The grumpy thread

[Cavcraft]

I'd sooner be on the rock'n roll than do telesales. Probably wrong like but I get really REALLY angry when they bell me.

 

Worse boss I worked for was a right bastard. He'd piss about all day doing next to sod all, drove round collecting old crap/eyeing up flange and went missing for ages to get away from his nagging missus. Still, you can't sack yourself can you?

[cms206]

The ability to fly off the handle at any given time often works well too.

 

 

+1. I've calmed down a lot since leaving the airport, but one duty manager in particular when I worked there had a way of making me explode. Stupid little things like talking to the back of my head, or sending snotty emails, or phoning someone else to tell them to tell me to do something.

 

I'd like to say the one memorable moment, but sadly I don't remember it, was one day when he came in to the ops office. I had my feet up as usual resting my eyes (2am starts FTL), the ops supervisor in the corner doing not a lot as was usual on a Sunday morning. DM sits on the chair behind me, and starts complaining about a delay on one of my flights, before making some snide comments. I turned round, put my feet back up so that I was facing him, and he shut up... five minutes later, he gets up, walks round me, sits on the chair behind me again and starts the same stuff, before making comment that I wasn't fit for the job, that I was too old school and the place was changing without me. Then he said this...

 

"I mean, you're just shit at this, aren't you? You couldn't give a fuck what you do as long as you're working to the rulebook when you're out there and trying no harder, I mean it's not difficult to just bend the rules a bit and fudge the paperwork to get an on time departure for a flight? It's a Sunday for fuck's sake, we've only had three flights and they've all gone late because YOU won't cut corners... "

 

 

I don't remember much after that except coming round about an hour and a half later tied to a chair which was in turn tied to sturdy desk using a 25m extension cable. The DM still won't talk about it, the ops supervisor only lets me in on parts of the story. Apparantly before anyone could stop me I had him by the throat, two feet off the ground, back against the whiteboard threatening to cause him grevious bodily harm before launching a microwave oven at him as he tried to flee the office. It took the ops supervisor, my shift partner and two leading hands to get me into the chair and tied down.

 

The airport did bad things to me. Nearly ended up losing my driving permit (and my airside pass) for threatening to put an Airfield Ops driver in hospital if he ever cut me up on the airfield again. For some reason he never waved to me again when I passed, but all the other AirOps bods were extra nice to me... ?!

 

 

 

Last time I blew a gasket was when with my current boss's son a few weeks ago as detailed in the grump thread at the time. He's still a bellend and I've still not spoken to him for fear of launching an Almex ticket machine at him.

[RedSparrow]

Got back from Finland on Friday which has made me sad.

On top of this I seem to have spent a huge amount of money while I was there, but I kind of expected that.

Plus someone has moved into the flat under me who likes to smoke weed constantly which makes my place reek of the stuff. Don't know what to do, think I might go and speak to them, but round here it's more likely to be an aggressive chav than a passive stoner type. Or I might just grass them up to their landlord. Pun not intentional.

All in all, it's shit to be back in this country. At least I have 3 weeks of well paid work. I'm praying that I get one of the bar jobs in Helsinki that I applied for.

[Mr Lobster]

Fuggin 'ell. Reading all that little lot does make me glad I'm self employed and no longer have to deal with any of it.

 

(If it makes you feel any better though my working day today was 0430 - 2000 though and I am now absolutely knackered)

[warren t claim]

In fact lets all go further and say it totally destroys me to think that soon she'll be in someone else's bed and the biggest fucking loser is me. Fucking hell! Why am I thinking this way? I'm on an old car forum centring on Talbot Horizons! Someone please shoot me!!!

 

Seriously, WTC, it sounds like your heading for a....

 

 

Yep! That's happened!

[autofive]

ohhh sh1t

 

what happened?

[maxpower]

fuggin in-laws!!! come to your house at all hours of the night and get grumpy when you won't drop everything and troll through fleabay for fuckin hours.. looking at crap he wants before realising that he is as tight as an ant's arsehole that he has no intention of buying anything

 

feck off and buy yourself a laptop you tight fisted cnut! i have things to do!

 

grump over

[trigger]

Yep! That's happened!

 

I hope everythings ok WTC.

[warren t claim]

Yep! That's happened!

 

I hope everythings ok WTC.

 

So do I. Only time will tell...

[Cavcraft]

Good luck Warren.

[Negative Creep]

Just been informed that my role at work has been "outsourced", so theyre going to pay some drone in India 50p an hour to do the same job.

 

 

Still, for today they have given me the excitingrole of..........opening envelopes. Looks like its back to the dole queue very soon

[lancashireclamper]

Yep! That's happened!

 

I hope everythings ok WTC.

 

So do I. Only time will tell...

 

Things will sort themselves out eventually Warren,

Not been through anything like you have but had my known world fall around me like an elephant has farted on it;

massive rush of air to the brain and a lingering unpleasant whiff that you never think will go away,

Try and keep your pecker up la,

(No not in that sense)

[Guest]

Warren, it will get better, somehow.

