The grumpy thread

[Tenmil Socket]

3 minutes ago, myglaren said:

You'll have to explain that.

Some bottle tops now stay attached to the bottle and if you don’t reattach them properly i.e. line the thread up properly the contents goes flat or leaks if you put it on its side in the fridge.

[IronStar]

48 minutes ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Has anyone mentioned those new pop bottle caps 🤬

If I have I apologise 😂

Nothing like spilling half a bottle because you didn't realize that flap thing is preventing it from being closed properly. 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Has anyone mentioned those new pop bottle caps 🤬

Glad it's not just me, then. When kerbside recycling came in we were told to remove caps after the bottle was empty to recycle separately. Now the bastard things get in the way when pouring or sipping from the bottle.

[myglaren]

2 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Some bottle tops now stay attached to the bottle and if you don’t reattach them properly i.e. line the thread up properly the contents goes flat or leaks if you put it on its side in the fridge.

Thanks.  Never encountered them, the only thing I buy in bottles is wine and Whisky.  Never drink pop.

[Matty]

19 hours ago, Matty said:

cheers council, thanks government.

Flying car did make this a bit of a grin

[Remspoor]

Attached bottle tops =EU regs.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

8 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

Attached bottle tops =EU regs.

At last!  A benefit of Brexit!

[auntiemaryscanary]

7 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Glad it's not just me, then. When kerbside recycling came in we were told to remove caps after the bottle was empty to recycle separately. Now the bastard things get in the way when pouring or sipping from the bottle.

First time you open it rip the cap off the retainer ring. Normal service resumed. Don't blame me though if the cap falls in the footwell whilst you are driving.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, auntiemaryscanary said:

First time you open it rip the cap off the retainer ring. Normal service resumed. Don't blame me though if the cap falls in the footwell whilst you are driving.

I never drink and drive! 2 things at once is confusing

[sdkrc]

Very loud car alarm went off at 3am. Absolutely shit my britches and ran outside in my underpants to go unplug the battery on A3. Managed to rag the leads off without any tools with the adrenaline still pumping. I sat in the driver's seat for a little mental breakdown when the alarm went off again. Was the fucking Lexus all along!

[Metal Guru]

On 29/06/2024 at 06:31, ruffgeezer said:

Sorry no passive aggressiveness in your direction here - that was not the intention at all.

This was one of my main gripes as a mechanic, that garages take money for doing a job they haven't- the Mitsubishi ASX I had a few months ago was exactly the same.  I got to the point that I wouldn't tell people what I did as a job because there seem to be so many garages out there on the con.  

I'm sorry if I gave the impression I was anything other than happy with the car.  As I said to your dad, you cannot sell a car with that age and mileage and guarantee it, it'd be foolish to do so in my opinion!

TLDR:- Car and vendor good, garages who 'forget' to do stuff bad.

I had my car serviced at a main dealer for 15 years but their prices had crept up rather sharply. So I found an independent and got a service done for about half the price. “When did you last get the pollen filter changed “ the guy said, producing a lump of black paper with an insect collection attached that would rival the Natural History Museum.I didn’t know it had one and the main dealer had never replaced it.  They’d never charged me for it either tbf because it’s not listed on the service schedule. OK, you might say, why would they do it then? Fair enough , but you would have thought over 15 years with many of the same model , someone would have found it and thought “that needs changing”.

[ruffgeezer]

Someone posted on here recently about fixing a Berlingo or Partner with the wanky auto box as a non start, and I now cannot find it!

[Lord Sterling]

You know what? I find that in life, often (for me) it's the simple things that turn into an utter farce that never gets resolved properly or even at all.

Case in point;

I want actual working air-conditioning this summer in my car if ya dont mind. Now for many other people, it's a case of re-gassing the thing or simply buying a car that has actual working air-con, but of course it needs to be just that bit more difficult for me.

The Vectra needed a new condenser, no problem, bought one, but the mechanic found that an extremly rare unobtainable pipe that is crucial to make the air-con work is required as the current one is helpfully seized, without it I have normal luke-warm air:

The offending pipe:

One, apparently was found, I went to the garage etc.., only to find that the pipe ordered was the incorrect one.

I have posted up a photo of this on the Vectra owners pages on Farcebook but as I expect (to be proven right, again) that unless it's "Irmscher" add on bits, bodykits turbo intercoolers or big wheels, they are useless.

Now, even before I even picked up the phone to book the car in for work, I knew this would happen, I knew my luck just couldn't hold out for this. 

I mean, come on, how hard is it to have working bloody air-con? Do I need a mortgage now to buy a whole new system? 🤬

[mercedade]

22 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

Now for many other people, it's a case of re-gassing the thing or simply buying a car that has actual working air-con

HA! If-fucking-only

(sorry for your woes, Mo)

[24vdiamond]

1 hour ago, Lord Sterling said:

You know what? I find that in life, often (for me) it's the simple things that turn into an utter farce that never gets resolved properly or even at all.

Case in point;

I want actual working air-conditioning this summer in my car if ya dont mind. Now for many other people, it's a case of re-gassing the thing or simply buying a car that has actual working air-con, but of course it needs to be just that bit more difficult for me.

