Have not seen a rant thread in a while

[Scuba]

Rant about inconsiderate dog owners--

1) not cleaning up after them

2) letting off leash at a park, not designated as a dog park, and saying "don't worry, he's friendly" as the dog jumps all over us and definitely is NOT listening to its owner.



When we walk our dog, he is always on leash and under command and we carry bags with us.

I totally agree with this. My 13 lb dog is not that comfortable with other dogs, especially off-leash dogs or those on a seemingly endless retractable leash who are running up to him at top speed. Inevitably the owners say “don’t worry, my dog is friendly” and I just tell them my dog isn’t friendly. SMH

 

[youbet]

The huge number of junk, bot calls causes people to ignore their phone. There are now so many different ways to communicate that replies are spread thin. I generally do not return a call that contains no message beyond "Call me".

+1

Even when there is a specific explanation of the reason for the call, if I'm not interested in pursuing, I don't return the call (or email or text or etc).

 

[youbet]

Yes, returning calls and basic customer service is very important. At least for me. Recently the air conditioner quit cooling so I called a local company who lives in our neighborhood and had good ratings. Came out the next day starting working on the unit, shut it down, got a phone call and had to leave for "an emergency". Finally 2 hours later the owner and his wife showed up to charge it up and figure out the evaporator coil was leaking and need replacing. Ok, 3 year old unit but that happens. So I told him to schedule me as soon as he could to replace it. A few days go by and I get a voicemail at 7:33pm that they would have to push me back to 10-11 am the next day since "they had an emergency replacement". Huh? Never got the first call to schedule it. So they show up about 1:30pm and start pulling out the old coil. Then the owner comes over and tells me they don't have the new one and is trying to locate one. Finally a few days later they finish the job.
Don't think I'll call them again if I have any other problems.

While this may be an example of plain ole poor customer service, sometimes business comes in ebbs and tides and at high tide small business owners have to scramble to schedule for the best level of customer service congruent with good profitability.

As DW and I age in place in the home we've occupied for over 40 years, we've been going out of our way to establish relationships with the service providers we anticipate needing as time goes by. We have a service contract with the HVAC folks who installed our system and they give us demonstrated priority. I have a plumber and an electrician that I call for some jobs that I could easily do myself just to keep on a first name basis. They've both given us their personal phone numbers and said to call anytime, day or night, for emergencies. We treat our landscaper like gold bringing out a cooler of water and sodas while they're working on hot days and giving some modest tips when we're especially pleased with their work. ETC.

While I've generally been a DIYer and ruthless cost shopper in regard to home maintenance, we've now budgeted the costs of attracting loyal service folks we'll need in order to be able to stay here without undue worry.

 

[Souschef]

My rant today is about a certain international "Wealth Management" company. DW has a small account of her own, consisting of an IRA with 2 mutual funds. I checked them out recently, and their expense ration was very high. I called the broker and told him I wanted to switch to another fund with a lower expense ratio. I have POA on the account, so I do all the dealings.
The guy starts asking all kinds of questions about her income, debt, risk tolerance. I wanted to tell him this is less than 5% of our holdings, but that would open the floodgates. He was also pitching managing her assets. Imagine, having one fund and paying someone to manage it besides the fund managers.
To satisfy her RMD, I move holdings from her IRA to her taxable account. I fill out their form and mail it in. Then I get a call from them asking if I really want to do it? Well, if I did not want to do it i would not send the form.
My solution? I am transferring her accounts to FIDO, where we have other accounts and do not have to put up with their nonsense.

 

[WestUniversity]

People that drive German cars, especially BMWs. Especially convertibles.

Hah! Don’t know about BMW’s but it seems like when I get cut off in traffic it’s all too often a guy in a Porsche. I mean they do have some sweet rides but I don’t need the added stress in traffic...[emoji15]

 

[folivier]

I'm not too worried about the guys in the Porsches, it's the idiots in the beaters who are trying to keep up with them!

 

[Sue J]

Haven't had a rant in a long time but I just got hit with the dreaded "Five Year Old Major Appliance That Needs An Expensive Repair".

My GE washer is not even 5 years old and it sounds like a freight train coming through the laundry room. It still washes just fine. Looking into this online it sounds like it's the bearing. I watched a video of a typical repair and you basically have to disassemble the entire machine. I called two local appliance repair shops. One does not work on GE but told me if they did it would be $380-$400. They gave me the name of another shop to call. A very helpful person priced it out and agreed it would be in the $400 range. This washer was $550 in June 2013!