[Guest]

Not to detract much from the plight of Mr T Claim or anything, but an eBayer has really pissed me off. Why is it that whenever I try and sell Volvo parts some useless claart rocks up and fucks it all into a cocked hat?

 

Basically shit-for-brains hits Buy It Now rather than the bid button and then has the cheek to ask me for £10 off (with postage included) because he's 'still interested' in the item:

 

Hi,

Not sure what happened but I put a BID on your fuel tank and I seem to have ended up 'buying it now' for £55, NOT what I'd intended! This is not something that has ever happened before- If you look at my feedback you'll see I have 100% and over 500 transactions! So apologies for this slipup! HOWEVER I am interested in the fuel tank, rather than resubmitting it, would you consider selling it for £45, including postage?

 

My reply was about as polite as I could manage:

 

No, sorry, you're not having it for £45. I paid £101 for it on German eBay and I don't see why you get to negotiate the price down because you hit the wrong button. I don't doubt your feedback for a second - you seem like a decent eBay buyer

£55 is on the death as it is.

 

Apologies if I sound brusque but this puts me in a bit of a crap situation. I either sell it to you for less than I wanted (admittedly £10 shy of what I BIN'd it at, which is still a damn sight less than what I bought it for originally) or relist it, which is going get me hammered for another listing fee. I only bought it because the seller wrongly listed it as an Amazon reserve tank and muggins here bid on it thinking it would be a rare piece of kit to have.

 

Honestly, if I asked you the same thing, would YOU sell the tank to me for £45 and throw the postage in too, given what you know?

 

I'll do the postage for a fiver. Don't see why I should really, but there you go.

 

In the words of the departed N.Baker, I DESPAIR.

[RedSparrow]

Film remakes ruining the original.

Just watched the new version of The Hitcher. Need I say more?

[cobblers]

Can you claim he's a non paying buyer and get your fees back and relist it?

[Volksy]

Banks, or rather their incompetent call centres.

 

I've been waiting for an international transfer of my final wage from Switzerland. This has dragged on for nigh on four weeks now. When organising the transfer, I called my bank - ironically with a UK call centre, for my IBAN and BIC codes. Which were given, and read back at least twice, over the phone. These were passed to my colleague in Switzerland to organise the transfer. It should take three to five working days I was advised, but can take up to fifteen working days in extreme cases. I have been waiting, watching my overdraft increase with charge after charge (pleading with them didn't help - they resolutely refuse to refund or stop them so far) being levied as I am over my limit.

 

I call today, to see if they can put a trace on from this end, apparently not, I have to wait for it to be returned to the sending bank, I have no idea if this has happened as the person who sent it is no longer in Switzerland and has closed their Swiss account.

 

I then ask if I can check the details given to me, the conversation goes something like this:

 

Me: "I was given my IBAN and BIC on the 9th of May, can you check the details?"

Them: "We're not allowed to give those out over the phone, please refer to your statement for them"

Me: "Well one of you colleague's did, can you verify that they were correct?"

Them: "No, as we do not have access to them, so they can't have."

Me: "Well as 'All calls are recorded' you should be able to listen and check that they did issue the numbers over the phone"

Them: (Getting quite snotty now) "We DO NOT have access to IBAN numbers here in the call centre"

Me: "Then what number did they give me?"

Them: "I don't know"

Me: "Well, they gave me this one........."

Them: "Oh.....(Silence)"

Me: "Is that not my IBAN number?"

Them: "No, that is 'The Typical Example' we have to suggest where on your statement it is... Well, like 'Mr Smith, 123 Any Street, Anytown"

Me: "Oh really? So who's account is that then? Mr Smiths?"

Them: "It doesn't exist"

Me: "So where is my money now then?"

Them: "I don't know... Erm... Let me transfer you to a different department...."

 

So, I was transferred to a Manager, who explained that my money will now be 'lost' somewhere in the banking system, as it should have been rejected by them, and be sent back to the bank in Switzerland, to an account that no longer exists. My bank apparently cannot trace it, and short of flying out to Switzerland to visit the bank it was sent from - It was a private bank, as most are over there, there is not a great deal I can do. They are investigating it - 48 hours to do so, and the entire process can take up to 4 weeks... AARRRGGHH!!!!

 

So now completely broke, and may have to move down south to start a new job in the coming weeks, F@ck knows how.......

 

 

BANKS ARE EVIL!

[Negative Creep]

More work related woes. Now just being passed around departments with no work or assistance. The only thing its doing is giving me chance to ruminate on how badly ive managed my life to be at this point after 28 years. Fighting the urge just to walk out but then i realise ill only end up in another dead end minimum wage temp job.

 

Oh, and i found we dont get a day in lieu for working all those bank holidays. Wankers.

[ashmicro]

If it's any consolation I've just had the world's most powerful mini-vacuum cleaner lobbed in my ear by my GP, my missus isn't talking to me and my BlackBerry's fucked. And I have a rotten cold.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Volksy, I know I ve said it before, but the only purpose of call centres is to fob people off. The only way to deal with ball-and-bats like banks and the DVLA is in writing- e-mail if possible, letters if not. Don't jeopardise your mental health for the sake of a stupid call centre middle-manager in Guildford..They aren't worth it.

