The grumpy thread

[DeeJay]

I walked to the chippy tonight too.  Fish and chips is one thing we (oh all right, I) really missed in Cyprus, so I was delighted to find a chippy round the corner, three streets away.  And it's a bloody good one too.  Chippy tea is ALWAYS the answer!

[panhard65]

Sat navs.

Never had a car with one. Never had a stand alone one either.

Because I think they are about as much use as a cat flap in an elephant house.

Had the loan of one today while picking eldest up from scout camp - gave us abum steer and sent us back on to the motorway.

 

Today reinforced my belief. In terms of desirability they are on a par with conservative party membership or a sun holiday in Jaywick.

It all depends what sat nav. I have had a Garmin for years and well over 100,000 miles. Yes it does fuck up occasionally but it has found addresses in the middle of nowhere in France spot on better than a map. You do need to have a rough idea where you are going but for getting you to the door I won't be without one now

[Timewaster]

Sat navs.

 

I couldn't get anywhere without mine. My job entails getting to some pretty well hidden places so it is invaluable.

 

However, I went on a road trip with my mate in his 65plate A6 (he isnt as much of one as this would suggest) and the built in sat nav was utterly useless.

Missed junctions, endlessly recalculating and giving instructions to take exits as we sailed past them.

He blames the iPhone (yes I know, it gets worse) that connects to it for live travel info.

 

If that were my first introduction to sat navs then I would buy a map.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Halfords trade card ! What is the fucking point in it. My other half has been moaning about the headlights on her car so I said I would try and get her some of these brighter jobbies. £39 fucking quid each, but they did buy one get one free. So I ask how much with the trade card, which got it down to about £22 which although still taking the piss I thought it would do as it is Sunday and the proper motor factors were shut. The assistant then goes on to say that the buy one get one free doesn't apply if I use the trade card making the bulbs 5 quid dearer than to a normal punter. I think what annoyed me most is I can buy normal 477 bulbs from GSF or Motor parts dierct for around £2 each. I think next time I am in Halfords I will tell them where to stick their trade card as it is totally pointless.

We paid £40 odd for my fiancées pair of ‘150% brighter’ H7’s a few weeks back at Halfrauds. I wish we’d sourced them more cheaply elsewhere, but she was getting her knickers in a twist about how shit her standard bulbs were, and wanted them there and then. I tried my trade card and they came out more expensive as well.

In all fairness, she hasn't moaned about the new ones at all, and reckoned they’re definitely better.

Job jobbed.

[Cavcraft]

Halford's Trade Card is mostly very, very good.

[Pillock]

Having used Satellite Navigation for years, and so knowing quite a few scout camp sites, I reckon you probably had a duff postcode or perhaps a postcode that covers a massive area. We have to guide emergency services into our site by grid ref as the postcode just doesn't work.

 

Smartphone satnavs are great, obviously you need to sensibly interpret what it's telling you to do as a server in California won't know that the B5572 past Lower Whallop is a bit treacherous this time of year. But that's only the same as a map.

 

Built in satnavs are dogwank and serve only for a nice big screen to blu-tack your phone in front of. BMW want £275 for the live traffic and map updates to mine, a service that Google give at no cost.

[Guest Hooli]

Google maps hate birmingham. When I was trying to meet people there last weekend it turned me around three times to go back & join the same queue further away....

[Mally]

Can't work the Sat Nav in my wife's new car. 

Just plug the Garmin in that I've had for years.

They are not perfect, but easier than reading a map when driving.

[beko1987]

Google maps here! After a quick reccee of the map to know which direction to roughly go.

 

Just popped to bicester to fetch a hoover, and the check injectors light came on. Went away when I turned the car back on to leave, and didn't come on again (I went a different, less horrible way home though) so I'll file that under French and hope me investigating the lumpy idle sorts that out!

[Jazoli]

Sat Nav's are great, I have been using them since they first appeared and were hugely expensive, the time saved trying to fuck around with maps and work out routes whilst trying to get around my jobs more than paid for it, google maps is as good as any 99% of the time.

 

Halfords trade cards are also great, mainly because I live 300 metres away from one, it means I pay trade prices for bulbs/oil/filters/tools whilst not having to go to ECP on the other side of town.

[Pillock]

You should have seen the TomTom share price when Google announced that Maps now did navigation.