So now I have to go through the whole process again - agitator or impeller, which brand is crap and which is still worth the money, dealing with sales people and discerning which "deal" is for real. I know I want a top load and I know what features I use and don't use. I know I don't need Bluetooth on my washer.

I asked the helpful person at the repair shop what brand to look for and she recommended the Whirlpool family (includes Maytag). I know they are all made differently than in the old days when washers lasted 20-25 years. But a five year lifespan with a 1 year warranty is just stupid and unacceptable!

 

[COcheesehead]

I'm not too worried about the guys in the Porsches, it's the idiots in the beaters who are trying to keep up with them!

Or the dudes that modify a Honda Civic to sound like a formula 1 racer and dodge in and out of traffic. The cars usually have a wing on the back painted some color other than the color of the car. Lots of white decals in the windows too.

 

[haha]

I WAS a little taken aback when I got to the counter at Subway with my sandwich once and found that the nice young man ahead of me, who looked like a typical blue-collar guy, had paid for my sandwich. Did I look THAT poor?

More likely, you looked that attractive!

Ha

 

[Badger]

I have a home near the beach. I like to take long walks on nice days and listen to podcasts. I smile and say "good morning (or afternoon or evening)" to everyone I see.

Some smile back and reply. Others don't.

I just keep walking and smiling. That makes me feel good, and far less likely to feel the need to rant.

Serenity now!

I do the same each morning through the quiet neighborhoods of our little town with a buddy but on a 30 year old rusty bicycle. Say good morning to everyone. Most people (young and old) smile and reply. I think they recognize us as regulars each morning. A tie-dye t-shirt on a bald and white bearded old man probably helps too.



Great way to start the day.


Cheers!

 

[audreyh1]

now that I'm older, I realize how useless rants are.

+1

You think you are letting off steam, but more often than not you get even more upset and can’t let go.

 

[audreyh1]

Or the dudes that modify a Honda Civic to sound like a formula 1 racer and dodge in and out of traffic. The cars usually have a wing on the back painted some color other than the color of the car. Lots of white decals in the windows too.

DH calls them rice burners.

 

[CardsFan]

DH calls them rice burners.

We used to call the Honda motorcycles "rice rockets". Both politically incorrect by today's standards.

How I long for the days when....... Oh, nevermind.

 

[John Galt III]

Haven't had a rant in a long time but I just got hit with the dreaded "Five Year Old Major Appliance That Needs An Expensive Repair".

My GE washer is not even 5 years old and it sounds like a freight train coming through the laundry room. It still washes just fine. Looking into this online it sounds like it's the bearing. I watched a video of a typical repair and you basically have to disassemble the entire machine. I called two local appliance repair shops. One does not work on GE but told me if they did it would be $380-$400. They gave me the name of another shop to call. A very helpful person priced it out and agreed it would be in the $400 range. This washer was $550 in June 2013!

So now I have to go through the whole process again - agitator or impeller, which brand is crap and which is still worth the money, dealing with sales people and discerning which "deal" is for real. I know I want a top load and I know what features I use and don't use. I know I don't need Bluetooth on my washer.

I asked the helpful person at the repair shop what brand to look for and she recommended the Whirlpool family (includes Maytag). I know they are all made differently than in the old days when washers lasted 20-25 years. But a five year lifespan with a 1 year warranty is just stupid and unacceptable!

Sue J, Great rant! I have a 1986 GE Hotpoint washer will still works fine, except for some rust which has developed somehow on the outside of the tub. It actually comes through those hundreds of holes in the clean ceramic, and leaves rust stains on my clothes if I leave them in too long after it stops. I'm trying things to fix the rust problem. If I had to get a new washing machine, it seems like a real gamble!

 

[EastWest Gal]

This is a rant and also funny. We keep getting robocalls in which Ooma tells us the city and state. We never answer them and never get a voicemail. But today we finally got an honest robocall. Here is the caller ID:

 

[EastWest Gal]

Deleted my post. Unnecessary post.

 

[scrabbler1]

EastWest Gal, according to the 800notes.com website, it's a scam to lower your electric rates. Seems like there are a lot of those types of scams.

 

[FIYes]

Okay, I came here to add today’s rant but see I am adding to a theme. We have a landline and we have Nomorobo on the line. So far today we have received 8 junk calls that I know of. Three calls that got through and I did not answer and five robo calls that rang once and were disconnected. I was out for a couple of hours so there may have been more then 5 robo calls. It is not even supper time yet!

