Car (or bike) Chat!

[Marco]

"Del! Put down that Sudoku and keep your eyes peeled for a petrol station! The Brabster's tank has gone to three quarters full!"

"Seriously? It can't wait till we get back to Wrexham? It's got us to York and halfway back, surely we'll be ok?"

"Yeah but it might cost more than £45 to top up, and you know I hate touching those dirty Covid buttons! I only do contactless"

"Just put on those Marigolds I bought you for your birthday, and you'll be fine".

"I left them at home, on the bedside table, remember?"

"I'm trying not to remember. Shame you weren't doing contactless then. That poor sheep."

If we're going on a long journey, we always fill up at our local Texaco station before we go (and a full tank in the Brabster is good for the best part of 600 miles), not only to avoid having to stop anywhere for fuel, but to ensure that the car runs on the fuel that it performs best on, and also to maximise our reward points.

Then when we return, the tank is immediately filled up at the same place. In that respect, there's been nothing else in it but Texaco Supreme diesel, since we took the car to Italy four years ago!

And so the only time the car runs on less than half a tank of fuel is when we're a long way from home, otherwise there's always at least that much in it or more. Btw, I also often pay by cash at filling stations, so no need to touch any buttons then either

Marco.

[Marco]

Almost missed this one - if you're already in your bank, why use their ATM? Why not go to the counter? You're reliance on technology is contributing to Doris behind the counter being 'retired' early

Indeed, but it's usually quicker to use the ATMs, as there's invariably a queue to see the one (or maximum) two members of staff operating the counter, such as the times we're in now where machines are slowly (but surely) replacing people - and I've got my lunch to go back to!

Marco.

[Pigmy Pony]

Aside from jobs, dealing with less people and more machines, when conducting our daily lives, for me makes the whole experience more soulless, and simply serves to further dehumanise our society, which is becoming more devoid of human interaction everyday, to the point where the human race we've created is so painfully lacking in people skills, and with next to no personality.


Marco.

Re. your comments about using ATMs in banks, instead of counter staff, this is what my previous post should have been replying to. We are all guilty of this to some degree. Don't forget to wave at Doris next time you're using their ATM, she won't be there much longer.

[Marco]

Yes, but it's all a question of balance. I'm hardly ever in the bank, so my behaviour will have minimal impact on such outcomes. If you want something to blame for bank staff losing their jobs, blame the Internet, as most folks now conduct their transactions online!

Marco.

[struth]

most banks here are or have closed

[Pigmy Pony]

Yes, but it's all a question of balance. I'm hardly ever in the bank, so my behaviour will have minimal impact on such outcomes. If you want something to blame for bank staff losing their jobs, blame the Internet, as most folks now conduct their transactions online!

Marco.

Absolutely, and Mrs. P is guilty of that. Not me, I have no money

[Pigmy Pony]

most banks here are or have closed

Same here, and my nearest RBS is Preston town centre, 10 miles away, so balls to that.

A couple of years ago, a customer paid me by cheque, and having no paying in book I had to go to the bank rather than Post office. 10 miles of diesel each way, and 2 quid for parking. for a sixty quid cheque.

Sat on the pavement outside the bank was a homeless dude with a dog on a string. I went across the road to the bakery and bought him a pie and a coffee (not giving him cash ) which was another 3 quid. So about 20% of my cheque gone, along with two hours of my day.

I suspect the rising popularity of internet banking, along with branch closures, is driven not by customer preferences, but by corporate greed but what can you do? They're all the same, so voting with your feet isn't an option

[struth]

Same here, and my nearest RBS is Preston town centre, 10 miles away, so balls to that.

A couple of years ago, a customer paid me by cheque, and having no paying in book I had to go to the bank rather than Post office. 10 miles of diesel each way, and 2 quid for parking. for a sixty quid cheque.

Sat on the pavement outside the bank was a homeless dude with a dog on a string. I went across the road to the bakery and bought him a pie and a coffee (not giving him cash ) which was another 3 quid. So about 20% of my cheque gone, along with two hours of my day.

I suspect the rising popularity of internet banking, along with branch closures, is driven not by customer preferences, but by corporate greed but what can you do? They're all the same, so voting with your feet isn't an option

son is with tsb. they just closed too. gonna have a pop up bank every now and then apparently. sad days but i suppose they are expensive to run... a web site is easier.

[dave2010]

son is with tsb. they just closed too. gonna have a pop up bank every now and then apparently. sad days but i suppose they are expensive to run... a web site is easier.

I opened an account with the Coop. I expected a welcome pack through the post, telling me how to do the online banking. Nothing!

I phoned up and was told - oh - you just go online and get it set up. Download the app on your phone and you'll be good to go.

Totally useless, it was not easy - and basically didn't work, and now they have over £1000 of my money which I can't get at easily. I don't mind some online banking, but I do like the systems to work.

I'm not sure if there are any Coop branches in Scotland, so i may have to wait until I'm next time I'm somewhere in England to try to get this sorted.

The local TSB branch has closed - another nuisance, and Santander is somewhat variable. I'm not sure if I can still do the online stuff with them. It was working fine a couple of years ago with codes, but then they decided to change the interface and the login procedure.

As for systems which use 2nd factor authentication - total ***** nuisance.

Procedure:
1. Start to login on one machine.
2. Get a notification that there'll be a code on a mobile phone.
3. Find mobile phone
4. Get a notification that the code has now expired.
5. Try again on the first machine. Now code doesn't appear on mobile phone as lousy mobile phone signal.
6. Go into garden to find code.
7. Go back and enter code. Now the code has expired again.
8. As above steps 5-7 - but try to do it all quicker.
9. Give up - throw all the technology stuff into nearest dumpster!

Modifications of above:
3a: ***** mobile phone battery has run down ...
3b: Charge up mobile phone
3c: Try whole *** thing again an hour later.

[struth]

I opened an account with the Coop. I expected a welcome pack through the post, telling me how to do the online banking. Nothing!

I phoned up and was told - oh - you just go online and get it set up. Download the app on your phone and you'll be good to go.

Totally useless, it was not easy - and basically didn't work, and now they have over £1000 of my money which I can't get at easily. I don't mind some online banking, but I do like the systems to work.

I'm not sure if there are any Coop branches in Scotland, so i may have to wait until I'm next time I'm somewhere in England to try to get this sorted.

The local TSB branch has closed - another nuisance, and Santander is somewhat variable. I'm not sure if I can still do the online stuff with them. It was working fine a couple of years ago with codes, but then they decided to change the interface and the login procedure.

As for systems which use 2nd factor authentication - total ***** nuisance.

Procedure:
1. Start to login on one machine.
2. Get a notification that there'll be a code on a mobile phone.
3. Find mobile phone
4. Get a notification that the code has now expired.
5. Try again on the first machine. Now code doesn't appear on mobile phone as lousy mobile phone signal.
6. Go into garden to find code.
7. Go back and enter code. Now the code has expired again.
8. As above steps 5-7 - but try to do it all quicker.
9. Give up - throw all the technology stuff into nearest dumpster!

Modifications of above:
3a: ***** mobile phone battery has run down ...
3b: Charge up mobile phone
3c: Try whole *** thing again an hour later.

think there is only one branch in scotland now.. gordon st in glasgow; near queen st station