Pet Peeves IV

Weather has been weird. Saturday was a lovely day, I was out all day in just short sleeves. That was down at the harbour at Musselburgh so not exactly a sheltered spot. Had a beer outside and bought the bairn an ice cream.

Sunday looked nice early on but when the cloud cover came in it was bloody freezing. We were up at Craigmillar Castle with the kids and I was wishing I'd packed a jacket.

Today is ok when the sun is out but when it's hidden or in the shade it's not particularly warm.

I generally don't mind the cold, I can get away with just a shirt on a day like today but I would love for a decent spell of 2 or 3 weeks of constant warm, dry, calm weather. We had a couple of weeks like that in 2019, maybe 2018, and it was amazing to see how much everyone's mood seemed to lift. Everyone just seems a bit more easy going during a prolonged sunny spell.

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Originally Posted by Pretty Boy

We had a couple of weeks like that in 2019, maybe 2018, and it was amazing to see how much everyone's mood seemed to lift. Everyone just seems a bit more easy going during a prolonged sunny spell.

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Yep so true. According to the BBC app it's 15 degrees now and it's certainly pleasant but earlier when my nuts were freezing off it was meant to be 13. Bollox!

We were through in Falkirk on friday to see some old friends, got back around 4.30 and went to the Beach House on Porty prom for a pizza, bright and sunny but bloody cold breeze coming off the water, wished I had a jacket or hoodie with me.

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Originally Posted by Hiber-nation

You are young. And I assume you weren't on Musselburgh beach!

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Haha I don't know about that! You're right about not being at the beach though.

It's lovely this evening though!

Folk who change there username on here. :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by silverhibee

Folk who change there username on here. :thumbsup:

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Didn't you used to be chestnuthibee?

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Originally Posted by Wilson

Didn't you used to be chestnuthibee?

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No Slippy. :thumbsup:

Currys, and more specifically the customer service that is non existing.

Ordered a new hi-fi which is dab receiver, CD player and amp with speakers. It arrived without the speakers. Phoned up immediately (Monday afternoon) told they will collect the wrong thing and resend the correct one.

Phone this morning for an update because it's showing as out of stock on the website. They can refund the money after they receive the returned item. I suggest that I keep it and they refund the amount I need for the speakers - not possible they say. Next I suggest that I return it to a store and get the refund- not possible he says (despite it saying that I can on the website). I demand to talk to a supervisor, I'll get a call back in 48 hours!

I'm not happy with it but accept it.

I go onto currys twitter and relay the message, asked for details in a dm. Guess what? It's going to the store tomorrow!!!

Customer service should have known that was possible.

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Originally Posted by Moulin Yarns

Currys, and more specifically the customer service that is non existing.

Ordered a new hi-fi which is dab receiver, CD player and amp with speakers. It arrived without the speakers. Phoned up immediately (Monday afternoon) told they will collect the wrong thing and resend the correct one.

Phone this morning for an update because it's showing as out of stock on the website. They can refund the money after they receive the returned item. I suggest that I keep it and they refund the amount I need for the speakers - not possible they say. Next I suggest that I return it to a store and get the refund- not possible he says (despite it saying that I can on the website). I demand to talk to a supervisor, I'll get a call back in 48 hours!

I'm not happy with it but accept it.

I go onto currys twitter and relay the message, asked for details in a dm. Guess what? It's going to the store tomorrow!!!

Customer service should have known that was possible.

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How curry’s still trade is beyond me.

Their ‘service’ is awful and has been for ages.

The feedback on the likes of Trustpilot etc. is full of this stuff.

I suffered their uselessness when trying to order last TV a while ago and vowed never, ever to use them again.

Customer service seems to be a lost art.

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Originally Posted by RyeSloan

How curry’s still trade is beyond me.

Their ‘service’ is awful and has been for ages.

The feedback on the likes of Trustpilot etc. is full of this stuff.

I suffered their uselessness when trying to order last TV a while ago and vowed never, ever to use them again.

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Compare them to a company like AO who I've used a few times now and they've been flawless every time. And cheaper than Currys. The TV I got was cheaper than Currys by £150.

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Originally Posted by Jones28

Compare them to a company like AO who I've used a few times now and they've been flawless every time. And cheaper than Currys. The TV I got was cheaper than Currys by £150.

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Actually it was AO I used to get the TV after the Curry’s fiasco. As you say fast and efficient and even had it in stock when they said they had it in stock!

