The grumpy thread

[Ross_K]

Ulster Bank are saying it's gonna be the end of this week or (more likely) the start of next before the "backlog" is cleared.

 

I've got my boss to redirect my pay into a savings account at a different bank so at least the kids won't be eating gruel by this Friday...

 

BTW, you seen how much those Indian programmers were being paid to look after the whole shitheap of a system?

8l -> 10L rupees is about £10k, for 4-7 years experience. Thanks again, you penny-pinching fuckwits at RBS.

The guys they dumped in the UK had 20-30 years experience...

 

[retrogeezer]

I am 'intrested' so will send my 'profiled'...

[ashmicro]

As soon as this is sorted, I shall be telling Ulster WANK to poke it. Some of you may remember that a while back by account was "locked" due to an ATM transaction that timed out, and the cunts in the bank did everything short of calling me a liar.

 

My sister and her husband run a small law firm, and their client account has a seven figure sum in it for a deal that completes on Friday. It's all very well the Wank telling folks just to go to their branch and get cash - what's my brother in law supposed to do? Cut about with over a million squid in readies? They won't issue a draft either (not that cash or draft is any use as the deal is transatlantic).

 

PS, and don't say it was me told you: I heard that the whole problem originated in Ulster Bank's branch in Ballymena. Someone accidentally hung a wooly jumper over a server, and another member of staff tried to fuck it.

[Ross_K]

  retrogeezer said:

I am 'intrested' so will send my 'profiled'...

 

Too late, Bob Shawadiwadi got your job. Better luck next time.

 

 

  ashmicro said:

PS, and don't say it was me told you: I heard that the whole problem originated in Ulster Bank's branch in Ballymena. Someone accidentally hung a wooly jumper over a server, and another member of staff tried to fuck it.

 

[scaryoldcortina]

Cut price MoTs....

 

I got a phone call from my uncle this afternoon - His 03 saxo was due a test and a service so it wasn't a huge surprise. What was a surprise was him telling me that it had already failed a test! Turns out it ran out last week and he hadn't realized so this morning he took it to a certain well known fast fit brakes and tyres outfit because they had a half price MoT offer running in the local paper

 

Anyway, quelle surprise, it failed on brakes and split lower arm ball joint dust covers (both sides) and has advisories for brakes and tyres. 31% front imbalance (fail) and "rear brakes imbalanced" as a manual advisory (SO advisory that it isn't even testable excluding cases where little or no effort is recorded on one wheel). Also advised was cracking to rear tyre sidewalls (very, very minor) and an oil leak from the nearside driveshaft oil seal. I can't comment on that yet other than to say it doesn't leave drips on the drive but there was an oil drip below the shaft on the gearbox case which I wiped onto my finger. It didn't smell like gear oil, and was completely clean - looked a lot like light lubricating oil. The dust covers I haven't looked at yet, but I tested this car last year and they were fine then, no work has been done since that could have damaged them.... I'll have a good look tomorrow.

I've driven the car back to the garage, I did a "hands off" 30mph stop and it went straight ahead.

 

They recommended replacing both front lower arms, disks and pads, rear shoes and possibly drums and 2 tyres for "only" £600 with a side order of "maybe around £100" to sort the oil leak. He paid for his MoT and left to call me (which is what he should have done in the first place)

 

Why am I grumpy? This sort of shit gives the motor trade a bad name, and convinces gullible people that old cars cost a fortune to fix every MoT so leasing a new peugeot and "just add fuel" is the only answer.

 

Mind you, I'm lolling my head off at all the PC problems! Conor trashed the hard drive in his netbook the other week, so while he waits for me to get a drive he's still using it because I can install and run Debian (not a huge Ubuntu fan) off a 2GB SD card.

[Cavcraft]

Ah yes, the old 'mystery oil' problem rears it's head again. Good old Shit F*t, they'll probably never change.

[Ross_K]

^^^^^^ Kwik-FIt are fucking shysters. ^^^^^^

 

Ripping naive punters off when they're not out joyriding customers cars and killing children...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-17443608

 

I wouldn't get my wheelbarrow's tyres done at Kwik-Fit, never mind my car's.

[scaryoldcortina]

Surprisingly, it wasn't them - it was another National chain of shysters

[autofive]

  scaryoldcortina said:

Surprisingly, it wasn't them - it was another National chain of shysters

 

as well as MOT's I assume this company also do Tyres and Services?

[Ross_K]

I don't think their tyre fitters have gone joyriding Porsches or killing anybody, but all other comments probably apply to them too.

