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moby wrote:

bbobeckyj wrote:

AngusWolfe wrote:There's another thing that annoys me, people who watch live TV and don't pay their TV licence, but will spend £6 on a coffee every morning and smoke 20 a day. It's £5 a week, it's not expensive for christs sake.

A can of worms maybe, but, people who live on benefits yet smoke, drink, obese, buy every latest film/cd/game etc

There is a whole raft of reasons why people are on benefits, and some have worked a lifetime before claiming (which means paying in more than most do in a working life)

Not all are "scroungers"

My intended meaning was scroungers but, even if it wasn't I think that benefits should enable a lifestyle which does not go so far as to be indulgent and frivolous. It makes no sense that people on benefits are able to have more disposable income than people working for minimum wage.
If they have money spare for cigarettes, alcohol and maintaining the weight of two people, then they don't need that much, and just because a hypothetical few had well paid jobs before receiving benefits does not mean that they should be entitled to maintain an indulgent frivolous lifestyle.

ill considered post removed

I also want to clarify by saying if you don't use the services it provides, I have no issues with people not paying or not having their TV licence. It's the people who watch eastenders and snog marry avoid every time it's on who don't pay that annoy me.



A friend's family were on a combination of JSA, disability benefits (that were partly justified, although I don't think it stopped the family member from getting a job really) and small time drug deals/black market stuff. His mother was always complaining she had no money, but smoked, drunk, went out every week, always had the latest phone, massive telly, etc. But there was never any food in the house. Electricity and gas was always in emergency. I don't want to know what their rent book looked like.

He's moved out now, pretty high up in his job, and has a well stocked fridge, I'm pleased to say.

AngusWolfe wrote:I also want to clarify by saying if you don't use the services it provides, I have no issues with people not paying or not having their TV licence. It's the people who watch eastenders and snog marry avoid every time it's on who don't pay that annoy me.



A friend's family were on a combination of JSA, disability benefits (that were partly justified, although I don't think it stopped the family member from getting a job really) and small time drug deals/black market stuff. His mother was always complaining she had no money, but smoked, drunk, went out every week, always had the latest phone, massive telly, etc. But there was never any food in the house. Electricity and gas was always in emergency. I don't want to know what their rent book looked like.

He's moved out now, pretty high up in his job, and has a well stocked fridge, I'm pleased to say.

Many people do not realise how little benefits money is. People CAN NOT do what you say on benefit. I do not doubt they do what you say, but they did not get it as benefit.

If you have worked and are unemployed it is slightly over £70 a week.

Disability is £21 for lower or £57 for higher, so even with the (high) extra cost of disability it is little over £100 a week.


I do not doubt they had extra money, but as often as not it comes from (as you say) selling drugs, or more often working cash-in-hand and not declaring it.

Many idiots read some made up or inflated story in a newspaper, often just reported in a pub, and believe it is true. They then pressurise politicians to "get these scroungers" and as they are an easy target they go for it.

Putting it in perspective, it costs over £40,000 to keep someone in prison, and MP'S get £70,000 plus expenses, plus whatever they can scrounge.


If you know 10 people on benefit, I bet 8 of them would happily change circumstance with you.
There are not many who do it from choice. Although I will admit they do exist. My neighbour has agoraphobia, but seems to spend a lot of time outdoors, often being brought home in a van with paint on his overalls.

moby wrote:

AngusWolfe wrote:I also want to clarify by saying if you don't use the services it provides, I have no issues with people not paying or not having their TV licence. It's the people who watch eastenders and snog marry avoid every time it's on who don't pay that annoy me.



A friend's family were on a combination of JSA, disability benefits (that were partly justified, although I don't think it stopped the family member from getting a job really) and small time drug deals/black market stuff. His mother was always complaining she had no money, but smoked, drunk, went out every week, always had the latest phone, massive telly, etc. But there was never any food in the house. Electricity and gas was always in emergency. I don't want to know what their rent book looked like.

He's moved out now, pretty high up in his job, and has a well stocked fridge, I'm pleased to say.

Many people do not realise how little benefits money is. People CAN NOT do what you say on benefit. I do not doubt they do what you say, but they did not get it as benefit.

If you have worked and are unemployed it is slightly over £70 a week.

Disability is £21 for lower or £57 for higher, so even with the (high) extra cost of disability it is little over £100 a week.


I do not doubt they had extra money, but as often as not it comes from (as you say) selling drugs, or more often working cash-in-hand and not declaring it.

Many idiots read some made up or inflated story in a newspaper, often just reported in a pub, and believe it is true. They then pressurise politicians to "get these scroungers" and as they are an easy target they go for it.

