The grumpy thread

[myglaren]

I read a few months back that it was going to be banned.

My mechanics in next to a pizza place and there are often dozens of empty cartridges outside.  I suspect someone is taking them out of the bins to see if they really are depleted then chucking them on the floor.  Recently there have been larger ones there, about the size of a 1½L bottle.

[mercedade]

16 hours ago, Sheefag said:

They've got form apparently:-

https://www.reviews.co.uk/company-reviews/store/servicing-stop

https://forum.rac.co.uk/threads/15767-Servicing-stop-is-a-scam!!!!!!!!!

https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/servicingstop.co.uk

 

Me, 8 years ago

 

EDIT: seemingly when punctuation characters were being given out as loss leaders

[LightBulbFun]

On 20/02/2024 at 00:45, LightBulbFun said:

I had one like this recently,

I picked up from Japan this cute little 4W T5 switch start (magnetic ballast) fluorescent batten

the 4W T5 fluorescent tube is the smallest normal fluorescent tube out there, but actual proper mains powered fixtures for them where never really made for them here in the UK sadly, hence why I went out of my way to import one from Japan

but the fixture being Japanese uses a special sort of stater, like so

however I know of a wide selection of specialist lighting wholesalers here in the UK so I do a quick check and find one that does the starters it requires, so I thought great, once the fixture arrives Ill order a couple starters for it and be on my way

 

but It took them well over a week just to dispatch the starters, let alone for them to then make themselves through the postal system, I legitimately would of probably been better off ordering the starters from Japan with the fixture, both time and price wise

to make matters worse, the lighting wholesaler also had another type of fluorescent starter I required, for some special high power fluorescent tubes which I have that I wish to start in the most gentle way possible,  so i thought great lets tag these onto the order as well while im at it

now I think you will all agree thats a fairly unique looking starter right? its fucking translucent purple has "EFS600UVX" written in fucking gold down the side of it

 

but this is what was in the bag instead, just regular old fairly generic glow starters

twenty fucking quid I had just spent with this wholesaler on some fucking fluorescent tube starters, that fucking stings in itself, so you think they could of done the decent thing and sent me the specialised starters that they had listed which I had explicitly ordered...

so now I have had to faff about sending them back asking explicitly for the right item, and only today in-fact several weeks later after placing the order have I got another order dispatch notification from them

fuck knows what will actually turn up this time!

 

at least the Japanese starters where correct so I was able to light the fixture

 

On 21/02/2024 at 11:54, LightBulbFun said:

I had to say something didn't I! 

 

this is what showed up, its like fucking play Goldilocks/whack-a-mole here

so the starters they sent this time *are* electronic, but they are *not* the high power sort, I specifically ordered high power, electronic starters, for some special VHO (Very High output) fluorescent tubes I have that operate in the 1.5A range, which will normally blow the arse out of any regular starter,

"4-125W" is not going to be any good for this *140W* 5ft tube I have for example

 

follow up to this! 3rd time round finally arrived, and whats in the fucking packet? the exact same fucking *glow bottle* starters as they incorrectly sent the first time round! so I call them yet again ,eventually I do get put through to one of their more knowledgeable people (relatively speaking here)

I get put through to the guy responsible  for handling the actual replacement starters, turns out he admits to not actually checking the datasheet of the  "MagicFlash" starters and realises only now upon checking said datasheet they are glow bottle starters not electronic starters, so it turns out they have no high power electronic starters in stock at all (this itself puzzles me if I sent them back the first time, why would you send them out again without checking the datasheet to confirm or deny their type, surely me sending them back with a cover letter asking for an electronic starter should of been a clue to check things?)

and it just really frustrates me when you specifically order from a specialist lighting wholesaler (TheLampCo in this case) you expect them to know their onions and dispatch the item they rather specifically list on their website

https://www.lampco.co.uk/products/st-efs600uvx-65-220w-single-200-260v-electronic-uv

and to know when they are dealing with a highly specialised item where any old random substitute wont do

(when I placed the order it also specifically said 2 in stock, so its not like I was ordering a back ordered item either)

 

at least hopefully now ill at least get a refund, but really I just want the  correct starters hence why I have danced this dance rather then just take a refund the first time they cocked up...

[goosey]

6 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

I think you mean nitrous oxide beloved of Fast and Furious but now a common  way to get high without buying illegal drugs. Laughing gas and used in hospitals for pain relief. I didn’t know that it was used in whipped cream and addicts were targeting bakeries to get cans of it.