[ashmicro]

Charles Hurst, Belfast purveyors of just about every make under the sun. During my time there we were ARG, Nissan and Renner at our wee bit of the very BIG complex in Boucher Road.(1991). An autospark and a valet decided to take a hoon round the place in a newly-PDI'd Renner 25 V6 Turbo. Hurst's is a big place with a kind of mini internal road system. The spark (driving) lost control big time, and took out 2 Micras and 3 Primeras awaiting PDI. OOPS!

 

Same establishment, 1976 when my mate's Dad worked there. He was road testing a V12 E Type after doing something to the suspension. He lost it big time, putting the car on to its side, and sliding it through the gates of what is now Thompson Reid Tractors on Stockman's lane. On it's door. Sacked!

[Albert Ross]

We get a shitload of ex-Hurst Ex-Motab shit. The roads over there must be truly horrific, that coupled with 4 year 1st MOT regs must mean that most cars are fucked for their first tests.....

[ashmicro]

The roads are pretty good here Jim, it's just that some people have no respect for Motab cars (or they let their kids use them as illegal minicabs)

[Ross_K]

  Albert Ross said:

We get a shitload of ex-Hurst Ex-Motab shit. The roads over there must be truly horrific....

 

You're thinking of the roads on the south of the border

 

The level of fucked-ness is probably down to the owners driving skills, or lack of.

 

I picked up an ex-motablity Scenic in Glasgow that had the track rods or track rod ends replaced every year when it failed the MOT. The wheels were shot to bits too, so somebody liked driving up on kerbs...

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

  Minimad5 said:

RBS !

Yes i am a stupid w**ker for being with them

today "should" be pay-day, but due to the massive cock-up with the whole computer systems with RBS and Natwest, i was unable to draw out any money.

 

Simply go down the local branch and get money from them i hear you say. This would be great BUT this means taking time off work (which i can't afford) or completely missing college tomorrow (Which REALLY is taking the piss), as i can't afford to make the 48 mile round trip for college

 

I have rent due today at home and rent Wednesday for the Unit, no food or drink for work either ...... compensation i highly doubt

 

I'd have been only amused by the NatWest thing had it not happened the day after I transferred a substantial sum into my empty current account to pay a bill. I've got some cash which I was going to deposit today, but I don't know if I wouldn't feel more secure leaving it under a plantpot in the garden. The front garden.

[Pete-M]

I'm with Natwest. Last weeks wages haven't gone in yet, but they will so I'm not worried.

 

It's one of those things isn't it? People live beyond their means then want the world from the bank when it cocks up. I've banked with Natwest for 20 years and this is the first time anything involving my account has gone wrong, and even if it has gone wrong it won't cost me a penny to put it right. Therefore, I'm not complaining.

[warren t claim]

Sadly I'm with Natwest as well but I'm lucky to have a bit of Mercedes money left.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

  Pete-M said:

I'm with Natwest. Last weeks wages haven't gone in yet, but they will so I'm not worried.

 

It's one of those things isn't it? People live beyond their means then want the world from the bank when it cocks up. I've banked with Natwest for 20 years and this is the first time anything involving my account has gone wrong, and even if it has gone wrong it won't cost me a penny to put it right. Therefore, I'm not complaining.

 

I've never had a problem with them either, but worrying if your direct debits have been paid, or whether an important cheque is going to clear is hardly living beyond your means. That's the situation thousands of people are in now because the steam powered difference engine RBS uses for customer accounts shit the bed and someone had left the backup floppy on top of a large speaker (my understanding of the problem as a computer power user).

[Cavcraft]

  scaryoldcortina said:

Surprisingly, it wasn't them - it was another National chain of shysters

 

To be fair years back at least they weren't that bad. I worked for their rivals (yellow vans) and never really heard anything untoward about them.

[Split_Pin]

  Peter said:

  Pete-M said:

I'm with Natwest. Last weeks wages haven't gone in yet, but they will so I'm not worried.

 

It's one of those things isn't it? People live beyond their means then want the world from the bank when it cocks up. I've banked with Natwest for 20 years and this is the first time anything involving my account has gone wrong, and even if it has gone wrong it won't cost me a penny to put it right. Therefore, I'm not complaining.

 

I've never had a problem with them either, but worrying if your direct debits have been paid, or whether an important cheque is going to clear is hardly living beyond your means. That's the situation thousands of people are in now because the steam powered difference engine RBS uses for customer accounts shit the bed and someone had left the backup floppy on top of a large speaker (my understanding of the problem as a computer power user).

