Random Rants LVII: wow. many anger. very whining.

[Cutlass]

I've been working way too much past few months. And so have been letting a bunch of things slide. One being an oil change on my car. Not long enough to be dangerous to the engine, but too long. So I finally get a day off, and as I get up the thermometer reads 4F outside. Not gonna change the oil myself, so I take it to Jiffylube. What I don't like about these places is that they use the oil price change as a teaser to get you in and try and sell you more stuff. But knowing that, I'm not buying. So the guy comes out to try and upsell me, and here he's holding a filthy air filter and saying I need to change it for $24. Now I do know enough about fixing my own car so that I know I can buy a filter for about half that at NAPA and install it myself in just a minute or 2. So I refuse their offer and after the oil change I stop at NAPA. The air filter the woman at the counter looked notably different from the one the man at Jiffylube said he took out of my car to show me. So I looked under the hood, and took the woman's word for it. It fit, didn't take long at all to put it in. But it was easily twice the size of the one that the guy at Jiffylube had showed me. So that guy was lying, and they just had an old filthy one sitting in a box to con unknowing customers into buying more than they need.

 

[Antilogic]

For some reason, the internet browser on my phone is taking me to "update.appfansworld.com" and telling me in broken English that I need to fix up my phone because it is out of memory or something. I can't tell if this is a pushy pop-up advertising or a hijack, but either way I'm not saying okay to whatever malware it wants to install.

And some online googling has not revealed who these guys are, so I'm starting to think the worst.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Yeah so someone with a terribly thick accent just called me from a 202 area code telling me I had 'won a 9000 dollar grant once in a lifetime opportunity from the federal government'.

I asked her to just skip to the part where she wanted my personal banking information and/or a fee to collect my money. She played dumb for a bit but finally hung up.

Now I'm at the FTC's terrible website trying to log the complaint.

I may have to call her back later and taunt her.

 

[Antilogic]

I can't stand those scammers. But you can't do too much or they retaliate by continually harassing you.

The worst I had to deal with was the customer service for some supposed data backup service where they thought my name was (usually) Sarah, (sometimes) Carol, and (rarely) another name given to the same but wrong gender. They would keep hanging up when I asked basic details like what the name of their business was or did they have a website or how they got my number.

Long story short, I was subjected to calls at least once per half hour or so for about three days straight. Blocking the numbers was a near-useless because they had a new one each time. I would have just stopped answering my phone but because I'm looking for a job, I kinda need to answer unknown numbers.

 

[azzaman333]

4am and still having difficulty falling asleep so may as well internet for a bit and try and become sleepy.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I can't stand those scammers. But you can't do too much or they retaliate by continually harassing you.

The worst I had to deal with was the customer service for some supposed data backup service where they thought my name was (usually) Sarah, (sometimes) Carol, and (rarely) another name given to the same but wrong gender. They would keep hanging up when I asked basic details like what the name of their business was or did they have a website or how they got my number.

Long story short, I was subjected to calls at least once per half hour or so for about three days straight. Blocking the numbers was a near-useless because they had a new one each time. I would have just stopped answering my phone but because I'm looking for a job, I kinda need to answer unknown numbers.

So I reported this to the FTC because they were pretending to be US Government officials (which raises the seriousness level quite a bit) but if you are on the Do Not Call Registry then you should report most scammers/telemarketers there. They get slapped with a massive fine pretty quickly (if they can be tracked down).

Plus, after you have reported a telemarketer and they get fined, the volume of calls you receive will drop off a cliff. Not sure how effective it is with scammers though.

 

[sophie]

I can't stand those scammers. But you can't do too much or they retaliate by continually harassing you.

The worst I had to deal with was the customer service for some supposed data backup service where they thought my name was (usually) Sarah, (sometimes) Carol, and (rarely) another name given to the same but wrong gender. They would keep hanging up when I asked basic details like what the name of their business was or did they have a website or how they got my number.

Long story short, I was subjected to calls at least once per half hour or so for about three days straight. Blocking the numbers was a near-useless because they had a new one each time. I would have just stopped answering my phone but because I'm looking for a job, I kinda need to answer unknown numbers.

Yeah I had this happen to me once on my old phone. I'd go to sleep and wake up the next day to find 40 missed calls, 15 voice messages (of just a minute of silence), and 25 text messages. They were all for a Julie or Cindy or whatever. I started answering them and replying "I am on the FTC Federal Do Not Call List. You are not legally allowed to telemarket to this number and if you do not stop I will report you to their website." After a day or so of doing that it stopped.

 

[Verarde]

<snip>
So that guy was lying, and they just had an old filthy one sitting in a box to con unknowing customers into buying more than they need.

