The grumpy thread

[hairnet]

1 hour ago, Nyphur said:

Sounds like a local Drifter. Bet he's got a Bounty on his head now.

sounds like he got the chomp and the finger of fudge was on him

nobody heard a wispa about it 

sounds like a bit of a flake

[Wibble]

Lights off, curtains closed. Fuck this, I’ve done my time, not playing anymore!

[artdjones]

None of this was a thing until the early 80s. The first time I noticed it was when some local kids banged our door really loudly. When a pompous friend went out to remonstrate with them they threw flour over him. A treasured memory.

[High Jetter]

Minding my own business, driving home from work, delayed by hordes (literally) of kids beside and crossing a main road in the vicinity of a few schools, I got close to home and passed a group of kids..and heard a thump against the van. I stopped, they scarpered, having wasted an egg. What is the f-ing point?

[wuvvum]

Once again this year I didn't get any trick or treaters.  Being a slightly odd single bloke has its advantages.

[Wibble]

25 minutes ago, artdjones said:

None of this was a thing until the early 80s. The first time I noticed it was when some local kids banged our door really loudly. When a pompous friend went out to remonstrate with them they threw flour over him. A treasured memory.

 Nope, we went trick or treating in the 70s

[Datsuncog]

Absolutely no Hallowe'en Rhyming to be seen round our way this year.

But the fact there's a yellow weather warning in place and it's been tipping it down all day may also be playing a part.

Ah well. Guess I'll just have to eat the sweets myself, then...

[Pieman]

I don't have the problem, I look far too creepy for anyone to knock at my door, let alone on Halloween.

[Alan_Green]

5 hours ago, meggersdog said:

I know it is only a google review and it shouldn't get to me but it has.

A couple of weeks ago this person booked an MX-5 in for an MoT on the Friday. He then cancelled on the Friday and rebooked for the following Tuesday. I come into work on the Tuesday and the answerphone is flashing. This person phoned at 1 O'clock in the morning Tuesday morning to cancel yet again.

This afternoon this timewaster phones to rebook yet again. Hmm, once is annoying but twice, nope not getting a third chance. I asked if this is the car that should have been in last week "yes" and the week before "yeah, sorry about that".  I told him I wasn't booking his car in a third time, so no thank you. and put the phone down. He phoned straight back so I didn't answer . He left a threatening message on the answerphone and this review.

Dreadful attitude.

Unfortunately, I had to cancel booked MOT's twice which I wouldn't have done unless I had to.

The first time, I spoke to a member of staff and asked to rearrange which we did.

The second time, due to ill health (I have Multiple Sclerosis amongst other things) - I had to cancel at very short notice. I left a voicemail and said that I would insist that I paid for the missed MOT appointment.

As far as I understand it (And I may very well be wrong), they don't do work for MOT's so my thinking was that all they would lose out on is the cost of the MOT - hence me thinking my offer to pay for the missed MOT would make up for it.

I phoned back today to be met with (Oh, you're the guy who cancelled on the Friday and then on the following Tuesday - yeahhh - no thank you" and hung up

I had a counselling session yesterday in which I brought up this potential phone call. I said I was really anxious about it - my counsellor said, "don't worry about it - they won't turn business away because you had to cancel two MOT's".

Well, they did and they have.

 

 

He didn't offer to pay for the missed slots but he did threaten this review on his message. I have reported him to google  but do I reply to this putting my side across and thanking him for the threatening message or just leave it to google ?

 

So many questions.  What's an MS sufferer doing with an MX5?  Why's he telling everyone about his mental health issues?  Why's he sharing his counsellor's opinion?  What kind of threats did he make on the answerphone?  Have you kept the recording?  What happened between office hours and 1am that made him cancel booking 2?  This is better than Columbo.  You could invite him back then fail the living shit out of his MX5.  Or how about replying something like this:

"This reviewer was never a customer of ABC Ltd.   He twice cancelled on us at the last minute then threatened a negative review when we declined to make a 3rd booking.  ABC Ltd does not respond to threats.  We do, however, welcome reviews from actual customers." 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

8 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

Absolutely no Hallowe'en Rhyming to be seen round our way this year.

