The grumpy thread

[doobietoo]

Me too....... /\ /\ /\ /\ /\  It's always sad to lose a member of the family...

[doobietoo]

The girlfriend of a guy I work with took her car for an MOT yesterday and it failed on the following items,

Lower front suspension bushes both sides

Brake light not working

centre rear seat belt locked

 

I couldn't believe the quote she was given to repair the items.... £400+ parts!!!!

I popped round after work wd40ed the brake switch and took the rear seat out, released the seat belt and refitted. Took 15 minutes in total

Ordered the lower arms off ebay £35 and at about 1 hour a side to fit as it is only 6 nuts and bolts per side thought £100 including parts for 21/2 hours work was fair.....

 I know they have overheads and wages etc. but how the fuck do they sleep at night when they are charging more than Â£150 an hour?

 

Following on from this thread she took it back for its re-mot yesterday and it failed again, on the brake lights which was surprising as they worked perfectly after being sorted... when I inspected the car I found the brake switch bracket had been bent so the switch was still not working, I fixed it and told her not to let the car out of her sight when she took it back today....... unsurprisingly it passed but they charged her £20 for the second re-test.... money grabbing bastards.... This is no one man band either but a national chain of tyre shops. I guess they were short on their extortion quota for the month...

[Tamworthbay]

Someone managed to go into a barrier on the slip road near me. It was slow speed but will write off the car I think. It happens. But why are the police so clueless? I arrived a few seconds after the copper had stopped all traffic so they could load it onto the recovery vehicle. It took about twenty minutes with cars backing up and ending up stationary on the duel carriageway. Now I know what you are thinking, it has to be done so tough shit and normally I would agree with you but on this occasion the car was perfectly driveable as they drove the pile of shite onto the wagon AND thirty metres up there is a layby used for HGV where they could have spent all bloody night if they wanted to. If anyone behind had been hit I would have put a complaint in, utterly utterly pointless and moronic from the traffic wombles again.

[Ghosty]

Royal Fucking Fail. I ordered (and received) an iPhone 5 battery from a 100% feedback eBay seller. So good was it, I ordered another one for my spare phone. From the same seller, who posted it in the same sort of envelope as the first one, and at the same Post Office. For some reason, known only to themselves, Royal Fail went to OMG DEFCON 1 and destroyed it because they thought it was a hydrogen bomb. Or something. The email I received from them (below) raises a question or two: are all lithium batteries regarded by them as apocalypse-inducing, and they just missed the other dozen or so that I've bought from eBay over the last 12 months? Or, as I suspect in this case, the person who scanned/x rayed the parcel was just a fuckwit?

 

As a native of Northern Ireland, I can tell you all that iPhone batteries are no good for making bombs - not enough kick

 

Can't send most batteries through RM I don't think (hazardous goods). They're supposed to ask what's in packages before you send them, but only folks in refurbished POs (the shit ones) actually seem to bother in my experience (retraining?) so it's very hit and miss, as is whether they bother checking to see if your parcel's in dimension for Small Parcel or not (jobsworths, this has diverted me to using Hermes as they'll take pretty much anything). I imagine a large eBay seller is going to have a mailroom or something so all these slip through the net. NiMH and NiCd are allowed if in original packaging, so knowing eBay it's probably because it was loose.

[scruff]

Yes Mo keep us posted, happy to give you a lift in the lorry if it's in the right direction. 

[dugong]

Likewise Mo, if you're ever stuck in my part of Cambs, bell me and I might be able to relay you further. 

[robinmasters]

image.jpeg

Someone managed to go into a barrier on the slip road near me. It was slow speed but will write off the car I think. It happens. But why are the police so clueless? I arrived a few seconds after the copper had stopped all traffic so they could load it onto the recovery vehicle. It took about twenty minutes with cars backing up and ending up stationary on the duel carriageway. Now I know what you are thinking, it has to be done so tough shit and normally I would agree with you but on this occasion the car was perfectly driveable as they drove the pile of shite onto the wagon AND thirty metres up there is a layby used for HGV where they could have spent all bloody night if they wanted to. If anyone behind had been hit I would have put a complaint in, utterly utterly pointless and moronic from the traffic wombles again.

The culprit seems be a Renault; plod were just being realistic, ie. expecting the worst.