Putting it in perspective, it costs over £40,000 to keep someone in prison, and MP'S get £70,000 plus expenses, plus whatever they can scrounge.


If you know 10 people on benefit, I bet 8 of them would happily change circumstance with you.
There are not many who do it from choice. Although I will admit they do exist. My neighbour has agoraphobia, but seems to spend a lot of time outdoors, often being brought home in a van with paint on his overalls.

There are lots of cases of people who do these things. Like the guy that I was chatting to at my local Salsa club, who started telling me that he is in a benefit scheme as he had a bad back a few years back and couldn't move. But there he was dancing Salsa with the ladies... When he realised what he was telling me he quickly changed subject. Or my girlfriend's sister who wants to go to work but her hubby prevents her as it will be an income and they'll stop receiving the benefit that they do (he doesn't seem to realise that the job will bring more money in the household).

Plenty of examples, but it is true that it is not the rule for everyone who receives benefits.

SchumieRules wrote:

moby wrote:

AngusWolfe wrote:I also want to clarify by saying if you don't use the services it provides, I have no issues with people not paying or not having their TV licence. It's the people who watch eastenders and snog marry avoid every time it's on who don't pay that annoy me.



A friend's family were on a combination of JSA, disability benefits (that were partly justified, although I don't think it stopped the family member from getting a job really) and small time drug deals/black market stuff. His mother was always complaining she had no money, but smoked, drunk, went out every week, always had the latest phone, massive telly, etc. But there was never any food in the house. Electricity and gas was always in emergency. I don't want to know what their rent book looked like.

He's moved out now, pretty high up in his job, and has a well stocked fridge, I'm pleased to say.

Many people do not realise how little benefits money is. People CAN NOT do what you say on benefit. I do not doubt they do what you say, but they did not get it as benefit.

If you have worked and are unemployed it is slightly over £70 a week.

Disability is £21 for lower or £57 for higher, so even with the (high) extra cost of disability it is little over £100 a week.


I do not doubt they had extra money, but as often as not it comes from (as you say) selling drugs, or more often working cash-in-hand and not declaring it.

Many idiots read some made up or inflated story in a newspaper, often just reported in a pub, and believe it is true. They then pressurise politicians to "get these scroungers" and as they are an easy target they go for it.

Putting it in perspective, it costs over £40,000 to keep someone in prison, and MP'S get £70,000 plus expenses, plus whatever they can scrounge.


If you know 10 people on benefit, I bet 8 of them would happily change circumstance with you.
There are not many who do it from choice. Although I will admit they do exist. My neighbour has agoraphobia, but seems to spend a lot of time outdoors, often being brought home in a van with paint on his overalls.

There are lots of cases of people who do these things. Like the guy that I was chatting to at my local Salsa club, who started telling me that he is in a benefit scheme as he had a bad back a few years back and couldn't move. But there he was dancing Salsa with the ladies... When he realised what he was telling me he quickly changed subject. Or my girlfriend's sister who wants to go to work but her hubby prevents her as it will be an income and they'll stop receiving the benefit that they do (he doesn't seem to realise that the job will bring more money in the household).

Plenty of examples, but it is true that it is not the rule for everyone who receives benefits.

So trade off against that someone who has worked for 40 years never claimed, but got Cancer with 4 years to go before retirement needing operations and a couple 6 month sessions of chemo.

You pass a rule for one, and the other gets hit too.

moby wrote:

SchumieRules wrote:

moby wrote:

AngusWolfe wrote:I also want to clarify by saying if you don't use the services it provides, I have no issues with people not paying or not having their TV licence. It's the people who watch eastenders and snog marry avoid every time it's on who don't pay that annoy me.



A friend's family were on a combination of JSA, disability benefits (that were partly justified, although I don't think it stopped the family member from getting a job really) and small time drug deals/black market stuff. His mother was always complaining she had no money, but smoked, drunk, went out every week, always had the latest phone, massive telly, etc. But there was never any food in the house. Electricity and gas was always in emergency. I don't want to know what their rent book looked like.

He's moved out now, pretty high up in his job, and has a well stocked fridge, I'm pleased to say.

Many people do not realise how little benefits money is. People CAN NOT do what you say on benefit. I do not doubt they do what you say, but they did not get it as benefit.

If you have worked and are unemployed it is slightly over £70 a week.

Disability is £21 for lower or £57 for higher, so even with the (high) extra cost of disability it is little over £100 a week.


I do not doubt they had extra money, but as often as not it comes from (as you say) selling drugs, or more often working cash-in-hand and not declaring it.

Many idiots read some made up or inflated story in a newspaper, often just reported in a pub, and believe it is true. They then pressurise politicians to "get these scroungers" and as they are an easy target they go for it.