It’s is still legal to use it in your car, ( for power),so you can have a massive canister in your car and claim it’s legal use but get done for a small aerosol from the bakers.

As usual , poor research and ignorance of anything scientific by journalists, means any article about this will most likely say it’s nitrogen, which you breath in all the time.

Yeah I stand corrected, don’t know why I just assumed Nitrogen. My sons got a new apprentice working with him at his work, for some reason the new kid thought it would be a good idea to show everyone a video of himself driving with his mates doing balloons while going 120mph plus in a 140I M sport. 

[rattlecan]

My other ayf’s nephew went to football training last night at a club not too far from us. Some total twat there didn’t bother to lock the barrier gate in the open position. Nephew drives in with two other mates in his car (so 3 up, as it turns out luckily so). Wind blows gate closed as he’s driving through. They were all ok, but it’s a wonder one of them wasn’t killed let alone injured

[Dick Longbridge]

16 minutes ago, rattlecan said:

My other ayf’s nephew went to football training last night at a club not too far from us. Some total twat there didn’t bother to lock the barrier gate in the open position. Nephew drives in with two other mates in his car (so 3 up, as it turns out luckily so). Wind blows gate closed as he’s driving through. They were all ok, but it’s a wonder one of them wasn’t killed let alone injured

Has the gate... gone through the car? How the hell wasn't one of them decapitated? Scary shiz right there. 

[junkyarddog]

38 minutes ago, rattlecan said:

My other ayf’s nephew went to football training last night at a club not too far from us. Some total twat there didn’t bother to lock the barrier gate in the open position. Nephew drives in with two other mates in his car (so 3 up, as it turns out luckily so). Wind blows gate closed as he’s driving through. They were all ok, but it’s a wonder one of them wasn’t killed let alone injured

HOLY SHIT!!!

[LightBulbFun]

36 minutes ago, rattlecan said:

My other ayf’s nephew went to football training last night at a club not too far from us. Some total twat there didn’t bother to lock the barrier gate in the open position. Nephew drives in with two other mates in his car (so 3 up, as it turns out luckily so). Wind blows gate closed as he’s driving through. They were all ok, but it’s a wonder one of them wasn’t killed let alone injured

bloody hell! final destination much?! 

impressive how its literally skewered the car, 

 

I bet whoever is responsible for the grounds is currently shitting bricks, or they should be! if that did kill someone, I imagine there would be a gross negligence charge or something along those lines against whoever is responsible for the grounds? 

[BorniteIdentity]

42 minutes ago, rattlecan said:

My other ayf’s nephew went to football training last night at a club not too far from us. Some total twat there didn’t bother to lock the barrier gate in the open position. Nephew drives in with two other mates in his car (so 3 up, as it turns out luckily so). Wind blows gate closed as he’s driving through. They were all ok, but it’s a wonder one of them wasn’t killed let alone injured

I can’t for the life of me work this out. It looks like it’s pierced the car, rather than swinging into it. 

That’s definitely a near miss. Goodness me. 

[Pieman]

47 minutes ago, rattlecan said:

My other ayf’s nephew went to football training last night at a club not too far from us. Some total twat there didn’t bother to lock the barrier gate in the open position. Nephew drives in with two other mates in his car (so 3 up, as it turns out luckily so). Wind blows gate closed as he’s driving through. They were all ok, but it’s a wonder one of them wasn’t killed let alone injured

It's been a while since I have seen something that has genuinely shocked me.  HOW THE FUCK are they not dead??

[High Jetter]

49 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

I can’t for the life of me work this out. It looks like it’s pierced the car, rather than swinging into it. 

I guess the gate swung as the car approached with little or no time for driver reaction, hence going through the windscreen? They were lucky - passenger seat empty?

[rattlecan]

1 hour ago, Dick Longbridge said:

Has the gate... gone through the car? How the hell wasn't one of them decapitated? Scary shiz right there. 

Yes it’s obviously swung open from its fully open position as he’s approached & it’s a miracle it hasn’t hit one of them tbh. It’s like mm perfect in their favour. Madness 

[rattlecan]

5 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

I guess the gate swung as the car approached with little or no time for driver reaction, hence going through the windscreen? They were lucky - passenger seat empty?

No, two up front one in back. I rekon if the guy in the back was sat behind the driver he’d be dead.

