The grumpy thread

[Markeh]

I'd love to know how you lot actually manage to get tradespeople in the first place.

I've rung about 8 or 9 different companies to get someone to quote for my driveway.

Not one has called back, showed up or even done anything. I'm close to giving up getting the job done.

[Zelandeth]

17 minutes ago, Markeh said:

I'd love to know how you lot actually manage to get tradespeople in the first place.

I've rung about 8 or 9 different companies to get someone to quote for my driveway.

Not one has called back, showed up or even done anything. I'm close to giving up getting the job done.

This.  A thousand bloody times over.  Why can I only click "agree" once?

Trying to get hold of anyone to do anything around here is utterly impossible.

Then when after years of struggling if you do manage to get hold of someone, and their company *appears* to have decent reviews, and has been recommended by someone, they turn out to be complete fscking cowboys and leave more work behind to be sorted than you started with anyway.

It is simultaneously utterly maddening and incredibly depressing as a home owner just trying to get things beyond his abilities sorted.

[wuvvum]

39 minutes ago, Markeh said:

I've rung about 8 or 9 different companies to get someone to quote for my driveway.

Not one has called back, showed up or even done anything. I'm close to giving up getting the job done.

Pop down to your friendly local caravan enthusiasts' site, I'm sure you'll find someone there willing to take on the work.  If you're lucky they might even throw in a dag as part of the deal.

[Markeh]

Posting that prompted me to finally try MyBuilder as recommended by a friend...

Well fuck me, I got two calls in 5 minutes, and someone's just been and quoted me, someone else is coming this week allegedly... I'm in disbelief.

[cobblers]

40 minutes ago, Markeh said:

Posting that prompted me to finally try MyBuilder as recommended by a friend...

Well fuck me, I got two calls in 5 minutes, and someone's just been and quoted me, someone else is coming this week allegedly... I'm in disbelief.

be very very careful! Any genuinely good tradesman would be busy enough, hence why they're usually so hard to get hold of. 

These sites often allow bad reviews to be deleted for a fee. Try and work out the reason they're on the site.

Years ago I got a few quotes for plasterers off there. One bloke was a 100% wrongun, more or less a crackhead. The next bloke was decent enough and he was just getting back into the trade after quitting working for someone else. He did a decent job.

The plumbers company near where I used to work were actual, genuine criminals and they got all their work through these sites. Company folded after one of the blokes got caught stealing from one customer, there was a massive fistfight and then one of them ran off with £60k out of the bank account that they'd saved for VAT. Remaining two guys started the company back up under a slightly different name, but one of them got put in prison for beating his wife half to death.

[Markeh]

20 minutes ago, cobblers said:

be very very careful! Any genuinely good tradesman would be busy enough, hence why they're usually so hard to get hold of. 

These sites often allow bad reviews to be deleted for a fee. Try and work out the reason they're on the site.

Years ago I got a few quotes for plasterers off there. One bloke was a 100% wrongun, more or less a crackhead. The next bloke was decent enough and he was just getting back into the trade after quitting working for someone else. He did a decent job.

The plumbers company near where I used to work were actual, genuine criminals and they got all their work through these sites. Company folded after one of the blokes got caught stealing from one customer, there was a massive fistfight and then one of them ran off with £60k out of the bank account that they'd saved for VAT. Remaining two guys started the company back up under a slightly different name, but one of them got put in prison for beating his wife half to death.

At this point it's this or sell the house and buy one with a driveway that's been done. I'm at that level of fed up with companies just not replying.

[Zelandeth]

35 minutes ago, cobblers said:

be very very careful! Any genuinely good tradesman would be busy enough, hence why they're usually so hard to get hold of. 

These sites often allow bad reviews to be deleted for a fee. Try and work out the reason they're on the site.

Years ago I got a few quotes for plasterers off there. One bloke was a 100% wrongun, more or less a crackhead. The next bloke was decent enough and he was just getting back into the trade after quitting working for someone else. He did a decent job.

The plumbers company near where I used to work were actual, genuine criminals and they got all their work through these sites. Company folded after one of the blokes got caught stealing from one customer, there was a massive fistfight and then one of them ran off with £60k out of the bank account that they'd saved for VAT. Remaining two guys started the company back up under a slightly different name, but one of them got put in prison for beating his wife half to death.

Yep.  See also the roofers we used.  Did what on the surface looked like a decent job for just long enough for them to fsck off into the sunset with our £30K and having completely vanished when we tried to follow up with a couple of warranty issues six months later.

That was through Trustatrader I think it was.

[High Jetter]

Personal recommendation is usually the best way, ask around

[scaryoldcortina]

I've got a car on ebay and the bloody anoraks have found the listing, three messages today asking about the car in the background and one just now informing me that the 1964 rapier I listed "must" be a 1963 mk3a with a mk4 grille and bumper fitted. I only said 64 cos it's on a B plate, duh.

BUY IT OR FUCK OFF I DON'T CARE.

[Yoss]

4 hours ago, scaryoldcortina said:

I've got a car on ebay and the bloody anoraks have found the listing, three messages today asking about the car in the background and one just now informing me that the 1964 rapier I listed "must" be a 1963 mk3a with a mk4 grille and bumper fitted. I only said 64 cos it's on a B plate, duh.

BUY IT OR FUCK OFF I DON'T CARE.

Could you tell me more about the car in the background? 😉

[Dyslexic Viking]

20 minutes ago, Yoss said:

Could you tell me more about the car in the background? 😉

This one?

 

[95 quid Peugeot]

On 18/07/2024 at 09:32, Bren said:

I have used ebay for over 20 years.

Yesterday - for the first time - I left negative feeback.

