What is your pet peeve of the day? -- 2021

[Car-Guy]

Winners are "having fun", losers, not so much. I one armed bandit folks look like they are "at work".

+100 Seldom see folks that are playing slots smile too much.

 

[John Galt III]

Because they can...

Yes, aggravating web site design, like Vanguard. I just want to browse the options that are available to buy, I do not want to buy. But they make you click on BUY. You then wonder how far you can go until you are stuck doing something you don't want to do. And contradictory messages. Screen A says you have X amount, screen B says you have Y amount, screen C says you have zero. Arggghhh.... Once you figure out all their mistakes, it is usable, but why do they make it so hard?

 

[pacergal]

Part of the retail experience is illusion. It is part of a front line's job. It is part of their being a salesperson. Everyone in retail is sales, like it or not.

What would we rather have them say?

"You look like you just woke up. Having a bad day? Mine sucks too. Hope yours gets better. Ours will, we're going out to smoke a J on our next break. Hope nobody in back spit in your food. See ya."

 

[pacergal]

some so called rewards coupons.
Tried to use one at a local hardware store $5 off if you spent $25 or more. Needed a new CO alarm, saw one for $26.45, coupon didn't work as they "already had a discounted price on it" which was not on the price sticker.
And no, I am not going to go buy a pricier one in order to get $5 off.

Sometimes its just easier to pay the full price!

 

[disneysteve]

Here's a pet peeve of mine.

When I go to a restaurant and order a "SANDWICH" and what is served is an oversized, stuffed, dripping with sauce, falling apart mess that can't possibly be picked up and eaten like a sandwich. It's a knife and fork meal. It just happens to involve some sort of bread.

If I wanted a platter, I would have ordered a platter. If I order a sandwich, it's because I was in the mood for a sandwich. (Open-face hot turkey or roast beef doesn't count because everyone knows that is actually a platter.)

 

[Markola]

Yeah. And when they bring your sandwich, you are polite enough to say, “thank you,” to which they say “no problem.” ….(I’ll show myself out now!)

 

[Out of Steam]

Web sites used to have a big "Login" button at the top of the page, like the one here on this site. Then many switched to just a small login text link buried within other stuff on the page. Now it seems many aren't even including that.

I think it's connected with the fact that most people use browser settings that keep them logged in to sites they use regularly.

Since I find that web browsing gets creepy if too many cookies and other tracking means stay on my computer, I'm an exception to that, wiping cookies when I shut down the browser.

 

[aaronc879]

My neighbor sits in his car with it idling for hours at a time. He has a truck with an illegal cut off exhaust so it is louder than it should be and it gives off WAY more dangerous fumes than it should. How does anyone think that is ok? He does it often. Right now it's been running for over 3.5 hours straight. Crazy.

 

[Markola]

^^.What must it be like inside his house for him to want to sit in his truck for hours?

 

[aaronc879]

^^.What must it be like inside his house for him to want to sit in his truck for hours?

I don't know. He is a 30 year old who lives with his Grandma. He is a trouble maker and a public nuisance but nothing that gets him locked up. His vehicles are not registered and his license is suspended but the police won't do anything. He has no car insurance and the exhaust noise is illegal but nearly impossible for police to enforce. I think he just plays on his phone, maybe he falls asleep sometimes because this isn't the first time it's been 4 hours+.

 

[Koolau]

Keep in mind, when the Chik-fil-a employee says 'my pleasure' they are saying that because it's part of their job and it's a condition to keep that job. It's not necessarily because they really mean it. It's hard to believe they get real pleasure out of handing someone a chicken sandwich.

Yeah, I did a lot of stuff at Megacorp I didn't really want to do and still managed to be pleasant to the people who had my next pay check in their hands. Funny how that w*rks!

 

[Koolau]

My neighbor sits in his car with it idling for hours at a time. He has a truck with an illegal cut off exhaust so it is louder than it should be and it gives off WAY more dangerous fumes than it should. How does anyone think that is ok? He does it often. Right now it's been running for over 3.5 hours straight. Crazy.

This poor guy must need some serious intervention. I wonder what his issues are. So sorry you're stuck close to someone who acts out in such an unneighborly fashion. Bummer.

 

[Sue J]

New peeve for me.....

I looked up where to buy an accessory add on for one of our grandson's toys. It's just a car and a couple people to go in a garage and I thought it would be a great addition. Searched the maker and item number. It shows at places like Target, Walmart, Macy's, etc but it's out of stock everywhere. It's probably discontinued. Ah, there it is at a bookstore in Vancouver, Canada. Good price, free shipping and in stock!

I put it in the cart and pay with PayPal. But it doesn't connect right with PayPal so I tried it again, this time with a credit card. Hmm, did not get a confirmation or an order number. So I check my account with the merchant and it shows both orders as Pending. Darn, I'll have to get one of those cancelled.