Groundsman instantly said he was speeding. Then they all watched the cctv & it was clear he wasn’t 

[Dick Longbridge]

1 minute ago, rattlecan said:

No, two up front one in back. I rekon if the guy in the back was sat behind the driver he’d be dead

Bloody hell. That's beyond lucky. I'm not a religious fella but I think I'd be nodding towards the skies for a brief moment after that just as a quick acknowledgement that everyone survived unscathed. 

 

[drum]

21 hours ago, Sheefag said:

They've got form apparently:-

https://www.reviews.co.uk/company-reviews/store/servicing-stop

https://forum.rac.co.uk/threads/15767-Servicing-stop-is-a-scam!!!!!!!!!

https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/servicingstop.co.uk

 

Dirty bastards. Can't believe they've been getting away with this for years.

[Wibble]

1 hour ago, rattlecan said:

Yes it’s obviously swung open from its fully open position as he’s approached & it’s a miracle it hasn’t hit one of them tbh. It’s like mm perfect in their favour. Madness 

That is seriously fucking frightening. I hope he is pursuing the club for damages and just glad they are all ok.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, rattlecan said:

No, two up front one in back. I rekon if the guy in the back was sat behind the driver he’d be dead.

Groundsman instantly said he was speeding. Then they all watched the cctv & it was clear he wasn’t 

I hope the CCTV was immediately saved and a copy given so it can be used as evidence, if nothing else for the insurance claim!  

I wonder if they can claim directly off the grounds insurance to avoid having to go through the cars insurance?

 

I mean I dont think it would be fair for the driver if he had to claim against his own insurance especially if it counted as him at fault for crashing the car since no other party was directly involved, but I dont know exactly how it works when the accident is caused by not another car if you follow?

[Wibble]

The club’s public liability policy should deal with this. Could go through his car insurance but they would definitely pursue recovery from the club I would hope. 

[Spottedlaurel]

3 hours ago, rattlecan said:

My other ayf’s nephew went to football training last night at a club not too far from us. Some total twat there didn’t bother to lock the barrier gate in the open position. Nephew drives in with two other mates in his car (so 3 up, as it turns out luckily so). Wind blows gate closed as he’s driving through. They were all ok, but it’s a wonder one of them wasn’t killed let alone injured

That is really not good. There was a young lad killed at a B&Q in Norwich when a similar thing happened, and a quick search reveals similar incidents. Please get them to do something about it ASAP.

[richardmorris]

51 minutes ago, Wibble said:

The club’s public liability policy should deal with this. Could go through his car insurance but they would definitely pursue recovery from the club I would hope. 

Certainly someone was negligent in not securing the gate. And it’s only a second or two that it’s just the car that’s dead. 

[rattlecan]

2 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

I hope the CCTV was immediately saved and a copy given so it can be used as evidence, if nothing else for the insurance claim!  

I wonder if they can claim directly off the grounds insurance to avoid having to go through the cars insurance?

 

I mean I dont think it would be fair for the driver if he had to claim against his own insurance especially if it counted as him at fault for crashing the car since no other party was directly involved, but I dont know exactly how it works when the accident is caused by not another car if you follow?

Not too sure what’s happening re. Insurance etc. but his Dad has taken him to the car auction today to get him a new motor 😀

[RoverFolkUs]

On 21/02/2024 at 17:42, drum said:

Some scamming bams in Glasgow have ripped off a friend of my daughter's. 

They phoned him up telling him the mileage etc of his car and how it needed a service. This would be £145 including collecting and dropping off. 

He's at uni on a visa and a bit naive, so thought this was normal practice in this country.

They wouldn't return his car until they paid this bill.

The invoice letter head is for a garage in Enfield London, who are no doubt oblivious to their name being used.

Dirty bastards

This is a really shit situation. It's servicing stop. A bunch of absolute shitehawks. I have plenty of information about how they operate, I've seen it first hand, I would absolutely support any efforts to have them put out of business. 

The garage in Enfield is the head office of servicing stop. 

Servicing stop take a booking from the customer for a ridiculously cheap service. Typically £100-150. 

Servicing stop then book the car in with a garage nearby to the customer and ask them to collect and deliver it

Servicing stop ask the garage for a list of additional work.. if the garage refuse, then they will make it up as they go along and sell whatever they can anyway. 

Servicing stop will then phone the customer up at some point throughout the day and sell all of the above additional work. They will use scare tactics

On 21/02/2024 at 17:58, horriblemercedes said:

Wtf is lifetime fuel treatment? 

Crap marketing. Customer pays £85 (+vat!?) For a single fuel treatment, and then every service they book with them in the future they get one included. What gets put in the tank? 