I have had issues with the seller before but gave them another chance - like last time it was engine oil. Last time it turned up after I opened a dispute - this time it failed to arrive after 14 days. They claimed it was lost in transit but it never appeared to have been dispatched.

No more chances.

Was that carousel car parts ?   ive just left my first 2 Negs in 23 years  for oil not turning up, never sent, but still in stock at double the price  

[Split_Pin]

Post.

2010.

MGs.

Are.

Not.

The.

Same.

Just in response to posts on MG and Rover FB pages of these awful things.

That is all.

[Bren]

4 hours ago, 95 quid Peugeot said:

Was that carousel car parts ?   ive just left my first 2 Negs in 23 years  for oil not turning up, never sent, but still in stock at double the price  

It was.

[95 quid Peugeot]

Just now, Bren said:

It was.

Snap

[Zelandeth]

If you operate a business and have a website which lists things like opening hours, please keep it up to date.  It is exceptionally annoying for your prospective customers to drive an hour to get to you to find that you closed for lunch ten minutes before they arrived, when your website does not make any mention of closing in the middle of the day.  Especially when said customer specifically made a point of *checking* the aforementioned website before setting out to make sure you wouldn't be closed for lunch when he got there.

Pissed off Zel is pissed off.

[Jazoli]

29 minutes ago, 95 quid Peugeot said:

Snap

And me

[High Jetter]

17 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

If you operate a business and have a website which lists things like opening hours, please keep it up to date.  It is exceptionally annoying for your prospective customers to drive an hour to get to you to find that you closed for lunch ten minutes before they arrived, when your website does not make any mention of closing in the middle of the day.  Especially when said customer specifically made a point of *checking* the aforementioned website before setting out to make sure you wouldn't be closed for lunch when he got there.

Pissed off Zel is pissed off.

It will be interesting to hear what they say when they return, eagerly* awaiting your custom.

[barefoot]

You could make a start repainting their front door whilst you wait for them to return. 

[Pieman]

Every time I have a weekend I am not working, I invite friends to come and maybe spend time with me.  Every time, they come up with an excuse a couple of days before and cancel on me.

I don't have any friends who live close to me and my girlfriend died last year.  Is it too much to ask to have something to look forward to in life other than working and sitting in my house?

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, Bren said:

It was.

 

1 hour ago, 95 quid Peugeot said:

Snap

 

1 hour ago, Jazoli said:

And me

I assume that means I'm not going to receive my 10 litres of 20W50 and two cans of engine flush for £14.87 then?  Sigh.

[95 quid Peugeot]

39 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

 

 

I assume that means I'm not going to receive my 10 litres of 20W50 and two cans of engine flush for £14.87 then?  Sigh.

That was my exact order, so I'd say sadly no

[meggersdog]

I employ a part time mot assistant, a single mother who works during school hours.She has three children in full time education. Previously the social were paying towards her rent and that was it, no free school meals no help with anything else. She has now been forced onto universal credit but because of her hours she has to have an interview and sign on. First couple of times she has had to take time off work.I am not paying her to sign on so her wages are down. They have now agreed to a telephone interview and this is my grump.

We don't have avery good mobile signal here so my assistant gave them the works number. So today I answer the phone to an 0800 number. As usual I answer with the name of the company. "err, what" I repeat the name of the company "oh, I was told to ring this number by a person"  Okay well I am a person so who did want to speak to. ( for the purpose of this let's call my assistant Jane) . " I want to speak to Jane"  sure who's calling " I AM NOT GIVING YOU MY NAME" erm, sorry "it's got nothing to do with you." she shouted . Oh says I " look it's a business matter with Jane and nothing to do with you"  with the phone in hand I went into the workshop and found Jane. Holding the phone near my face I loudly inform Jane there is some arsey woman on the phone for her.

WTF a not very civil, civil servant. If I am paying someone by the hour then taking them away from their work to answer a phonecall   has a lot to do with me.  

[Datsuncog]

6 minutes ago, meggersdog said:

WTF a not very civil, civil servant.

If it's to do with Universal Credit applications, that'll be someone from an outsourced Capita call centre.

[meggersdog]

gotcha, a really horrible person

[loserone]

9 minutes ago, meggersdog said:

gotcha, a person in a really horrible job with a shit employer 

Might also just be this 

[meggersdog]

Probaby not. The horribe woman shouting down the phone came across as a Mrs Raven type.

[Blunderguts]

If it's anything to do with benefits you'll be dealing with people who wouldn't survive five minutes in the real world.

You could also be dealing with these moronic health assessments where the people don't listen to what is said thus causing your benefits to get stopped.

Bunch of lying fuckwits the lot of them.

Oh oh! Not forgetting the so-called disability advisor at my local jobcentre. He called me the least desirable on the books when I caught him lying about an appointment he claimed to have made for me. He tried to force me to sign a jobseekers agreement that involved cleaning toilets. This to someone with an engineering qualification.

I'm not signing that you spineless little cunt.

This same wanker called a guy who suffered with depression, undesirable because of his condition.

Bigoted cunt.

All I'll say is the tribunal took a really dim view of this cunt's behaviour towards me.

The DWP employ a whole lot of shit people though there are some good ones.

Oh, by the way. The people assessing applications for disability benefits aren't qualified to do so. Found that out during a different tribunal against these shits.

[sheffcortinacentre]

Mainly because they weren't intelligent enough to get a better job for themselves.

[sheffcortinacentre]

5 hours ago, Pieman said:

Every time I have a weekend I am not working, I invite friends to come and maybe spend time with me.  Every time, they come up with an excuse a couple of days before and cancel on me.

I don't have any friends who live close to me and my girlfriend died last year.  Is it too much to ask to have something to look forward to in life other than working and sitting in my house?

Yes it is  , welcome to my life.