Putting it in perspective, it costs over £40,000 to keep someone in prison, and MP'S get £70,000 plus expenses, plus whatever they can scrounge.


If you know 10 people on benefit, I bet 8 of them would happily change circumstance with you.
There are not many who do it from choice. Although I will admit they do exist. My neighbour has agoraphobia, but seems to spend a lot of time outdoors, often being brought home in a van with paint on his overalls.

There are lots of cases of people who do these things. Like the guy that I was chatting to at my local Salsa club, who started telling me that he is in a benefit scheme as he had a bad back a few years back and couldn't move. But there he was dancing Salsa with the ladies... When he realised what he was telling me he quickly changed subject. Or my girlfriend's sister who wants to go to work but her hubby prevents her as it will be an income and they'll stop receiving the benefit that they do (he doesn't seem to realise that the job will bring more money in the household).

Plenty of examples, but it is true that it is not the rule for everyone who receives benefits.

So trade off against that someone who has worked for 40 years never claimed, but got Cancer with 4 years to go before retirement needing operations and a couple 6 month sessions of chemo.

You pass a rule for one, and the other gets hit too.

That's true. Unfortunately

SchumieRules wrote:

moby wrote:

SchumieRules wrote:

moby wrote:

AngusWolfe wrote:I also want to clarify by saying if you don't use the services it provides, I have no issues with people not paying or not having their TV licence. It's the people who watch eastenders and snog marry avoid every time it's on who don't pay that annoy me.



A friend's family were on a combination of JSA, disability benefits (that were partly justified, although I don't think it stopped the family member from getting a job really) and small time drug deals/black market stuff. His mother was always complaining she had no money, but smoked, drunk, went out every week, always had the latest phone, massive telly, etc. But there was never any food in the house. Electricity and gas was always in emergency. I don't want to know what their rent book looked like.

He's moved out now, pretty high up in his job, and has a well stocked fridge, I'm pleased to say.

Many people do not realise how little benefits money is. People CAN NOT do what you say on benefit. I do not doubt they do what you say, but they did not get it as benefit.

If you have worked and are unemployed it is slightly over £70 a week.

Disability is £21 for lower or £57 for higher, so even with the (high) extra cost of disability it is little over £100 a week.


I do not doubt they had extra money, but as often as not it comes from (as you say) selling drugs, or more often working cash-in-hand and not declaring it.

Many idiots read some made up or inflated story in a newspaper, often just reported in a pub, and believe it is true. They then pressurise politicians to "get these scroungers" and as they are an easy target they go for it.

Putting it in perspective, it costs over £40,000 to keep someone in prison, and MP'S get £70,000 plus expenses, plus whatever they can scrounge.


If you know 10 people on benefit, I bet 8 of them would happily change circumstance with you.
There are not many who do it from choice. Although I will admit they do exist. My neighbour has agoraphobia, but seems to spend a lot of time outdoors, often being brought home in a van with paint on his overalls.

There are lots of cases of people who do these things. Like the guy that I was chatting to at my local Salsa club, who started telling me that he is in a benefit scheme as he had a bad back a few years back and couldn't move. But there he was dancing Salsa with the ladies... When he realised what he was telling me he quickly changed subject. Or my girlfriend's sister who wants to go to work but her hubby prevents her as it will be an income and they'll stop receiving the benefit that they do (he doesn't seem to realise that the job will bring more money in the household).

Plenty of examples, but it is true that it is not the rule for everyone who receives benefits.

So trade off against that someone who has worked for 40 years never claimed, but got Cancer with 4 years to go before retirement needing operations and a couple 6 month sessions of chemo.

You pass a rule for one, and the other gets hit too.

That's true. Unfortunately

I suppose it is like people who turn up each day for the job (usually government office) and do sod all. They still get paid.

Just a quick one regarding benefits - since the financial crash in 2009, my business has been lucky to scrap a profit and had 2 years with a huge loss. I've been earning next to nothing, so much so that I've not paid and personal tax in the past 4 years as I'm getting less than £10k profit to take out of the business (still paying NI though). During these years I could have been claiming benefits, £14k a year! I don't drink or go out much, but I do smoke. I always had power, food in the cupboards for my daughter and never missed a mortgage payment. If I can survive on under £10k a year, bring up my child and have a roof over our heads, how can the benefits system justify giving me £14k a year through different benefits in the years when I earned £0?

I've never claimed any benefits as I don't think I should if I've got enough to live on when this country is up fairy cakes creek anyway at the moment.