But the fact there's a yellow weather warning in place and it's been tipping it down all day may also be playing a part.

Ah well. Guess I'll just have to eat the sweets myself, then...

Living in Northern Ireland, you're experiencing Halloween all day, every day.

(Couldn't help it, sorry).

[Remspoor]

9 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Once again this year I didn't get any trick or treaters.  Being a slightly odd single bloke has its advantages.

no it does not😉

[Matty]

11 hours ago, meggersdog said:

I know it is only a google review and it shouldn't get to me but it has.

A couple of weeks ago this person booked an MX-5 in for an MoT on the Friday. He then cancelled on the Friday and rebooked for the following Tuesday. I come into work on the Tuesday and the answerphone is flashing. This person phoned at 1 O'clock in the morning Tuesday morning to cancel yet again.

This afternoon this timewaster phones to rebook yet again. Hmm, once is annoying but twice, nope not getting a third chance. I asked if this is the car that should have been in last week "yes" and the week before "yeah, sorry about that".  I told him I wasn't booking his car in a third time, so no thank you. and put the phone down. He phoned straight back so I didn't answer . He left a threatening message on the answerphone and this review.

Dreadful attitude.

Unfortunately, I had to cancel booked MOT's twice which I wouldn't have done unless I had to.

The first time, I spoke to a member of staff and asked to rearrange which we did.

The second time, due to ill health (I have Multiple Sclerosis amongst other things) - I had to cancel at very short notice. I left a voicemail and said that I would insist that I paid for the missed MOT appointment.

As far as I understand it (And I may very well be wrong), they don't do work for MOT's so my thinking was that all they would lose out on is the cost of the MOT - hence me thinking my offer to pay for the missed MOT would make up for it.

I phoned back today to be met with (Oh, you're the guy who cancelled on the Friday and then on the following Tuesday - yeahhh - no thank you" and hung up

I had a counselling session yesterday in which I brought up this potential phone call. I said I was really anxious about it - my counsellor said, "don't worry about it - they won't turn business away because you had to cancel two MOT's".

Well, they did and they have.

 

 

He didn't offer to pay for the missed slots but he did threaten this review on his message. I have reported him to google  but do I reply to this putting my side across and thanking him for the threatening message or just leave it to google ?

 

If that has upset him so much, maybe running a car at all is a bit too much?

[Metal Guru]

Went to Hamsterley Forest yesterday. They’ve set up number plate recognition in the Forest for parking FFS. It’s Forestry commission , so state owned , I’ve already paid for a bit of this.

Anyway, I go to pay, and it’s card only. Tap the screen, put in the reg, it tells me I’ve 19 mins left ( first 20 is free). Try again ,  as I was going to stay, it tells me I’ve already paid. Normally that would have been enough for me , but they’re threatening a £50 fine and I bet they’ve subbed that out to some bastard debt collection cowboys.

So I drive through the Forest and at the other end there are more pay machines . So I thought , one more try. Tells me , I’ve already paid and have 9 minutes before I have to pay again. I give up and go back to the car. Then I thought, it would be a good idea to get a photo of the screen, so I go back but this time it tells me I’ve got 48 minutes left. The machines are obviously not working properly but I don’t suppose that’ll stop then trying to con £50 out of me.

[Rust Collector]

15 hours ago, meggersdog said:

Quote

I had a counselling session yesterday in which I brought up this potential phone call. I said I was really anxious about it - my counsellor said, "don't worry about it - they won't turn business away because you had to cancel two MOT's".

 

I hope they left a bad review for the counsellor too, as their advice didn't pan out too well 😅

 

[Datsuncog]

3 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Living in Northern Ireland, you're experiencing Halloween all day, every day.

(Couldn't help it, sorry).

Don't I just know it...

Night Of The Living Eejits

[cobblers]

On 10/29/2022 at 8:58 PM, cobblers said:

The rest of the house is left pretty filthy too. We're not the tidiest and we have dogs so we spent 4 days absolutely blitzing the place and then paid £200 for a professional clean after we'd done our best.

