The grumpy thread

[autofive]

So how in future are you supposed to give estimates on how much something will cost to post?

 

At the moment, bung it on some scales - job done.

 

ditch royal mail and use a courier

 

e.g.

 

http://www.interparcel.com/quote/courier-quote1.php

[RedSparrow]

I'm sure they'll bring out some indecipherable measuring guide. It's still shitty though, another nail in their trying-to-be-a-business coffin.

 

I hate couriers. The one advantage of Royal Mail is local depots to pick stuff up if you're not in when they try to deliver. With couriers in my experience it gets hugely complicated if you miss their delivery 'attempts'.

 

Google image search for 'Viz waiting for a fucking parcel'.

[Mr Lobster]

I've just been to post a parcel containing a model car that I've sold on ebay which weighed sod all, It came to £2.70 1st class which was alright but the lad in the post office has just informed me that from the beginning of next month all the postage prices are changing and will now be based on the size instead of weight mean my £2.70 package will cost £5.50 next month. What a rip off!

 

Unless you had it in a massively oversized box then he's talking out of his arse.

 

They are changing 1st & 2nd class to become 24 or 48hr (though they don't guarantee it'll arrive in that time....).

 

If the box is under 16x16x16cm then the price should stay roughly the same but over that there is a charge for oversize parcels. I haven't read all the stuff they sent us about it yet but thats how I saw it after a quick skim through. Price certainly isn't going to double.

[HillmanImp]

B4 we get all the Royal Mail slagging can I just put this here again:

 

What they do is mega cheap at the mo. With the pension to plug and pressure from the government they simply need to become profitable. I bet they are still cheaper, easier and provide better customer service than couriers in 99% of cases. For big items, there may be more specialist companies who can help but for day to day stuff I cant see anyone else who can do what they do.

[Mr Lobster]

^ This x 1000000000

 

A lot of people like slagging off Royal Mail but they are in general very, very good. Big stuff is best left to couriers but for normal sized parcels Royal Mail are unbeatable. Most 1st class stuff gets there next day regardless of whereabouts in the UK its going and on the sort of stuff I send they are still vastly cheaper than couriers.

[M'coli]

People forget that the RM is not meant to be a business, but a service. It would help if punters used the postcode properly, and used a decent size of writing for the sending address, and wrote the retrn address smaller and preferably, not on the fromt of the packet. Oh, and if you send something squashy like a garment such as a jumper wrapped in single-ply brown paper, do expect the packaging to have burst by the time it's been through 4 or 5 stages of sorting and had anything up to 70kg on top of it.

 

Oversize parcels are a pain in the arse to sort, too.

[richardthestag]

+1

 

Btw i found the best way of guaranteeing next day delivery by hand is not to fix any stamp at all. and even if you reimburse the recipient it still works out cheaper than special delivery including the OMFG penalty probably

 

Well it does when mrs thestag accidentally forgets to fix a stamp !

 

Also delivery to north devon both 1 st and 2nd class postage takes exactly the same time.

[retrogeezer]

if something can be sent to me from Hong Kong for less than the RM would charge to take it a couple of hundred miles I can't see how it is good value!

[Mr Lobster]

 

Theres many and varied reasons why you can get stuff sent very cheaply from Hong Kong / China but the fact that something can be sent from there for a quid doesn't represent what the operation actually costs. Try getting something from Europe, USA, Canada and Australia and they are all comparable or more expense than Royal Mail.

[retrogeezer]

I was posting that with my tongue firmly in my cheek......it still has to be delivered here by the RM of course and that is part of the reason costs are going up no doubt.

[Cavcraft]

Well said, Mr Imp.

 

Wages, pensions, fuel, running costs etc all go up so obviously stamps and parcel costs will too. The P.O and it's staff (mostly) do a bloody good job and it should be run as a business. Good luck to them I say.

[Negative Creep]

On that note, yet another package I've ordered has failed to arrive. Odd how the letters and anything that isn't shaped like a DVD or game still turns up. Seems more than a coincidence to me and I'm certain it's being stolen somewhere along the line

[M'coli]

If it's letters or large flat envelopes, then it can go through mechanised sorting. DVDs and the like (especially from Amazon) are hand-sorted packets and shouldn't go astray.

[Spiny Norman]

I have very mixed feelings about the RM.

 

One the one hand I've had experience working in a sorting office and a couple of friends have been posties so I know the sort of shit the job sometimes entails and yes, the infrastructure that (usually) enables a letter or package to get from one end of the country to another in a day or two for a quid or so is impressive, but it's a real shame when all that counts for nowt when the end product of all that investment is a lazy, illiterate, thieving fucktard who regularly fails to put the fruits of all that effort through my letter box.

 

Fortunately our complaints seem to have had the desired effect and we now have a really good postie, but I was at the stage of getting important mail sent to a mate's house for a while.

[wuvvum]

I appear to have broken the LNA.

