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betterToDo

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Everything posted by betterToDo

  1. What a disgrace, but I don't know why I rather enjoyed hearing that
  2. Just for completeness and for anyone else who takes issue with a similar thing, I spoke to Consumer Direct (arm of the OFT) about the agent making the type of insurance the tenant has a contractual requirement. They confirmed the term is considered unfair, and advised if they continue to insist, I can agree to it but get it in writing that it is done under protest, which forms the basis for a complaint. It is just a setup to do everything possible to get you to buy the policy they thrust under your nose, without actually stipulating in the contract you buy from a particular insurer (which is against the law). By coincidence HomeLet then cold-called me trying to sell me their policy. They admitted it is them that insist on the contract clause with about 3000 agents (HomeLet's bitches). Its not the worst scam in the world, but it is certainly unethical. Nothing wrong with advising you get contents insurance (and I already have a basic policy), but insisting, and happening to insist it be the most expensive type of policy is not very pleasant.
  3. This is about Parkers in Reading. They're HomeLet's bitch. To the person who mentioned the OFT, that's very interesting, and yes they are indeed breaking the OFT guidance: Does that mean anything though? Will they even care about breaking it, they must already know they are?
  4. But I don't see the private landlord as the enemy at all. In this case, I met him by chance very briefly when I was shown round, he seemed decent, but he lives abroad hence the agency. My last two landlords (4 years and 3 years respectively) have been great, got on famously, never argued, always paid on time, I respect the property and always return it clean, they've always fixed stuff for me etc. I go the extra yard for them where I can because I like them, and they treat me with respect. I miss it already. My point was this letting agency are totally destroying all that, trying to swindle fees at every turn, demanding insurance and third party companies to do everything (and taking a cut on top) etc etc. It leaves a very nasty taste. Anyway, the property is worth hassle, I just think its sad. Maybe there are decent letting agents out there somewhere?
  5. A very good point. We were I fully admit naive, not having experienced a letting agency like this before, and expecting.. well.. what we were used to. I did threaten to walk away at the start over the admin fee (they initially asked £1000, not kidding), and got that slashed, but we were naive to move forward so quickly afterwards (the start date was very soon, we really wanted to live there etc etc, foolish I know), and didn't fully comprehend much of the other crap until it was too late. Never again.
  6. For the last decade I've been renting. Always, its been with a private landlord. We're about to move, and this time round, we've come across a property managed by a letting agency..... Wow. I've been stunned by the difference. This letting agency is little more than the insurance industry's bitch 1) As part of our "administration fee" (I can't bear to repeat what it was), I discovered we're paying to insure the landlords rent. 2) The landlord is required to hold a policy which fully insures his contents (its furnished) 3) WE are required to hold a policy which not only insures our possessions (our choice?), but also insures the landlord's possessions against accidental damage. 4) The letting agency insists we are credit checked by a third party company, and they can't do it (I don't know if this is law, it probably is) In the past, I've sat down with the landlord, we've gone through some statements, we've agreed a deposit, occasionally I've offered one or two months in advance as a gesture of goodwill, and thats been that. I've always ended up having a good relationship with them. Cost of moving in? Zero. I'll usually hold some basic contents insurance in case the place goes up in smoke, but thats all. The valuable things in life cannot be insured. Here, it's all different. They'll trample through my privacy as they minimise every risk discarding all respect in the process. I asked if I could just show them my statements, and even offered to pay a large chunk up front to mitigate any risk, but no. If I want to rent the property, I have to jump through the hoops. That results in completely removing any good relationship with the client or any level of trust or respect, and instead presenting everything, at a premium, into the hands of insurance companies and referencing agencies, none of whom know me from adam, and therefore all my personal data has to leave my control into the hands of people who I really mistrust to act with any integrity. I've kicked off at every stage, but they just think I'm being difficult, and are completely unable to be flexible in any way. They can't even comprehend what risk even means. They've completely lost sight of the importance of a good tenant/landlord relationship. I end up speaking to all sorts of different people. They even said they were expecting it to become law regarding the tenant insuring the landlord's fixtures. Why should this be law? They say lots of people try not to pay their rent, but whats that got to do with me? They said it was in my interest to insure my deposit. Surely that is my choice? Give me back my responsibilities, and accept your own risks :angry: The letting agent won't even trust me to setup the standing order to pay the rent - *they* insist on doing it, its "policy". I'm being treated with the automatic assumption I don't intend to pay any rent, or that I'm going to treat the property with anything other than respect. They're sucking out every last bit of risk they can possibly can, and I'm paying for the "benefit", lining the pockets of insurance companies with policies I don't even want or need. Neither they nor the landlord has any need to form a good relationship with me - its ok, they're "insured". By signing the contract, I am committing to paying the rent and looking after the property. How I go about managing any risk to being able to do that should surely be my business? The sheer quantity of money being unnecessarily syphoned off from this arrangement and the amount of people and salaries being paid as a result is staggering. I think there is a time and place for insurance (e.g. can't argue with third party for driving for example), but when it becomes enshrined by legislation or forced upon you, the moral hazard is enormous.
