Things that annoy you beyond reason...(Vol 4)

[RizzoTheRat]

Bobberoo99 said:

Shakermaker said:

You also definitely do not need to drop "a few hundred quid" to get a smartphone capable of displaying the barcode for an e-ticket.

Still, at least all those ticket touts and exploitation-led resellers will go out of business

Correct, Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 model, great bit of kit £17.99/PM 1GB data unlimited texts and calls!!!

And presumably on a minimum 1 year contract so £215, which does sound suspiciously like a few hundred quid

[yellowjack]

Shakermaker said:

I just print everything at work.

You also definitely do not need to drop "a few hundred quid" to get a smartphone capable of displaying the barcode for an e-ticket.

Still, at least all those ticket touts and exploitation-led resellers will go out of business

A related news article said:

"...Security staff at the hall will know if an e-ticket is not genuine if it does not have animated features that only work on an original..."

Hmmmm?



And Islington Assembly Hall (and whatever other venues jump on this particular cost-saving bandwagon) think this is a solution why exactly?

Touts and online resellers make a living from this. Are we seriously being led to believe that Islington Assembly Hall and/or it's IT security consultants have devised a foolproof and completely perfect security system that cannot ever be hacked or circumvented by those who profit from the resale of gig tickets? I'm pretty sure that the MOD and the CIA would be first in line wanting a piece of that action.

Seriously? It'll be a matter of months before someone designs some software or other that can 'beat' this new system. Better that these venues 'fess up and admit that what they really want is to cut the printing and postage costs associated with physical tickets.

I'm with 'droopsnoot' on this. At the moment I have a PAYG Nokia C1 and a completely broken printer, neither of which I can afford to replace right now. Am I to give up going to see live music because I don't have any need to carry a small computer around with me? And as was pointed out, all this Horlicks about "security" falls flat on it's face when venues fail to actively keep their punters secure after they enter the venue. Thieving is rife, and people get warned to bring "nothing you don't actually need". Yet everyone will now be obliged to bring their smartphone with them. They are easily lifted from pockets, or dropped and lost/stolen/broken at a venue.

And what of groups of friends where one of the group buys the tickets for the others? Most venues insist on "one person, one ticket" at door checks, and don't like seeing one person fan out four tickets for the three people behind them. How will this now work if you cannot send the e-ticket to another phone because that will disable the animated security features?

I keep all my old tickets in a scrap book. It's a nice way of reminding yourself about "the old days". How am I to paste an e-ticket into a photo album? Saving them to an archive on "The Cloud" will not be the same. A properly printed ticket issued by the venue is an attractive, tangible, touchable reminder of a happy memory, and for me it's an important part of the gig-going experience...



And yes, despite being a lot closer to my 50s than my 30s, I'm one of those types and I'm currently still wearing two festival wristbands from this year. What a sad, old fashioned loser I must be, eh?

[Shakermaker]

yellowjack said:

Better that these venues 'fess up and admit that what they really want is to cut the printing and postage costs associated with physical tickets.

But you pay for that as well - for the next gig I am attending, I had the option of paying £3 PER TICKET for Postage and Packaging. I have chosen to print at home (at work) and it will cost a fraction of a penny for my company when I use the small amount of ink and paper required.

[V8mate]

Shakermaker said:

yellowjack said:

Better that these venues 'fess up and admit that what they really want is to cut the printing and postage costs associated with physical tickets.

But you pay for that as well - for the next gig I am attending, I had the option of paying £3 PER TICKET for Postage and Packaging. I have chosen to print at home (at work) and it will cost a fraction of a penny for my company when I use the small amount of ink and paper required.

I'm going to a gig at the Manchester Arena in mid-November. Booked mid-August. Only one ticket delivery option: 'Collect at ticket office 1 hour before'.

£2.50.

[matchmaker]

Shakermaker said:

Bobberoo99 said:

Correct, Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 model, great bit of kit £17.99/PM 1GB data unlimited texts and calls!!!

I had something like this in mind for the OP, at a total of £30, to prove my point only

https://www.carphonewarehouse.com/alcatel/pixi-4-4...

A perfectly capable little phone. Even my technophobe wife can use hers!

[droopsnoot]

Shakermaker said:

Bobberoo99 said:

Correct, Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 model, great bit of kit £17.99/PM 1GB data unlimited texts and calls!!!

I had something like this in mind for the OP, at a total of £30, to prove my point only

https://www.carphonewarehouse.com/alcatel/pixi-4-4...

Actually that looks quite good, thanks for the link. Not singing and dancing, but plenty.

