Gripe of the day - What is yours?

[SV650rules]

@ timwilky Not as appalling and callous as your case but-

When my brother moved into a new house years ago ( not a really new, house - just new to him ) he started getting phone calls and letters from various home improvement people and insurance etc... He suspected either the estate agent or the building society ( older readers will remember building societies, they would only lend you what you could afford, not 20x your salary and 150% of what the property was worth like banks - IMHO it is banks that have fueled the rise in house prices with their shoddy lending ). Anyway he got in touch with both estate agent and building society and gave them a piece of his mind about giving out his personal details to businesses and insurance companies etc. This was pre-internet but it still goes on today with 'personal data leakage'...

[timwilky]

Thanks John

From what she has now told me, she assumed it was related to the PIP as he said fraudulent benefit claim. The PIP was only awarded last week. So more likely phishing and got a bite.

He had started to ask for her to identify herself. By the time I got to the phone she had given name and address.OK anyone can get these from the electoral roll but now they have a telephone link.

I am guessing she is now in a scammer database with minimal information name, address, tel num and a vulnerability flag.

The caller ID was 0203200269 which does not ring etc and searches say it is an answering service for rent. So fools people into thinking it is a London number.

How many vulnerable people are there who get legitimate benefits, who would immediately start to bite on the hook as soon as someone starts with keywords DWP, Benefit fraud and arrest. The system is already skewed to make claiming difficult and there is always the worry the wrong box may have been ticked etc.

[admin]

BBC. Now using the word homicide in today's article about the murder rate for the last year. Homicide is a word that the merkins use to try and make the word murder sound more acceptable.

Petty I know but it bugs me.

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[daktulos]

Originally Posted by admin

BBC. Now using the word homicide in today's article about the murder rate for the last year. Homicide is a word that the merkins use to try and make the word murder sound more acceptable.

My understanding was that homicide is any death involving another person, so would include accidental deaths. Do you think it's lazy journalism, or is someone trying to manipulate figures?

[R1ffR4ff]

Originally Posted by admin

BBC. Now using the word homicide in today's article about the murder rate for the last year. Homicide is a word that the merkins use to try and make the word murder sound more acceptable.

Petty I know but it bugs me.

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I agree and there's lot of Americanisms that have crept in over the years but that's language for you.

I don't like the misuse of the word,"Bring" instead of,"Take" by the Americans. You don't,"Bring it back to the shop" you,"Take it back to the shop"<grin>

Conversely the Yanks have taken on some of ours like in a lot of US comedies they use our term,"Bum and Bottom " instead of A** for the posterior and,"Loo" for toilets

[Grant66]

Originally Posted by admin

... merkins ...

Public wigs or our Trump supporting cousins?

Ironically Trump does appear to wear a merkin on his head.

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[admin]

Originally Posted by daktulos

My understanding was that homicide is any death involving another person, so would include accidental deaths. Do you think it's lazy journalism, or is someone trying to manipulate figures?

In the past the BBC would have called it murder rate, rather than homicide. I've not researched the word homicide but the Americans rarely use the word murder.

Usually the BBC dumb down their language with phrases like 'the news where you are' rather than 'your local news'. Another pet hate is the word 'explainers' that they like to use.

I know language is an evolving thing but BBC do seem stick out in this respect.

I'll put my soap box away.



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[daktulos]

Originally Posted by admin

In the past the BBC would have called it murder rate, rather than homicide. I've not researched the word homicide but the Americans rarely use the word murder.

Usually the BBC dumb down their language with phrases like 'the news where you are' rather than 'your local news'. Another pet hate is the word 'explainers' that they like to use.

I had a quick look, and it's homicide because the stats includes manslaughter as well as murder - the descriptions coming from the 1957 Homicide Act.

I agree with the the sentiment though. My biggest annoyance is (often the police) using the adjectives "male" and "female" as nouns. I suspect it's a battle that's long been lost, unfortunately.

[SV650rules]

IIRC 'bring' is used in Ireland as well, and was before Americans started using it.. Really the yanks are in no small way responsible for the dominance of English language in the world...

And look, the society for protection of the apostrophe has closed down https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...its-its-defeat

[Dave20046]

What went wrong with your private sales? I've sold a number of bikes and only really ever had an issue once but it was quickly diffused when the plonker realised he'd just flooded it (it was a 2stroke). If it's a genuine bike and you only take cash I'd say it will be the best way. A dealer will need to take hundreds of pounds, if not more to offset their risk and costs and it's absolutely coming out of your pocket. It might make negotiation easier...but you're effectively haggling for your own cashback.

As for keeping it... I guess you have to think about your reasons for selling it.
I find main dealers are better for test rides, I've done that at Triumph, BMW (a few times , they once offered me a s1000 for 3 days) and Harley. Independents are a bit more protective of their stock. That said, there was a guy on here who kept a diary of test rides, I'm sure he was aiming for something stupid like 50000 miles. Depends what you're after, you really need to narrow it down first.

Originally Posted by Adam Ef

Trying to be decisive about the Street Triple, so have decided to sell / trade it. Remembering what a nightmare the previous couple of private sales have been I thought I'd lose a bit of money and go for a simpler trade-in. Turning out to not be simple at all! Why is it so hard to get test rides, ideas of PX value etc. Dealers want fees for getting their bike serviced to test ride (thanks but no thanks Fowlers), commitment to buy after the test ride (How does that work? .. so it's not really a test ride but a ride on your own bike you've committed to?!) and seem to try their best to slag off what is basically a very low miles immaculate bike I'm trying to trade.


Then there's trying to compare prices, only to find the cheaper good deal you've seen isn't so good once you've added on £129 admin fees and "on the road" fees!? Why do they not price them with that all in the marked price? (Rhetorical question.. I know the answer).



Not helping me be decisive. Every time I've tried to take photos etc to list it I've decided I want to keep it. When the weather gets warm I know I'll just be keeping it if it hasn't sold as it'll be a joy to ride in the heat of summer.