No option to cancel but there is a "Contact Us" link. I fill out the form and when I submit it says it's not able to submit, try again later. They are on the west coast and it's late here, I'll try in the morning. Same error the next morning.

The website shows their address but no phone number. It's in a nice mall. The mall website has a list of stores and a map. Can't find this merchant, maybe they moved. Maybe they closed. So I google the name of the bookstore looking for a current address and phone number.

Uh, oh. Many bad reviews, reports to BBB and Canadian Police (RCMP). Not just bad customer service but the whole website is fake. There is no toy car in stock, there is no bookstore. It's a scam website. And I gave them my credit card number, name and address.

I called the credit card issuer and asked them to flag the transaction and reject it. Nope, we have to close your credit card. Yes, I understand. And I'm kicking myself! This is our everyday card that pays 2% cash rewards on purchases. We don't use it for any auto payments so I don't have to deal with those. New cards coming in 5-7 days. All the rewards will transfer, etc.

As for PayPal I turned off auto login on all our devices and activated two factor authentication. And I'm watching our account for any weirdness.

We do online transactions all the time and now I'm questioning every website. I'm a careful person and I got bit by a snake.

 

[ls99]

My neighbor sits in his car with it idling for hours at a time. He has a truck with an illegal cut off exhaust so it is louder than it should be and it gives off WAY more dangerous fumes than it should. How does anyone think that is ok? He does it often. Right now it's been running for over 3.5 hours straight. Crazy.

One way not to hear the list of honeydoo jobs.

 

[disneysteve]

I've got another one. I sell a lot on ebay but also list items on Facebook Marketplace and a couple of other local buy/sell groups. There is a ridiculous number of people who message me, ask about an item, say they want it, set up a time to come for it, and then simply never show up. And I never hear from them again. No "Sorry, I changed my mind" or "I'm not going to buy it after all" or anything. Just totally ghosted.


I had one a couple of days ago who messaged me in the morning, said she would come at 1:15 on her lunch break, just a couple hours later, never showed, and when I went to message her to touch base, she had removed herself from the chat so I couldn't even contact her.


Today I had someone message me. I gave her info and sent her photos. She was very interested and we arranged for her to come after dinner (after 6). It's now 7:30 and I've heard nothing from her and she hasn't responded to my message.


This happens a lot. If you can't make it, that's fine. If you changed, your mind, that's fine. Just tell me that. It takes 5 seconds to shoot me a message to let me know not to wait around for you.

 

[ModestNestEgg]

I've got another one. I sell a lot on ebay but also list items on Facebook Marketplace and a couple of other local buy/sell groups. There is a ridiculous number of people who message me, ask about an item, say they want it, set up a time to come for it, and then simply never show up. And I never hear from them again. No "Sorry, I changed my mind" or "I'm not going to buy it after all" or anything. Just totally ghosted.


I had one a couple of days ago who messaged me in the morning, said she would come at 1:15 on her lunch break, just a couple hours later, never showed, and when I went to message her to touch base, she had removed herself from the chat so I couldn't even contact her.


Today I had someone message me. I gave her info and sent her photos. She was very interested and we arranged for her to come after dinner (after 6). It's now 7:30 and I've heard nothing from her and she hasn't responded to my message.


This happens a lot. If you can't make it, that's fine. If you changed, your mind, that's fine. Just tell me that. It takes 5 seconds to shoot me a message to let me know not to wait around for you.

I've always wondered about sellers that are selling items for amounts like $3 and $5 where they have to physically meet them for a transaction, and thought that personally that wouldn't be worth the very hassle of dealing with a litany of flaky people. Maybe for a higher dollar item, it might (?) be worth it. But either way, I would find what the no-shows did to you really obnoxious too.

 

[disneysteve]

I've always wondered about sellers that are selling items for amounts like $3 and $5 where they have to physically meet them for a transaction, and thought that personally that wouldn't be worth the very hassle of dealing with a litany of flaky people. Maybe for a higher dollar item, it might (?) be worth it. But either way, I would find what the no-shows did to you really obnoxious too.

I usually don't bother selling really low dollar items online unless I have a bunch of them. For example, I recently acquired 21 totes of china - tea cups, saucers, bread plates, teapots, etc. Not worth selling on ebay. Not the season for a yard sale. So I listed them locally fully expecting that there would be people who would want to buy 10 or 20 or 30 pieces at once offsetting the low per item price. I've already gotten 4 seemingly serious responses, folks who have legit FB profiles, asked reasonable questions, were excited when I sent photos, and scheduled a time to come by. So far, 0 have shown up. 3 have totally ghosted me. The woman who was supposed to come tonight finally responded to my message 2 hours later saying she changed her mind.


If it was April or May, I would just do a yard sale or two and sell them there. That's probably what will end up happening anyway if I can't get someone to actually follow through as scheduled. I was just hoping to not have them taking up space for the next 3 or 4 months.