[Tamworthbay]

The culprit seems be a Renault; plod were just being realistic, ie. expecting the worst.

no they weren't, the car was driveable and they knew it as they drove it out of the barriers whilst waiting for the recovery truck then flagged it to stop. The layby is so close it would have taken less than a minute, probably half that, to get the car to it. Instead they inconvenienced people (not the end of the world) but also risked lives by backing stationary traffic onto a busy dual carriageway during rush hour for no good reason. A few seconds of thought would have made for a safe situation, to make it worse the coppers had parked in said layby and walked down!

[anonymous user]

 this has diverted me to using Hermes as they'll take pretty much anything.

and throw it over my six foot high gate.

[AlabamaShrimp]

I think the old pub that's been slowly converted into a house over the ST year has also been converted into a cannabis farm. It's fucking stinks and I think I can make out that the windows are now taped over.

 

Winds blowing towards my house tonight and as I've always got the windows open I can smell it and, as normal, it's given me a lovley headache.

 

Thought about ringing 101 but they'll do fuck all..

[Ghosty]

and throw it over my six foot high gate.

Complain and get them to take it up with the driver. We have a decent, regular Hermes guy who drives a 2004 Punto that's always absolutely packed with stuff. Comes at about 8am too which is handy.

[Mr Livered]

I think the old pub that's been slowly converted into a house over the ST year has also been converted into a cannabis farm. It's fucking stinks and I think I can make out that the windows are now taped over.

Winds blowing towards my house tonight and as I've always got the windows open I can smell it and, as normal, it's given me a lovley headache.

Thought about ringing 101 but they'll do fuck all..

Why would you call the cops?

 

I'd go and have a chat with whoever lives there, if you know you're aware what they're up to and if you play your cards right, they might be willing to grease your palm in exchange for silence?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Yeah that'll defo work out OK

[rainagain]

Two tricks to deal with tailgaters:

 

(1) Slow down. This is actually important, as if someone's up your arse you need a lot more reaction time and stopping distance in front. 

(2) Left foot tapped gently on the brake pedal a few times will usually see a bit more distance opening up.

 

Then relax about it and don't get het up. They'll eventually zoom past and out of your way.

 

(3) clean your windscreen and watch them do the same as the spray from your car hits them and then repeat, this is more fun with a hire car as it's not your screenwash.

[chaseracer]

Thought about ringing 101 but they'll do fuck all..

 

Try it.  Plod likes an easy score.

 

So to speak, m'lud...

[rainagain]

The charming woman down the street, who not only has the looks and body mass of a hippo, but the temperament too. Got woken up this morning by her screaming down the street at her 4-5 year old child DON'T YOU EFFING BACKCHAT ME AGAIN YOU LITTLE C*NT OR I'LL EFFING SMACK THE SH*T OUT OF YOU

 

 

Sometimes I really wonder if you should need a licence before you can breed.

 

Some of my friends recently adopted a five year old who was removed from a problem family, this is the second child that has had to be removed from the same family. She's starting to come out of her shell but it's a shame watching her play with my kids as it's obvious she has spend her whole life being ignored and dumped in front of the tv. She can name all the characters on all the kids shows but struggles with imaginative play as she's never done it before. No doubt her family will have another kid and again the poor child will be taken off them.

[rainagain]

Oh, I'm not expecting much help from them. Lets face it, when they turn up this evening (a full 16 hours after the fact, if they arrive when they say they will) I'll get a crime reference number and nothing else. I reported it only so that it was reported if you know what I mean. I won't be trying to claim on my own insurance either!

 

I was disappointed with the Police when my OH's car was hit and the other driver did a runner even though it turned out later he was fully insured (still over the limit from the night before?). I managed to give chase, well as much as you could in a 1.2 Stilo until I got his plate. I used askmid to contact his insurance company who in turn got in contact with him. He admitted hitting us and leaving the scene of an accident, the Police who attended the scene and took our details said it was likely he would be prosecuted for leaving the scene.

 

However this is where it got strange, when I tried to call the Police for updates I kept getting told someone would call me back and this never happened. I had stopped bothering to call them when out of the blue the Police called and said they had just 'discovered' that he had attended his local Police station the following day after the collision and made a statement, therefore even though he admitted leaving the scene which is illegal there weren't going to take it further. Which I read as he has mates in high places that have fabricated a statement for him and binned the prosecution. 

[Bobthebeard]

Sorry to derail the above, but Sky has got me grumpy. Not the actual sky, but Sky...

