Comedic "things you would ban": minor things that irritate you

[Jimini]

The Avanti TVMs? I already posted on them somewhere. But a short summary is "not fit for purpose", possibly hovering somewhere around "deliberately rubbish to make people use their phones"?

Yep that's the one. I remember you posting in the past quite eloquently about why they're so poor (which they clearly are!).

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yep that's the one. I remember you posting in the past quite eloquently about why they're so poor (which they clearly are!).

TBH I'd say Avanti West Coast are not fit for purpose (not just the TVMs) and thus I would certainly ban them. Wouldn't significantly reduce the train service on offer if we did.

 

[py_megapixel]

Can I ban the ban on charging extra for card payments? I think it was introduced in the expectation that businesses would start treating them equally to cash, but what's actually happened is most of the ones that used to charge have introduced a minimum spend instead. Having to make sure my shopping adds up to at least £5, and decide what extra thing to buy if it doesn't, is far more annoying than just being charged an extra 50p!

 

[birchesgreen]

Got to be honest, i haven't seen a place with a minimum spend for ages.

 

[Jimini]

Couple of local newsagents still insist on a £5 minimum charge in South Woodford. One of them tried to keep up the 50p card transaction fee until most of us regular customers (he's opposite the local pub so does a decent trade out of most of us!) pointed out that he was being rather naughty doing so, so he reluctantly stopped that nonsense a while back.

 

[D6130]

There's a pub in Mytholmroyd which still insists on a £5 minimum payment for card transactions.

 

[Jimini]

There's a pub in Mytholmroyd which still insists on a £5 minimum payment for card transactions.

How much is a pint?

 

[D6130]

How much is a pint?

Between £3.20 and £3.90....depending on the strength - so you would have to buy a round or pay one on to use your card!

 

[bearhugger]

Got to be honest, i haven't seen a place with a minimum spend for ages.

I have to say in my experience, that there are far fewer places around my locale that still have the minimum charge but there are still a few places lingering on. Most are the £3 charge but the most expensive one I came across quite recently was £10 at a local army surplus type shop in town. As the total for my goods were only £5 and I only had my card and no cash, upon being told of the minimum spend my reply was "Ah ok, I'll leave it then!" and made a move to leave the goods at the till and walk out. "I'll see if it'll go through" - surprise surprise the payment went through without any issue!

 

[Techniquest]

Got to be honest, i haven't seen a place with a minimum spend for ages.

I think the chippy over the road from me still does a £10 minimum card payment, when I last went to that one a while back they had a notice asking people to pay cash so they could avoid too many card fees or something.

I usually go to the other nearby one, which is cash only. Such outrageous minimum spends put me off going to somewhere, quite happy to take my business to a shop that prefers to avoid cash! I think a chippy Malvern Link station still insists on a £10 minimum, which I guess for some people that would be fine but we don't all have families to spend fortunes on.

In a way, I don't mind as it encourages me to avoid unhealthy food!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The BBC talking about Messi. The way they’re talking, the other 10 Argentinian players may as well leave the pitch and leave it all to Messi.

Seems to have worked out quite well, just now.

 

[Pinza-C55]

The way to avoid ads following you around is to buy stuff in shops. If retaining privacy and anonymity is also important and it's true that most don't seem to care, use cash and don't have loyalty cards. Others not caring about their privacy and anonymity used to be an irritant in the early days of our Big Brother society but, as it doesn't affect me.....I don't care.

Yes, listening to long messages before getting through to someone. There needs to be a 'To skip this crap, Press 1' message.

They still know where you shop if you use a debit card. If you use a Club card in Tesco you get a lower price for some items but they know what you bought and where when you scan the card so they can still target you with ads.
One of my pet peeves is with my local branch of Morrisons. The price labels are printed in black on a dark brown background and very difficult to read. There's a very small price with a line through it and a larger price which is the price you pay as part of a deal when bought with other items. The goal appears to be to trick you with the deal price and hope that when you get to the checkout you don't notice you are charged the higher price.

 

[PeterY]

They still know where you shop if you use a debit card. If you use a Club card in Tesco you get a lower price for some items but they know what you bought and where when you scan the card so they can still target you with ads.
One of my pet peeves is with my local branch of Morrisons. The price labels are printed in black on a dark brown background and very difficult to read. There's a very small price with a line through it and a larger price which is the price you pay as part of a deal when bought with other items. The goal appears to be to trick you with the deal price and hope that when you get to the checkout you don't notice you are charged the higher price.