Edit: Just to add, health related benefits are a different matter. But most people who earn enough to pay their mortgage/rent each month will (or should) have life and critical illness cover which will pay for loss of earnings without the need to claim benefits. Long term illness is again a different matter though.

minchy wrote:Just a quick one regarding benefits - since the financial crash in 2009, my business has been lucky to scrap a profit and had 2 years with a huge loss. I've been earning next to nothing, so much so that I've not paid and personal tax in the past 4 years as I'm getting less than £10k profit to take out of the business (still paying NI though). During these years I could have been claiming benefits, £14k a year! I don't drink or go out much, but I do smoke. I always had power, food in the cupboards for my daughter and never missed a mortgage payment. If I can survive on under £10k a year, bring up my child and have a roof over our heads, how can the benefits system justify giving me £14k a year through different benefits in the years when I earned £0?

I've never claimed any benefits as I don't think I should if I've got enough to live on when this country is up fairy cakes creek anyway at the moment.

Edit: Just to add, health related benefits are a different matter. But most people who earn enough to pay their mortgage/rent each month will (or should) have life and critical illness cover which will pay for loss of earnings without the need to claim benefits. Long term illness is again a different matter though.

Minchy, I hope you did not read what I posted there as it looked terrible, and not at all what I intended to say. Hopefully I chopped it before you saw it

moby wrote:

minchy wrote:Just a quick one regarding benefits - since the financial crash in 2009, my business has been lucky to scrap a profit and had 2 years with a huge loss. I've been earning next to nothing, so much so that I've not paid and personal tax in the past 4 years as I'm getting less than £10k profit to take out of the business (still paying NI though). During these years I could have been claiming benefits, £14k a year! I don't drink or go out much, but I do smoke. I always had power, food in the cupboards for my daughter and never missed a mortgage payment. If I can survive on under £10k a year, bring up my child and have a roof over our heads, how can the benefits system justify giving me £14k a year through different benefits in the years when I earned £0?

I've never claimed any benefits as I don't think I should if I've got enough to live on when this country is up fairy cakes creek anyway at the moment.

Edit: Just to add, health related benefits are a different matter. But most people who earn enough to pay their mortgage/rent each month will (or should) have life and critical illness cover which will pay for loss of earnings without the need to claim benefits. Long term illness is again a different matter though.

Minchy, I hope you did not read what I posted there as it looked terrible, and not at all what I intended to say. Hopefully I chopped it before you saw it

I didn't see the post you deleted, this was more in response and agreement to what Angus said about a lot (not all) of people/families on benefits receiving more than they actually need and have the ability to afford luxuries that people who work for little pay don't get. If it's a long term disability that someone suddenly gets, they obviously need extra to give them a decent quality of life. In which the benefits system in the UK annoys me even more as disability benefits are really hard to get and sometimes give less than those who are fit to work but get extra benefits for the children, when children really aren't that expensive if you don't buy them luxuries etc.

minchy wrote:

moby wrote:

minchy wrote:Just a quick one regarding benefits - since the financial crash in 2009, my business has been lucky to scrap a profit and had 2 years with a huge loss. I've been earning next to nothing, so much so that I've not paid and personal tax in the past 4 years as I'm getting less than £10k profit to take out of the business (still paying NI though). During these years I could have been claiming benefits, £14k a year! I don't drink or go out much, but I do smoke. I always had power, food in the cupboards for my daughter and never missed a mortgage payment. If I can survive on under £10k a year, bring up my child and have a roof over our heads, how can the benefits system justify giving me £14k a year through different benefits in the years when I earned £0?

I've never claimed any benefits as I don't think I should if I've got enough to live on when this country is up fairy cakes creek anyway at the moment.

Edit: Just to add, health related benefits are a different matter. But most people who earn enough to pay their mortgage/rent each month will (or should) have life and critical illness cover which will pay for loss of earnings without the need to claim benefits. Long term illness is again a different matter though.

Minchy, I hope you did not read what I posted there as it looked terrible, and not at all what I intended to say. Hopefully I chopped it before you saw it

I didn't see the post you deleted, this was more in response and agreement to what Angus said about a lot (not all) of people/families on benefits receiving more than they actually need and have the ability to afford luxuries that people who work for little pay don't get. If it's a long term disability that someone suddenly gets, they obviously need extra to give them a decent quality of life. In which the benefits system in the UK annoys me even more as disability benefits are really hard to get and sometimes give less than those who are fit to work but get extra benefits for the children, when children really aren't that expensive if you don't buy them luxuries etc.

Glad you missed it, because when I read it it was not at all what I intended. I'll just shut up now then

I got home about 2am and was dog tired and pished. It's now 4am and I feel relatively sober and wide awake. Incredibly annoying.

mac_d wrote:I got home about 2am and was dog tired and pished. It's now 4am and I feel relatively sober and wide awake. Incredibly annoying.

