Victor Meldrew, I'm with you....

Eyefor

Well-Known Member
Having started Saturday with an argument in B and Q because when I offered the 4p and a five pound note for an article costing £4.84 I was returned the 4p with the assistant advising that the £5 covered the purchase price...:doh:

When I explained the idea was for me to get a 20p coin rather than a load of shrapnel, I was advised that this would muck the till up. At that moment a supervisor arrived, asked what the question was, and the till person stated that this customer wants 20p change out of £5 for a £4.88 item (eh???)! Having re-explained the hugely complicated proposal to the supervisor I was told again this would muck the till up.

On receipt of the shrapnel (and my 4p) I asked if I could now exchange all of this shrapnel for a 20p coin - to be informed that the till drawer was now closed, the transaction was complete and it would require the attention of the store manager to open the till on a no-sale basis but now they did see my point with the till person stating "would I believe he had achieved grade B in Maths"?

At which point I replied no, left the 20p shrapnel on the till and left.

Saturday then went well until around 6pm at our daughters house - the events of which are summarised in my email of this morning to Customer Service, The Sunday Times

Quote

Good morning.

My subscription number is xxxxxx and around 1815 (BST) on Saturday 25th July 2015 I logged on to the The Times online service to apply a holiday stop to the next day's Sunday Times voucher which I had omitted to bring with me for a weekend break.

Having filled in all of my details (and noting that the online notification service stated to be notified by "1800 GMT") I was surprised that the request was declined.

Accordingly, I called customer service and the first call handler again notified me that I was too late but when I advised him that the time limit was 1800 "GMT" and that we were in fact only at 1730 Greenwich Mean Time he said he would have to check.

After some considerable delay he returned stating that he had not idea what GMT was (I believe he called it Grimsby mean time) but he had spoken to his supervisor who also confirmed I was too late.

I then asked to speak to the supervisor (a Mr Ian Bxxxxx) who repeated that I was too late and when I explained the cut off shown was 1800 Greenwich Meantime he then stated "well, Greenwich is in London, we are in London and the time here is 1835 - so you're too late".

Having explained that the current time was 1835 British Summer Time Mr Bxxxxx stated that he had no idea what I was talking about and insisted again I was too late. Having expressed my total disbelief at what he had said, and stated that I believed GMT and BST would be understood by 11 year old school children, Mr Bennett still did not believe me, stated that he had been very happy with his education but (and with a bucket load of condescension) stated that "on this one occasion" he would allow the holiday stop.

It was therefore hugely ironic that the next day's issue of The Sunday Times (which I purchased for cash) contained an article about "Tim Nice But Dim" characters who were as thick as the proverbial plank but are holding down well paid jobs. I haven't laughed so much at a newspaper article in years.

Having encountered three Times Ltd employees (the call handler, Mr Bennett and the IT person setting up the Holiday Stop system) it would seem that my experience would show that statistically 100% of Times staff are Tim Nice But Dim's?

I sincerely hope someone at The Times can prove my statistic incorrect, gently enlighten the customer service team about GMT and BST and then amend the online Holiday Stop process?

Kind regards.

Iain Hxxxxx
(soon to be an ex Sunday Times Reader?)

Unquote

Please tell me it's not just me?
 
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I can sympathize. I stopped trying to simplify my change by handing the clerk extra money. The crowning bit of idiocy?
A friend of mine here in town found a note from FedEx on his front door stating that they were unable to deliver his packages because they could not find his house at the address specified. I would not have believed it but for the photo he took of the note on his door.~Muir
 
When my mother died I phoned the gas board to tell them. Told them and said any bills to send to me they said they could not do that without speaking to my mother first.at this point I lost it and told them to get a f---ing good medium
 
I have just checked with my children (9 and 13 years old) and they are aware of the concept of GMT and BST! Your story beggars belief!!
 
Some time ago i decided to purchace a Santa hat for £1 and some Xmas wrapping paper for £1. The omeba I was dealing with took a good 20 seconds to do the required maths :lol:
 
I phoned the vets recently to order 60 doses of toxoplasmosis vaccine for my yearling ewes. I told the receptionist I needed 60 doses, and asked her how many doses in a pack? 20, she replied. Ok, I said, could you get me 3 packs please? Long silence at end of 'phone...... and then "how did you work that out so quick?" :doh:
 
Please tell me it's not just me?

I don't mean to be indelicate, but are you -whisper it softly- r e t i r e d?

In any event, please keep up the good work. The future of civilisation is in your hands.

[A big -but now inexplicably empty- glass of G&T is in mine.]
 
My mate's missus had her Jeep booked in for a MOT recently. They are having an extension built. When she came downstairs to depart for the MOT, she was already late and the Jeep was blocked in by the builder and my mate's car. She hurled a stream of abuse at him and said as it was his fault she was late she was now taking his car! She returned shortly after!:rolleyes:
MS
 
I was in the local motor factors and a woman came in waving a dipstic. The counter staff asked what she wanted the reply floored me. "There's no oil showing on the dipstick I need a longer 1" A true story, the staff were in stitches I just found it sad that somebody could be so thick.
 
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More Victor Meldrew. I had at short notice to replace a colleague who had a business meeting in London. Her ticket was from Derby to London. I live in Leicester. All Derby trains stop at Leicester and, of course, Leicester is nearer to London.

So I collected her tickets and got on her train at Leicester occupying her seat. No problem. However when you exit a Leicester there are ticket barriers in operation. So I called the train operator if I could get off at Leicester on return on a Derby ticket. Explaining about the work tickets.

No, they said, you'll have to go to Derby and then get a ticket from Derby to go back Leicester.

So I ask if I can just buy the Derby to Leicester ticket they said I'd have to buy, but get off at Leicester on the original ticket and then surrender the Derby to Leicester ticket. So they would have the monies but at least I wouldn't have to make the journey up to Derby and then back to Leicester.

Oh no, they said. You'll have to do the full journeys that you have paid for. At which point I called them idiots.

And you know what...they called my workplace to complain that I'd called them idiots!

You couldn't make it up!
 
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.....are you -whisper it softly- r e t i r e d?
NO! Self Employed. A bit like retired, but more pedantic :tiphat:.

With regards to the G&T have you tried the Adnams "Best in the World" gin (available from Adnams or Waitrose etc)? With Fever Tree tonic - you won't go back!!

.....I had at short notice to replace a colleague who had a business meeting in London. Her ticket was from Derby to London. I live in Leicester. All Derby trains stop at Leicester and, of course, Leicester is nearer to London....

Please don't start me off on Muddling Mainline. I was a Season Ticket Holder (First Class :mad: ) for 8 years and could write a book on their crass ineptitude.
 
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