The grumpy thread

[New POD]

Solicitor isn’t answering my calls

 

Letting agent just rang to say the incoming tenant for my flat has failed referencing and so has their guarantor so it’s going back on the market

 

Fuck it all.

How much did they charge for referencing?

 

I suspect1 that they (some agents) make a margin on it and deliberarely don't tell potential tenants what the criteria is.

Or worse if they have a choice of desperate tenants pick the ones most likely to fail.

 

I created my own application form which was a little intrusive. But 4 couples filled it in.

 

We went with the applicant with the most stable job titles and where either one could afford the rent on provable income.

 

So a social worker and a council ground worker on paye

 

Not a part time reception class helper and a taxi driver who has been doing it 3 months and has no accounts yet. Not saying they couldn't afford it, but referencing would be a problem.

 

If they had CCJs then I'd probably not bother. Despite knowing that fucking up your credit history is perhaps why you are forced to rent, I can only conclude that there is a risk they struggle to manage money. Highly judgemental perhaps...but I only have one BTL and my wife has priced it to be in demand so we get to choose who we think is least risky.

[Wack]

 

Thing is though, it's impossible to overtake safely without going over the limit so that will be on camera too.

 

 

This is the thing that's pissing me off on A roads lately, you get stuck behind something, get to the safest spot to overtake and waiting like a shark ready to pounce is the camera van , seen it a few times on the way to oulton park, on the Chesterfield to Manchester road, overtaking is all about being in the danger zone for the least amount of time 

 

Mind you people seem happy to sit there at 40,when the gold cup was on at oulton park there was an army truck doing 40 with 3 cars behind it , we got to a safe passing place and , nothing, they all just sat there , this is when a 420bhp car is useful , got past the lot in a few seconds but I never went over 60, honest

 

fuck following that lot for miles

[wuvvum]

If they had CCJs then I'd probably not bother. Despite knowing that fucking up your credit history is perhaps why you are forced to rent, I can only conclude that there is a risk they struggle to manage money. Highly judgemental perhaps...but I only have one BTL and my wife has priced it to be in demand so we get to choose who we think is least risky.

 

I would fail the referencing checks at a lot of letting agents (no CCJs but my credit rating is poor due to an ongoing dispute with one of my utility providers), but in the >10 years I've been in my current house I've never once been late with the rent, and have always carried out any minor repairs to the house myself at my own expense - I would have thought that that kind of thing would be of far more interest to landlords (and thus to letting agents as the landlords', er, agents) than a number semi-arbitrarily assigned to me by Experian, but apparently not.

 

I would perhaps have more sympathy with the process if it was actually proven to avoid the issue of deadbeat tenants, but from the horror stories I've read it doesn't really do that very well either.  It's like those "competency-based" job interviews that companies are all so keen on these days - they are supposed to ensure that candidates are properly suited to the position, but we use them where I work and you should see some of the fuckwits we've had through the door...

[Kiltox]

How much did they charge for referencing?

 

I suspect1 that they (some agents) make a margin on it and deliberarely don't tell potential tenants what the criteria is.

Or worse if they have a choice of desperate tenants pick the ones most likely to fail.

 

I created my own application form which was a little intrusive. But 4 couples filled it in.

 

We went with the applicant with the most stable job titles and where either one could afford the rent on provable income.

 

So a social worker and a council ground worker on paye

 

Not a part time reception class helper and a taxi driver who has been doing it 3 months and has no accounts yet. Not saying they couldn't afford it, but referencing would be a problem.

 

If they had CCJs then I'd probably not bother. Despite knowing that fucking up your credit history is perhaps why you are forced to rent, I can only conclude that there is a risk they struggle to manage money. Highly judgemental perhaps...but I only have one BTL and my wife has priced it to be in demand so we get to choose who we think is least risky.

No tenant fees in Scotland, chap.

