[DavidGordon10]

Let’s bring up an old rant.

Why do they have seat recline in short-haul economy?

Yes, I know that one passenger may think that he or she has purchased the right to tip the seat back in my face, but I think I have bought the right to the (already limited) space in front of my nose. So we are in conflict, so let someone resolve this: no recline, or maybe all recline simultaneously.

I have just arrived at GVA from LHR (on Swiss) with a seatback in my face. The passenger in the offending seat made no effort to put the seatback upright on descent, and the cabin crew made no check. I did complain to the chief cabin attendant.

[AnthonyDunn]

Ian, I have just trawled back through my iPhoto app to remind myself of the lift instructions kindly provided at the Beyangol (business) Hotel, Chinggis Khaan Avenue in Ulaanbaatar. The first boldly proclaimed “Warning: Do not by touch hand!” whilst the second stated “Do not recline for dangerous fall down!” Clearly there was a need for the second notice in the offending lift you frequented.

Beyond that, I am still mulling over making a Trip Advisor posting about the Beyangol because, in the words of my ex-Holiday Inns Asia-Pacific colleague, “whilst the service was repeatedly flawed, their service recovery was, at least, prompt….!”

The first problem, despite asking to be put on one of the business floors, was that wifi access was only available either from a particular spot sitting on the loo or out in the lobby by the lifts. As there was an out-of-Olympics world judo competition taking place at the time, the place was packed with some serious Teutonic muscle which insisted on Skype conversations in the lobby in the early hours. Not good. So, I insisted on a move – and was given a newly refurbished room which supposedly had hard-wired as well as wifi… Neither worked, so a further trip to the front desk. Operative dispatched who worked out that the cables had not been correctly connected – at which point internet yes but TV…. Err, sort of. It was at the time of the World Cup final so whilst it may have been taking place at four in the morning, I might have liked to watch it other than through a blizzard effect.

Came back to the room the following evening and sat down on the side of the bed only to have the entire edifice collapse around me. As the front desk knew me well enough by then, the manager came up to look this time, soon followed by sundry other staff – some of whom were clearly desperately containing their sniggering: “So, this is the standard of our newly improved rooms…”

But at least, being Mongolian, they were entirely charming about everything at all times.

My rant? Beyond taking HM Border Agency /Force /Department /Service (whichever it is this week) to task upon recent return into LGW for the utterly inept queue management (apparently Gatwick’s responsibility….), selfish oiks who appear to think that buying a ticket for anything gives them the right to put (dirty) feet on seats, drop their litter, turn lavatories into cess pits and generally despoil their environment for all others. Manners maketh man and the total lack on consideration for others by some is positively stupefying.

[MrMichael]

AnthonyDunn, with you on the inept q management by the UK border dillons at LGW, but would add LHR T3 to it as their skills in managing the queues could be bettered by a short sighted half wit.

[DavidGordon10]

Why do they do that?

How can a mobile phone company, when providing a new, upgraded phone, look at my pattern of usage, and say, yes, you need quite a bit of data in Europe but you turn it off outside Europe, you also make a lot of phone calls within mainland Europe and to and fro between mainland Europe and the UK, so the package of calls and data you need is this, this and that.

Then NONE of the features I have bought, NONE of them, works. They start to work after the first complaint….. then give up working at 14.30. I am here in Geneva trying to get some work done guys, provide me with what I have paid for, please.

[MartynSinclair]

Interested David as to who you use for data in Europe.

I have an old T Mobile legacy contract which EE are refusing to renew on the basis that it does not earn them any profit.

[IanFromHKG]

Well seeing the earlier comments about ATMS is bringing me back to my original rant, since I had to visit an ATM over the weekend and… I can’t see half the keyboard because of the stupid hood they put over it now, and I can’t bend to look at it, nor can I see half the screen because, again, some bright spark decided the screen should be the level of my navel and the keyboard at the level of my crotch. What are they expecting me to operate the keys with at that height??? And precisely where do they think my eyes are located? The mind boggles

Again, I am all in favour of accessibilty, but for ****’s sake why can’t they make that work in both directions and have at least one machine high enough for a normal human to use, and especially one high enough for a tall person to use without contorting themselves?