 

[Walt34]

One of the most worthwhile purchases I've ever made on Amazon was this call blocker. It comes preloaded with 5,000 known spammer numbers and you can add up to 500 more as the need arises. We're now up to only 87 in about two years. There was a noticeable drop in the number of spam calls from day one. And it's even $10 cheaper now than when I bought it.

https://www.amazon.com/CPR-V5000-Ca...pID=41j66wWoJDL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

 

[Winemaker]

Best thing for us was caller ID. We look at ID and if we don't recognize number or expecting a call, we let the answering machine pick up. If it's someone we want to talk to, we answer, if not they hang up. we get maybe 3 unwanted calls a month by using this technique since we FIRE'D 3.5 years ago.

If we get a bum call on the cell, I just act like it's a vendor who is returning my call about an auto part for my antique dream car. I don't even let them get a word in edgewise, they hang up on me. I've been doing this the last 2 weeks.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

One of the most worthwhile purchases I've ever made on Amazon was this call blocker. It comes preloaded with 5,000 known spammer numbers and you can add up to 500 more as the need arises. We're now up to only 87 in about two years. There was a noticeable drop in the number of spam calls from day one. And it's even $10 cheaper now than when I bought it.

https://www.amazon.com/CPR-V5000-Ca...pID=41j66wWoJDL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

These are going to be obsolete soon as the spammers are now spoofing local numbers. My Dad gets 10-12 spam calls a day and almost all of them are ID'ed as the same area code and often same prefix. And, of you call the number back, 90% of the time, the person answering will be an unknowing victim of having their number "borrowed" by the scammers. The only real way to block ALL OF THEM is either, 1] call blocker that only allows your contacts to ring through or, 2] a system that I used many years ago on my POTS line...a call screener.

 

[scrabbler1]

These are going to be obsolete soon as the spammers are now spoofing local numbers. My Dad gets 10-12 spam calls a day and almost all of them are ID'ed as the same area code and often same prefix. And, of you call the number back, 90% of the time, the person answering will be an unknowing victim of having their number "borrowed" by the scammers. The only real way to block ALL OF THEM is either, 1] call blocker that only allows your contacts to ring through or, 2] a system that I used many years ago on my POTS line...a call screener.

Their effectiveness is already going downhill. I have had nomorobo on my landline for about 18 months and it went from blocking about 80% of the junk calls to maybe 50% of them. Spoofed numbers, even if they are not the "neighbor" type, don't get blocked. I look up the number of all junk calls, blocked or not, on my land line and cell phone (which can't block anything), on 800notes.com, also reporting any unblocked land line junk call to nomorobo.

 

[timo2]

These are going to be obsolete soon as the spammers are now spoofing local numbers. My Dad gets 10-12 spam calls a day and almost all of them are ID'ed as the same area code and often same prefix. And, of you call the number back, 90% of the time, the person answering will be an unknowing victim of having their number "borrowed" by the scammers.

My haphazard solution to this was to move to another state but keep my number. the spammers are still spoofing the local numbers from where I lived before. But since I have no business there any longer, and any friends are in the address book, I can automatically identify the numbers as spammers.

I also use the 'truecaller' app https://www.truecaller.com/ on my android phone. It uses crowd input to identify spam calls. It works on Androids much better than iPhones, because apple limits the way third party apps can replace the built in apps.

 

[Redbugdave]

I really don't have much to rant about anymore since I no longer have to go to work and money is no longer an issue. I am so happy to not be working. Life is really pretty good. If I did have a real rant it would be about all the litter people throw out everywhere. I constantly pick up trash and it really bothers me.

When I am out and about, I make an effort to say hello to people I don't know. I find that most people are like me and return the hello. I see it like all people are potential friends and we go around like turtles just waiting to come out of our shells. It does bother some if people act like turds. But I figure that you never know the situation another person is dealing with.

 

[John Galt III]

I really don't have much to rant about anymore since I no longer have to go to work and money is no longer an issue. I am so happy to not be working. Life is really pretty good. If I did have a real rant it would be about all the litter people throw out everywhere. I constantly pick up trash and it really bothers me.

.

Same here. Slobs like to throw empty beer bottles, soft drink bottles, wrappers, etc onto the street or sidewalk. I seem to be the only person on my block who picks up and throws out junk lying in the street, on the sidewalk, in front yards, etc. If some empty box winds up on someone's front lawn, after the recycling truck passes by, they just leave it there for days.