Category Archives: Rants

Internet, Rants

Sean Done – what a nasty little scrote

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Social media really does bring out the odious little scrotes. I remember a time when arguing on the internet meant you needed to know a little about how the internet worked, and you needed a forum account. These days any dribbling idiot can sign up to Facebook, join a group and start infesting the world with their moronic repartee.

One such idiot is Sean Done, from Ellesmere Port. Today Sean took it upon himself to begin insulting a lady on Facebook because she posted about a printer not checking their work before finishing a job. What this had to do with Sean Done is beyond me; perhaps he was offended at the thought of Continue reading Sean Done – what a nasty little scrote →

Internet, Rants

Stop falling for Facebook ‘win a car’ scams!

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As you may know I do tend to get very angry at things I really shouldn’t. One such thing is when people share an obvious scam on Facebook, oblivious to the fact it’s a scam. I always point it out when that happens, and usually report the Facebook Page responsible for the scam. That’s not enough though – I felt the need to have an outburst.

This is that outburst.

Stop falling for Facebook scams

We've seen a lot of scam Facebook Pages lately offering the chance to win a car for simply commenting and sharing. This has made Darren very angry. He likes to get angry.

Posted by Engage Web on Friday, 8 April 2016

Internet, Rants, SEO

Craig Schwartz threatens me with legal action if I don’t remove links to his website

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I have just received an email from the legal department of some sex aid related website threatening me with legal action if I don’t remove links from one of my sites. I can’t believe the bare faced cheek of some people.

Naturally I’m not doing it, and I’m publishing the legal threat too. Enjoy.

From: legal@performanceinsiders.com [mailto:legal@performanceinsiders.com]
Sent: 11 April 2014 13:07
To: ***@*******.net
Subject: Removal of disclaimer links from the http://www.thetransformers.net

Hello http://www.thetransformers.net,

My name is Craig Schwartz and I am duly authorized to Continue reading Craig Schwartz threatens me with legal action if I don’t remove links to his website →

Internet, Rants

How free site builders like Wix are destroying the web design industry

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The below image sums up everything that’s wrong with the web design industry.

Wix web designers

If you don’t quite get what it means, allow me to explain. Wix is a free website builder, much like Geocities, MrSite, 20m.com, GBBO or the many other free website builders which came before it. Like the many website builders which came before it, Wix uses a really simple WIZYWIG interface so people with no experience of building websites can, well, build a website.

This of course leads them to think they can actually ‘build a website’ – as Rien believes in the comment he made on Facebook on a post made by Wix. Just because you have used a free website builder does NOT mean Continue reading How free site builders like Wix are destroying the web design industry →

Complaints, Internet, Rants

eBay bidders who don’t pay

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If, like me, you’ve been a member of eBay for many years (13 years for me) you’ll know the website has gone through a few changes. One of the changes I’m not so keen on is the loss of the ability for sellers to leave negative feedback for bidders who never pay. If a bidder proves to be an utter timewaster now you can report them as a non paying bidder, where you’ll receive a credit for the final listing fee, and that’s supposed to be recorded on their account as a black mark – restricting their ability to bid.

But does it? I’ve just had two non-paying bidders for items and, after checking their feedback, have seen many sellers who have left them ‘positive feedback’ (as that’s all you can leave) but with a decidedly negative comment on how they haven’t paid. eBay doesn’t want you actually doing this, but some sellers are so angry they’ve felt compelled to do it.

Today I contacted eBay’s online support team to find out what a seller can do to ensure these timewasters don’t bid on their listings when they have no intention of paying, and to find out exactly how many times a buyer can be a non-paying bidder before they’re banned. eBay does actually have a good system to stop timewasters from even bidding on your items – it’s just well hidden. Read on and you’ll see how to do this.

I’ve also linked to the two non-paying bidders for you – so you can block them yourself. I’d do that if I were you.

Elsie Logan
Welcome to eBay Live Help, my name is Elsie. How may I be of assistance?

thetransformers.net
Hi – why has eBay removed the ability to leave negative feedback for buyers? This buyer, and another I reported today, haven’t paid or made any attempt to communicate. I can see other sellers have left ‘positive’ feedback for both of them with ‘non-paying bidder’ warnings in the comment, which you don’t actually allow – so what protection to do sellers have against timewasters such as this?

Elsie Logan
I’d be happy to help you out with leaving feedback to buyers. Please stay connected while I check this for you.

thetransformers.net
OK – the non-paying bidders, who I can see from their feedback have done this before, are cloudedruby and grumpykat22 – they should be warned or banned from using eBay.