Just be glad you didn't come home pished making noise for the next few hours whilst living next to me. People did yesterday, so as soon as my girl was up at 6am this morning we had the extractor on in the bathroom (right next to their bedroom), a couple of baths run, toilet flushed a few times and my little pony at full f'ing volume through the wall!

Moral of the story, if you wanna drunk go ahead, but be considerate to others when you are

minchy wrote:

mac_d wrote:I got home about 2am and was dog tired and pished. It's now 4am and I feel relatively sober and wide awake. Incredibly annoying.

Just be glad you didn't come home pished making noise for the next few hours whilst living next to me. People did yesterday, so as soon as my girl was up at 6am this morning we had the extractor on in the bathroom (right next to their bedroom), a couple of baths run, toilet flushed a few times and my little pony at full f'ing volume through the wall!

Moral of the story, if you wanna drunk go ahead, but be considerate to others when you are

Next week you'r neighbors come home. One says Shhh, don't disturb the neighbors. The other says, stuff em, they make enough noise in the mornings when I'm trying to sleep.

Following morning you get up and.....

moby wrote:

minchy wrote:

mac_d wrote:I got home about 2am and was dog tired and pished. It's now 4am and I feel relatively sober and wide awake. Incredibly annoying.

Just be glad you didn't come home pished making noise for the next few hours whilst living next to me. People did yesterday, so as soon as my girl was up at 6am this morning we had the extractor on in the bathroom (right next to their bedroom), a couple of baths run, toilet flushed a few times and my little pony at full f'ing volume through the wall!

Moral of the story, if you wanna drunk go ahead, but be considerate to others when you are

Next week you'r neighbors come home. One says Shhh, don't disturb the neighbors. The other says, stuff em, they make enough noise in the mornings when I'm trying to sleep.

Following morning you get up and.....

This is true, but I'm happy to keep it down if someone asks me. Not everyone is as compliant if you ask them when they're drunk!

minchy wrote:

moby wrote:

minchy wrote:

mac_d wrote:I got home about 2am and was dog tired and pished. It's now 4am and I feel relatively sober and wide awake. Incredibly annoying.

Just be glad you didn't come home pished making noise for the next few hours whilst living next to me. People did yesterday, so as soon as my girl was up at 6am this morning we had the extractor on in the bathroom (right next to their bedroom), a couple of baths run, toilet flushed a few times and my little pony at full f'ing volume through the wall!

Moral of the story, if you wanna drunk go ahead, but be considerate to others when you are

Next week you'r neighbors come home. One says Shhh, don't disturb the neighbors. The other says, stuff em, they make enough noise in the mornings when I'm trying to sleep.

Following morning you get up and.....

This is true, but I'm happy to keep it down if someone asks me. Not everyone is as compliant if you ask them when they're drunk!

Always difficult if you live next to someone. No winners there usually, no matter how good to each other you are.

I'm pretty quiet when steaming, though a month or so ago I got wasted and had to phone my mate to see if he'd get the taxi to turn round and open the door for me. I have to imagine that phone call wasn't too quiet. The friends below me have, on a few occasions come home and made enough noise to wake me up. I'm easily disturbed when trying to get to sleep, but when I'm down I'm a heavy sleeper with respect to noise.

However, unlike seemingly everyone else in my close, I don't slam my front door shut. I pull the lever on the lock so it doesn't make a stupid loud bang!

I did once put my TV on and fall asleep on the remote and turned the TV up to maximum volume. That's freakin' loud. My TV goes up to 100 and I usually have it 8-15 and can hear fine. Thankfully, was still living with my folks at that time and they had a house rather than a flat so neighbours were less likely to be able to hear it.

For those of you who didn't know, I own a guesthouse and I've spent a fair bit of money this summer upgrading things with only taking a minimal wage for myself. And just to put this into perspective, I charge around £20-£25 per person per night:

New fire alarm system £5,500
New door locks and software £1,500
New phone system £3,000
Re-carpeted all rooms £3,000
Decorating 5 storey building £2,000
New beds throughout £6,000

First customer in a newly refurbished room drops dark eye shadow on the brand new carpet and the next customer has a massive go at me about how filthy the carpets are, that we need a fully redecoration and it doesn't cost much to re-carpet and paint and refuses to pay for their stay....... priceless!

There are some things money can buy, for everything else there's a baseball bat.

Seriously!

The audacity of car insurance companies. They sent me through a renewal price that was more than my current price despite the fact I've now reached the magic age of 25 and I've got another year of no claims discount. I did an identical new quote with the same supplier through their website and it came out £250 cheaper!

