine I dumped outside wondering what I was going to do to shift it was away in ten minutes, had barely begun fitting the new one when they knocked on the door and asked if it was OK for them to take.

[Tamworthbay]

Got back today after a little trip to Cornwall, weather was fantastic, Cornwall still gorgeous as it was last year. Usual idiots on the road but one really stood out. The A38 has some nice bits of dual carriageway, one of which I was rolling down at about 65mph with four of us in the car and a shit load of stuff in the boot. In front of me was a car towing a caravan, in the outside lane was a ds3. As the ds3 got level with the caravan it suddenly decided to pull into the outside lane with no indication or prior warning. The ds3 ended up with two wheels over onto the central reservation area and I executed an emergency stop and waited for debris to start flying. By some miracle the ds3 didn't hit him and we all carried on. After the next roundabout I realised why the idiot hadn't seen the DS3 - no towing mirrors! The idiot was totally oblivious of everything behind him. How far had he traveled? How far still to go? What chance of not killing someone? So congratulations OY51ULK you are the official fucking a star dickweed for today.