Tesco really annoy me with their dual pricing. I don't have a Club card (or want one) but I won't buy anything with a club card price. I tend to use Sainsbury's more but it's a bit further away from where I live but find they are selling the same items as Tesco Club card prices. .

 

[bspahh]

Royalty-free music, like on the NHS Couch to 5K MP3 files, where you get a 3 notes from a well known lick before it drifts slightly off.

Its like the slightly off Disney characters on ice cream vans

 

[gg1]

Got to be honest, i haven't seen a place with a minimum spend for ages.

My local chippy has a £5 minimum charge for card payments.

tbh I never had any objection to small businesses adding a nominal surcharge for card payments, it was only when the charge was excessive (ie when they were profiteering rather than simply covering their costs) that I had issue with it.

 

[Bletchleyite]

My local chippy has a £5 minimum charge for card payments.

Which means you can pay by card unless you're just having small chips or a can of drink. These days almost any chippy meal is over £5, certainly round here!

tbh I never had any objection to small businesses adding a nominal surcharge for card payments, it was only when the charge was excessive (ie when they were profiteering rather than simply covering their costs) that I had issue with it.

I'd rather a fee than payment by card not being allowed - I accept that if my life choices cost more than the default ones I should at least contribute. However, it should be what the card merchant charges plus a profit margin of no more than 10%. Of course cash isn't zero cost, but most cash processing costs only go away when you stop accepting it entirely.

 

[52290]

Which means you can pay by card unless you're just having small chips or a can of drink. These days almost any chippy meal is over £5, certainly round here!



I'd rather a fee than payment by card not being allowed - I accept that if my life choices cost more than the default ones I should at least contribute. However, it should be what the card merchant charges plus a profit margin of no more than 10%. Of course cash isn't zero cost, but most cash processing costs only go away when you stop accepting it entirely.

The Malt and Hops, close to Chorley station, has a minimum of £5 for a card payment. The staff let you pay for two and are adept at remembering that you've got one paid on. All the six or more cask beers are sold at the same price.

 

[xotGD]

Can I ban anyone sending me a work email for the next fortnight while I'm on holiday?

Returning to a bulging inbox is always a pita after a break.

 

[306024]

The darts referee who sounds like he is throwing up every time someone scores 180.

 

[Jimini]

The darts referee who sounds like he is throwing up every time someone scores 180.

Nah, he's an institution!

 

[py_megapixel]

Incorrect use of the phrasing "refine your search".

So many websites will say something along the lines of "No results - please refine your search." But refine, in this context, means to make something more precise (by applying filters or adding more keywords) - which is the opposite of what you want to do if the aim is to find something. A search which returns zero results will still return zero results if you narrow the criteria!

What it should actually say is "No results - please broaden your search."

 

[yorksrob]

Digital terrestrial television. One of the most useless piles of crap to be foisted on the public.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Digital terrestrial television. One of the most useless piles of crap to be foisted on the public.

How? I stream everything now, but what's wrong with it as a free service for those not wanting to do that?

 

[43172]

Transparent milk bottle lids.

 

[yorksrob]

How? I stream everything now, but what's wrong with it as a free service for those not wanting to do that?

It never works properly, that's what's wrong with it.

 

[birchesgreen]

It never works properly, that's what's wrong with it.

Never had any problems with it, are you using a metal coathanger for an aerial?

 

[Bletchleyite]

It never works properly, that's what's wrong with it.

It always worked perfectly for me. I'd suggest getting your aerial checked, adding an amplifier if necessary and replacing the box if it's that. It's a simple technology and there's very little wrong with it in terms of what it is intended to do. It's better than regular terrestrial both in terms of efficiency of bandwidth use and in terms of the services on offer including HD, which normal analogue PAL didn't do.

 

[D821]

People writing inverted commas around the pre-printed message inside Christmas cards. Why??

 

[duncanp]

Can we please ban the speeding up of people in the background of TV programmes and news reports.

I was watching BBC News this morning, and the presenter was in Whitehall talking about the year in UK politics.

However the people in the background walking along Whitehall were artificially speeded up so that they all appeared as a blur.

What is the point of this, and what does it achieve?

It is beyond annoying as far as I am concerned.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Can we please ban the speeding up of people in the background of TV programmes and news reports.

I was watching BBC News this morning, and the presenter was in Whitehall talking about the year in UK politics.

However the people in the background walking along Whitehall were artificially speeded up so that they all appeared as a blur.

What is the point of this, and what does it achieve?

It is beyond annoying as far as I am concerned.

It might just be a quicker (see what I did there ) and cheaper way of anonymising the crowds, as opposed to having to blur out each individual face in every frame.