They also (eventually) honoured their price promise which despite needing a bit of back and forward was all polite enough and they accepted the comparison once I had reminded them of their own wording around such things [emoji1787]

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Originally Posted by Jones28

Compare them to a company like AO who I've used a few times now and they've been flawless every time. And cheaper than Currys. The TV I got was cheaper than Currys by £150.

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Yeah, wish I'd thought of AO, I've just ordered it from there, and it even said how many were in stock. And I got a voucher to take a wee bit of the price.

Got another HMRC call this morning telling me there was a warrant out for my arrest due to tax evasion, told the guy if you are about to get arrested they generally don't phone you first, he said well we do, told him I looked forward to speaking to the polis and he said I will get them sent within the next 30 mins if I don't do what they want, I started laughing at that point and told him that the polis wouldn't even show up to a murder in 30 mins, at that point he hung up on me.

Not a pet peeve as such but that's about the 5 or 6th time I've had the same kind of call

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Originally Posted by Mon Dieu4

Got another HMRC call this morning telling me there was a warrant out for my arrest due to tax evasion, told the guy if you are about to get arrested they generally don't phone you first, he said well we do, told him I looked forward to speaking to the polis and he said I will get them sent within the next 30 mins if I don't do what they want, I started laughing at that point and told him that the polis wouldn't even show up to a murder in 30 mins, at that point he hung up on me.

Not a pet peeve as such but that's about the 5 or 6th time I've had the same kind of call

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The government are trying anything to recoup the Covid losses aren't they?

The inability to get any proper compost or top soil…this is the crap that came out of a single bag of the ‘screened’ 35l bag of Westland top soil that I was trying to use to level a patch of lawn.

Sadly I’d fired a bag on the lawn before properly checking and then had to spend ages picking out all the crap.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f6fb1b703e.jpg

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Originally Posted by RyeSloan

The inability to get any proper compost or top soil…this is the crap that came out of a single bag of the ‘screened’ 35l bag of Westland top soil that I was trying to use to level a patch of lawn.

Sadly I’d fired a bag on the lawn before properly checking and then had to spend ages picking out all the crap.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f6fb1b703e.jpg

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Homebase were doing 10 X 25L bags of topsoil for £30 plus an additional 20% off. I used it this week to backfill a trench I dug through my lawn and there was no wood or partially decomposed material in them.

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Originally Posted by speedy_gonzales

Homebase were doing 10 X 25L bags of topsoil for £30 plus an additional 20% off. I used it this week to backfill a trench I dug through my lawn and there was no wood or partially compared material in them.

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Ahh nice thanks. Was it their own brand? Might take a trip to there then as that Westland stuff was ridiculous.

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Originally Posted by RyeSloan

Ahh nice thanks. Was it their own brand? Might take a trip to there then as that Westland stuff was ridiculous.

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Try Caledonian Horticulture - local company to Edinburgh and they do lots of different composts - they also do a specific top dressing mixture too, which is screened and also I think it’s sterilised so there’s no weed seeds in it.

https://caledonianhorticulture.co.uk/product/caledonian-top-dressing-20kg/

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Originally Posted by RyeSloan

Ahh nice thanks. Was it their own brand? Might take a trip to there then as that Westland stuff was ridiculous.

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It was, yeah. Perfectly suitable for my needs, feels and looks like it had been well composted to above 60°C which should kill any weeds/seeds.

Thanks both! Replies much appreciated.

I’ve pinged an angry man email off to Westland today..I’m not normally the formal complaining type but having a big pile of sticks and stones in my lawn has pushed me over the edge [emoji1787]

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Originally Posted by RyeSloan

The inability to get any proper compost or top soil…this is the crap that came out of a single bag of the ‘screened’ 35l bag of Westland top soil that I was trying to use to level a patch of lawn.

Sadly I’d fired a bag on the lawn before properly checking and then had to spend ages picking out all the crap.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f6fb1b703e.jpg

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I was actually coming on to post about the same item though mine wasn’t quite as bad. Was that B&Q you got that from?

I have another gardening one… slugs.

We planted a whole load of the pants at the weekend and most are gone thanks to the slimy wee buggers.

I read that the salt trick is considered to be inhumane but that drowning them in beer is somehow not.

