OV9

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 7:15 am**

I sometimes manage to get home faster than usual becuase of delayed trains connecting well with other delayed trains. That always feels nice.

Note this happens less often than simply being late due to delayed trains. And having to take trains anyway (or a 100 mile round trip in the car) does not itself count as any kind of life win, small or otherwise.

Unrelated, I managed to fix our tumble dryer last New Year, which probably saved me £200.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 8:03 am**

I was in London yesterday. Because of the way that the train timetables were fucked up by Southern/Thameslink earlier this year it's now often quicker for me to catch the train back to Gatwick (1 stop on) and then the local bus home, rather than go back to my stop and walk (due to all those trains being either stoppers, non-direct or simply non-existent).

When I got back to Gatwick last night the app was telling me the next buses were in 24 minutes and 26 minutes; They're supposed to be every 15 minutes so obviously that first one was delayed. So I started walking through the park and up some residential streets. Made it home 6 minutes before the bus in the end. (2.5 miles, 35 minutes).

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 8:04 am**

I was in a bus in Edinburgh the other day and my kids were sitting several rows in front and got buzzed by a "wasp" they moved seats to get away and few people swatted at it. As we got off I noticed it was a bumble bee so caught it and released it outside. I honestly was really pleased. I like bees.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 8:06 am**

JLv3.0 wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 6:35 am Totally agree with that. On the flipside, if you are gifted something by mistake from a big corporation, and you try your best to return only to be faced with "computer says no" - it's yours

Mate of mine got an email recently - Dear Simon [ his name is Noel ] - your full DeWalt Power Tool Collection will be delivered to you today, please confirm your address.

This is a grand's worth of kit so he replied to the email - bounced.
Went online - no good (as it never came from him, I guess how could it be?).
Phoned them, got stuck in Press 1 for frustration-induced heart attack hell for an hour.
Finally got through to someone who could only process a return if he gave them information only the actual buyer could have known - blocked.
Asked if he could bring it to the store - refunds only possible with original credit card sir. I don't want a refund, it's not mine. OK make sure original buyer is present. I don't know who he is. OK sir bye.

He gave up, and kept it. Not ideal, and hopefully the original buyer was taken care of, but he tried.

Similar to the GoPro I found in the Alps. Tried loads of different ways of finding the owner, no luck.

With the 968 the rear hatch didn't always release on the first press of the button from the interior, so I had to walk back round to the drivers side and press the release button again.

Since I've owned the car (13 years!) the rear lock which can also be used to release the hatch has never worked. I thought it might have siezed up or something and would be expensive/PITA to fix. So when I took the rear bumper off this year, I thought I'd take a look.

The fix was just to bend a strip of metal which contacts a microswitch - voila, one working hatch release lock! I also found out yesterday, If I turn the key whilest putting slight upward pressure on the hatch, it lifts up first time, every time

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 8:24 am**

Gavin wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 8:04 am I was in a bus in Edinburgh the other day and my kids were sitting several rows in front and got buzzed by a "wasp" they moved seats to get away and few people swatted at it. As we got off I noticed it was a bumble bee so caught it and released it outside. I honestly was really pleased. I like bees.

I like that

I go out of my way to never kill anything that isn't actively trying to harm me. The other day, one of the cats very charmingly puked off the top of the fridge into the kitchen floor.

Of course by the time I cleared it up there were a million ants feasting on it. Cleaned it all up, didn't harm one of them and 15 mins they'd all buggered off back to wherever they normally live.

I respect ants - they've got their shit together.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:03 am**

Years back I was buying Errindaws some ear-rings

“Sir, you can get the necklace half price with the ear-rings”

The ear rings were expensive, the necklace less so

I decided to take her up in the offer as it seemed a good deal (as jewellery buying goes)

She puts it through the till and thanks to some shitty till programming (I’m guessing the second thing scanned is half price, and staff are supposed to know and scan things in price order, or similar), the significantly more expensive ear rings had been half priced, not the cheaper necklace

I explained 2 times that it was wrong and why, but the (a bit thick) girl serving couldn’t work it out. Maybe she was doing me a sly favour? Maybe she hated her boss/company? Either way, I took the cheaper price, and felt ok about it. I had done my bit, I’d tried to pay the correct amount.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:14 am**

The most likely explanation was that she just couldn't grasp the fundamental maths of the situation and didn't know what you were on about.