The Vectra needed a new condenser, no problem, bought one, but the mechanic found that an extremly rare unobtainable pipe that is crucial to make the air-con work is required as the current one is helpfully seized, without it I have normal luke-warm air:

The offending pipe:

One, apparently was found, I went to the garage etc.., only to find that the pipe ordered was the incorrect one.

I have posted up a photo of this on the Vectra owners pages on Farcebook but as I expect (to be proven right, again) that unless it's "Irmscher" add on bits, bodykits turbo intercoolers or big wheels, they are useless.

Now, even before I even picked up the phone to book the car in for work, I knew this would happen, I knew my luck just couldn't hold out for this. 

I mean, come on, how hard is it to have working bloody air-con? Do I need a mortgage now to buy a whole new system? 🤬

Do you know what the GM part number is? I can have a rumage see if ive got one

[maxxo]

At my parents house today in the loft

decided to faff on with the original opening ventilation sky light up there and successfully opened it

anyway

had a glance at the rear two chimney stacks

oh they’re not in a good way

their side is the right hand side obviously 

the closest one has a gas fire and back boiler (still in one) at the bottom of it so can’t be taken down

rear one is used as an extractor for a cooker hood which I know is terrible

i know for a fact they won’t sort it so it’ll be up to me to arrange to sort this out

what an absolute state they are

[robt100]

Trying to sell the van is putting me in a mood.

Popped it on Autotrader for a bit more exposure, had 3 enquiries in 24hrs (good news), 1 guy was very concerned about the bodywork condition, seemed very hung up on the fact there is a square, less than A5 sized where I think someone has forgotten to lacquer after painting, can only be noticed at certain angles from under 2ft away as having a little less shine. Never heard back after the first call.

2nd guy tried to offer £2k under the asking price over the phone and seems surprised when I say no🙈.  "but its 2004, its not worth that" was his reasoning, I'm guessing he hasn't looked at prices for these things. He didn't seem keen on my suggestion that he doesn't have to buy it if its too expensive for him...

3rd guy says he will be there in 30mins.....that was at 7:30pm today,  never arrived and has now gone no-contact. Which is more concerning as he now has my address, hopefully the van will still be there tomorrow😬. I just don't understand why you wouldn't say anything if you changed your mind or something came up and you couldn't make it, wasted a good hour or so of my evening when I had other things to do.
 

[Lord Sterling]

11 hours ago, 24vdiamond said:

Do you know what the GM part number is? I can have a rumage see if ive got one

Thanks, I'll see if I can get one.

The problem is the last time the parts chaser used a part number, he got the wrong part, and that was a second-hand part! Hence why I put the picture of the pipe.

[24vdiamond]

8 hours ago, Lord Sterling said:

Thanks, I'll see if I can get one.

The problem is the last time the parts chaser used a part number, he got the wrong part, and that was a second-hand part! Hence why I put the picture of the pipe.

PM me the details of the Vectra, chassis number, engine type or engine code if you no it eg X2.0XEV and I can look the correct part number up at least

[sierraman]

20 hours ago, maxxo said:

At my parents house today in the loft

decided to faff on with the original opening ventilation sky light up there and successfully opened it

anyway

had a glance at the rear two chimney stacks

oh they’re not in a good way

their side is the right hand side obviously 

the closest one has a gas fire and back boiler (still in one) at the bottom of it so can’t be taken down

rear one is used as an extractor for a cooker hood which I know is terrible

i know for a fact they won’t sort it so it’ll be up to me to arrange to sort this out

what an absolute state they are

Bricklayer this week then? 😂

[sierraman]

11 hours ago, robt100 said:

Trying to sell the van is putting me in a mood.

Popped it on Autotrader for a bit more exposure, had 3 enquiries in 24hrs (good news), 1 guy was very concerned about the bodywork condition, seemed very hung up on the fact there is a square, less than A5 sized where I think someone has forgotten to lacquer after painting, can only be noticed at certain angles from under 2ft away as having a little less shine. Never heard back after the first call.

2nd guy tried to offer £2k under the asking price over the phone and seems surprised when I say no🙈.  "but its 2004, its not worth that" was his reasoning, I'm guessing he hasn't looked at prices for these things. He didn't seem keen on my suggestion that he doesn't have to buy it if its too expensive for him...

3rd guy says he will be there in 30mins.....that was at 7:30pm today,  never arrived and has now gone no-contact. Which is more concerning as he now has my address, hopefully the van will still be there tomorrow😬. I just don't understand why you wouldn't say anything if you changed your mind or something came up and you couldn't make it, wasted a good hour or so of my evening when I had other things to do.
 

Selling a car is enough to make you want to go and live on some uninhabited island. Rule one is never go out of your way to be in for someone, they’re wanting to buy your van, you are the oasis in the desert. 
 

I wouldn’t even get into any negotiations on price over the phone, inevitably they arrive and it drops yet further. 

