The grumpy thread

[GrumpiusMaximus]

56 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Had this letter from RM:

As residents of this cul-de-sac we've not had any bother from seagulls, although one neighbour on the other side has had a problem in her garden with them. Is this a common problem, @Yoss and the other posties?

There's an irony in the fact that they still managed to deliver the letter...

[Stanky]

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

Had this letter from RM:

As residents of this cul-de-sac we've not had any bother from seagulls, although one neighbour on the other side has had a problem in her garden with them. Is this a common problem, @Yoss and the other posties?

@High Jetter's postman, earlier

[Yoss]

5 minutes ago, Stanky said:

@High Jetter's postman, earlier

I assume this picture was taken by the bird in the bottom right corner doing a selfie. 

It's certainly a new one on me. I've seen lots of reasons for not delivering the mail but never that. Couldn't the postie go in with a bag of chips. 

[Talbot]

35 minutes ago, Yoss said:

 Couldn't the postie go in with a Machine gun

I despise seagulls.

 

Today's grump.  Looking to purchase a Triumph Spitfire (not for me I should add).  Found one on ebay, looks ok.  Seller has the ridiculous requirement of a £500 deposit to be paid at end of auction.  It's against ebay Ts&Cs, and against any and all advice ever for buying a car to do that.  So I of course ignored it and bid anyway, expecting to tell the seller I would be arriving on X date, with money to buy the car, and wouldn't be buggering about.

Seller gets on the phone and gives me a load of old shit about the fact that I am "violating HIS terms and conditions" and that by not paying it's giving me an "unfair advantage" over other bidders.  All utter horseshit.  We went round and round in circles for a while, untill I ask if I can just turn up and buy the bloody thing.  "no, it's the principle of the matter now".

Oh do get fucked.  I know selling a car is a ballache and sellers get pissed about all the time, but all I wanted to do was turn up, check the car matches the description and photos, pay the man and take it away.  Not difficult, surely?

Turns out it is.

Wanker.

[Lankytim]

ARSEBISCUITS.

The wife and I were travelling to Morrisons for a breakfast when we were bumped in slow moving traffic. No idea how fast the guy was going but it made a tremendous  bang and if it wasn’t for the wife’s quick reactions would’ve shunted us the backside of the Jaguar F pace in front.

We were all ok, although I was bloody furious. By the time the driver of the other car had got out I’d calmed somewhat, accidents happen don’t they? The boot is a bit crunched up but opens and closes more or less OK, the bumper has taken a hit but was a bit buggered already, I haven’t checked underneath but I’d be surprised if there’s anything folded up under there. The Clio has bent its bonnet, split its bumper and maybe more behind. 
 

The driver was very apologetic but as I watched him drive his car up the kerb to swap details he had his phone in his hand, texting? Pretty common in stop-start traffic. 
 

As nobody was injured he’s agreed to pay for a replacement boot lid rather than going through the insurance which would involve excesses and probably writing cars off. If anyone knows to one to a silver boot lid let me know! It’s for a 2007 Jazz in NH642M. 

 

[chadders]

42 minutes ago, Talbot said:

I despise seagulls.

 

Today's grump.  Looking to purchase a Triumph Spitfire (not for me I should add).  Found one on ebay, looks ok.  Seller has the ridiculous requirement of a £500 deposit to be paid at end of auction.  It's against ebay Ts&Cs, and against any and all advice ever for buying a car to do that.  So I of course ignored it and bid anyway, expecting to tell the seller I would be arriving on X date, with money to buy the car, and wouldn't be buggering about.

Seller gets on the phone and gives me a load of old shit about the fact that I am "violating HIS terms and conditions" and that by not paying it's giving me an "unfair advantage" over other bidders.  All utter horseshit.  We went round and round in circles for a while, untill I ask if I can just turn up and buy the bloody thing.  "no, it's the principle of the matter now".

Oh do get fucked.  I know selling a car is a ballache and sellers get pissed about all the time, but all I wanted to do was turn up, check the car matches the description and photos, pay the man and take it away.  Not difficult, surely?

Turns out it is.

Wanker.

This one?