A bottle of redex or similar. I'm being dead serious. 

Obviously 90% of customers probably never use the company again, so they've paid £100 for a lifetime subscription of fuel additives if you like when it's only 1 bottle on 1 service. 

They also do exactly the same thing with engine flush. 

On 21/02/2024 at 18:06, Popsicle said:

Scamming bastards - did they pay for it with a credit or debit card? They may have some comeback with a section 75 claim.

As much as I would encourage this, their response will be "we gained authority from the customer to carry out to the works at the quoted price" 

We have done work for servicing stop in the past and I know exactly how they operate. A customer got stung to a similar degree as above, we confronted servicing stop about it and the above was their response

On 21/02/2024 at 18:13, drum said:

Not sure. I've told my daughter to tell him to get onto his bank and try and recover the money. Robbing scumbags need their collar felt.

They are absolute scum and I would encourage whatever recourse may be possible.

On 21/02/2024 at 20:27, EyesWeldedShut said:

Maybe one of these things that (30 years ago) were being punted as the 'cure' to running your old car on unleaded.
Surprised to see they are still available?
https://www.spitfirefuelcatalyst.co.uk/products/fuel-catalyst#:~:text=Contact-,Fuel Catalyst,-This will allow

See above as I wrote to horriblemercedes..

On 21/02/2024 at 21:17, richardmorris said:

The £100 labour doesn’t seem unreasonable so are they going to try and claim that the other consumable prices are fair? What the hell is a fluid top up charge when they have charged a fortune for anti freeze and brake fluid? Charges for changing oil filter but no actual charge for the filter? I’d be contacting the garage in Enfield who may be able to take some action?

£100 labour refers to the initial total service that was booked. A "full service" which includes labour, the oil and the filter. 

The way they work is that they hook the customer in with a cheap full service. Then once the garage have picked the car up, they phone the customer and pressure sell the additional items. 

I can speak from a garage point of view here- 

They pay the garage just £7 for the fuel treatment which they charge £85 for (+vat)

They pay the garage about £30 for the brake fluid change which they charge £165 for above(!) 

We do not see a single penny from the fluid too up charge or environmental charge. They are both complete SCAM additional surcharges! They do NOT contribute to fluid top ups or environmental disposal. 

On 22/02/2024 at 00:31, Metal Guru said:

I’d agree. Only a surcharge for oil but no charge for the actual oil. Given £50-70 is a normal garage price, I would have expected £200 given their other charges.

1 hour labour is low although £100 /hr is probably on the low side of normal these days , certainly at a main dealer.

Other items are ridiculous especially brake fluid and antifreeze suggesting they had no idea how much would be needed.

Oil in included in the £100. They then pay the garage £3/litre for oil surcharge. The customer still pays £24.99 even if their car only takes 3 litres ... Oil is capped at £7/litre, which means it's virtually impossible for the garage to use the correct oil in some cases. 

On 22/02/2024 at 00:41, Spiny Norman said:

I'm just not getting what's happened here, are we missing part of the story maybe?

Mr. A.N. Other car owner gets phone call out the blue from someone they claim not to know who says 'We're coming to collect your car for a service' ? Might it be the car's legal owners, maybe a leasing company wanting to ensure their property is being correctly looked after? (I've never leased a car, might this happen? ) How could a third party know not only the reg of the car but the mileage too?
It all sounds a bit weird to me...

It's not out of the blue. They have booked a service with servicing stop who are a middle man. 

Servicing stop are the shitehawks based in Enfield, they are merely a call centre. 

The garage is an innocent entity. They get booked to collect the car, service it, and deliver it. Servicing stop does all the pressure selling at extortionate figures, instructs the garage to do said extra work, pays them peanuts for doing it, and blackmails the customer into paying before they get the car back. 

On 22/02/2024 at 01:03, drum said:

Mileage got from mot history maybe? Possibly the garage he bought it from a couple of months ago? Young foreign student, ripe for some exploitation. 

Or could be scammers who phone 50 randoms per day hoping one bites and have no intention of servicing the car. 

I suggested he contacts the London based garage that supposedly serviced his car in Glasgow to see if they know anything about it.

Whatever, a young lad is severely out of pocket.

It's crafty that they pose as a garage because they are not, they are a call centre. 

The garage will be based near the customer and will be completely innocent in all of this

[jakebullet]

Ma wants to go to the building society to "update these books". I try to avoid it by printing current balance from the website, but no, they NEED booking up to date.