I'm on a PAYG phone which gets a tenner stuck on it maybe every three or four months, because I just don't use it that much, so £18 a month isn't going to fly for me and, as someone else said, that's a few hundred quid over the year. Ironically my phone is a Symbian-based Nokia, in every way a "smartphone" except that it's neither Andriod nor iOS. I could switch the sim card into an old O2 XDA, but that probably won't help.

I would have printed them at work, but I work from home and the stuff I do doesn't need a printer enough to have one. at all.

[RizzoTheRat]

Shakermaker said:

But you pay for that as well - for the next gig I am attending, I had the option of paying £3 PER TICKET for Postage and Packaging. I have chosen to print at home (at work) and it will cost a fraction of a penny for my company when I use the small amount of ink and paper required.

Ooh that's reminded me of another one. Tickets for events that are advertised at a given price, and then have a booking/credit card fee on top...but you pay on every ticket regardless of how many you buy, and buying online via credit card is the only way to buy the bloody things!

[droopsnoot]

RizzoTheRat said:

Ooh that's reminded me of another one. Tickets for events that are advertised at a given price, and then have a booking/credit card fee on top...but you pay on every ticket regardless of how many you buy, and buying online via credit card is the only way to buy the bloody things!

That annoys me too, but I believe the booking fee is the only profit the ticket agency gets - they pay face value for the tickets.

But the one ticket, one P&P winds me up too, especially as the tickets come from the same place.

Can you tell a band I want to see has just announced their tour for next year, and I can't quite decide whether I want the cost and hassle of going to Liverpool to buy from the box office just to deny the agency their cut?

[epom]

droopsnoot said:

RizzoTheRat said:

Ooh that's reminded me of another one. Tickets for events that are advertised at a given price, and then have a booking/credit card fee on top...but you pay on every ticket regardless of how many you buy, and buying online via credit card is the only way to buy the bloody things!

That annoys me too, but I believe the booking fee is the only profit the ticket agency gets - they pay face value for the tickets.

But the one ticket, one P&P winds me up too, especially as the tickets come from the same place.

Can you tell a band I want to see has just announced their tour for next year, and I can't quite decide whether I want the cost and hassle of going to Liverpool to buy from the box office just to deny the agency their cut?

Until they then all appear on seatwave and they make another 15% on the ticket. The hosting sites that is. I say sites, but both seemed to be owned by the same company.

[AstonZagato]

RizzoTheRat said:

Bobberoo99 said:

Shakermaker said:

You also definitely do not need to drop "a few hundred quid" to get a smartphone capable of displaying the barcode for an e-ticket.

Still, at least all those ticket touts and exploitation-led resellers will go out of business

Correct, Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 model, great bit of kit £17.99/PM 1GB data unlimited texts and calls!!!

And presumably on a minimum 1 year contract so £215, which does sound suspiciously like a few hundred quid

But he will need to pay for his current phone.

[droopsnoot]

AstonZagato said:

But he will need to pay for his current phone.

droopsnoot said:

I'm on a PAYG phone which gets a tenner stuck on it maybe every three or four months

[227bhp]

Companies who put their prices up and down all the time. Isn't there a law against this?
Thinking hotels here and abroad and flights etc.

[nonsequitur]

227bhp said:

Companies who put their prices up and down all the time. Isn't there a law against this?
Thinking hotels here and abroad and flights etc.

It's the law of supply and demand. Gone are the days of nationalised, controlled pricing.

[AstonZagato]

nonsequitur said:

227bhp said:

Companies who put their prices up and down all the time. Isn't there a law against this?
Thinking hotels here and abroad and flights etc.

It's the law of supply and demand. Gone are the days of nationalised, controlled pricing.

It’s slightly more insidious than that. Some websites monitor your cookies and change pricing just for you. So if you’ve browsed for the flight before, they can change it. It is often worth browsing incognito at the same time to compare if you have already looked online.

[RizzoTheRat]

I know we've already had airport "duty free" prices mentioned, but on a related note...

Gatwick have now changed their layout so after security you have to walk about 100 yards of twisting path through the bloody duty free shop rather than just walking straight through to departures. With loads of people all walking through and stopping to stare at the tat it takes flipping ages to get through. I don't want to buy their non-discounted crap, I just want to turn up at the airport and catch my flight, but now have to leave even longer to get through!

Also, people who stop in stupid places, especially at an airport where most have wheelie cases so take up more space. There's the numpties that stop and block the route through the aforementioned duty free shop, then the other day there were the couple who stopped for a chat blocking the top of an escalator, plus the couple who decided to stop for a conflab right in front of the one way doors to get out after baggage claim, the people who decided to stop for a chat at the narrowest point of the corridor...


TLDR: Things that annoy me beyond reason - people

[Shakermaker]

RizzoTheRat said:

I know we've already had airport "duty free" prices mentioned, but on a related note...