 

I can't work out why anyone would buy a £150 wide-screen satnav without traffic, when you can buy a £50 phone and just lob a free SIM in it.

[Bucketeer]

 

I never used a satnav before Moog introduced me to Waze. I really like it and it's helped me out no end finding the quickest routes around the mean streets of rush hour Surrey.

 

Oddly the meadows roundabout traffic lights in camberley weren’t working, and everything was moving a lot better!

I live 5 mins from there and also saw it in action this morning. Amazing how much better it flowed compared to the usual arc de triomphe-esque slug fest when the lights are working.

[DodgeRover]

Roundabout traffic lights removed on the Gatwick M23 junction, traffic also flowing much better away from the airport.

[Lord Sterling]

Another vote for Google maps here. I use it for work mostly and it tells me the best route or the quickest way to get to where I'm heading to. Plus the time it tells me when I'll be arriving so I can plan ahead for my next job.

 

As Pillock says, you do need to sensibly interpret what it's telling you to do. I sometimes get postcodes that only roughly get me in the right area then I'll have to find out where the place I'm delivering to is at. It can be very frustrating at times.

 

I remember a couple of years ago when I picked up a car for Red5 in North Wales, I got lost trying to head towards home without a SatNav and ended up actually going further into Holyhead rather than the other way. I had no SatNav and my phone was only 'Pay and Go' then with very little signal.

[beko1987]

Plus with Google maps, you can reccee the route on the computer, then thanks to the evil corporation of Google, when I open maps on my phone it's there at the top of the list, so I can just push 2 buttons and job done!

 

Same behavior also let's me keep an eye on the morning traffic. If the notification on my phone says anything more than 38 minutes to work there's been a smash on the m40. 3h45m is the highest so far, I worked from home that day

[Cavcraft]

Waze is brilliant, found it by mistake.

[chodweaver]

Halfords. When I phone up asking for a part, I take the response of 'we have that in stock' to mean that when I drive across town to the store I called, the part in question will be there and I can buy it and take it home.

 

No. What I found was that the part WILL be in stock tomorrow morning. 'Sorry, that was my fault. I'm new here'

This is odd though, as this same member of staff gave me the same reason for not being able to help me with choosing antifreeze when I was in there two months ago.

The conversation between him and his supervisor when I first arrived at the counter, suggested he was aware of his mistake as soon as he came off the phone to me; and that he then mentioned it to his supervisor. From her attitude while she was stood next to him at the till, I can imagine what she said when he asked her what to do was 'it's only a customer you've inconvenienced and annoyed. Fuck him. Don't worry about it'

 

Halfords, you can keep the effing part. I hope you've ordered it in specially. As I now have to wait till ordinary shop opening hours, I'll go to all the trouble of getting it from a proper factors, via a local parts shop: you know, the lot you're trying to put out of business, along with independent bike shops everywhere; rather than give you any more business, you showers.

 

Grrr

 

Sent from my BV6000 using Tapatalk

[dollywobbler]

I never used a satnav before Moog introduced me to Waze. I really like it and it's helped me out no end finding the quickest routes around the mean streets of rush hour Surrey.

 

I live 5 mins from there and also saw it in action this morning. Amazing how much better it flowed compared to the usual arc de triomphe-esque slug fest when the lights are working.

 

I got tipped off about Waze. Its best result was getting me to Manchester ahead of my boss in truly horrific traffic conditions. It neatly got me around the jams.

 

Then it utterly ballsed up by recommending we went up the M40 trying to get home from Sussex a while back. We hit a massive jam for barrier repairs that Waze didn't seem to know about. Yeah, cheers for that! A 40-mile detour straight into a massive jam. 

 

But, it's so useful for traffic dodges that I've found it rather addictive, and have it on even when I know the way. Which is a problem when you use your phone to record videos on at the same time. Maybe I need a proper camera...

[xtriple]

I used my Halfords trade card a fair bit, I can stil go to the trade factors but I don't know them like I used to. I buy online through Halfords website then go and collect when they text/ring me to say it's in, then I proffer my trade card and they cancel the internet order and do it manually. I get told off frequently for doing that

 

Sat Navs are cool! The one in my old SL was brilliant but I have two stand alone jobs (one of which was free with the Mazda) and they are fine for everythig I need.

[Pillock]

Waze is owned by Google, they use exactly the same traffic and routing info. The only difference is that Waze lets you tip off other drivers about smashes and the police, but the route and time should be more or less identical.