[CreepingJesus]

I probly shouldn't even grump about this, 'cos it shouldn't surprise me in the least.

Renault dealer deems '99 Megane too old to keep parts for. Cretins.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

I probly shouldn't even grump about this, 'cos it shouldn't surprise me in the least.

Renault dealer deems '99 Megane too old to keep parts for. Cretins.

 

What do you mean 'keep parts for'? They can't even get them ordered for you?

Irrespective of the age of a model, most dealers only have a tiny amount of stock- they just order stuff as and when required.

[CreepingJesus]

^In stock, not "I'll order them, they'll be a couple of days".

I asked for a dust cap and two bulbs. Now I remember why I stay clear of dealers!

[Pete-M]

Legal requirement for manufacturers to supply parts is only something silly like ten years, so the likes of Renault aren't going to bother stocking them for longer than that if they can help it.

 

A '99 Megane is 12 years old this year, so get stockpiling while you can.

 

This is why old Renaults etc get very rare, very quickly. Mercedes / VW / BMW / Jaguar / Volvo and a few others keep a supply of parts for their older stuff, but the majority of manufacturers don't give a toss once your car is 10 years old as they'd much rather it died and you bought a new one.

[ashmicro]

The Mercedes-Benz main dealer in Belfast seems to have a massive stock of older parts. One of my sister's neighbours broke the indicator and headlamp on his Bobby Ewing SL, and they had them in stock.

 

Jaguar dealers seem well stocked too, and you get discount of 50% or more off some parts if your Jaaaaaag is more than 5 years old. The new boot vent and drain kit for my S Type was £1.89

[trigger]

Woke up at 1pm yesterday, I've done a 12 hour night shift last night, went to bed at 8am this morning then had to be up at 10.30am for a doctors appointments so that they take a load of blood out of me, No wonder i started to feel queasy when i saw (and heard) it all coming out of me.

 

Oh and on another note the 2007 plate Merc 4x4 thing what parks in the way of the entrance of our road every day got keyed along the whole side in the time it took me to go to the doctors and back this morning, strangely after my PITA neighbour told me how something bad was going to happen to it soon...

[Pete-M]

The Mercedes-Benz main dealer in Belfast seems to have a massive stock of older parts. One of my sister's neighbours broke the indicator and headlamp on his Bobby Ewing SL, and they had them in stock.

 

Jaguar dealers seem well stocked too, and you get discount of 50% or more off some parts if your Jaaaaaag is more than 5 years old. The new boot vent and drain kit for my S Type was £1.89

 

Aye, Mercedes are pretty legendary for their old parts stock. They'll get you anything you want for anything they've built, if you've got the coin.

 

Jag aren't bad either... although the clock for mine is £185+ vat (because it's shared with the Vanquish...)

[Guest]

Had mixed results getting parts for my fleet.

 

The Volvos seem mixed. Ironically it's easier to get [service] and [body] parts for the Amazon than it is for the 480. The only really expensive bits on the former are the front wings and brake discs. With the rotors the high price is down to the fact that one company in Sweden still makes them, and they tend to charge whatever the hell they deem appropriate. Almost everything else - seals, door skins, floor pan pressings, rear axle parts, major bits - I can get from a specialist down South. Although a certain Suffolk company pissed me off royally by refusing an exchange on a front crank oil seal and charging me full whack for its replacement. They refused to send the original back when I kicked off too.

 

Service parts for the 480 are do-able - I can walk into Rybrook in Warrington or GSF and get them off the shelf. Most of the other bits I'm down to the scrapyards. I must ring that place recommended to me for the tail light clusters.

 

Consumables on the 305 are hit and miss. The main dealer Peugeot computer doesn't list it, strangely enough. Body panels are unobtainium unless I start on the wire via Leboncoin, eBay.fr, or that lunatic in Yorkshire.

 

Ebay is a lifeline for me, if I'm honest. Got some utter bargains for the 480 from there. Pads and discs (all Delphi \ Mintex) all round for £60 delivered.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

I think Ford are pretty good, too. TBH, I can't see the downside to keeping a decent parts supply- you can farm the manufacturing out to small engineering firms and have zero production costs, your image is improved both in terms of customer care and reliability ("carmaker XYZ are so confident in the quality of their products that they support them for 25 years"), and you could even make a bit of money out of it!

 

Of course, I fully expect that the idiots who ran Renault into the ground before it merged with Nissan didn't have the common sense/business acumen to realise the above!

[M'coli]

I've been knocked back for a job I really wanted - granted, it was a year's student placement but I'm middle-aged and changing career - what I am grumpy about is the feedback. It's not the fact that I lack recent programming experience, nor other weak areas like statistics or owt, no, they weren't commented on. Things like not being impressed by my reasons given for moving jobs historically (never been sacked, never walked out of a job without notice, changed jobs because I wanted to try something new or had hit the limit of my qualifications at the time) and stuff like that. I am now depressed as fuck because these are things that I can't change because they're in the past.