There gets a point when they think you're arguing, rather than correcting, and that's the point where you (I) think fuck'em

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:28 am**

A couple of years ago I bought a new winter coat from Debenhams. It developed a fault in the stitching a few weeks later so I took it back to get it exchanged. I fully expected to just hand the old one back and take the new one away but thanks to their "stock management system" they had to refund the old one and then charge for the new one. Thing is, since I had bought it it turns out that it had come into a 50% sale. So they refunded the full price then charged my half price for the new one.

This wasn't my intention at all. I didn't even know they had a sale on and was quite happy with just a swap, but they insisted they could do it no other way!

No wonder they've issued a profits warning...

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:32 am**

Here's one from a million years back - just graduated, first salary burning a hole and it's time to buy some stereo separates. Sevenoaks Hifi had some ex-demo Mission 780 SEs, pretty much half price - add to fkn cart.

When I was loading them into the car they said "oh - bring these ones back next week and we'll swap them for some new ones".

??

So I did, and they did, and I've still got them!

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:42 am**

We ordered some stuff from Ikea, 3 bookcases and a few folding chairs. They delivered 5 bookcases, the chairs and a dressing table. After waiting a couple of weeks to make sure no one was coming back for them we kept the extra book cases as we'd under estimated how many we needed anyway and gave the dressing table to a mate.

Back when MP3 players first started getting popular, I was undecided between an iPod and this Philips thing that was getting good reviews at the time. I bought the philips thing and ended up not liking it. After trying to return it for exchange and them not accepting it I took it home, scrubbed the memory and took it back to the shop saying it was broken. I then swapped it for an iPod. Not sure if that's a little win or me being a cunt but I got what I wanted and that's what matters

.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:47 am**

The start button on my washing machine stopped working. Through the skillful application of percussive maintenance, I fixed it. I felt like a domestic Fonzie.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:47 am**

Many many years ago I went to tax my might AX GT and the lass in the post office I sort of knew so I chatted away to her, got my tax disc and headed home. I was lying in bed that night when I suddenly realised the cow had not given me my change so I got up and looked in my wallet to confirm and turned out the reason for no change was I had not in fact paid!

Sadly it was only a 6 months disc!

I was going to go back and pay the next day but phoned my parents and my Mum said, Government, bugger them!

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 12:29 pm**

Sold 2 of my old bikes for near enough what I wanted for them. Then found a 2008 Kona Dawg in what i would call 'shop soiled' condition on eBay for less than the other 2 sold for (£400). Well pleased with it, already given it a workout at Swinley and have to admit FullSus inspires confidence.

Carl.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 12:32 pm**

ZedLeg wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:42 am We ordered some stuff from Ikea, 3 bookcases and a few folding chairs. They delivered 5 bookcases, the chairs and a dressing table. After waiting a couple of weeks to make sure no one was coming back for them we kept the extra book cases as we'd under estimated how many we needed anyway and gave the dressing table to a mate.

Back when MP3 players first started getting popular, I was undecided between an iPod and this Philips thing that was getting good reviews at the time. I bought the philips thing and ended up not liking it. After trying to return it for exchange and them not accepting it I took it home, scrubbed the memory and took it back to the shop saying it was broken. I then swapped it for an iPod. Not sure if that's a little win or me being a cunt but I got what I wanted and that's what matters .

I bought the Philips too, #becauseitunes and I still haven't installed that hateful software on anything I own to date. The Philips sounded better but was a bugger to use in comparison to the iPod so was used less than intended. It still lives in my desk draw and still works, with the battery still holding charge despite never being used or charged in about 6 years.