 

That's a bit unfair Pete. We don't earn much at all, have a small mortgage, old shit cars that owe us nothing, don't drink, don't go out much ( recent holiday was a gift from my folks as we can't afford one) don't buy expensive clothes, so that's hardly living beyond our means. My wifes wages are already a week late and the mortgage payment that she pays to keep her elderly mum's flat is due tomorrow. I have some savings to give her to help, but my wages are due today via RBS. What will I do if they are not there then?

[messerschmitt owner]

  IainL said:

  Peter said:

  Pete-M said:

I'm with Natwest. Last weeks wages haven't gone in yet, but they will so I'm not worried.

 

It's one of those things isn't it? People live beyond their means then want the world from the bank when it cocks up. I've banked with Natwest for 20 years and this is the first time anything involving my account has gone wrong, and even if it has gone wrong it won't cost me a penny to put it right. Therefore, I'm not complaining.

 

I've never had a problem with them either, but worrying if your direct debits have been paid, or whether an important cheque is going to clear is hardly living beyond your means. That's the situation thousands of people are in now because the steam powered difference engine RBS uses for customer accounts shit the bed and someone had left the backup floppy on top of a large speaker (my understanding of the problem as a computer power user).

 

That's a bit unfair Pete. We don't earn much at all, have a small mortgage, old shit cars that owe us nothing, don't drink, don't go out much ( recent holiday was a gift from my folks as we can't afford one) don't buy expensive clothes, so that's hardly living beyond our means. My wifes wages are already a week late and the mortgage payment that she pays to keep her elderly mum's flat is due tomorrow. I have some savings to give her to help, but my wages are due today via RBS. What will I do if they are not there then?

it's OK, you won't be out of pocket! The fact you may not have enough money to get to work or eat is nowt to do with it.

 

Yes, Pete M, I think your statement was a bit rude. I live within my means but that doesn't mean I have money left at the end of the month - certainly not an extra two week's worth.

[Ross_K]

It's unfair to say that you must be living beyond your means for this to affect you.

 

I'd say MOST people are living paypacket to paypacket these days. All it takes is a car problem, medical problem, or a big gas/electric bill to put someone in the shit, financially speaking.

 

Not everyone's got a credit card or savings to fall back on...

[Cavcraft]

  Ross_K said:

It's unfair to say that you must be living beyond your means for this to affect you.

 

I'd say MOST people are living paypacket to paypacket these days. All it takes is a car problem, medical problem, or a big gas/electric bill to put someone in the shit, financially speaking.

 

Not everyone's got a credit card or savings to fall back on...

 

'+1'

[tonedepear]

If I banked with them it would certainly have put me WELL in shit and beyond.

 

Closer to home, this stuff is what i do for a living (fortunately not for the concern involved) - processing banking transactions and all that. If you bank with one of the smaller provincial building societies and your money doesn't go in, it was probably me. Or at least I probably lost sleep over it. The reason the banks use the "olde-worlde" technology (the reason we do, anyway, and we process stuff for loads of banks including a big british bank beginning with B*) is that long-term, it's far more reliable than modern stuff. Old IBM mainframes using the same basic technology as they did 30-40 years ago are very good at processing lots of data, quite slowly, without breaking. Your phone (well, a modern smartphone) might be able to do it quicker, but it might also hang or fail twice in a week. Realistically with the mainframes you can expect a significant failure once every 3 or 4 years of continual processing. Which is decent. Bit like a massive shit old diesel engine in a proper taxi, that's slow and not very reliable, but will happily stay on without eating itself 24/7 for ages. (I assume)

 

Whatever's stopped YBS being able to restore the systems and backups is another mess entirely, I'm not really sure as I've been avoiding reading about it - it's a bit close to home and cold-sweat inducing.

 

I'm amazed it's taken this long though.

 

On a smaller scale, this kind of thing happens all the time*, it's just usually manageable to recover before most people get up so no-one knows about it unless they're up at 3 to check their salary's gone in.

 

Allegedly.

 

*I probably shouldn't say

 

Edited to decrease risk of unemployment, just in case.

[Pete-M]

If mortgage payments and direct debits don't go out because of this, then Natwest / RBS can't charge you for their cock-ups. Provided the money is normally in there on time.

 

Have you all been reading "Economics the Gordon Brown way" or something? Seems like insanity to me to have bugger all in reserve for when madness invariably happens, whether it's an unfortunate personal moment that means you can't work, or the bank getting marmite on their floppy drives.