 "A CONTACT NUMBER WITHIN 10 MINUTES AND A £500 NON-REFUNDABLE HOLDING DEPOSIT WITHIN 12 HOURS TO SECURE PURCHASE"

With that first condition he obviously doesn't want to sell it.

Maybe his missus is insisting that he does and this is his way of thwarting her with very little chance of her finding out?

 

 

[Zelandeth]

34 minutes ago, Lankytim said:

ARSEBISCUITS.

The wife and I were travelling to Morrisons for a breakfast when we were bumped in slow moving traffic. No idea how fast the guy was going but it made a tremendous  bang and if it wasn’t for the wife’s quick reactions would’ve shunted us the backside of the Jaguar F pace in front.

We were all ok, although I was bloody furious. By the time the driver of the other car had got out I’d calmed somewhat, accidents happen don’t they? The boot is a bit crunched up but opens and closes more or less OK, the bumper has taken a hit but was a bit buggered already, I haven’t checked underneath but I’d be surprised if there’s anything folded up under there. The Clio has bent its bonnet, split its bumper and maybe more behind. 
 

The driver was very apologetic but as I watched him drive his car up the kerb to swap details he had his phone in his hand, texting? Pretty common in stop-start traffic. 
 

As nobody was injured he’s agreed to pay for a replacement boot lid rather than going through the insurance which would involve excesses and probably writing cars off. If anyone knows to one to a silver boot lid let me know! It’s for a 2007 Jazz in NH642M. 

 

I hope you still exchanged full details and made sure they actually existed.  I'd not be at all surprised if they immediately vanish off the face of the earth when asked to cough up any money unless chased through insurance etc.

Also do take a proper look underneath before dismissing it as being just a bootlid and bumper.  It doesn't take much at all to bend things on cars of this era, as they're specifically designed TO deform in key areas in an accident to protect the occupants.

Plastic bumpers like that can do a really good job of hiding what shape the crash structure under them is in.  On the plus side, he's almost definitely done plenty more damage to that Clio than you can see, so hopefully gets what they deserve if they were on their bloody phone.

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Yoss said:

Couldn't the postie go in with a bag of chips. 

That would ensure they get divebombed!

[Yoss]

41 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

That would ensure they get divebombed!

I meant leave the chips for the seagulls while you go and do the delivery. 

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

On 19/06/2024 at 20:01, mercedade said:

Missed out on the house I was trying to buy. 

Houses for sale in my village/town are rare things, and this one was a bit weird. Shabby ('potential') but in a weird leasehold arrangement which might have complicated making improvements. 

Went for less than I could afford, but more than I wanted to pay, so feeling conflicted about my valuation skills. 

Was it on a 999 year lease (ie a virtual freehold)?  It's worth having a legal at the title documents before walking away.  I can download them for you if you want (£3).  Just a thought.  Happy to help, am in the property game (not an estate agent, more on the land side but nevertheless happy to help if it means you secure a property you want).

 

pm me if you like.  No bother if not.

[ruffgeezer]

The XC70 has had a belt squeal for the last week or so.  I had a look and saw the tensioner wasn't happy and the A/C  stretch belt looked rather old so I changed them, the aux belt looked fairly new however so I refitted that.  Cranked the car up and it still squeals like a pig at an Eton dinner party.  Turns out someone has fitted a belt 20mm longer than the original, so back apart and a new belt fitted, normal service resumed, I must confess it was a bit of a twat to get the proper sized belt on the first time, I wonder if it had been wrong routed previously.

Whilst in the mood, I pulled the cabin filter out although I was fairly confident that it'd be reasonably new, the car is not far off wanting a small service.  

@Marshall2810's dad had it serviced in 2023 and the garage had written on the service book "all filters changed".  Well, unless they were using Volvo OEM parts, they didn't change the cabin filter. Things like this sadly aren't uncommon, I know from the Mitsubishi ASX that had been to the main dealer 6 times and STILL managed to come to me 13 years down the line with the original date stamped cabin filter fitted. These parts are £10 - £20 so someone is on a nice little earner somewhere.  I know when I was at a main dealer coolant was only booked out as 1l at a time, so I'd often 'round up' the remains and keep one or two unopened bottles back to swap for parts for my car come stock take time.