Gets to the counter, can you update these please? At this point idiot sister phones up to tell the latest story of there was this horse, and it did a really big shit, so Ma fucks off to listen to the cool story while I stand there with pass books.

The dot matrix printer starts screaming. The queue of old biddies who want to open an ISA starts growing behind me. Scream scream. Oh, the book is now full, I'll just get a new one from the back. Queue tuts and starts waving sticks. Print print print. Oh, I need another book.

Done! Er, she wants these other 2 accounts doing also. Biddies are now out the door, but other cashier is busy doing fuck all behind her position closed sign. It felt just like the time I got dragged to bingo, only without the collective muttering of cunt when someone won.

15 minutes later got out of there without getting lynched for Ma to say oh! it's the same as what you printed out. Yes, you've not earned an extra 5 billion pounds interest in a morning. 

[Spiny Norman]

Don't know if grumpy is quite the right word but I was trying to get an idea of transport costs to get that CRV up to Glasgow when I noticed on his Instagram page @worldofceri is no longer taking bookings.
Hate to be that guy but UOKHUN?

[LightBulbFun]

18 minutes ago, Spiny Norman said:

Don't know if grumpy is quite the right word but I was trying to get an idea of transport costs to get that CRV up to Glasgow when I noticed on his Instagram page @worldofceri is no longer taking bookings.
Hate to be that guy but UOKHUN?

Oh! thats worrying, the Facebook page says the same https://www.facebook.com/walsgrave.co

I hope that business has been wound up because of a positive thing in life, like a really good job offer to be a driver for someone else or something like that, and that I hope its not because of something bad thats happened! that would really suck

but yeah otherwise I hope everything is going alright over there, I look forward to pictures from the Archives if nothing else

[beko1987]

On 25/02/2024 at 23:19, High Jetter said:

My phone connects seamlessly to my Kenwood stereo so I can answer calls. It is annoying when someone texts when they know I'm driving as I can read it on my watch, but have to park to reply. It did take a while to set up, tbf.

My daughter doesn't know what a phone call is, the concept is alien to her... Whatsapp/Snapchat calls, the norm. 

Which is fucking annoying when I'm driving to pick her up, using my phone as a sat nav going somewhere I've never been before and she calls me via WhatsApp, my pioneer only does BT for normal voice calls! Had to wait for her to stop spam calling me as I drove, ring her normally and tell her off 😡

She can't use the fucking thing without it being on speakerphone, kids today, I blame the parents 🙄

Audio calls are fucking beautiful though, it's got parrot built in. The dab broke years ago but it's perfect on all other inputs, getting on a bit now

[NigeT]

After an effortless 430 miles yesterday the CLK encountered this on the A217, roads in Surrey getting to African levels of shitness these days. Transmission instantly started slipping and (sounded like) drivetrain clunking ensued before I limped back final couple of miles to my olds. After leaving to cool down clunking now seems to have subsided but trans isn't shifting quite right. Bought ATF and new trans filter & gasket arriving tomorrow, fluid is light brown so maybe change will improve things, will be interesting to see in pan. No trans codes at all flagged on obd. Odds of getting compensation from the turnips at Reigate and Banstead council? Imagine extremely low. Replacing a 722.6 on driveway could be up there with Ferrari clutch for pain in the arse factor. 

[jakebullet]

Just got back from taking Ma to 6 monthly eye check at hospital. Man is now describing her as having advanced glaucoma, and says she has macular degeneration. (Didn't have last time).

Sounds like fucking fucked, big time. 

[hairnet]

dealing with phone companies

had replacement sim and on the sleeve it comes in ring this number

if its a replace for a exsisting sim youre already set

err no

rang the number and press this press that and no actually choice of activate sim

gave up on that and tried the online chat assistant who after going thru security and shizz ' what is imei number on back of sim

this was written on the sheet that came with card

no sir thats not the right number

err apart from the account number thats the only 19 digit number details i have

he then said youve been sent the wrong sim - which was garbage cos when ordering it there were only 2 choices lost and stolen or new customer - which as i was logged in for that they knew who i was [/ronnie]

after checking the back of the sim card (difficult) it was the same number as on the sheet

he pointed me at one of their shops - which is trafford centre now - fuck that

but having gone thru the steps of reinserting the sim again (4th time)

it now seems to be working (cant put it in wrong else the drawer thing wont shut innit)

i fucking hate technology

least i dont have to trafford centre now

aaaaaaarggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[High Jetter]

Fucksticks!