[Cavcraft]

Someone on Facefuck marketplace is selling a Saab 93 diesel estate, same year as mine, same engine, but just states "won't start, offers invited". It's only a 20 minute drive from me so was tempted.

Sent a polite message yesterday asking if he knows what the starting problem is, has it got any ticket left and just some basic info about the car.

 

No replies until ten mins ago. "Don't know mate, can't get it to run".

 

Me: does the dashboard light up when you turn the key? Does it try and crank the engine?

 

Him: Nah, battery's flat.

 

Me: Ok, does it have any MoT?

 

Him: dunno

 

 

Do I take a punt with a set of jump leads? Or block the prick for being a twat?

 

I always see that as a bit like those people who advertise cars as non-runners and say 'It just stopped working one day, haven't investigated why, just bought a new car'. Yeah, like you wouldn't get a garage or someone to take a look in case it's a £10 job, not a totally fucked engine. 

[dozeydustman]

I always see that as a bit like those people who advertise cars as non-runners and say 'It just stopped working one day, haven't investigated why, just bought a new car'. Yeah, like you wouldn't get a garage or someone to take a look in case it's a £10 job, not a totally fucked engine. 

 

 

That's all I wanted to know off the bloke, it has a short MoT but only covered half the miles mine has, so even if it became an engine or parts donor to keep mine healthy for another year or so or vice versa, some inkling on what the fault is would be ideal.

 

He's lost a sale off me, not that it makes much difference while my bank account is in limbo.

[Angrydicky]

Bob, you're a fucking legend. I can't think of much to say except try and spend more time doing the stuff you get pleasure from, listening to good music, messing about with old cars, spending time with your grandson. 

I can relate to the losing touch with people thing, I generally spend my evenings in front of the computer watching old episodes of Road Wars or Traffic Cops, and have lost most desire to interact with friends.

If it wasn't for the social interaction with people at work I'd probably be a lot more down than I am at this present time.

I'm also heavier than I'd like to be, only about 15st which isn't too bad but a lot of my clothes don't fit me any more. A sweet tooth is the cause of this. The only fortunate thing about being skint and looking to make savings is that I've cut chocolate, cake and ice cream out as of Sunday. Dunno how long it'll last but we'll see. I've never smoked so can't be too sure, but I worked with a fellow in my last job who absolutely raved about vaping. He had a proper atomiser thing as opposed to the e-cigarette type and it really helped him quit - miles better than anything he'd tried and failed with before. He felt healthier and smelt better in a short space of time.

Chin up, dude.

[panhard65]

Dodgy sellers on ebay that don't pay vat. If only the government would clamp down on all these dodgy sellers pretending to be UK based and not paying any taxes. Yes none of us like paying tax but the poor buggers that play the game properly and pay their tax have no chance with these arseoles undercutting them.I  am looking to buy some R134 and it's listed at £260 but if I want a vat invoice that price is plus vat. I should report the twat really.

[Cavcraft]

Hey, Bob, didn't see your post last night as (ironically, after reading about your grandad) I was not long back from my dad's funeral. You're not a 'useless fat prick' at all, you're having a run of bad luck. When things pile up at the same sort of time, it's always hard to deal with so don't for a minute think you're useless, coz you're not. You're our M8 on here and (fwiw) we've got your back. Fingers crossed things will start panning out for you, me old cor blimey jellied eel pearly king bish bosh wallop and remember you're not on your own, Autoshite is here for you.

[Lord Sterling]

Bob, I sent you PM, phone me if you need a chinwag man. I'll make time for ya fella.

[Wack]

This advert just popped up on Facebook

 

False advertising , none of those cars are for sale on their website

 

[DodgeRover]

This advert just popped up on Facebook

 

False advertising , none of those cars are for sale on their website

 

IMG_1253.PNG

Would like that escort van!

[Cavcraft]

This advert just popped up on Facebook

 

False advertising , none of those cars are for sale on their website

 

IMG_1253.PNG

 

If that's Whitchurch in Shropshire, I'm not surprised those cars aren't actually for sale. They will be in about 80 years time though.