Luckily I'd ordered a carbon filter and oil filter so as to give the old girl a little attention before using her full time, so again I changed it.  It just really pisses me off as a former mechanic that there are so many lazy garages out there who will cut corners.

 

*** EDIT:- I just want to reiterate I have no issue with Marshall2810 or his dad or anything to do with how the car was sold, apologies to both parties if it read that way.

[hairnet]

 

Took him linger to winch it onto the truck than run it

Cool plate

[grizz]

My week included an unidentified dickwad hitting my car and disappearing into Morrisons to shop. 
No use doing anything about insurance.  
So left Postits. 
 

 

[richardmorris]

22 hours ago, MikeR said:

holy thread resurection !!

justhaving a stare at my NEST pension and I have cashed it in , load of shite , never wanted it because I had my own deferred  final salary pension which I now draw, but I got auto enrolled into the NEST at the time despite voicing my choices .  I managed to cancel the first auto enrollment but the 2nd one 4 years later got me ..

its incredible how NEST  have taken charges and reduced  the cash sum , but my deferred serps lump sum with a bank has continued to grow and offers quite a nice income every year in comparison , or a big draw down ... I cant help thinking a lot of NEST customers will be really pissed off in the future .

would be nice if I could complain about the auto enrollment , the ongoing charges , and the taxation . 

hope  they do have  a leaving survey .....

My advisor has said to keep my work nest pension as the returns are good and fees are low.

[auntiemaryscanary]

9 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Our AA Cover auto-renewed a month ago.  No notifications, nothing.  I realised last night and my partner checked her bank account.  They'd taken over 500 Quid.

Managed to claw the vast majority of it back for exactly the same cover.  Ironically, for less than we were paying last year.  But they are not on the Christmas list or indeed the renewal list for next year...

You've got to watch em. I never do auto renew. 2 years ago we still had a landline - the RAC were ringing me every other day asking why I didn't want to pay twice as much as last year. Strangely they came down to the previous years price...

[Marshall2810]

8 hours ago, ruffgeezer said:

The latest episode of cunts not doing things right.  

The XC70 has had a belt squeal for the last week or so.  I had a look and saw the tensioner wasn't happy and the A/C  stretch belt looked rather old so I changed them, the aux belt looked fairly new however so I refitted that.  Cranked the car up and it still squeals like a pig at an Eton dinner party.  Turns out someone has fitted a belt 20mm longer than the original, so back apart and a new belt fitted, normal service resumes - air con still shit.

Whilst in the mood, I pulled the cabin filter out fairly confident that it'd be reasonably new.  After all, @Marshall2810's dad's garage have written on the last service "all filters changed".  Well, unless they were using Volvo OEM parts, the didn't change that one as it looked grufty as all hell.

Luckily I'd ordered a carbon filter and oil filter so as to give the old girl a little attention before using her full time, so again I changed it.  It just really pisses me off as a former mechanic that there are so many lazy gits out there who will cut corners.

I have no idea if this passive aggressive moan is a pop at Dads mechanic, Dads description of the car, my integrity having listed the car or all of them?

As you've tagged me publicly rather than by PM I assume you want to make a point and everyone aware rather than provide a friendly watch out so thanks for that. 

I'll certainly let Dad know but doubt they'll be falling out over a cabin filter. If I'd take a naive guess he will have meant the air, oil and fuel filter. I'm not making excuses having only met him once and have no idea of his level of competence professional or otherwise. Feel free to PM me with your bank details so I can reimburse you for the said filter if you feel short changed on the deal.

I'm sorry you've had the issues with the belt and tensioner (which fitting may well have pre-dated his ownership) and the shit air con you've had to endure. Hopefully you can bring the old girl up to the desired standard so it provides you with years of service as it's done for our family. 

[New POD]

On 27/06/2024 at 18:54, cpjitservices said:

Grumpy... Grrrrr got to take wifes 73 plate MG ZS into Dealership tomorrow (motability) It has got just shy of 7k on the clock....