I put out a tray of beer the other night and it was full of them by the morning. I put out three trays of beer last night and two are full, one hasn’t been touched (they obviously don’t like Tiger beer :faf:)

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Originally Posted by overdrive

I was actually coming on to post about the same item though mine wasn’t quite as bad. Was that B&Q you got that from?

I have another gardening one… slugs.

We planted a whole load of the pants at the weekend and most are gone thanks to the slimy wee buggers.

I read that the salt trick is considered to be inhumane but that drowning them in beer is somehow not.

I put out a tray of beer the other night and it was full of them by the morning. I put out three trays of beer last night and two are full, one hasn’t been touched (they obviously don’t like Tiger beer :faf:)

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Aye it was B&Q…I had a reply to my complaint where the stated there had been a ‘clearly a screening issue’ and an apology followed by a promise of some vouchers in the post (value not disclosed). While I still raging at the debris now stuck in the lawn I suppose they at least had the gumption to reply and apologise quickly.

As for slugs…I’ll admit that I just go all chemical on them and fire down some of the blue pellets that decimates them rapido. Not pet friendly tho so no good if you have a dog or whatever.

They are probably rather unfriendly full stop but one dose seems to effectively wipe the population out for the year so I bury my green creds for my own human benefit every late spring….

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RyeSloan

The inability to get any proper compost or top soil…this is the crap that came out of a single bag of the ‘screened’ 35l bag of Westland top soil that I was trying to use to level a patch of lawn.

Sadly I’d fired a bag on the lawn before properly checking and then had to spend ages picking out all the crap.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...f6fb1b703e.jpg

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That must be where Cala bought our “topsoil” at our house. Having drainage put in as well as a few neighbours having their gardens re-designed and you could see just how little actual soil there was in the “top soil”.

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Originally Posted by Jones28

Try Caledonian Horticulture - local company to Edinburgh and they do lots of different composts - they also do a specific top dressing mixture too, which is screened and also I think it’s sterilised so there’s no weed seeds in it.

https://caledonianhorticulture.co.uk/product/caledonian-top-dressing-20kg/

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Yup...I use them for my landscaping business. Quality is much higher than the main stream products and around a third of the price.

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Originally Posted by overdrive

I was actually coming on to post about the same item though mine wasn’t quite as bad. Was that B&Q you got that from?

I have another gardening one… slugs.

We planted a whole load of the pants at the weekend and most are gone thanks to the slimy wee buggers.

I read that the salt trick is considered to be inhumane but that drowning them in beer is somehow not.

I put out a tray of beer the other night and it was full of them by the morning. I put out three trays of beer last night and two are full, one hasn’t been touched (they obviously don’t like Tiger beer :faf:)

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I get those huge leopard slugs in the kitchen, I think that they are actually looking for my beer!!

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Originally Posted by RyeSloan

Aye it was B&Q…I had a reply to my complaint where the stated there had been a ‘clearly a screening issue’ and an apology followed by a promise of some vouchers in the post (value not disclosed). While I still raging at the debris now stuck in the lawn I suppose they at least had the gumption to reply and apologise quickly.

As for slugs…I’ll admit that I just go all chemical on them and fire down some of the blue pellets that decimates them rapido. Not pet friendly tho so no good if you have a dog or whatever.

They are probably rather unfriendly full stop but one dose seems to effectively wipe the population out for the year so I bury my green creds for my own human benefit every late spring….

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Slug pellets are now banned!! So back to the salt or brewery options

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Originally Posted by Moulin Yarns

Slug pellets are now banned!! So back to the salt or brewery options

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They are banned. How come you can still buy them. All the usual places and supermarkets have them as of today (I bought some). How are they getting away with it?

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Originally Posted by overdrive

They are banned. How come you can still buy them. All the usual places and supermarkets have them as of today (I bought some). How are they getting away with it?

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The pesticide metaldehyde is banned. Slug pellets typically contained it. I'm guessing the slug pellets currently on the market don't use it.

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Originally Posted by Wilson

The pesticide metaldehyde is banned. Slug pellets typically contained it. I'm guessing the slug pellets currently on the market don't use it.

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Yeah that’s correct…I checked and mine is defo then banned stuff (did think it wasn’t particularly friendly!)…it’s running low so might have to resort to the eco friendly formula in a year or two [emoji1787]

Not sure if the Ferric Phosphate products are any good or not…is almost certainly not as effective as the old stuff as that was clearly lethal to any slug who went near it…but probably quite a few other things as well despite it being bright blue.