 

I went out in it earlier and managed to completely fuck up a change up from 3rd to 4th - I somehow managed to get the gear lever in between fourth and reverse, where it jammed up solid and I rolled to a halt. Lots of brute force and ignorance later I managed to get the lever unstuck, but it didn't seem interested in going into gear. I pissed about and eventually managed to find second, so nursed it the eight miles home at 40mph. Once I was within pushing distance of home I decided to investigate further and it appears that I have second, fourth and reverse but first and third are unavailable - from the position of the gear lever it appears I've bent either the lever or the linkage so the lever can't physically go far enough forward to engage first or third. Because of the setup in the LNA, with the engine over on its back and the gears in the sump, the linkage is all underneath and not really visible without getting under the car.

 

That's not the only problem though - the 'box is now making an unpleasant rattling whirring sound, which disappears when the clutch is depressed at a standstill but is still there when the car's rolling in gear with the clutch depressed. So it's something within the 'box itself that I've managed to bugger up rather than the clutch.

 

Cuntsticks.

[SambaS]

Slight ball ache without a 4 pillar ramp but you can get to the linkages with it on axel stands... when mine snapped I had 2nd I think and a very loose gear stick...

 

maybe one of the ball joins needs popping back on, you may be lucky

[SambaS]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13300&hilit=samba+thread&start=165

[wuvvum]

I think it's more likely to be something that's bent than popped off - the gear lever is no looser than it was before, it's just in the wrong place. I went back out to it a minute ago and I can just about get third if I hold the lever as far forward as it'll go - won't quite get first though, it just grinds.

 

To be honest I'm more worried about the noise than the linkage. It's not loud enough to suggest imminent gearbox implosion, but it's loud enough to be noticeable when driving and it definitely wasn't there before, which suggests to me that I've broken something inside the box as well as bending something outside.

[SambaS]

you handy with a spanner?

[wuvvum]

Not especially, but I've got a mate with a ramp who will take a look at it for me for a drink - problem is that with the gears being in the sump it's not as simple to do a 'box swap as it would be with a conventional end-on 'box so I might have to try and track down bits to replace whatever it is I've buggered - I'm hoping bits will be available on Frogbay as there's still quite a few 104s buzzing around over there.

 

Either that or track down a 1360cc engine from a 104 ZS / Samba GLS and drop it in - I'm sure the 135x13 tyres will love that...

[panhard65]

Re 104 gearbox I have just sold the 1360 lump out of my spare Renault 14 but the guy who is buying it is using it to replace a 1.1 so he might have his old unit to sell. I can find out for you if you want. I think it is a rather tired engine but might be good for gearbox parts

[wuvvum]

Cheers p65 - I'll see if I can get a diagnosis first as to exactly what is broken - if it is going to need a gearbox rebuild then I'll drop you a pm.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Blimey what a nightmare, hope you can sort it Wuvster. Those gearboxes look like a right tw&t to get involved with, hope its just the linkage.

[fotorabia]

Last friday I had a negative-borderline violent arrgument with my flatmate..i suffer from Post Traumatic Stress...and unbeknown to me I had been triggering for a couple of days..over emotive..been deeply moved by my environment..i moved everything into the Merc at 2am and moved out..at about 9am I parked in the middle of a huge park..but unfortunately i entered in a full blown seizure breakdown and ended up having a convulsive seizure..passing in and out of consciousness for 3 hrs until i was found.It becomes like epilepsy..your either hyperventilating or nor breathing at all and in a full bodily muscular spasm.I had to drive to hospital and admit myself and there it continued for another 2 or 3 hrs regardless to the fact i was sedated enough to control my breathing.On Monday it happened again but this time I admitted myself quicksmart and didnt suffer the seizure altho i was shaking like a leaf for the 7hrs they kept me in for observation...im now under the safe wings of the Kiwii= Mob..the Merc is being stashed to await some restoration...im off work...ive damaged my eyesight and have a speech impediment..but ill be ok..iL get better..im being well looked after.....and for always ive got Shite to read about here...and relax...

[SambaS]

Also this is parts only in Doncaster:

 

http://vehicles.motorhog.co.uk/breaking-vehicles/vehicle-details/talbot/samba/petrol/manual/15482

 

Re 104 gearbox I have just sold the 1360 lump out of my spare Renault 14 but the guy who is buying it is using it to replace a 1.1 so he might have his old unit to sell. I can find out for you if you want. I think it is a rather tired engine but might be good for gearbox parts

 

fotorabia

 

Sorry i'm not skipping your post intentionally I'm just notoriously bad at saying anything when it comes to important stuff.

 

other than, you can achieve an awful lot with a positive attitude, which you seem to have.

 

I don't know an much about PTSD but my Stepdad is a Shiatsu practitioner and he's been hoping to work with ex forces folk as he believes Shiatsu can help as it's deeply relaxing.

 

Hope your well and fit soon

[vulgalour]

I second the well wishes, fotorabia, that does not sound like you're having a happy time of it.

[M'coli]

Get well soon, Rab. We love seeing those sunbleached motors you seem to find.

[trigger]

^ This, get well soon Rab.

[pompei]

Foto - sounds like some terrible burnout - get some rest in the first instance. Hope you feel better before too long

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Hope you recover soon, rab!