 

 

Shock Absorber pissing oil!!

FFS.

Once visited a seal manufacturer for work (our own sealing arrangement on a hydraulic valve for JCB was pissing off JCB for the high levels of warranty) 

They showed us their development test machine for shock absorber seals.  Proper badass.  The seals we were considering were twice the price. 

I guess MG just buy the cheapest. And hope. 

[ruffgeezer]

4 hours ago, Marshall2810 said:

I have no idea if this passive aggressive moan is a pop at Dads mechanic, Dads description of the car, my integrity having listed the car or all of them?

As you've tagged me publicly rather than by PM I assume you want to make a point and everyone aware rather than provide a friendly watch out so thanks for that. 

I'll certainly let Dad know but doubt they'll be falling out over a cabin filter. If I'd take a naive guess he will have meant the air, oil and fuel filter. I'm not making excuses having only met him once and have no idea of his level of competence professional or otherwise. Feel free to PM me with your bank details so I can reimburse you for the said filter if you feel short changed on the deal.

I'm sorry you've had the issues with the belt and tensioner (which fitting may well have pre-dated his ownership) and the shit air con you've had to endure. Hopefully you can bring the old girl up to the desired standard so it provides you with years of service as it's done for our family. 

Sorry no passive aggressiveness in your direction here - that was not the intention at all.

This was one of my main gripes as a mechanic, that garages take money for doing a job they haven't- the Mitsubishi ASX I had a few months ago was exactly the same.  I got to the point that I wouldn't tell people what I did as a job because there seem to be so many garages out there on the con.  

I'm sorry if I gave the impression I was anything other than happy with the car.  As I said to your dad, you cannot sell a car with that age and mileage and guarantee it, it'd be foolish to do so in my opinion!

TLDR:- Car and vendor good, garages who 'forget' to do stuff bad.

[Supernaut]

On 27/06/2024 at 22:25, MikeR said:

holy thread resurection !!

justhaving a stare at my NEST pension and I have cashed it in , load of shite , never wanted it because I had my own deferred  final salary pension which I now draw, but I got auto enrolled into the NEST at the time despite voicing my choices .  I managed to cancel the first auto enrollment but the 2nd one 4 years later got me ..

its incredible how NEST  have taken charges and reduced  the cash sum , but my deferred serps lump sum with a bank has continued to grow and offers quite a nice income every year in comparison , or a big draw down ... I cant help thinking a lot of NEST customers will be really pissed off in the future .

would be nice if I could complain about the auto enrollment , the ongoing charges , and the taxation . 

hope  they do have  a leaving survey .....

Interesting. My current employer uses Nest...

I have my other pensions from previous employers rolled up into a Moneybox pension just so it's all in one place.

[eddyramrod]

17 hours ago, Lankytim said:

ARSEBISCUITS.

The wife and I were travelling to Morrisons for a breakfast when we were bumped in slow moving traffic. No idea how fast the guy was going but it made a tremendous  bang and if it wasn’t for the wife’s quick reactions would’ve shunted us the backside of the Jaguar F pace in front.

We were all ok, although I was bloody furious. By the time the driver of the other car had got out I’d calmed somewhat, accidents happen don’t they? The boot is a bit crunched up but opens and closes more or less OK, the bumper has taken a hit but was a bit buggered already, I haven’t checked underneath but I’d be surprised if there’s anything folded up under there. The Clio has bent its bonnet, split its bumper and maybe more behind. 
 

The driver was very apologetic but as I watched him drive his car up the kerb to swap details he had his phone in his hand, texting? Pretty common in stop-start traffic. 
 

As nobody was injured he’s agreed to pay for a replacement boot lid rather than going through the insurance which would involve excesses and probably writing cars off. If anyone knows to one to a silver boot lid let me know! It’s for a 2007 Jazz in NH642M. 

 

I was rear-ended by a black Clio in 2003.  The resulting whiplash injury kept me off work for six months and ultimately curtailed my HGV career, and my 1991 Orion was a write-off.  Any signs of pain especially in your neck and shoulders, get to A&E immediately.  I seriously hope you don't need to!