They left us with a tide mark and pubes in the bath, filthy walls and floors in the bathroom, they'd been drying clothes in the attic so the walls were mouldy. Fuck's sake!

TL:DR - Seemingly respectable, well do to grown adults are actually really strange nobheads. 

I'm still trying to understand why you'd spend hours making some DIY shelves in someone elses house instead of just spending £25 at ikea! We're renting at the moment and I won't even put a picture up FFS!

And now they haven't paid us the last months rent, the £250 energy bill, the council tax or the water bill! 

The house is probably now worth about £10k less than it was when we wanted to sell it in the first place too. 

[mercedade]

22 minutes ago, cobblers said:

And now they haven't paid us the last months rent, the £250 energy bill, the council tax or the water bill! 

The house is probably now worth about £10k less than it was when we wanted to sell it in the first place too. 

That is fucking outrageous. The idea that an actual friend would be such a dickhead is mindblowing.

[cobblers]

1 minute ago, mercedade said:

That is fucking outrageous. The idea that an actual friend would be such a dickhead is mindblowing.

Good friends too, my wife is godmother to her kid and they meet up once or twice a week etc. It's just so unexpected. I've got a feeling it's a down to her husband, he's quite a strange bloke.

[horriblemercedes]

10 minutes ago, cobblers said:

Good friends too, my wife is godmother to her kid and they meet up once or twice a week etc. It's just so unexpected. I've got a feeling it's a down to her husband, he's quite a strange bloke.

What does your wife think about the matter? Is she still on good terms with the 'friend'?

[cobblers]

8 minutes ago, horriblemercedes said:

What does your wife think about the matter? Is she still on good terms with the 'friend'?

Nope, she's absolutely fucking fuming. I'm still at the "I just don't get it" stage

[mercedade]

45 minutes ago, cobblers said:

Good friends too, my wife is godmother to her kid and they meet up once or twice a week etc. It's just so unexpected. I've got a feeling it's a down to her husband, he's quite a strange bloke.

It's so shit, it feels like it can't actually be malicious and kind of crosses over into charmingly eccentric - to continue meeting up, having a coffee and lovely-to-see-ing you every week, whilst not even paying for the gas is so completely inexplicable, it's like they can't possibly have considered it unusual.

I'm reminded of my friend who, as a kid, borrowed CDs of favourite bands from me - lovely, very good friend, a nice thoughtful guy, a bit chaotic but nothing weird. The fact that, weeks after that initial loan, I'd be round his and see him using my treasured Silverchair and Tripping Daisy discs as coasters was so blatant that it was impossible to be offended. It wasn't him being a dickhead, it was just that it had clearly never occurred to him that he should look after other people's possessions.

Obviously, your situation is a few orders of magnitude more serious than that, like.

 

[horriblemercedes]

37 minutes ago, cobblers said:

Nope, she's absolutely fucking fuming. I'm still at the "I just don't get it" stage

Have they/you spoken to the friends/tenants about it yet? What's their position?

[loserone]

3 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Went to Hamsterley Forest yesterday. They’ve set up number plate recognition in the Forest for parking FFS. It’s Forestry commission , so state owned , I’ve already paid for a bit of this.

Anyway, I go to pay, and it’s card only. Tap the screen, put in the reg, it tells me I’ve 19 mins left ( first 20 is free). Try again ,  as I was going to stay, it tells me I’ve already paid. Normally that would have been enough for me , but they’re threatening a £50 fine and I bet they’ve subbed that out to some bastard debt collection cowboys.

So I drive through the Forest and at the other end there are more pay machines . So I thought , one more try. Tells me , I’ve already paid and have 9 minutes before I have to pay again. I give up and go back to the car. Then I thought, it would be a good idea to get a photo of the screen, so I go back but this time it tells me I’ve got 48 minutes left. The machines are obviously not working properly but I don’t suppose that’ll stop then trying to con £50 out of me.

You pay when you leave.. 

[artdjones]

41 minutes ago, mercedade said:

it feels like it can't actually be malicious and kind of crosses over into charmingly eccentric

That's only true if their eccentricities aren't exclusively in one direction, that is to their advantage.