Elsie Logan
Thank you for staying connected. As sellers like you will not be able to leave negative feedback to buyers, our Trust and Safety team keeps a track of such buyers & their bidding activities, and when we discover unethical bidding practices, such cases may also lead to suspensions, restrictions on the buyer’s account. The system keeps track of number of unpaid item recorded on a buyer’s account. Multiple records of this can cause them restrictions to continue with their buying activities.

thetransformers.net
How many is ‘multiple’? I can see from the feedback both of these buyers have done this before, more than once, and that’s just from the sellers who have left positive feedback with a negative comment. How many times can these people bid on items, win auctions and never pay? They’re wasting my time and yours if they’re bidding on items they have no intention of every paying for.

Elsie Logan
We also added protection for sellers aside from the usual filing of cases against buyers by removal of negative and neutral Feedback from suspended buyers and you can report to us if you are dealing with fraudulent buyers so we can take appropriate actions towards them.

thetransformers.net
How many times can bidders, such as grumpykat22, win auctions they don’t intend to pay for before you ban them?

Elsie Logan
I know how this concerns you Darren. To prevent non-paying buyers from bidding on your listing, I would advise that you set up your Buyer Requirements. This tool enables sellers like you to prevent or limit the buyers from bidding or buying their items if certain criteria are not met.

Elsie Logan
In order to resolve your issue, I will connect you with our UK Trust and Safety Team now. Would that be fine?

thetransformers.net
What are the buyer requirements? I have blocked these two bidders.

Elsie Logan
Buyer requirements is a tool wherein you can limit the buyers from bidding or purchasing on your items when some criterias are not met.

thetransformers.net
Ah – found that. That’s a good idea. Does it show the buyers they have been blocked and tell them why?

Elsie Logan
Yes, buyers will receive a note that they’re unable to place a bid or purchase an item from you and they will be able to see the reason.

thetransformers.net
Excellent, I like that. I’ve set that up now to block people with 2 unpaid notices in the last month. That should sort the problem out. I still want to know how many times they can do this before they are banned.

Elsie Logan
That’s great Darren. Non-paying buyers will only be restricted on purchasing items on the site if they received more than 2 unpaid item record on their account.

thetransformers.net
Surely grumpykat22 has more than that already? The feedback certainly suggests so.

Elsie Logan
I understnad your concern about buyer grumpykat22. Once they received more thn 2 Unpaid item record, they will be restricted on purchasing items.

thetransformers.net
In fact I can see loads of unpaid warnings on their feedback – they’ve done this many times since joining in January this year.

Elsie Logan
In order to resolve your issue, I will connect you with our UK Trust and Safety Team now. Would that be fine?

thetransformers.net
Seems they bid on items then decide whether they want them. Many sellers have gone through the same thing I have.

thetransformers.net
I have to leave the office sadly – but I would like an email about it if that’s possible. It looks like this buyer has got away with not paying since joining eBay.

Elsie Logan
I realise how this concerns you Darren. I will escalate this case to our relevant team in order for this to be looked into as soon as possible.

thetransformers.net
Positive feedback rating Buyer did not pay for item!! Seller:
Member ID happygurl60 ( Feedback score of 114Teal star icon for Feedback score between 100 to 499)
23-Mar-13 14:44
— (#290876631724) —
Positive feedback rating TOTAL TIME WASTER – DID NOT PAY – HAD TO OPEN EB\AY CASE!!! ;-( Seller:
Member ID redhouse52012 ( Feedback score of 126Teal star icon for Feedback score between 100 to 499)
23-Mar-13 13:48
— (#121079146345) —
Positive feedback rating *****NEVER PAID***** Seller:
Member ID volvoman66 ( Feedback score of 982Purple star icon for Feedback score between 500 to 999)
22-Mar-13 18:59

thetransformers.net
that’s just three in a short space of time

thetransformers.net
Please escalate it, thanks. I look forward to hearing from someone.

Elsie Logan
You’re welcome Darren.

Elsie Logan
Is there anything else that I can help you with?

thetransformers.net
Nope, that’s great thanks. You’ve been very helpful.

Elsie Logan
Thank you for contacting eBay Live Help, have a good evening.

thetransformers.net
And you, thanks.

When I hear back from eBay regarding this I’ll post the response. The bidder grumpykat22 has received loads of negative comments yet they’re still happily bidding away on listings without paying. Will they be banned? Does eBay even ban bidders anymore. I’ll try and find out.

Rants

Admiral Insurance and the paperless letters

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I recently received my insurance renewal quote from Admiral for my multicar policy and, for some reason, the quote had more than doubled to over £2,000. This seemed odd as I hadn’t had an accident in the last year and I have an additional year’s no-claims on two cars.