[sheffcortinacentre]

Bet that driving school mini didn't overheat much.

[chaseracer]

Bet that driving school mini didn't overheat much.

 

Lucky the rad's at the side, next to the inner-wing vents...

 

 

[Timewaster]

Bet that driving school mini didn't conk out every time it rained..

[Zelandeth]

Bloody fluffing hell!

 

Spent a good portion of the evening manually scanning in some old car magazines. The pages are slightly too wide for the document feeder, so it's page-by-page manual work. Simple, but bloody time consuming.

 

After a good couple of hours, on page 223 of roughly 250, bloody computer has locked up.

 

Damnit!

 

Edit: thankfully it turned out that Simplescan had mercifully saved my progress sans the last couple of pages. My guess, given that I had some stuff open in the background as well was that the poor thing simply ran out of memory. When it locked up it was thrashing the hard drive madly, I suspect madly trying to page stuff in and out of virtual memory. I suspect it was doing fine right up to the point where the swap file filled up, which is when I suspect it all came unravelled.

 

Can't complain really...aside from some lockups a year or so back (eventually traced to a dodgy SATA cable) I can count the number of times that machine has crashed/locked up on me on one hand. Most of those being my fault.

 

Given how cheap it is these days there's really no reason not for me to max out the memory (32Gb being supported by the board - currently running four) really as that's the only resource that's ever even slightly stretched by my use I think. ... especially as I've still got a bunch more magazines to scan in still!

 

Also nice bonus of Linux is actually being able to use the system request key to cleanly unmount the filesystems and gracefully reboot a computer where the UI had become totally unresponsive (couldn't even move the mouse)...that would have been a "hold-down-the-power-button" job on a Windows machine. Never wise when the hard disc is thrashing madly!

 

Granted, times like this or when I need to add or remove hardware (or the occasional de-dusting, despite the filters) about the only times the poor thing gets rebooted. Never quite cracked a full year's uptime with it yet...the massively outdated (600MHz Celeron M based!) Laptop that used to be my web server (now part of my little Seti/folding at home computing cluster) did though. Think it was up to around 500 days at one point. Only had to power it down due to the fact that I was moving house...

[New POD]

I would fail the referencing checks at a lot of letting agents (no CCJs but my credit rating is poor due to an ongoing dispute with one of my utility providers), but in the >10 years I've been in my current house I've never once been late with the rent, and have always carried out any minor repairs to the house myself at my own expense - I would have thought that that kind of thing would be of far more interest to landlords (and thus to letting agents as the landlords', er, agents) than a number semi-arbitrarily assigned to me by Experian, but apparently not.

 

I would perhaps have more sympathy with the process if it was actually proven to avoid the issue of deadbeat tenants, but from the horror stories I've read it doesn't really do that very well either. It's like those "competency-based" job interviews that companies are all so keen on these days - they are supposed to ensure that candidates are properly suited to the position, but we use them where I work and you should see some of the fuckwits we've had through the door...

I know you are right.

[New POD]

No tenant fees in Scotland, chap.

True. Just England where letting agents can get away with being cunt then.

[Kiltox]

True. Just England where letting agents can get away with being cunt then.

Oh they’re still cunts

[dozeydustman]

Guy down the road owns a 1984/5 Dodge Ram. Why can't he just drive the thing instead of sitting in it in the parking area letting it tick over, blipping the throttle every few minutes, then switches off and going back indoors?

 

If he was diagnosing a problem, he'd have the bonnet up and be spannering, but just sits at the wheel blipping the throttle for 5 minutes. Then a couple of hours later he does it again.

 

I know it's a runner as he normally drives it 3-4 days a week and the V8 sounds wonderful at higher revs with the custom pipes he's got on it, but past 3 days he's just gone out a couple of times a day just to blip the throttle for 5 minutes. Bores must be well washed out by now....