[Metal Guru]

48 minutes ago, loserone said:

You pay when you leave.. 

It wouldn’t let me pay.

[loserone]

You hadn't stayed long enough to need to pay?  As it said, first 20 minutes are free 

[MiniMinorMk3]

4 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Went to Hamsterley Forest yesterday...

...Tap the screen, put in the reg, it tells me I’ve 19 mins left ( first 20 is free)...

...I’ve already paid and have 9 minutes before I have to pay again...

...so I go back but this time it tells me I’ve got 48 minutes left. 

Welcome to the Hotel California!

[mercedade]

36 minutes ago, artdjones said:

That's only true if their eccentricities aren't exclusively in one direction, that is to their advantage.

Oh, don't get me wrong - there's absolutely no way to find this charmingly eccentric in real life.

I'm still completely blown away by it.

[loserone]

34 minutes ago, Nyphur said:

 

https://www.forestryengland.uk/article/hamsterley-forest-anpr-faqs

Q: How does the system work?
Upon entry to the site, the system records your number plate. When you’re ready to leave, enter your number plate into one of the machines and it will tell you how much you owe based on how long you’ve been on site. Your number plate will be recognised on exit and the system will know you have paid.

Millions of sleep deprived parents of gruffalo enthusiasts and adrenaline junkies with jump bikes figure it out every year. Amazing, isn't it?

[meggersdog]

19 hours ago, Alan_Green said:

 

"This reviewer was never a customer of ABC Ltd.   He twice cancelled on us at the last minute then threatened a negative review when we declined to make a 3rd booking.  ABC Ltd does not respond to threats.  We do, however, welcome reviews from actual customers." 

Not far off this is what I wrote

 You correctly state that you cancelled a booked MOT on two separate occasions, you also correctly state we only do MOTs … therefore 100% of our earnings come from MOTs. The first time you called to cancel on the day of the MOT , it was too late for us to fill that MOT slot , so we lost the earnings, but more importantly we lost an hour of our time. I understand sometimes things happen and yes life can get in the way and you have to cancel these things, so we rebooked at a time and day to suit you, on that day you phoned up at 1am to cancel that mornings MOT…. Let me state again 1AM !! It’s a good job call divert wasn’t switched on , and yet again we lost another MOT slot and wasted another hour. Last week was half term, I could of spent that hour with the children but cancelling at such a late time meant me wasting that hour….. you then phone up almost a week later to rebook for a third time , somebody who phones up a stranger at 1am in the morning has very low morals , and yet again wouldn’t hesitate to cancel again , because I said I wouldn’t rebook you another appointment , you then left a threatening message on my answerphone , you state that you offered to pay for the missed appointment, but how do you propose to give me back the two wasted hours you caused ? We have never met, you are not a customer of ours so to say dreadful attitude…. Maybe you should look closer to home

_______________________________________________________________________________________

He doesn't seem to know what call divert is. He is obviously on so many benefits so doesn't work and has no concept of wasted time.  For me it isn't about the loss of earning it is the wasted time, time I will never get back but he doesn't seem to grasp this. Leaving a message threatening a bad review he doesn't see as a threat. I have saved this message and using google as a tool to harm a companys reputation is a threat that he carried out. He asks what time he should have called....Erm any reasonable time which 1 am is not.  He then shows the disability card. Here is his reply

______________________________________________________________________________________________

In response to below review reply - just confirms what I wrote above. Low morals? I was in the middle of having an MS episode at 1am - when should I have phoned? I had no idea what state i'd be in in the morning so felt it best to leave a message, afer all any modern business would have a proper answerphone system set up.

How do I propose to make up for the two hours lost? i'd pay you for those two like I stated.

Threatening answerphone message? All I said was, "the reason I chose you was based on your 5* reviews on Google, which now won't be 5* reviews". Because your attitude is terrible, as exemplified by your response below.

Having learnt that I have a disability and mental health condition, you accuse me of having low morals and being threatening. I'll leave potential customers to make thir own mind up.