Is there some sort of crime that they are committing? Perhaps they didn't because you didn't fall for it, but if they've deceived other customers before, that has to be illegal. Somehow.

rant: I've worked a ton of extra hours over break and covered a lot of shifts, several of them last minute, but when I ask to take one day off, it's a problem? Screw you, owner. I'm out of there after this semester. I'm not going to work somewhere I'm not appreciated.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Is there some sort of crime that they are committing? Perhaps they didn't because you didn't fall for it, but if they've deceived other customers before, that has to be illegal. Somehow.

rant: I've worked a ton of extra hours over break and covered a lot of shifts, several of them last minute, but when I ask to take one day off, it's a problem? Screw you, owner. I'm out of there after this semester. I'm not going to work somewhere I'm not appreciated.

It's probably attempted fraud, but I'm not sure attempted fraud is itself a crime...

Proving it would be hard and probably not worth the time, which is how they get away with it.

I've been working way too much past few months. And so have been letting a bunch of things slide. One being an oil change on my car. Not long enough to be dangerous to the engine, but too long. So I finally get a day off, and as I get up the thermometer reads 4F outside. Not gonna change the oil myself, so I take it to Jiffylube. What I don't like about these places is that they use the oil price change as a teaser to get you in and try and sell you more stuff. But knowing that, I'm not buying. So the guy comes out to try and upsell me, and here he's holding a filthy air filter and saying I need to change it for $24. Now I do know enough about fixing my own car so that I know I can buy a filter for about half that at NAPA and install it myself in just a minute or 2. So I refuse their offer and after the oil change I stop at NAPA. The air filter the woman at the counter looked notably different from the one the man at Jiffylube said he took out of my car to show me. So I looked under the hood, and took the woman's word for it. It fit, didn't take long at all to put it in. But it was easily twice the size of the one that the guy at Jiffylube had showed me. So that guy was lying, and they just had an old filthy one sitting in a box to con unknowing customers into buying more than they need.

Similarly, I took one of our cars to my grandmother's favorite Ford dealership where they tried to tell me I needed to replace the cabin air filter.

I didn't and when I had it taken to another dealer I asked about the cabin air filter and they promptly told me that this particular make and model doesn't even have a cabin air filter.


Also, the bad dealership once replaced the cooling radiator fan on my car which involved a ton of electrical work (they told me that). When I went to pick up the car, the radio and interior lights no longer worked. At that point they proceeded to tell me they hadn't touched the electronics/electrical connections despite 20 minutes prior telling me the opposite.

I was young and dumb and took it off the lot instead of forcing them to fix it.


So yeah, if anyone is ever in Waterloo, Illinois - avoid Sunset Ford.

 

[Cutlass]

Is there some sort of crime that they are committing? Perhaps they didn't because you didn't fall for it, but if they've deceived other customers before, that has to be illegal. Somehow.

rant: I've worked a ton of extra hours over break and covered a lot of shifts, several of them last minute, but when I ask to take one day off, it's a problem? Screw you, owner. I'm out of there after this semester. I'm not going to work somewhere I'm not appreciated.

I don't know. I could probably have lodged a complaint with the state department of consumer protection, the Better Business Bureau, maybe some other organization. But I doubt anything would have come of me doing so.

 

[Cutlass]

It's probably attempted fraud, but I'm not sure attempted fraud is itself a crime...

Proving it would be hard and probably not worth the time, which is how they get away with it.



Similarly, I took one of our cars to my grandmother's favorite Ford dealership where they tried to tell me I needed to replace the cabin air filter.

I didn't and when I had it taken to another dealer I asked about the cabin air filter and they promptly told me that this particular make and model doesn't even have a cabin air filter.


Also, the bad dealership once replaced the cooling radiator fan on my car which involved a ton of electrical work (they told me that). When I went to pick up the car, the radio and interior lights no longer worked. At that point they proceeded to tell me they hadn't touched the electronics/electrical connections despite 20 minutes prior telling me the opposite.

I was young and dumb and took it off the lot instead of forcing them to fix it.


So yeah, if anyone is ever in Waterloo, Illinois - avoid Sunset Ford.

It's extremely hard to find auto mechanics that you can truly trust.

 

[shadowplay]

I don't know. I could probably have lodged a complaint with the state department of consumer protection, the Better Business Bureau, maybe some other organization. But I doubt anything would have come of me doing so.

Don't ever trust a place with "lube" in it's name. You're going to end up getting it in the rear, no lube.

 

[gay_Aleks]

Blah. I will now experience the joy of being sick and feeling terrible.

Fortunately, I have the second best medicine after, well, taking your medicine, and that would be punching Powder Gangers in the face.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Is it spring yet? Is it spring yet? Is it spring yet?

 

[gay_Aleks]

No, it's winter. Winter is here, and it's here to stay.

 

[Snerk]

Indeed. The winter is just getting started.

 

[Takhisis]

I was out playing football today.

 

[Cutlass]

Football is a winter sport.

 

[Takhisis]

But that pic's not from a football match&#8230;

 

[Cutlass]

Sorta looks like one to me.