[Lankytim]

Mate of mine's wife was out in her car last night on an A road in the middle of nowhere. Somehow had her windscreen shattered, so much so that the car was undrivable. She tried to use her RAC membership but they declined to assist as it wasn't a mechanical problem? New one on me. Arseholes. 

[mercrocker]

Guy down the road owns a 1984/5 Dodge Ram. Why can't he just drive the thing instead of sitting in it in the parking area letting it tick over, blipping the throttle every few minutes, then switches off and going back indoors?

 

If he was diagnosing a problem, he'd have the bonnet up and be spannering, but just sits at the wheel blipping the throttle for 5 minutes. Then a couple of hours later he does it again.

 

I know it's a runner as he normally drives it 3-4 days a week and the V8 sounds wonderful at higher revs with the custom pipes he's got on it, but past 3 days he's just gone out a couple of times a day just to blip the throttle for 5 minutes. Bores must be well washed out by now....

 

Reminds me of a bloke I went camping with in a 1956 Ford Customline.   He was running the caravan lights off his car battery and spent the first 10 minutes of each day with his car running half-chat to "charge the battery back up".    Not with that alternator on it,  it won't mate....Again, I marvelled at the confidence in which he gave it 3500rpm from cold each morning....

[dozeydustman]

Reminds me of a bloke I went camping with in a 1956 Ford Customline.   He was running the caravan lights off his car battery and spent the first 10 minutes of each day with his car running half-chat to "charge the battery back up".    Not with that alternator on it,  it won't mate....Again, I marvelled at the confidence in which he gave it 3500rpm from cold each morning....

 

 

Old misery guts Waynetta shouted at him about half an hour ago when he was last in the RAM. Sooner him sitting in his car blipping the throttle than listen to that old fishwife though....

[xtriple]

Very odd experience just now: phone rang (house phone) and a woman was on the other end -

 

'who's that' she asked

'Dave' I replied,

'Well Dave, I'd really like it if you'd stop ringing me every five minutes!'

'Er, I haven't rung anyone at all, are you sure it's this number?'

'Yes I've just redialed it back so it's you and fucking STOP IT!'

 

Now, I never use the house phone to ring anyone and when I did 1471 it was an 0209 number - who (where) the hell is that? Did have me a tad worried but now just curious...

[dozeydustman]

Very odd experience just now: phone rang (house phone) and a woman was on the other end -

 

'who's that' she asked

'Dave' I replied,

'Well Dave, I'd really like it if you'd stop ringing me every five minutes!'

'Er, I haven't rung anyone at all, are you sure it's this number?'

'Yes I've just redialed it back so it's you and fucking STOP IT!'

 

Now, I never use the house phone to ring anyone and when I did 1471 it was an 0209 number - who (where) the hell is that? Did have me a tad worried but now just curious...

 

 

Not Sheefag was it?

[artdjones]

Very odd experience just now: phone rang (house phone) and a woman was on the other end -

 

'who's that' she asked

'Dave' I replied,

'Well Dave, I'd really like it if you'd stop ringing me every five minutes!'

'Er, I haven't rung anyone at all, are you sure it's this number?'

'Yes I've just redialed it back so it's you and fucking STOP IT!'

 

Now, I never use the house phone to ring anyone and when I did 1471 it was an 0209 number - who (where) the hell is that? Did have me a tad worried but now just curious...

0209 is London.Doesnt help a great deal,I suppose.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

...it was an 0209 number - who (where) the hell is that? Did have me a tad worried but now just curious...

A fake?

 

Possibly someone with mental issues.

[Richard]

I'd say it's a scam. They're hoping you'll ring the number back out of curiosity and it'll be redirected to some premium service.

 

The trick with phones is never to answer them under any circumstances.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

...The trick with phones is never to answer them under any circumstances.

 

Unknown/unrecognised ones coming to mine get diverted to an automated "this number is out of service" message