Anyway, we pay for tv. Have a static caravan in Scotland with a Sky box. The Sky card only works after a fashion at the static. Can't use most of what we pay for. The card WE pay for. So if we are at the static, with the actual Sky card we can't be at home using it can we? The robbers want us to take out another subscription. No chance. Not paying twice for the same service. How can that be ok? Is that legal? Suspect it probably is, because Sky. But not morally right surely?

[oldcars]

Sweet! I live 5 mins from Hartlebury anyway so I'll pop down and have a look at some point.

Get some pics

[flat4alfa]

That seems a bit rich - wonder what their policy on bongo maqs is (do bongo mags even exist any more?).

 

http://www.paulraymond.xxx/magazines

[fairkens]

Sorry to derail the above, but Sky has got me grumpy. Not the actual sky, but Sky...

Anyway, we pay for tv. Have a static caravan in Scotland with a Sky box. The Sky card only works after a fashion at the static. Can't use most of what we pay for. The card WE pay for. So if we are at the static, with the actual Sky card we can't be at home using it can we? The robbers want us to take out another subscription. No chance. Not paying twice for the same service. How can that be ok? Is that legal? Suspect it probably is, because Sky. But not morally right surely?

Just sacked off sky for freesat, sick of the sods and will be in profit after 6 months, might work for you

[anonymous user]

I got in about an hour ago, the pups had decided to try their paws teeth at being electricians. They are both alive but took great delight in showing me where they had chewed through a metal sheathed cable which went to a power point.

 

I found which circuit to isolate (by trial and error, the pencilled labels on the distribution board are not readable in the dark) and got the rest of the power back on. Unfortunately most of my tools are down at the caravan, but with the pliers and screwdriver from the Bentley and kitchen scissors I have cut out the chewed bit and temporarily remounted the powerpoint about three foot up the wall. I need more tools to do a proper job, as I have had to disconnect the extractor fan from that circuit and need to shorten the other even more armoured cable on the circuit which is now looped up the doorpost.

 

When getting the screwdriver and pliers I could smell petrol, I think the fuel tank is weeping on the Bentley (so it's using petrol even standing still) - new tank about £1600 so I think a repair will be tried, but I'll need to use most of the petrol up first probably by siphoning it out for the Land Rover

[panhard65]

Have I missed something here but do we have another Bentley on the forum ??? I know you were thinking about it but must of missed the thread.

[anonymous user]

Have I missed something here but do we have another Bentley on the forum ??? I know you were thinking about it but must of missed the thread.

Unfortunately yes, it's a gently decaying MkV1. It's in my Land Rover thread,

[messerschmitt owner]

dogs and Bentleys, I thought it was xtriple again - but no!! lol

[Sealtainn]

I got cheesed off with Sky and the final straw was them telling me the package price was going up. Told them to shove it and bought an Amazon Fire box thingywhatsit for £60 and use it with my Netflix subscription (£7.95 a month - freebie from Vodafone with my SIM only mobile) so after 6 weeks I am in profit from what I was paying Sky. After telling them to cancel, they bombarded me with offers to come back, started off with 25% off for 12 months, in the end they were getting desperate and phoning me saying I could have 18 months at 65% off...........

[Richard]

Just sacked off sky for freesat, sick of the sods and will be in profit after 6 months, might work for you

 

We did the same a few years ago and I've never regretted it. Our Freesat box was quite expensive (bought in Comet, so it was a while ago) but it still only took 8 months of not buying the basic Sky package to pay for itself.

[Cavcraft]

I didn't want to buy any more cars or cycles, so I bought two cars in two days. And two cycles.

[cort16]

Rover - Broken and steamy

Cortina - In bits and  needy

Panda - Timing belt creaky, mot mans knuckles bleedy

Daihatsu - MOT short and car squeaky

 

Bank balance requires defibrillation, need to put credit card in hibernation 

 

Juke is the only car road fit, not all new cars r shit.

[Lankytim]

I scrapped 3 cats yesterday, two from Multiplas and one from a pez Mondeo. I was offered £100 odd by a pukka cat recycling guy on FB, but I'd have to post them to him. A local place was recommended so I popped in there out of convenience more than anything. They only offered £60 but I thought sod it and took the money. Checked my bank and they have short changed me by a tenner! The hand written receipt only says £50 too, (I never checked at the time, stupidly) I guess because of that a phone call in the morning to ask for the extra 10 quid they owe me will fall on deaf ears. Block their yard with an artic and bugger off for a cup of tea and a sarnie for a few hours? Not worth losing my job over... Now it was £15............