[IronStar]

4 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Selling a car is enough to make you want to go and live on some uninhabited island. Rule one is never go out of your way to be in for someone, they’re wanting to buy your van, you are the oasis in the desert. 
 

I wouldn’t even get into any negotiations on price over the phone, inevitably they arrive and it drops yet further. 

The unfortunate rule is - the cheaper it is, the more nonsensical questions you get.

I had like 50 people sending messages, calling, and wasting my time when I was trying to get rid of 300€ Stilo. I wrote everything there is in the ad itself and took 15 photos. Didn't stop anyone from asking everything all of the same questions in the messages or over the phone. 

Same thing with anything else. Selling a 100€ lens? Million idiots. 2k L glass? 3 people with sensical questions, and 1 came to collect. 

My theory is that despite being as cheap as it can possibly get, it's still a lot of money for the target group that's looking to buy it, so they want to get as much as possible out of their money and get it as cheap as possible. Moving more upmarket gets people's expectations more aligned with reality, as they're not spending every last cent they have.

[Metal Guru]

32 minutes ago, IronStar said:

The unfortunate rule is - the cheaper it is, the more nonsensical questions you get.

I had like 50 people sending messages, calling, and wasting my time when I was trying to get rid of 300€ Stilo. I wrote everything there is in the ad itself and took 15 photos. Didn't stop anyone from asking everything all of the same questions in the messages or over the phone. 

Same thing with anything else. Selling a 100€ lens? Million idiots. 2k L glass? 3 people with sensical questions, and 1 came to collect. 

My theory is that despite being as cheap as it can possibly get, it's still a lot of money for the target group that's looking to buy it, so they want to get as much as possible out of their money and get it as cheap as possible. Moving more upmarket gets people's expectations more aligned with reality, as they're not spending every last cent they have.

It’s that cunt Brewer’s fault. Smug git beats down the price everytime. Everyone thinks that’s what you have to do.

[horriblemercedes]

45 minutes ago, sierraman said:

Selling a car is enough to make you want to go and live on some uninhabited island. Rule one is never go out of your way to be in for someone, they’re wanting to buy your van, you are the oasis in the desert. 

There's a middle ground though. I had good communication with a seller until I got into my car to drive two hours to Manchester to look at the car he was selling. Got to his house and no one was there.

I phoned him and he said "we went out for the rest of the day because I didn't think you were coming"

 

The last message from me was "just setting off now, I'll see you in a couple of hours"

[DSdriver]

23 hours ago, Lord Sterling said:

 

I mean, come on, how hard is it to have working bloody air-con? Do I need a mortgage now to buy a whole new system? 🤬

In my experience with a Saab 9-3 estate the answer is yes. Not sure if it is related to the Vectra.

[castros_bro]

I thought I'd be easy to hire a van for a day, used to be easy when I spent time shifting motorcycles, pianos, cement mixers, lathes etc.

Now its impossible and takes hours to find out it's impossible, bloody interweb mess.

[Pieman]

47 minutes ago, Metal Guru said:

It’s that cunt Brewer’s fault. Smug git beats down the price everytime. Everyone thinks that’s what you have to do.

That and Antiques Roadtrip and Bargain Cunt, which seems to be the origin of "wots ur best price m8" and knuckle draggers now think they can say that whenever they buy anything.

[ETCHY]

Conveyancing Solicitors.

We're selling our house. If they'd have a 5 minute fucking phone call then we could exchange contracts & get a completion date... But no it hasn't been sorted in the past 2 weeks. I mean  it's a fucking phone call - yes a fucking phone call between two people, how the holy living shit can that not have happened, how can there not have been time to do this??

Utter & complete bloody twats !🤬

[Remspoor]

On 04/07/2024 at 14:55, maxxo said:

At my parents house today in the loft

decided to faff on with the original opening ventilation sky light up there and successfully opened it

anyway

had a glance at the rear two chimney stacks

oh they’re not in a good way

their side is the right hand side obviously 

the closest one has a gas fire and back boiler (still in one) at the bottom of it so can’t be taken down

rear one is used as an extractor for a cooker hood which I know is terrible

i know for a fact they won’t sort it so it’ll be up to me to arrange to sort this out

what an absolute state they are

Whilst the lads* are on the roof maybe get them to look at the lead too.  I can see all sorts of things wrong with that. I am surprised that there is no water ingress from that . Wonder what the flashing is like on the other side of the ridge?

[robt100]

1 hour ago, ETCHY said:

Conveyancing Solicitors.

We're selling our house. If they'd have a 5 minute fucking phone call then we could exchange contracts & get a completion date... But no it hasn't been sorted in the past 2 weeks. I mean  it's a fucking phone call - yes a fucking phone call between two people, how the holy living shit can that not have happened, how can there not have been time to do this??

Utter & complete bloody twats !🤬

I know that feeling. We were waiting on the seller's solicitors for about 5 weeks! Our solicitor just needed a signature back from them, kept saying to them "we will get it to you tomorrow" and then nothing. They waited till 2 days before our mortgage offer ran out till they finally did it😕
Just ring daily and chase it, they will soon get a move on to get rid of you😅