I know why they do it like that, but it's still very frustrating having to ring up and sit on hold for 20 minutes to get the price you're entitled to.

coulthards chin wrote:The audacity of car insurance companies. They sent me through a renewal price that was more than my current price despite the fact I've now reached the magic age of 25 and I've got another year of no claims discount. I did an identical new quote with the same supplier through their website and it came out £250 cheaper!

I know why they do it like that, but it's still very frustrating having to ring up and sit on hold for 20 minutes to get the price you're entitled to.

I went for the "two drivers, two cars" one with my girlie, we got ours for about £700, my share was about £500. My car alone from my previous insurance would have been £1200, that's the quote they gave me last time I asked before I changed... Absolute scammers

Fairly recently a decision was made in the UK that insurance companies should stop giving lower premiums for women drivers than for men, as this would be considered gender-discriminatory. Even though it was statistically evident that women drivers are responsible for fewer insurance payouts as a result of accidents than men.

On that basis, should it not be considered age discrimination when my policy jumps from about £20 to £190 per month because I add my 17 year old as a named driver, regardless of the stats behind young drivers and accidents?

tootsie323 wrote:Fairly recently a decision was made in the UK that insurance companies should stop giving lower premiums for women drivers than for men, as this would be considered gender-discriminatory. Even though it was statistically evident that women drivers are responsible for fewer insurance payouts as a result of accidents than men.

On that basis, should it not be considered age discrimination when my policy jumps from about £20 to £190 per month because I add my 17 year old as a named driver, regardless of the stats behind young drivers and accidents?

I agree, just like it's not my fault if there are more criminals at work near where I live compared to somewhere else, hence putting up insurance.

Makes you wonder which side of the insurance form the criminals are, donit?

tootsie323 wrote:Fairly recently a decision was made in the UK that insurance companies should stop giving lower premiums for women drivers than for men, as this would be considered gender-discriminatory. Even though it was statistically evident that women drivers are responsible for fewer insurance payouts as a result of accidents than men.

On that basis, should it not be considered age discrimination when my policy jumps from about £20 to £190 per month because I add my 17 year old as a named driver, regardless of the stats behind young drivers and accidents?

I was chatting to the driver of the recovery van that picked my car when it broke down and I jokingly asked him since he was years in that profession, who had more accidents, men or women?

He said it was neither. Nr 1 by far was the teenagers and then the pensioners. The rest were not really distinguishable.

If that's the case, then it probably is fair enough that the 17 year olds get higher insurance policies. Their age doesn't make them necessarily bad drivers off course, but if that age group is causing more accidents then it is natural to have higher premiums.

Asphalt, when I was on the phone with my previous insurance, I asked them why my premium went up when I moved from St. Albans to London. They said they have an algorithm that calculates the population (more cars in a square mile means more chance of a crash basically) and the crime rates (if there are more car thefts then it is more possible for your car to be stolen). It makes sense for them since they are playing with the numbers.

I don't mind these things, honestly, since they make sense up to a point. What really annoys me is people who claim all the time, especially for minor things. We got hit from behind by a young driver in his teens, but we were ok. The amount of calls we received about claiming and basically pushing us to say that we've been injured and had whiplash and needed compensation was unreal. I told them to f' off, we were fine. The problem is that in these cases guess who's paying the buck? Certainly not the insurance companies, everyone else's premiums go up...

Ref above, I questioned the company when my insurance for a 125cc Honda motor cycle was £4 more than for my 1100cc BMW motorcycle and they said more or less the same.

It is more likely to be used or left in town and more likely to be damaged or stolen, also that group of bike is more likely to be ridden by inexperienced riders.

moby wrote:Ref above, I questioned the company when my insurance for a 125cc Honda motor cycle was £4 more than for my 1100cc BMW motorcycle and they said more or less the same.

It is more likely to be used or left in town and more likely to be damaged or stolen, also that group of bike is more likely to be ridden by inexperienced riders.

It is unfair in regards to you and me, being good drivers and wanting to be treated differently than just a statistic, and I think for that reason they have the box that you can fit in your car. However, from their point of view they don't know how good a driver we are, we are just a number, a statistic.

minchy wrote:For those of you who didn't know, I own a guesthouse and I've spent a fair bit of money this summer upgrading things with only taking a minimal wage for myself. And just to put this into perspective, I charge around £20-£25 per person per night:

New fire alarm system £5,500
New door locks and software £1,500
New phone system £3,000
Re-carpeted all rooms £3,000
Decorating 5 storey building £2,000
New beds throughout £6,000

First customer in a newly refurbished room drops dark eye shadow on the brand new carpet and the next customer has a massive go at me about how filthy the carpets are, that we need a fully redecoration and it doesn't cost much to re-carpet and paint and refuses to pay for their stay....... priceless!