  7. Not my experience. Mine must be ancient, but the front still looks like when I bought it. Battery life is atrocious even from new but doesnt affect my normal usage pattern. Novelty of "Apps" soon wears off, but functionally its leagues ahead of anything similar. I admit I'm a bit of an apple nut but specifically only for their macbook pro. As a software dev, a cranked up mbook pro is the perfect tool. I have seamless, simultaneous access to every mainstream os, it never fails, never crashes, never wastes my time, outperforms most desktops, and is built like a tank. Its not about the brand, and their prices and sales structures revolt me. Not touching this new iphone though, 4g is just around the corner
  8. Software developer (a real one). Call it IT if you must though I find that means everything from being able to type upwards. Quite a specific domain, buried in work and turning down contracts. We'd like to recruit but keep anticipating leaner times which as yet haven't appeared (touch wood). Otherwise to give a brief sample... know some people in whitehall, they still have jobs but 2 out of 3 with no work (pisses me off this, they may be nice people but if I had no work I'd have no job)... finance (private traders, mostly bonds) on their asses and now trying to invest in car parks ... a couple of students struggling to find summer work.... forensic investigator (volume) receiving a lot of "efficiency" pressure from management and expecting cuts... Generally appears fairly bleak.
  9. 3....2...... 1 and a half.... 1........ now!... no now!...... now!....... no wait... right... now!.... this time.... .... now!..... now!... WHOOT! There see, was right all along
  10. I had a nightmare about being left on an island, and some strange swarm of buzzy stuff came out of the water and attacked me. I woke up with a scream, made a cup of tea, and wandered eventually onto HPC seeking distraction. That is how I came to read this entire thread. No really, I did. If only the buzzy stuff would come back Anyway, not that I'm under some illusion that anyone cares, but purely because I feel like being rude, here are my scores on the doors: Mirage: Bright button. A bastion of reason and an application of intellect that I found a pleasure to read. Thank you. Alan B'stard: Shiny witty button, if smelling slightly of alcohol. Scepticus: Oh dear, button fallen off. Tie it up with some string.. and when you catastrophically lose an argument as you did in this thread, try to do it with an element of dignity (and hope noone notices). Injin: Buttons, which I'm using as a metaphor for how much of an idiot I think you are, clearly don't exist and so can't be applied in your case. What is a measure? How do you represent a "measure"? Are measures real or is it all lies? Why would you "represent" a measure? Can you measure something you can't touch? Is there a relationship between measures and semantics? How about between interpreted semantics and the "real world"?... Very revealing that you choose "weight" in your er.. cough.. proof. Cute. The irony that you simultaneously batter on about things that aren't real and still peddle your particular brand of waffle is delicious. If you ever stop your "theoretical masturbations" (Alan B'stard, genius observation) then your world view ought to rapidly unravel. Unfortunately you've stitched it together so very tightly (clearly using some of Scepticus' string).
  11. You remind me of kids playing that game, when they're trying to predict when something will happen.... "3... 2.... 1..... Now!... no now!... now!.... now!.... no wait.. now!.... now!.......... now!..." ... You've been going on like this for at least months. Every time you have a different reason, and every time you post after a pullback, not before. Simpleton. Sooner or later, you will be right, and it will go down, and that is certain to occur shortly after you've posted since you post this so often. You can then claim you foretold it..... Fraccy's amazing prediction: It will not go up forever. One day it will go down. [insert random crappy link as "reasoning"] I will now just bide my time Be sure to worship me when it falls.
  12. No, I don't resent the "policing". I resent the inability to treat me like a human being. You've made a sweeping assumption that I'm not considerate (wee bit hard for me to prove, shall we at least agree its undecided?). The issue isn't whats getting at them, the issue is the sad absence of even a basic human relationship in the first place that makes a memo seem like a good idea.