 

[Car-Guy]

I don't know. He is a 30 year old who lives with his Grandma. He is a trouble maker and a public nuisance but nothing that gets him locked up. His vehicles are not registered and his license is suspended but the police won't do anything. He has no car insurance and the exhaust noise is illegal but nearly impossible for police to enforce. I think he just plays on his phone, maybe he falls asleep sometimes because this isn't the first time it's been 4 hours+.

Clearly he doesn't care but have you talked to his grandma about it? Maybe she cares what the neighbors think. Or maybe she doesn't want him in the house.

 

[aaronc879]

Clearly he doesn't care but have you talked to his grandma about it? Maybe she cares what the neighbors think. Or maybe she doesn't want him in the house.

She has lived her for 50 years and there are still a couple neighbors who have known her for 40+ years. They don't want to upset her by trying to get her grandkid in trouble so they just let it be. If she passes and he gets the house then things may change. I have not talked to her. She is rarely outside and I don't feel comfortable approaching the house if he is around. Not without being armed.

 

[W2R]

She has lived her for 50 years

That is so cool! I wish I had lived here for 50 years. I'd know *everything* about the neighborhood, where to buy the best stuff for the best prices, and so much more. I'll bet she'd be interesting to talk to some time if you ever feel like it.

 

[Texas Proud]

I don't know. He is a 30 year old who lives with his Grandma. He is a trouble maker and a public nuisance but nothing that gets him locked up. His vehicles are not registered and his license is suspended but the police won't do anything. He has no car insurance and the exhaust noise is illegal but nearly impossible for police to enforce. I think he just plays on his phone, maybe he falls asleep sometimes because this isn't the first time it's been 4 hours+.

Not sure where you live but it might be the prosecutor that is the problem and the police know that nothing would be done if they arrested him...


It was a long time ago but I think I had read that like 70% of the crime is caused by just a few criminals...

 

[folivier]

Here's my latest: people who post on Facebook marketplace and in their ad say "don't ask if it's available, if ad is up it's still available". Ok, so I contact the person with a couple relevant questions. After a few days get a response back: "Oh that? I sold that weeks or days ago."
But your ad is still up?
I think it's the whole "It's my world and my rules" thing.

 

[FindingForward]

I wonder if that means the same as disney employees' expression of "have a magical day". The expression has, according to some underground meaning, a less than pleasant inference.

It's the Mouse version of "Bless Your Heart"

 

[ModestNestEgg]

I usually don't bother selling really low dollar items online unless I have a bunch of them. For example, I recently acquired 21 totes of china - tea cups, saucers, bread plates, teapots, etc. Not worth selling on ebay. Not the season for a yard sale. So I listed them locally fully expecting that there would be people who would want to buy 10 or 20 or 30 pieces at once offsetting the low per item price. I've already gotten 4 seemingly serious responses, folks who have legit FB profiles, asked reasonable questions, were excited when I sent photos, and scheduled a time to come by. So far, 0 have shown up. 3 have totally ghosted me. The woman who was supposed to come tonight finally responded to my message 2 hours later saying she changed her mind.


If it was April or May, I would just do a yard sale or two and sell them there. That's probably what will end up happening anyway if I can't get someone to actually follow through as scheduled. I was just hoping to not have them taking up space for the next 3 or 4 months.

I'm sorry people can't be more considerate. I hope you get everything sold without the aggravation!

 

[Time2]

Hahah, very clever idea someone had there. Of course, DIYers and LBYM guys like me (and you, JoeWras) will just use electrical tape cut to the right size, but something like this could be useful as a travel accessory. I can't count how many times I've turned the lights out in a hotel room or Airbnb only to be ambushed by a piercing green LED light coming from the TV or cable modem across the room!

The absolute worst use of an irritating and unnecessary LED light has got to be in an air purifier I bought years ago. I use it at night in my bedroom to provide gentle air circulation and white noise, but there is NO WAY to disable the blue LED lights mounted just under the top control panel. Even covered with electrical tape, the blue light seeps out through the small openings in the plastic grill! It boggles the mind that not only did they make the LEDs always-on, they used blue ones!

I once wrote a story about our LED Haunted World, along these lines,

I wake up and see the green LED on my phone charger cord and the red LED on my Internet radio, I roll over to see my LED clock, I get out of bed and in the hallway and see the LED on the battery charger plugged in to the wall. When I walk into the dining room there is my sons computer, with a red and green LED, then another red LED on his monitor the same with my computer with red, green and white LEDs. the router above has 5 green LEDs the modem has 6 green LEDs with, I walk into the kitchen and there are green LEDs on the stove, Blue LEDs on the Dishwasher and red on the microwave. No need to turn on a light, I'm oriented by where the LEDs are. But, then if I open the refrigerator door, I'm "blinded by the light"