Naturally I telephoned Admiral to find out what the issue was and the Canadian call centre woman I spoke had no idea and wasn’t really willing to help. She did however insist that I had a claim on my record, which related to an incident last year when a woman crashed into my PARKED car and drove off – but luckily a witness identified her and the CCTV backed it up, so she paid for the damage. I notified Admiral of the incident at the time, but didn’t make a claim. They confirmed this after I rang again to tell them the damage was repaired and the woman had paid for it (she settled herself because, according to Admiral when I phoned them, there was no active insurance policy on the woman’s car – seems she was uninsured).

Anyhow – damage was repaired, no claim made and no problems. Not so for Admiral as they insist I have a claim, even though there wasn’t one. I was put through to their Cardiff office to speak to a claims handler where it was confirmed that indeed there was no claim and it shouldn’t be showing. He tried to put me through to another renewal operative, this time in Cardiff, but unfortunately it went through to Canada again where another uninterested woman insisted once again I had a claim.

Left hand meet right hand.

I told them to stick their policy and I’d go somewhere else – especially as, as I explained to the disinterested woman, when I fill out the details on a comparison engine it will ask ‘have you made any claims in the past x number of years’ and my answer of course is no – so Admiral is most likely to come up again – cheaper than the renewal quote. That is in fact exactly what happened, and they were the cheapest, but I’m avoiding them on principle now.

This morning I received two, count them – one, two, letters through the post insisting I return my insurance certificate for my policy number. Both letters were identical with the same policy number, and both were sent in separate envelopes. The dumbest part is yet to come. Because my car insurance is all online I don’t have an insurance certificate, it’s a PDF download in order to be ‘green’ and save the environment – despite Admiral posting TWO identical letters.

Thanks Admiral, but I don’t have an insurance certificate, I didn’t make a claim and I won’t be renewing my policy with you since you have doubled by quote without reason.

Adios.

Rants

The rich keep getting richer

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Over the last 24 hours or so this is a phrase I’ve heard a few times from people on the radio and on TV with regards to Maggie Thatcher’s time in power. They choose to complain that, under Thatcher’s premiership, the ‘rich kept getting richer’ as though this was solely down to Mrs T and her policies.

What utter crap.

The rich, as they were dubbed, kept and indeed keep getting richer because they don’t have a ‘spend, spend, spend’ attitude towards money. They don’t view money as something which has to be traded in for material goods in order to appear successful. They don’t waste their money on things they can’t afford. The rich get richer because they view money as an asset to be used to invest, and thus make more money – that’s why they’re rich in the first place.

Now yes, before you say it, there are some rich people who do ‘piss money up the wall’ like there’s no tomorrow, but they won’t stay rich for long and, as such, don’t fit into the bracket of the ‘rich who keep getting richer’.

My niece today awoke to find her shed had been broken into and her bike stolen – by the sort of people who, firstly, would have been rejoicing yesterday at the news Thatcher was dead despite not even being alive when she was in power and, secondly, the sort of people who complain about the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. If they want some sort of utopian society where the rich get poorer and the poor get richer so everyone shares the wealth, that’s called Communism, and they won’t like that much either because they’d have to work.

No, stop whinging about the unfair world which allows the rich to get richer because they’ve got the wherewithal and intellect to earn money and grow their wealth and get off your benefit scrounging arses and do it yourselves – and stop breaking into sheds and stealing bikes while you’re at it.

Scumbags.

The rich get richer because they work at it. Try it, you may find it works for you to.

Complaints, Internet, Rants

Jonathan Howson at Evolution Recruitment

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Over the years I have dealt with a number of different recruitment agencies with differing results (I don’t think BD Recruitment will forget their mistake a few years ago) but one thing that has consistently annoyed me is the way recruitment consultants with whom you have had no dealings persist in contacting you, even after you have asked them not to.

One such recruitment consultant is Jonathan Howson at Evolution Recruitment. I have never spoken to Jonathan, nor have I had any dealings with Evolution Recruitment, yet, for some reason, I cannot stop this man from trying to contact me offering me various jobs around the country.

I have been bombarded by emails, as is normal, from Jonathan Howson and have deleted each one without giving a second thought. However, he hasn’t stopped there; Jonathan is also bombarding me with text messages about random jobs, even though I have replied and asked him to stop.

I have also tweeted at Jonathan and Evolution Recruitment asking them to stop, but still I keep getting these texts and emails. It is annoying, it is unsolicited and it has been requested that he stops… but still he continues. He’s like the Terminator in the sense that he cannot be reasoned with but, unlike the Terminator, he’s just trying to earn some commission for sending candidates to job interviews and, in my case, job interviews I’m really not interested in at all.

So, if either Jonathan Howson or Evolution Recruitment are reading this (as I’m sure you will be) please stop emailing and texting me. It’s seriously getting on my nerves… and getting on my nerves, while quite easy, isn’t a good idea.

If anyone is interested, the number used for these unsolicited spam texts is 07515 522 056 and the email is jonathan.howson@evolutionjobs.co.uk.