Gatwick have now changed their layout so after security you have to walk about 100 yards of twisting path through the bloody duty free shop rather than just walking straight through to departures. With loads of people all walking through and stopping to stare at the tat it takes flipping ages to get through. I don't want to buy their non-discounted crap, I just want to turn up at the airport and catch my flight, but now have to leave even longer to get through!

Also, people who stop in stupid places, especially at an airport where most have wheelie cases so take up more space. There's the numpties that stop and block the route through the aforementioned duty free shop, then the other day there were the couple who stopped for a chat blocking the top of an escalator, plus the couple who decided to stop for a conflab right in front of the one way doors to get out after baggage claim, the people who decided to stop for a chat at the narrowest point of the corridor...


TLDR: Things that annoy me beyond reason - people

Here's a top tip for you to help avoid that, at Gatwick South terminal - When you go through the Security, DO NOT take the escalator down, there is an exit from security which takes you out on the same level and you can then go down the main escalator and avoid the duty free shop. To find it, follow the signs for disabled customers and you'll take a short corridor which comes out on the upper level near where McDonalds used to be.

[matchmaker]

I got a modest tax refund cheque from HMRC. As payday is still a bit away and I'm currently skint, I decided to avail myself of the cheque cashing service offered by a local pawnbroker. I drove into town, parked, and went into the pawnbrokers. First problem, they needed two forms of ID and I only had one - my photocard licence. Despite the fact that I'm a regular customer, having sold old jewellery to them, and they know me by my Christian name, that wasn't enough - they needed a recent utility bill or letter.

Back to the car, drive home and search for a suitable letter, as all my bills come electronically. Found a recent letter. Back to car, drive into town, park car, go into pawnbrokers. Produce cheque, licence & letter. "Sorry, that letter isn't acceptable". Who was the letter from?





































The fking pawnbroker!

[alorotom]

bulbs ... specifically car bulbs

why are there so many variants!!

I have been blowing brake bulbs on my Q7 drivers side for the best part of a year now, every few weeks - very annoying and the whole socket recently packed up altogether requiring a bulb loom replacement - sorted this, fitted new bulbs - great all working for 24hrs!

back to square one - however - after Mr Google turned up so american results it transpires that the Q7 doesnt like regular P21W bulbs they have to be a certain vairant of these (7506) whereas the lucas, bosch and neolux variants (that I have been recommended by a handful of MDC, ECP, GSF and Halfords over the past year) are actually 1156 - therefore different - fitted a 7506 and all is good again!

great - except i blew £30 on a new bulb wiring loom which wasnt necessary ... zee bleeding awkward germanz

[generationx]

Shakermaker said:

RizzoTheRat said:

I know we've already had airport "duty free" prices mentioned, but on a related note...

Gatwick have now changed their layout so after security you have to walk about 100 yards of twisting path through the bloody duty free shop rather than just walking straight through to departures. With loads of people all walking through and stopping to stare at the tat it takes flipping ages to get through. I don't want to buy their non-discounted crap, I just want to turn up at the airport and catch my flight, but now have to leave even longer to get through!

Also, people who stop in stupid places, especially at an airport where most have wheelie cases so take up more space. There's the numpties that stop and block the route through the aforementioned duty free shop, then the other day there were the couple who stopped for a chat blocking the top of an escalator, plus the couple who decided to stop for a conflab right in front of the one way doors to get out after baggage claim, the people who decided to stop for a chat at the narrowest point of the corridor...


TLDR: Things that annoy me beyond reason - people

Here's a top tip for you to help avoid that, at Gatwick South terminal - When you go through the Security, DO NOT take the escalator down, there is an exit from security which takes you out on the same level and you can then go down the main escalator and avoid the duty free shop. To find it, follow the signs for disabled customers and you'll take a short corridor which comes out on the upper level near where McDonalds used to be.

This is also a disease that blights the newly-refitted Stansted (I know - council). There seems to be no "by-pass" to get round the hordes of travellers who suddenly think they want to go shopping. After security all I want to do is get to Departures, have a quick drink, get on the plane and get the hell out of there. An airport should be like a bus-stop, not a lifestyle experience.

[Johnnytheboy]

generationx said:

This is also a disease that blights the newly-refitted Stansted (I know - council). There seems to be no "by-pass" to get round the hordes of travellers who suddenly think they want to go shopping. After security all I want to do is get to Departures, have a quick drink, get on the plane and get the hell out of there. An airport should be like a bus-stop, not a lifestyle experience.

...but the airports make their money from getting you to shop, hence they make it hard for you.

It's the same reason that toilets in department stores are always a long way from the cafe.