This is all driving me mad, as you can imagine. For heaven’s sake, at the moment *I’m* disabled, but I can’t properly use any of the things designed for disabled people. Disability manifests itself in ways other than being wheelchair-bound, something which seems to have escaped the health and safety crew completely. Grrrrrrrrrr

[canucklad]

Well since the ATM theme has returned, I’ll indulge in letting off steam…….

Needing some Canadian Dollars and walking down that most English of sounding streets in my hpme town of Richmond, “Westminster Avenue” , I stroll up to the Bank of Montreal……….or as they’re now known “BMO” ….Wait a minute BTer’s……I feel .a rant diversion…….

RBS…….You’re the ************** Bank of Scotland
ING …..You’re a ********Dutch bank
RBC You’re the ****** Royal Bank of Canada
The lot of you, get a bloody grip !!

Now back to the original rant……..Oh, yes strolling up to “BMO’s” ATM I pull my Clydesdale Bank card out and insert it into the slot……..to be confronted with ……..,

????—??????—????……………all across the screen
EDIT to add….the question marks above should have been Chinese lettering ….

I’m in, RICHMOND, BRITISH Colombia , on WESTMINSTER Hwy in Canada, whose 2 official languages happen to be English and French !!
When I’m in HK it’s easier to follow the on screen instructions !!

Political corredtness gone mad!!

Oh, I finally managed to work it out, as one of the random buttons I hit took me to the french instructions……

[IanFromHKG]

Actually, RBS the ************** ROYAL Bank of Scotland (there is another institution called the Bank of Scotland – wonder what they call themselves? BS? But I digress…)

And while I agree with you to some extent, be thankful you don’t have to say “The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited” every time instead of HSBC!!

[MrMichael]

Bring back W&G I say, I used to like them, personal service went out the door when they were taken over by the Midland, now of course as Ian_from_HKG says, The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited…or was it Nat West, I dont actually remember now.

[canucklad]

Totally agree Ian, HSBC is exempt from my rant. Especially since their DB branch has rescued me on a few occasions: )
It’s a far better managed Scottish bank than the bank that has a Royal seal. It followed old fashioned Scottish banking principles whilst it’s Edinburgh based competitor seemed to indulge in practices more commonly found in Macau.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ MrMichael – 27/01/2015 11:15 GMT

As a long-standing Williams & Glyn’s account holder, yes things went comprehensively t*ts up when they were subsumed into the warm embrace of Fred the Shred. Midland Bank at least had the prescience to set up First Direct which is one of the reasons that they were such an attractive takeover target for HSBC.

[PerthWA]

Canucklad and Ian HKG
I do believe the Royal bank of Scotland for some unknown but obviously good reason “bought” Bankwest, other wise known as the Bank of Western Australia and aka before that the R&i Bank. Of course all of this was pre during and after Alan Bond so who knows what the ATMs dispense these days! Or even where they are.

[canucklad]

@ PerthWA
I think most of us were proud to see RBS grow into a global bank, always remember the posters that bolded read “RBS welcomes you to Hong Kong”
And by all accounts I suppose as a British taxpayer I’m glad that Fred the shred’s testosterone outlasted his Barclay’s counterpart. Apparently if Barclays had beaten RBS to ABN Amro then the debt would have been too great for a bailout, Barclays would have gone to the wall and the economy would really have been in the…………
And as an added bonus I can now jibe my mate who works for RBS, by calling him Quentin Crisp….And no he doesn’t mince about, but he is now a Civil servant : )

[TiredOldHack]

And, from the ski slopes, comes another late addition.

Self and Dr TOH, queueing for our flight check-in to the Alps, and my hand luggage is slightly overweight, and Dr’s is slightly underweight. Desk Droid makes me unpack the extra and put it in hers. For God’s sake, why?.

And then she spots my newspaper and magazines and tells me that if my bag is weighed again at the gate, these will be added to it and if that brings the bag overweight, I’ll be liable to a £50 surcharge.

Thank you, Monarch. You really are a festering boil on the backside of aviation.

[icenspice]

@ian

Why is it almost impossible to book a smoking room in many parts of the world?

Does my f*****g head in.

I will avoid Heathrow hotels and the US unless absolutely necessary.

Long live balconies with fresh air.

And I know all about excruciating backpain so I hope it gets better.

[Author]

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