 

I learned this years ago when on the dole. If my Giro didn't arrive then I couldn't eat. Made sense to save up a giro for emergencies like this and have a fortnight to sort things out rather than just going straight to panic stations. Doesn't matter what job I'm doing, for the first few months I live like I'm on a giro and spend the least amount possible in order to build up a float. If the float is getting low then cut out all non-essentials until it's back up to scratch.

 

I don't have a credit card. Don't believe in 'em, don't use credit for anything. Can't afford something? Don't buy it.

[tonedepear]

  Pete-M said:

Have you all been reading "Economics the Gordon Brown way" or something? Seems like insanity to me to have bugger all in reserve for when madness invariably happens

 

Christ, its not by choice! My outgoings (paying off old debts etc) have been more than my income for about 4 years, it's only this last 12 months my head's been above water, and now all my spare* cash goes on paying agreed sums toward all the debts!

 

I doubt anyone here intentionally gets to the last week of the month and thinks, "ooh I've got £100 left, best get it spent" and hoons down to Victoria Wine or whatever.

 

Edit: I'm not arguing with the suggestion or logic! I also don't have credit cards (i did when I was an ignorant yoof, which I'm still paying for). I'm lucky in that I'm not with YBS - cheifly because when I tried to open a current account a couple of years back they told me in no uncertain terms I wasn't welcome. (Cos of my credit history, of course). Bah.

[Split_Pin]

I think very few people have a choice about whether they can put a bit by for a rainy day. Something always pops up which obstructs saving, like a leccy bill, puncture, busted fridge. Trust me, it always happens. The path to hell is paved with good intentions as they say.

 

I expect some draconian replies, about spending, ways of life etc.

[messerschmitt owner]

I have two month's salary saved up in a bank account and the means to make cash quickly, having squandered my hard earned, not on fancy holidays, but on slightly more sensible purchases. My lifestyle is such that as a family we could cut back by £3-500 a month and not have a much lowered standard of living. However, if my main bank account had been with RBS group, I would have been unable to transfer money to sort out the lack of cash in the bank account to pay for the mortgage, etc. When the bank computer crumbles, and money is needing paid to other banks/services, those businesses will be less understanding of you as a customer. Not being able to withdraw money apart from over the counter, nor be able to deposit money with any kind of guarantee that it will be paid into your account is a gross failure of a major bank.

 

Assuming, that, as many people do, I had all my eggs in one basket and accounts with RBS group only, I would have been in the situation of having that money in the bank but the inability to get it out and to use it when required. It is a right royal f*** up on RBS's account and I am sure they'll be seeing a few customers moving from them.

 

Having been through the credit card thing, I still have one but the balance is paid in full each month - as I get cash back on fuel and groceries. However, if the bill hadn't been paid, and I had no access to the cash in my account, I would have been up shit creek without the ability to feed the family or get to work.

 

And they want us to go cashless/cardless with a stupid microchip in our mobile phones!!!

[ashmicro]

I have some sympathy for what Pete says - if you can put something away, you should, but I know not everyone is in a position to do so.

 

I don't have a credit card, not for any moral or ideological reason, I'm just shit scared of bills. I don't even have a contract phone.

 

However, I keep a grand in the house in my gun safe.

[Ross_K]

  Pete-M said:

I learned this years ago when on the dole. If my Giro didn't arrive then I couldn't eat. Made sense to save up a giro for emergencies like this and have a fortnight to sort things out rather than just going straight to panic stations. Doesn't matter what job I'm doing, for the first few months I live like I'm on a giro and spend the least amount possible in order to build up a float.

 

Huzzah for you. Now I realise that you're probably trolling, but let me ask - do you have a family? It doesn't sound like it. If I didn't have a wife and kids I'd have shitloads of cash in a high interest savings account somewhere, just as you wisely suggest. I have known people who saved money while on the dole. They usually lived with their mum and didn't have rent or other bills to pay, so I can't say that I used to take them (or their financial advice) seriously.

 

  Quote

If the float is getting low then cut out all non-essentials until it's back up to scratch.

 

Umm. The situation for a lot of people is that they've stopped paying their mortgage in order to buy food and keep the lights on. "Non-essentials" doesn't exist for those people.

 

  Quote

I don't have a credit card. Don't believe in 'em, don't use credit for anything. Can't afford something? Don't buy it.

 

I pay mine off in full every month so I don't pay any interest. It's not a luxury item for me anyhow - it's a tool I use to keep out of debt, not the other way around.

I realise as well that many people just make the minimum payment and it costs them.