There are some things money can buy, for everything else there's a baseball bat.

Seriously!

Oh Minchy, you have my utmost sympathy. There are lots of things I loved when I worked in hospitality & I have many fond memories but @rshole customers are not one of them

Scotland game at Hampden tonight. I knew about it so was expecting it to be a bit of a pain getting home from work.

But life was made a little bit worse by the 6 guys who were just complete friends. Pished, obviously. Drinking on the train despite the alcohol ban. Drinking buckfast and reinforcing a cultural stereotype. Singing songs with "f*cking" every few words, and repeating them every 2 minutes. Calling someone a c*nt for wanting to get off the train at a stop before Mount Florida (the stop nearest Hampden). I swear a lot, but not shouting those words when kids are about. Shouting out something about Hitler (admittedly, even the guys mates though this was too far). Then pulling the emergency brake causing the train to stop and the driver had to come down and sort it. Then one of them had a gherkin into a plastic bag and leaked gherkin all over the floor.

Now, I am fully aware this was basically 6 dickheads. Plenty - probably 99.9% - of other fans getting on just fine, chatting with the visiting Germans and the like. These guys just really made the crap journey home just that bit crapper. It's sad that some of the many well behaved Scottish fans felt the need to apologise to the German fans about some of the behavior.

Sorry this is long-winded but just needed to vent about a very very aggravating customer…

Customer: Can you quote me for XYZ, and I need the quote ASAP.
Me: Yes no problem, I quoted you for this a few months ago but the prices do change month to month so I’ll redo the quote and have to to you within 2 hours (takes me about 30 mins to prepare).
Customer: Thanks for the quote, how much is it?
Me: As per the quote I just sent you it is £X.XX
Customer: That’s not what I want anymore, this is what I want, can you quote me for X instead, and I need it urgently.
Me: No problem (another 30 mins), here’s the quote.
Customer: What is this, it’s different from the last quote?
Me: Yes you asked me to quote you for X, which is different from the first quote and the price is £X

(3 or 4 different quotes, and a few days later…)

Customer: I confirm I want to order the third one, please invoice me asap as I need this for tomorrow, it is very urgent.
Me: Thanks for your order and here is your invoice, I am not in the office tomorrow but will have your order pre-prepared so that you will receive everything tomorrow within 2 hours of us receiving your funds.
Customer (Next Morning): I need to change my order as I don’t want to pay the £25 admin and delivery fee (even though it was clearly itemised on the quotation), please “add something else to the order” to take it above the 500 units required to avoid the delivery charge, this is very urgent….
Me: Ok no problem. What else do you want to order? Bearing in mind as I mentioned yesterday I’m not in the office today so if you want to alter your order you will not receive it today.
Customer: This is unacceptable, you knew I needed this order today, it is very urgent.
Me: You could revert to your original order which has already been prepared for you and waiting on dispatch, or else I can make a new order up for you upon my return.
Customer’s MD: Hi, I’m MD of XXX and Ms X Tells me you’ve been messing her around with an order, if she doesn’t receive it today we stand to lose a day’s worth of work, I’m not impressed with your customer service…

Now bearing in mind I am Scottish did I:
A) Tell them to f#ck off
B) We don’t really need any more choices…

Biffa wrote:Sorry this is long-winded but just needed to vent about a very very aggravating customer…

Customer: Can you quote me for XYZ, and I need the quote ASAP.
Me: Yes no problem, I quoted you for this a few months ago but the prices do change month to month so I’ll redo the quote and have to to you within 2 hours (takes me about 30 mins to prepare).
Customer: Thanks for the quote, how much is it?
Me: As per the quote I just sent you it is £X.XX
Customer: That’s not what I want anymore, this is what I want, can you quote me for X instead, and I need it urgently.
Me: No problem (another 30 mins), here’s the quote.
Customer: What is this, it’s different from the last quote?
Me: Yes you asked me to quote you for X, which is different from the first quote and the price is £X

(3 or 4 different quotes, and a few days later…)

Customer: I confirm I want to order the third one, please invoice me asap as I need this for tomorrow, it is very urgent.
Me: Thanks for your order and here is your invoice, I am not in the office tomorrow but will have your order pre-prepared so that you will receive everything tomorrow within 2 hours of us receiving your funds.
Customer (Next Morning): I need to change my order as I don’t want to pay the £25 admin and delivery fee (even though it was clearly itemised on the quotation), please “add something else to the order” to take it above the 500 units required to avoid the delivery charge, this is very urgent….
Me: Ok no problem. What else do you want to order? Bearing in mind as I mentioned yesterday I’m not in the office today so if you want to alter your order you will not receive it today.
Customer: This is unacceptable, you knew I needed this order today, it is very urgent.
Me: You could revert to your original order which has already been prepared for you and waiting on dispatch, or else I can make a new order up for you upon my return.
Customer’s MD: Hi, I’m MD of XXX and Ms X Tells me you’ve been messing her around with an order, if she doesn’t receive it today we stand to lose a day’s worth of work, I’m not impressed with your customer service…

