Return As Found
Posted: Wed 25 October, 2017 Filed under: Car Repairs, Customer Services, Cynicism, Driving, Getting Organised, Milton Keynes, Thoughts Leave a comment »Earlier this month, I wrote a bit about some of the electrical issues that’ve been niggling on my current car, and something about the hassles I’ve had with the garage along the way.
Today was (hopefully) the final stage of that – the car had a new battery last week, which has helped, but there was still an issue with the starter motor. The garage spent a fair amount of time arguing with Kia (or at least saying they were arguing with Kia) but in the end I got it as a free replacement – so I’m quite happy on that score.
So today was the day for getting that fitted, and I’m vaguely optimistic that this will be the job done. Time will tell, of course, but it’s got some good runs and conditions over the next few weeks, which should help me find out whether we’re finally sorted.
However, both of the most recent visits have obviously required a complete disconnection of the battery (obviously, in the case of the replacement battery!) which has resulted in the car computer being totally reset. I don’t mind that, in general – I try to be realistic about these things. But at the same time, I would have thought that a basic level of customer service would be to at least set the clock and calendar back to the correct settings.
I’m obviously wrong though, and utterly unreasonable. 🙂
All told, the entire thing has left me less than happy with Kia as a whole – even taking into account that replacement starter motor. A lot of this could (indeed, should) have been sorted on the first return visit, and shouldn’t have taken another three visits and a bundle of arguments. My experience as a customer has been woeful, and has currently put me off having another car from Kia, as that would mean keeping on using the same garages.
Anyway, even with that replacement starter, next time the car needs anything doing to it, I’m going to try the other local Kia dealership – it’s the same distance from me, but in the opposite direction – and see if they’re any better. It’ll be interesting to see if they can do better than the current ones…
Repeatedly Breaking – an Update
Posted: Mon 16 October, 2017 Filed under: Domestic, Food, Health, Single Life, Thoughts, Weirdness Leave a comment »Following on from Friday’s post about the pain I was getting in my ankle and leg, it all sorted itself out over the weekend.
From the speed of the recovery – going from walking with serious pain and limping at 9am to being able to walk fine, with just residual soreness by 2pm – I suspect that it was some kind of reaction to something I’d eaten, rather than a ‘proper’ muscle or tendon strain.
I’ve had gout attacks before – although I haven’t written about them here (or at least, not using the word ‘gout’!) – affecting the big toe on my left foot. They’re usually related to a food reaction, that I’ve either eaten or drunk something to levels that aggravate things. Some of those things are ‘standard’ – too much beef and ham, for example – and some are downright weird – such as swapping my usual Diet Coke for something like Sprite Zero. That’s what triggered my first attack, back while I was still in Norfolk.
Last week’s one, though, was different. Similar levels of pain – but on a slightly greater scale, as it was my ankle joint rather than a toe, and thus there was a lot more that hurt. I don’t honestly know whether it was gout but in an ankle, or whether it was something gout-esque. Regardless, it bloody hurt. It felt more like it was muscle/ligament-based than joint-based, but I simply don’t know enough.
I’m pretty sure of what triggered it this time, so I might research it a bit more, and try things out a bit. But doing so would, by definition, result in more pain, so that’s currently not striking me as a great idea. Frankly, I’ve had enough of hurting for the moment, so I’m firstly hoping for just a few weeks where I don’t get any more shit to deal with.
It won’t happen, but hey, a boy can dream.
Repeatedly Breaking
Posted: Fri 13 October, 2017 Filed under: Domestic, Health, Thoughts Leave a comment »I don’t know why, but at the moment I seem to keep on getting damage to myself, and particularly to my feet.
While all the wreckage from excessive walking recently now appears to have healed, this week I’ve instead done something stupid (and remarkably painful) to the achilles tendon and/or calf muscle of one leg. What’s annoying is that I have no idea what I’ve actually done, or how.
Instead, it just hurts – particularly when I stand, and even more when I walk down stairs. It eases up as I walk on it, but not enough to actually be pain-free. It just lessens off a bit.
I’m hoping that it’ll ease off for the weekend – right now, though, all it’s doing is making me swear even more than usual.
