The grumpy thread

[Tadhg Tiogar]

... I am certain the dreadful state of written English is, in part, due to the demise of Latin as a school subject.

Alea iacta est

[beko1987]

Parcel2go.com

 

You book and pay online so they have all your details - who you sent it to, how you paid, what it contained. Their courier Inpost, (which tracks your delivery) then loses your parcel between pick up and delivery address.

 

When you try and get a refund (for postage only) they ask for all the information they already have from the booking (which you supply again). They "promise" to get in touch after "investigating" with the courier company whether your parcel is lost. You spend hours on their live chat (you can't phone them), to try and get a refund.

 

Do they think I will give up? Good luck with that.

It took me nearly 2 months to get a refund for the miele hoover I roffled on here a few years ago. Entered reading and never left. Took lots of toing and froing, and I had to submit proof of payment from 52 people and link them to my rebuild thread as proof it existed in the first place.

 

The trick is to ask open ended questions so they have to respond (customer service innit). Ive done 8 years dealing with royal mail and complaints, and got quite good at getting blood from stones!

 

Put me off roffling hoovers though, which is a shame as I need to get rid of some!

[captain_70s]

Went out to do car stuff today.

 

Fucked about with the rear brakes for ages to end up with a handbrake that is exactly the same as it was before I'd begun, at least everything is freed up for the next attempt. The drums are scored really weirdly, each has two bands running around it, about 2-3cm wide which are pretty deep. May be a case of new drums and shoes at £100...

 

Also tried to fit some new Tex stainless windscreen wipers. I'm sure they could fit with enough tweaking with some pliers but as it was after an hour of fettling I got them seeming reasonably secure and they lasted a whole two wipes before the retaining clip pinged off and the driver's side one fell off. I put the plastic ones back on.

 

My bodged choke cable isn't working and the throttle cable surround keeps detaching because every fucking new part I buy doesn't fit so starting the car requires me to wedge the choke on the carb with a screwdriver. Also since I sealed the leaking manifold/downpipe join the car now runs worse...

 

I did however manage to fit the NOS Wingard rear view mirror I bought off eBay, so there is that at least... 

[C1am]

It took me nearly 2 months to get a refund for the miele hoover I roffled on here a few years ago. Entered reading and never left. Took lots of toing and froing, and I had to submit proof of payment from 52 people and link them to my rebuild thread as proof it existed in the first place.

 

The trick is to ask open ended questions so they have to respond (customer service innit). Ive done 8 years dealing with royal mail and complaints, and got quite good at getting blood from stones!

 

Put me off roffling hoovers though, which is a shame as I need to get rid of some!

I had no problem keeping them talking until an hour in when they gave me the silent treatment with a "We are experiencing high call volumes(!)" response. Open ended questions led to vague answers  - someone "should" contact you - completely non-comittal! When I tried to pin them down they wouldn't have it. Still, live and learn - I won't make the same mistake again. 

[strangeangel]

I work in the public sector, and in my experience of both private and public sector, what I said is true - the lazy and inept fair far better in the public sector.

 

Yours and others experiences may differ. No Daily Fail required.

 

Whatevs. Probably a good idea not to judge everyone by your own low standards though.

[beko1987]

I had no problem keeping them talking until an hour in when they gave me the silent treatment with a "We are experiencing high call volumes(!)" response. Open ended questions led to vague answers - someone "should" contact you - completely non-comittal! When I tried to pin them down they wouldn't have it. Still, live and learn - I won't make the same mistake again.

Emails work, they won't be allowed to ignore it. Frequent pestering on Twitter didn't hurt either! Ask them questions they have to answer, they will have internal processes and sla's to follow. If you don't hear anything for a while, chase it (leave it a few clear days for maximum effect!)

[Alfamale]

I've worked in the public sector now for 15 years and the problem is with austerity, anyone who knew anything has either taken voluntary redundancy (if you're over 55, they top your pension up so it's as if you worked to state retirement age) or found a job somewhere else.

 

Therefore what is left are all those that are so comfortable in their own job or so inept that they remain where they are. BTW im in the too comfy category just for the avoidance of doubt!

[Guest Hooli]

Despite this:

 

 

The arseholes at Virgin Media seem to be re-routing YouTube stuff as I've just tried streaming 1080p after that test and the fucking thing is stuttering. Yes, I could cancel, but as the best of a bad bunch...

 

Turn off either 2.4 or 5ghz wireless at the router. A few mates at work have had the same thing & it seems their devices were swapping between the two wifis & stuttering as constantly having to rebuffer on the new connection. Oddly it only broke youtube for them too.

[Guest Hooli]

I work in the public sector, and in my experience of both private and public sector, what I said is true - the lazy and inept fair far better in the public sector.

 

Yours and others experiences may differ. No Daily Fail required.

 

I agree. I work in the public sector & most of the people who make it up the chain can't even wipe their own arse. It seems the idea is never to promote anyone who might be good enough to get your job, so the fuckwits promote fuckwits who promote fuckwits....

 

Hence the massive waste of resources seen everyday. Services like the NHS do not need more money, they need competent management so unbelievable amounts of money aren't wasted as they are currently.