Carl.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 12:50 pm**

That reminds me there was another brand which looked like an iPod video? I bought one from Costco but it was really glitchy so returned it a while later, like years later. Costco used to have an amazing electronic goods warranty policy, my parents bought me a MacBook for school when I was 14 but I inevitably killed it within 2 years through chucking it in my sports bag but they accepted the return, basically went through 4 more laptops till I finished uni merely paying the difference.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 2:48 pm**

Back in march when everything was under 6ft of snow and I desperately needed heating oil, a local company gave me a quote substantially less than what it should have been, took my money and the day of delivery sheepishy telephoned to maybe ask if they could please have the rest?

Much loling down the phone. They'd accidentally applied a large order discount.

Ok maybe meet us half way?

How about no! Well I tried she said, management asked me to have a go.

I imagine the next time I ask it'll suddenly be quite expensive.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 3:15 pm**

JLv3.0 wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 6:36 am
Broccers wrote: Mon Sep 10, 2018 10:04 pm Are these all about money? Found a bank card the other day and handed it in to a local shop. Picked up some litter and put it in a bin. Everyday wins?

Or just being smug.
Does anything make you happy?

Yes, being miserable

Guess giving rather than taking in life becomes more normal with age. Saving a bit of money here and there along the way is good too.

We're on holiday at the moment and my hire car should have been a ds3 or similar. Its actually a c1 which is a massive lose in my mind.

Posted: **Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:05 pm**

JLv3.0 wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 6:35 am Totally agree with that. On the flipside, if you are gifted something by mistake from a big corporation, and you try your best to return only to be faced with "computer says no" - it's yours

Mate of mine got an email recently - Dear Simon [ his name is Noel ] - your full DeWalt Power Tool Collection will be delivered to you today, please confirm your address.

This is a grand's worth of kit so he replied to the email - bounced.
Went online - no good (as it never came from him, I guess how could it be?).
Phoned them, got stuck in Press 1 for frustration-induced heart attack hell for an hour.
Finally got through to someone who could only process a return if he gave them information only the actual buyer could have known - blocked.
Asked if he could bring it to the store - refunds only possible with original credit card sir. I don't want a refund, it's not mine. OK make sure original buyer is present. I don't know who he is. OK sir bye.

He gave up, and kept it. Not ideal, and hopefully the original buyer was taken care of, but he tried.

I hate this, as a company you’d be astounded at the honesty from your mate but some places just don’t give a shit. They often get into trouble not long after as it’s a sign of a problem with the company.

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2018 10:29 am**

tim wrote: Tue Sep 11, 2018 2:48 pm Back in march when everything was under 6ft of snow and I desperately needed heating oil, a local company gave me a quote substantially less than what it should have been, took my money and the day of delivery sheepishy telephoned to maybe ask if they could please have the rest?

Much loling down the phone. They'd accidentally applied a large order discount.

Ok maybe meet us half way?

How about no! Well I tried she said, management asked me to have a go.

I imagine the next time I ask it'll suddenly be quite expensive.

I WFH most days. Back in the spring I was on a call and heard a truck pull up in the street. Then I hear my oil tank ebing opened in the back garden and see the chap dragging the hose up the drive and around the back of the house. Weird, I think, I didn't know we'd ordered any oil, my wife must have done it. Chap finishes off, I carry on with my call, he drops the invoice through the door and off he goes. Call finishes and I look at the invoice. The address on it is the correct house number, similar-ish road name and a completely different village. He'd dumped 2000 litres of someone else's oil in our tank. Never heard a peep from anyone about it.

Posted: **Wed Sep 12, 2018 10:33 am**

When my old man was self-employed, he had cancelled whatever insurance it was (a reasonable sum of money, whatever it was) and had received two refunds for some reason.

His accountant was nagging him to pay it back to the insurance company - the old chap is like "let them fkn ask for it".

This went on and on until one day the old chap said "Mike, shut the fk up as I've just paid your fees with it"

Mike The Accountant then admitted that clerical and financial errors are not unknown and that it could be overlooked on that one occasion

OV9

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