Now bearing in mind I am Scottish did I:
A) Tell them to f#ck off
B) We don’t really need any more choices…

Uncouth Jocks

Diplomacy. tell them to go to hell in such a way as they will look forward to the journey ( they still usually F*ck off though)

Had to go to A&E with my brother. Even at 12am on a Wednesday morning, there was still a 3 hour wait to be seen. Got home an hour ago, and my body still thinks it's 11.30pm, so I'm not even remotely tired. I'm going to absolutely crash tomorrow at about 1pm.

I have the theme song from the Mortal Kombat movie (believe is actually called techno syndrome) on a constant loop in my head. I don't even know how, I haven't even heard that song in years! I'm slowly going mad...

"Kano...Lui Kang...Raiden....Johnny Cage...Scorpion...Sub Zero...Sonja... TEST YOUR MIGHT! MORTAL KOMBAT!"

Internet/Text speak. And emoticons. And phrases like 'I can't even', 'that awkward moment when', and other similar phrases that massacre language. It makes me annoyed beyond belief that the internet, with all its vast knowledge has made people's ability to communicate even worse.

After waiting months for my scotch bonnets to ripen, today they have started changing colour...

Tomorrow I go away for 3 weeks!

huggybear wrote:Internet/Text speak. And emoticons. And phrases like 'I can't even', 'that awkward moment when', and other similar phrases that massacre language. It makes me annoyed beyond belief that the internet, with all its vast knowledge has made people's ability to communicate even worse.

Being a fogie I tend to notice more than those immersed in it, but when a gang of teen girls are talking, why is it that who ever they are speaking of keeps going "like that"?

"he went 'like that' and I dont know what to say so i go 'like this' didneye" Well, I was "like that"


I also note that all teen girls seem to have a California accent, even if they are from Glasgow or LlanfairporthgwingaihgogerrichLlandisiliogogogoch

moby wrote:

huggybear wrote:Internet/Text speak. And emoticons. And phrases like 'I can't even', 'that awkward moment when', and other similar phrases that massacre language. It makes me annoyed beyond belief that the internet, with all its vast knowledge has made people's ability to communicate even worse.

Being a fogie I tend to notice more than those immersed in it, but when a gang of teen girls are talking, why is it that who ever they are speaking of keeps going "like that"?

"he went 'like that' and I dont know what to say so i go 'like this' didneye" Well, I was "like that"


I also note that all teen girls seem to have a California accent, even if they are from Glasgow or LlanfairporthgwingaihgogerrichLlandisiliogogogoch

minchy wrote:

moby wrote:

huggybear wrote:Internet/Text speak. And emoticons. And phrases like 'I can't even', 'that awkward moment when', and other similar phrases that massacre language. It makes me annoyed beyond belief that the internet, with all its vast knowledge has made people's ability to communicate even worse.

Being a fogie I tend to notice more than those immersed in it, but when a gang of teen girls are talking, why is it that who ever they are speaking of keeps going "like that"?

"he went 'like that' and I dont know what to say so i go 'like this' didneye" Well, I was "like that"


I also note that all teen girls seem to have a California accent, even if they are from Glasgow or LlanfairporthgwingaihgogerrichLlandisiliogogogoch

He did well

Been in here a lot this week. Apparently I get annoyed a lot more than I used to.

The latest is that I'm likely to have to pull out of a job interview because they will only accept in date photo ID (driving license/passport), of which I have neither (largely due to no one asking me for ID since I was about 14). Now I can't get into New Scotland Yard to be interviewed. So frustrating, especially since I kept putting off getting either because they were a cost I couldn't really budget for each month.

I do have another job interview at my brother's school next week though, so silver linings and all that.

huggybear wrote:Been in here a lot this week. Apparently I get annoyed a lot more than I used to.

The latest is that I'm likely to have to pull out of a job interview because they will only accept in date photo ID (driving license/passport), of which I have neither (largely due to no one asking me for ID since I was about 14). Now I can't get into New Scotland Yard to be interviewed. So frustrating, especially since I kept putting off getting either because they were a cost I couldn't really budget for each month.

I do have another job interview at my brother's school next week though, so silver linings and all that.

New Scotland Yard? Don't they have a dated photo of you in files