 

I used to love using navigation with satellite imagery rather than maps, but I used to get all distracted wondering what things were alongside the road so I packed that in.

[Kiltox]

Sat nav related grump - my van should have a Trafficmaster Smartnav but someones nicked it, probably in the salvage process

 

Now got a mount and cable on the dash for nothing

[Kiltox]

I used my Halfords trade card a fair bit, I can stil go to the trade factors but I don't know them like I used to. I buy online through Halfords website then go and collect when they text/ring me to say it's in, then I proffer my trade card and they cancel the internet order and do it manually. I get told off frequently for doing that

 

Sat Navs are cool! The one in my old SL was brilliant but I have two stand alone jobs (one of which was free with the Mazda) and they are fine for everythig I need.

You can now put your trade card on your online account and get / see all the trade prices

 

Big trade card fan (200pc socket set for £130 the other day) but some things are still expensive (£2.50 for the smallest piece of lens tape you’ve ever seen, more than 6x the amount from ECP for £3.39)

[BorniteIdentity]

Work Christmas party next week.  The company I work for do it in style, and we're all being whisked first class off to Cardiff for two days.  Conference in the National Museum and huge glam party afterwards.  Free accommodation, food, booze, the lot.

 

Only - I have SO much work to do, that I can't see how I can fit it all in.  Everything fits perfectly, so 48 hours causes mahoosive instrusion to not just me but the other companies I work for.

 

So I'm going to have to drive to Cardiff and back in a day.  In a 4 speed, 25 year old Merc that's revving it's titties off.  It's just shy of 400 miles.

 

I appreciate it's not cancer, but it's a bit of a pisser to have to miss out.  

 

Anyway - as you were.

 

This turned out surprisingly well.  One company that I work for gave me a couple of days off which alleviated my workload sufficiently to be able to go.  Train from Reading to Cardiff was a doddle, and the venue for the conference (National Museum and University) were superb.  We don't really DO motivational speakers, but we had a fantastic morning with Andy Parfitt who steered Radio 1 to over 11m listeners and now heads up talent at Saatchi x2.  Then in the afternoon a session with rugby player Scott Quinnell.  None of them tried in the clichéd way to retrain my brain - just some really useful help.

 

So, this is one for the positive thread really!

 

Other than the Holiday Inn - which wasn't great at all.  Nonetheless, not grumbling.

[gm]

They are easy to change - I’ve done a handful of them . They usually fail because they have been run on petrol at some time in the past.

I've just had a call from the garage - they have taken the pump off and it appears to be ok, if I understand them correctly, it is the drive (from the camshaft?) to the pump that is broken. they are not keen to go any further with this one so I'm really up shit creek now. he's going to call round and see if there is another garage locally who might take it on.

 

(to be fair, they are more of a tyres / exhaust / mot place, at least they recognise when a job is getting too much for them)

[sierraman]

Waste of time asking anyone in ECP or Halfords for advice. A few Xmas ago overhead a couple thinking of buying a tool kit for their son who had just bought an old Landy. The salesperson was extolling the vitue of the 550 piece Phaze toolkit for £120. Salesperson went in the back to check stock, I went and told the folks they probably were better buying the option with fewer tools but some six sided AF sockets and a good 1/2 drive and a breaker. The salesperson knew nothing whatsoever about tools or working on a car. The Phaze stuff they sell is utter shit, you wouldn’t use that stuff to mend a bike.

[SiC]

I've just had a call from the garage - they have taken the pump off and it appears to be ok, if I understand them correctly, it is the drive (from the camshaft?) to the pump that is broken. they are not keen to go any further with this one so I'm really up shit creek now. he's going to call round and see if there is another garage locally who might take it on.

 

(to be fair, they are more of a tyres / exhaust / mot place, at least they recognise when a job is getting too much for them)

 

Was the car purchased as a private sale or from a dealer?

[SiC]

https://www.lingshondaparts.com/honda_car_parts_selection_pfk?block_01=17SWA701&block_02=E__4100&block_03=18929&block_05=hcr

 

I'm guessing they're saying one of item 4 has snapped?

[Eddie Honda]

If it's 4 then 106 quid from Japan

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201699380830

[Kiltox]

Hows about this for some VALU servicing

 

 

Halfords Autocentres (yeah I know) will do it for £269

[Bobthebeard]

^^^ Shocked.