  13. I don't agree. There are assholes and nice people any place (often the two are quite literally attached). The difference in behaviour in more dense populations is obvious. In a smaller population you are more noticeable, forcing more responsible social interaction, because you know you're going to see people again. As there is a less fragmented social network, there is a stronger feedback between actions and reputation. That is what I mean by over-population being a root issue. It is not anybody's fault that identity reduces in cities, nor does it make the entire urban population into assholes. You just can't acknowledge everyone in the street in cities or you'd never get anything done. It may be a sweeping generalisation, but anonymity has an undeniably negative effect. Nice prejudices (didn't quote them all). I'm from the country originally and I'd probably be labeled middle class. I may even be a complete rustic tit I'll never know for sure, but I'd still offer to look after my neighbour's cat. I'm far more vile and arrogant in posts [1] on this forum than in person, because there is no social comeback. So, by my own vileness and arrogance on HPC, I'm demonstrating my own point . Footnotes [1] - Screw you all!
  14. Yeh sorry I mean the communal front door not actually our one, but I genuinely wouldn't be surprised....
  15. hahaha the "memos". Yeh we get memos left on the front door. The last one was asking people to close the door more quietly. No idea who it was from but I can take a wild guess.
  16. Was brought up in a rural village, knew 3/4 of the inhabitants, all the neighbours used to drop round without needing a reason. My mother says it really went downhill when a development was built in the late 90s doubling the size of the village. There were empty second homes, and an influx of "townies" moving there to bring up kids. On the whole they make no effort to be friendly, and don't involve themselves in local groups. Its still more friendly than any urban area I've lived in though - you rarely walk past someone in the street without acknowledging them. Living in more populated areas trains you to stop doing that, its unavoidable, and this just breeds the mentality of isolation. Over-population - I really believe that lies at the core of so many issues.
  17. It wasn't the best first impression lol. I still always greet them on the rare occasion I see them, but they avoid us if they get half the chance and haven't ever got more than a raised eyebrow. Thinking about it, there is no pattern to where they park either. I think maybe what it was really about was trying to exert some kind of control on the incomers. They've got a mortgage on their flat (ok I had a little snoop on the LR ), and must know that we "only" rent. Maybe a severe case of homeowner disease ? They're always doing up their flat or adjusting the nasty concrete pots on their patio.
  18. What happened did one of their peace-loving-peace-keeping-fighting-for-peace soldiers accidentally trip over a rich seam whilst trying to save a child? At least they'll be able to exploit the resources for the benefit of the afghan people and bring about change and a better future and democracy and stuff.
  19. Very cynical this, but seems to me (and its very hard to quantify), that fresh stuff from places like Tesco seems to go off quicker and quicker. Now, my fridge isn't exactly a wonder of modern technology, and I'm not very good at keeping track of time... .. But I was thinking, we've all heard of food companies playing all sorts of tricks to make stocks last longer. But, is it also in the supermarket's interests to find/breed varieties of fresh stuff that go off sooner, meaning you waste more and therefore buy more, or at least have to visit much more frequently (which I'm too lazy to do)? Is a polarisation taking place, with some food being doctored ever further to last longer, whilst with fresh stuff its the opposite? My girlfriend's dad is a farmer, mostly grows potatoes. His potatoes last seemingly forever. Rarely though do I get through a bag from Tescos before they've gone orrible. In fact, we've stopped buying any fresh stuff from the Tescos of this world at all, and certainly not things like meat which has totally gone beyond a joke (although I do miss laughing at the shrinking bacon). We go to a couple of local/independent shops instead which we're lucky enough to still have round here. The real bacon may cost a little more, but blimey, only need about a third as much. Now hardly anything seems to go off. I'm not quite Fearnley-Whittingstall yet but theres more to real food than just taste. Its cheaper too.
  20. Lovely pretty idea in theory. Unfortunately there's a mob of seriously greedy ******* in between you and those returns, trying to fiddle you with their funny money and rigged games. Often more than one mob too. (personally I can't be arsed)
  21. He has eloquently captured the delusion of zero-risk that seems to perpetuate every aspect of life these days.
  22. lol believe me I've certainly had a few dark thoughts with that regard, but don't want to create conflict we're peace loving animals. We're looking to move anyway now to be closer to the girlfriend's new job (hurry up hpc). I might leave a little.. gift of some sort when we do. Any ideas?
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