[Lankytim]

22 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

I was rear-ended by a black Clio in 2003.  The resulting whiplash injury kept me off work for six months and ultimately curtailed my HGV career, and my 1991 Orion was a write-off.  Any signs of pain especially in your neck and shoulders, get to A&E immediately.  I seriously hope you don't need to!

Wow, worth bearing in mind. I’ve still got a slightly stiff neck, the wife appears to be fine. I’m not sure if the stiffness is bump related or just how I feel normally. 
 

I’ve checked underneath the Jazz and there’s no hidden damage so the impact couldn’t have been too harsh (although it bloody well felt it) 

Can I find a tailgate in NH642M silver? Can I bugger. 

[Lankytim]

On 28/06/2024 at 16:11, Lankytim said:

ARSEBISCUITS.

The wife and I were travelling to Morrisons for a breakfast when we were bumped in slow moving traffic. No idea how fast the guy was going but it made a tremendous  bang and if it wasn’t for the wife’s quick reactions would’ve shunted us the backside of the Jaguar F pace in front.

We were all ok, although I was bloody furious. By the time the driver of the other car had got out I’d calmed somewhat, accidents happen don’t they? The boot is a bit crunched up but opens and closes more or less OK, the bumper has taken a hit but was a bit buggered already, I haven’t checked underneath but I’d be surprised if there’s anything folded up under there. The Clio has bent its bonnet, split its bumper and maybe more behind. 
 

The driver was very apologetic but as I watched him drive his car up the kerb to swap details he had his phone in his hand, texting? Pretty common in stop-start traffic. 
 

As nobody was injured he’s agreed to pay for a replacement boot lid rather than going through the insurance which would involve excesses and probably writing cars off. If anyone knows to one to a silver boot lid let me know! It’s for a 2007 Jazz in NH642M. 

 

Ok… so the driver of this Clio and I decided not to go via the insurance and that he would pay for the damage. The tailgate was deffo damaged but apart from a little dint on the bumper and a slightly deformed “crush can” on the end of the chassis there doesn’t appear to be any further damage of note. 
 

I’ve trawled FB marketplace and eBay for a good used tailgate in the correct colour and couldn’t find  anything suitable. Breakeryard.com came up trumps with a selection of boot lids dotted around the country starting at £150 delivered up to £250. 
 

I’ve text this fella and told him I can get a new tailgate for £150 and he hasn’t responded yet. It made me wonder that if he decided not to cough up is there anything I can really do about it? I don’t want to go via the insurance for the sake of a boot lid on an old motor but I don’t see why someone can damage your car and get away with it.

All I’ve got from this fella is his name and number and a photo of his car. We should’ve really exchanged addresses too, not that I’m weird enough to show up on his doorstep demanding money. 

 

[Jazoli]

4 minutes ago, Lankytim said:

Ok… so the driver of this Clio and I decided not to go via the insurance and that he would pay for the damage. The tailgate was deffo damaged but apart from a little dint on the bumper and a slightly deformed “crush can” on the end of the chassis there doesn’t appear to be any further damage of note. 
 

I’ve trawled FB marketplace and eBay for a good used tailgate in the correct colour and couldn’t find  anything suitable. Breakeryard.com came up trumps with a selection of boot lids dotted around the country starting at £150 delivered up to £250. 
 

I’ve text this fella and told him I can get a new tailgate for £150 and he hasn’t responded yet. It made me wonder that if he decided not to cough up is there anything I can really do about it? I don’t want to go via the insurance for the sake of a boot lid on an old motor but I don’t see why someone can damage your car and get away with it.

All I’ve got from this fella is his name and number and a photo of his car. We should’ve really exchanged addresses too, not that I’m weird enough to show up on his doorstep demanding money. 

 

I’d not fuck about, if he is unresponsive claim off his insurance, they’ll write your car off but you should be able to buy it back for buttons and fix it, if you are suffering neck pain make his insurer aware also and get a doctors appointment booked, no response from the dickhead to me means claiming properly.

