The grumpy thread

[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.

[Fumbler]

2 hours ago, meggersdog said:

"Having learnt that I have a disability and mental health condition, you accuse me of having low morals and being threatening."

When I read this I first understood it as his disability is having low morals and his health condition is threatening behaviour. Glad that's been cleared up.

Utter nutcase.

[mk2_craig]

Somehow fell asleep on the train in the 9 minutes it took between Birmingham New St and the airport. Only woke up as it was moving off. Missed the next train in the opposite direction from the next station by about 3 seconds.

Bastaad!

[High Jetter]

Snooze...looze? Is that what it means?

[mk2_craig]

 

BACK ON TRACK

[Metal Guru]

9 hours 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.

Funnily enough , on a short casual visit, I neglected to access the website and read the FAQs. I knew I’d be less than an hour (and 20 minutes) , so thought it would let me pay for it there and then.

After my initial attempt , while inside my free 20 minutes, any further attempt to pay when leaving as per the instruction , was met with “you have already paid”. I was trying to pay FFS, the machine wasn’t having it.

Stop telling me how it works, I get it, but it wasn’t working properly .

[Remspoor]

Need to move the Westminster because the tree in the ground up the hill from where it is parked needs to be felled. Fucking thing will not go into gear. Enough fluid in master cylinder. Slave cylinder worked. So it looks like the clutch or bearing has gone. I have no time to drop the gear box to have a look.  Looks like I may have to some how push it at nearly 2 tonne possible binding brakes it ain't going to be easy. 😠

[High Jetter]

Will it go into gear with engine off? Is so, try starting it in gear, might shock the clutch free.

[Rust Collector]

If it goes into gear with the engine off as @High Jetter suggested then even if it doesn't free the clutch off you can at least bump it along on the starter to somewhere out the way of the tree.

[Mr Pastry]

^^All of the above.  Warm the engine up first, then start in gear, and if possible drive it around a bit, and it will probably free off.

[juular]

An alternative is to raise the driving axle off the ground, then accelerate up to say 30mph on the speedo, then press the clutch and press hard on the brake.  This worked for us recently in freeing a seized clutch.

[cobblers]

6 minutes ago, juular said:

An alternative is to raise the driving axle off the ground, then accelerate up to say 30mph on the speedo, then press the clutch and press hard on the brake.  This worked for us recently in freeing a seized clutch.

Be sure to film it so that if it goes wrong you'll get a £250 cheque off Lisa Riley to repair next doors fence

[Remspoor]

8 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Will it go into gear with engine off? Is so, try starting it in gear, might shock the clutch free.

 

8 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

If it goes into gear with the engine off as @High Jetter suggested then even if it doesn't free the clutch off you can at least bump it along on the starter to somewhere out the way of the tree.

 

8 hours ago, Mr Pastry said:

^^All of the above.  Warm the engine up first, then start in gear, and if possible drive it around a bit, and it will probably free off.

 

6 hours ago, juular said:

An alternative is to raise the driving axle off the ground, then accelerate up to say 30mph on the speedo, then press the clutch and press hard on the brake.  This worked for us recently in freeing a seized clutch.

Thank you to all the above suggestions. I will try them.  I will film it. But I will not show it shooting off across the road and down a steep hill.

The thrust bearing is carbon So i am also wondering if that has disintegrated with humidity an lack of use. Tomorrow morning it is going to rain so it will be work for the PM Friday is three tree fellers day.

 

[Mally]

Is the pedal heavy to press?

If so all is probably well with the thrust bearing. As said plate has grown into pressure plate and flywheel.

I've started them up in second gear, with clutch pedal down before today, and shot off down the road.

Keep your foot on the clutch and bang the brake pedal hard a few times.

Beware Nuns and Kittens, and put it in neutral as a last resort.

I never ever said or did this of course.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Mally said:

 

I never ever said or did this of course.

Well you should have! Not uncommon in the 70s & 80s. Also see towing and pushing with a fork, truck, or basically anything available.

[Metal Guru]

9 hours ago, cobblers said:

Be sure to film it so that if it goes wrong you'll get a £250 cheque off Lisa Riley to repair next doors fence

I assume you mean You've been Framed? Lisa Riley was presenting it 20 years ago. Harry Hill had been doing it ( voice over) since 2004.

[RoverFolkUs]

51 minutes ago, Metal Guru said:

I assume you mean You've been Framed? Lisa Riley was presenting it 20 years ago. Harry Hill had been doing it ( voice over) since 2004.

Failing that, judge rinder, cat's needed antidepressants ever since it witnessed the event etc etc 😁