Expensive
Posted: Wed 4 October, 2017 Filed under: Bankruptcy, Domestic, Finances, Getting Organised, Rebuilding, Thoughts Leave a comment »For a number of reasons, the last month has been idiotically expensive. Some of it has been voluntary, some of it has been necessary. All of it has added up.
In the last month or so, it’s included…
- Four new tyres for the car (Necessary, as all four were getting close to their wear limits)
- MOT for the car (Necessary!) – thankfully, it only needed two new bulbs, so the MOT itself wasn’t all that expensive
- Car Insurance – (Necessary, but also Voluntary – I paid the entire lot at once, rather than monthly, which saved about £60)
- Tickets to see a band called The The in London next year (Entirely voluntary, of course)
- Tickets to see Macbeth at the RSC in Stratford-on-Avon next year (Also entirely voluntary)
- Tickets to see Titus Andronicus at the Barbican in London early next year (Voluntary)
- New walking boots (Necessary, considering the damage I sustained from the broken old ones)
And that doesn’t include all the usual stuff.
So yeah, fairly expensive. It’s all still within my budgets and limits, and the majority will be paid off this month – but all the same, it’ll be nice if I can have a quieter October and November, with less outgoings!
King of the Air
Posted: Mon 2 October, 2017 Filed under: Business, Cynicism, Domestic, Thoughts, Travel Leave a comment »Today, the news is full of the ‘shocking’ news of Monarch Airlines ceasing to trade. I’m more surprised that anyone’s surprised, to be honest.
Now OK, Monarch are (semi) local to me, I know people who work(ed) there – but no-one who was in key positions, finance etc. However, it’s no shock to me at all that they’ve gone under – in many ways I’ve been more surprised that they’ve gone on as long as they have.
The Wikipedia page contains a summary of it – but it’s stuff I was aware of anyway, having watched the news and so on.
Three years ago, they were nearly bankrupt. They got a last-minute bailout/buyout by Greybull Capital, which was all that allowed them to keep trading. Three years ago.
This time last year, rumours came up about their potential bankruptcy. They got a last-minute extension to their ATOL licence (similar to the activities of last weekend) after another £160-odd million fund injection from Greybull and other investors.
Between those warnings, the drop in customers in markets that were key to them (tourism to Tunisia and Egypt, primarily) and other competition, and the general atmosphere post-Brexit, it was no surprise at all. I fully expect a couple of others to collapse as well.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a shitty situation – for the people who work there, and for the passengers and customers who are currently wondering what’s going to happen. But it still shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Personally, I know that I wouldn’t have booked anything with them, regardless.
Of course, every cloud has a silver lining – I suspect RyanAir are ecstatic about all those extra Monarch pilots and crew suddenly becoming available (and without even needing expensive relocation packages) that can fill the gaps in their current schedule. Indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised if RyanAir didn’t aim to buy up a lot of the Monarch stuff – planes, staff, routes etc., and make money off the misfortune of Monarch.
Re-covered
Posted: Fri 29 September, 2017 Filed under: Advertising, Customer Services, Cynicism, Domestic, Driving, Insurance, Loyalty Schemes, Thoughts 4 Comments »Somehow, it’s already nearly a year since I got the latest car. Which, of course, means it’s also time for my insurance renewal to come through.
As usual, the current company have massively taken the piss, nearly doubling my premium this time round. For some reason, rather than having a number of different under-writers, they’ve recently decided to stick with just the one – and that one happens to be nothing short of extortionate.
Still, that’s fine, they can fuck off.
As a result, I’ve already sorted out a new policy with a different company. It’s got all the cover and options I wanted, and is cheaper than what I’ve paid this year, let alone the ridiculous renewal price.
I truly don’t understand the business model of the insurance industry, this attitude of “keep on charging more ’til people leave”. Surely if someone’s been with a company for [x] years, and established a record of being safe, not claiming etc., then it should be easier/cheaper/better to keep them, rather than letting them sod off somewhere else?
I suppose it might be the law of diminshing returns, an expectation the customers will claim eventually. Using that it kind-of makes sense, if all the customers are paying up, and if we can get rid of them before they cost us, then we’ve made money out of it, and it’s cost “some other company”.
But it all seems pretty flawed to me, and pretty bloody dumb. Hey ho. Their loss, not mine.