[Lankytim]

18 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

I’d not fuck about, if he is unresponsive claim off his insurance, they’ll write your car off but you should be able to buy it back for buttons and fix it, if you are suffering neck pain make his insurer aware also and get a doctors appointment booked, no response from the dickhead to me means claiming properly.

Is there a time limit on making the insurers aware there’s been an accident? We’re mostly worried about the loss of no claims and increased premiums, I’m not sure the £1k or whatever we’d get back on the Jazz would be worth it. 
 

I guess I could go down the small claims route or put it in the hands of one of those claims handling companies (I’m not even sure they’re a thing or not anymore) , although presumably our insurer would find out at that point and hike our premiums anyway. 
 

Perhaps the guy has looked at the damage to his car and decided to claim anyway.

[worldofceri]

@Lankytim

I had a similar incident last year. Guy was very apologetic and we swapped details ‘by the book’. He asked if we could avoid the insurance and I agreed as he seemed honourable. I priced it up at £500 ish but he has paid less than half of that and I’ve given up chasing. Lesson learned. 

I would give this lad 24 hours to cough up some money or go to your insurers. If you want to avoid that then you might have to  make peace with the idea of footing the bill yourself, or else send Warren T. Claim in.

[myglaren]

If you claim on his insurance there is no loss of NCB.

I went through my insurers (LV+) against a Volvo that wrote off my Civic.

I just got the renewal notice and no loss of NCB and the policy is actually slightly less this year.

[Lankytim]

1 hour ago, myglaren said:

If you claim on his insurance there is no loss of NCB.

I went through my insurers (LV+) against a Volvo that wrote off my Civic.

I just got the renewal notice and no loss of NCB and the policy is actually slightly less this year.

Are you sure about that? I thought it would affect the Wife’s NCD even if it wasn’t her fault or even if she told them about it and didn’t claim. I don’t have the guys insurance details anyway, although I think I can get them from AskMid if I pay them a fiver or something. 

[loserone]

Tell your insurer, give name and reg and they will deal with his insurer for you.  It will not affect her NCB, though you will have to declare it as a non fault accident.

 

I'm afraid if he's not given you cash money by now, it's unlikely he will and you need to claim ASAP 

[Markeh]

After having to drop my folks off at Luton airport this morning and the utter chaos involved in actually doing so, I can see why there were so many angry passengers on Airline. Appreciate that things are a lot more difficult there at the moment after the car park fire last year, but I didn't expect to be stuck in traffic at 4am this morning trying to get anywhere near the one drop off area they have left. Both my folks have reduced mobility and are blue badge holders - while they've updated the advice on their website to reflect the car park being out of action, they haven't changed the accessibility bit to state that no, you can't actually use the car park now unless you've booked it, everyone must go through the  same (thankfully free) drop-off, then you have to call a number to get a shuttle bus or walk 10 minutes to the terminal.

Also means they'll have to do the same on the way back, as there's no provisions to park anywhere for an hour or two like there are at other airports - you get 20 mins in the pick-up area where you must stay with your car, or an hour in the long stay, which is 10 minutes away, with a bus every 20 mins - which is basically as good as useless. Normally I prefer to park up, go and wait for them in arrivals and help them with their bags. No chance of that happening this time.

Also they were told to be there even earlier than the usual 3 hours due to alleged security delays. Did lead to a 1am start this morning for me and eventually making it back to bed for around 6:30 no thanks to M1 diversions.

[myglaren]

11 hours ago, Lankytim said:

Are you sure about that? I thought it would affect the Wife’s NCD even if it wasn’t her fault or even if she told them about it and didn’t claim. I don’t have the guys insurance details anyway, although I think I can get them from AskMid if I pay them a fiver or something. 

Yes, in my case at least.  I didn't have the other driver's insurance details, my son, who was driving at the time, only got the reg, her name and phone number.

I contacted my insurers just to let them know and they asked if I would like them to handle the claim as intermediaries so I let them, sent them the dashcam video that showed her rounding the bend too quickly and in the centre of the road and sliding* into my car that was almost stationary, he knows about idiots taking the bend wide.

That was about the limit of my involvement.  Got more from them than I paid for the car three years previously.

*Heavy snow that morning.