[Alfamale]

Services like the NHS do not need more money, they need competent management so unbelievable amounts of money aren't wasted as they are currently.

Couldn't agree more. Same in the education sector.

[Tamworthbay]

Oh boy do Pumas rot. I knew the rear arches needed work (they all do that sir) but the muppet who ‘repaired’ it obviously bought a 5 litre tin of wob and was determined to use as much as possible. Within ten minutes there was more white powder around than on David Cameron’s stag night.

[M'coli]

Fucked about with the rear brakes for ages to end up with a handbrake that is exactly the same as it was before I'd begun, at least everything is freed up for the next attempt. The drums are scored really weirdly, each has two bands running around it, about 2-3cm wide which are pretty deep. May be a case of new drums and shoes at £100...

They're not weirdly scored if one set of previous shoes had rivets that wore the grooves!

 

My bodged choke cable isn't working and the throttle cable surround keeps detaching because every fucking new part I buy doesn't fit so starting the car requires me to wedge the choke on the carb with a screwdriver. Also since I sealed the leaking manifold/downpipe join the car now runs worse...

Tandem brake cables usually have plenty of room for "adjustments"!

[sierraman]

Latin wasn't even an option at my school. If you failed languages you got a choice of doing motorcycle maintenance or bricklaying.

[The Moog]

Oh boy do Pumas rot. I knew the rear arches needed work (they all do that sir) but the muppet who ‘repaired’ it obviously bought a 5 litre tin of wob and was determined to use as much as possible. Within ten minutes there was more white powder around than on David Cameron’s stag night.

How you repairing them?

 

I need to take mine back to metal, treat it and then was getting ready to win.

 

I know you can use pug 206 front wings

[Tamworthbay]

How you repairing them?

I need to take mine back to metal, treat it and then was getting ready to win.

I know you can use pug 206 front wings

Yup, it’s the 206 wing trick I am hoping will work. Inner wings/ rear wheel arch is going to need some work as well. As will both sills, one I knew about, one LOOKED good but oh boy was I wrong. This will end up being the most expensive free car I have ever had I think.

[beko1987]

Then check the floor at the front of the car... My rear Arch had rotted through to the inside of the car!

[anonymous user]

Latin wasn't even an option at my school. If you failed languages you got a choice of doing motorcycle maintenance or bricklaying.

I wish I'd gone to your school, either of those would have been far more use to me.

[Eddie Honda]

Turn off either 2.4 or 5ghz wireless at the router.

It's the main PC and is wired into the router though.

[beko1987]

I've just eaten half a Christmas cake with a tin of custard, I feel a bit sick now...

[chaseracer]

Alea iacta est

 

Nil illegitimae carborundum, as my grandad used to say...

[The Moog]

Yup, it’s the 206 wing trick I am hoping will work. Inner wings/ rear wheel arch is going to need some work as well. As will both sills, one I knew about, one LOOKED good but oh boy was I wrong. This will end up being the most expensive free car I have ever had I think.

I reckon my puma is at the point that someone needs to chuck money at it and it will last a long time. Or take route of bare minimum spend for it to last another couple of years.

 

Make sure you post up pics of the repair.

[DodgeRover]

Turn off either 2.4 or 5ghz wireless at the router. A few mates at work have had the same thing & it seems their devices were swapping between the two wifis & stuttering as constantly having to rebuffer on the new connection. Oddly it only broke youtube for them too.

If they are traffic shaping - would a VPN be the cure?

[Tamworthbay]

I reckon my puma is at the point that someone needs to chuck money at it and it will last a long time. Or take route of bare minimum spend for it to last another couple of years.

Make sure you post up pics of the repair.

Will do, may be a while as it’s a fill in when I can’t get on the Capri so will be pushed back once the weather improves and I can get some paint going.

[clayts450]

Good job I don't need to catch a train today or tomorrow as some twunt thought it would be funny to start a fire in the lady's loo...

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-leicestershire-42642073

 

Amazingly no road chaos this evening as most people POETS

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Nil illegitimae carborundum, as my grandad used to say...

Et tu, Brute? Et tu?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

listen to you leathery old goats moaning about kids of today and bemoaning ther lack of latin skills!!!! SRSLY?

[Soap Distant]

I think it's great. It's so out of step with society, it's beautiful!

[DeeJay]

Good job I don't need to catch a train today or tomorrow as some twunt thought it would be funny to start a fire in the lady's loo...

 

 

That was one hell of a curry

[Tadhg Tiogar]

listen to you leathery old goats moaning about kids of today and bemoaning ther lack of latin skills!!!! SRSLY?

 

Some of us might actually be younger than you... 

[xtriple]

We did Latin, German and French at school (oh, and English natch   ) and I was seriously shit at all three. French I had an excuse as the teacher was young, blonde and effin' gorgeous. She drove a Spitfire and we all called her 'Miss Bumfluff'. Her name was Miss Barnforth. I was in the top set at school and came dead bottom in the end of year exams in French (26%) as I just spent the entire lessons drooling and dreaming about her.

 

Nothing changes