Any question answered...

Seen him in central on a Brompton recently too. Also jumping a red

Thanks for the recommendations guys!

Any particular reason?

The inability to merge orders from multiple virtual shops and save on shipping annoys me but otherwise they have been okay.

it was a few years back to be fair, but when i used them for the brand i was working for at the time the quality was extremely variable, we had a lot of returns. Personally i thought the standard of the blank tees was pretty poor in the first place, but the on-demand aspect was ethically and practically appealing so we gave it a shot.
The samples were fine, but the ones we had returned were dodgy colours, poor quality and inconsistent printing. Final straw was the level of support we had in light of these problems, aka couldn't give a fuck.

Order brand new carbon wheels
Wait a thousand years to have them dispatched due to supply chain issues
They get lost in the post
Vendor chases it up, they finally get delivered. Not in the original packaging, just cable tied together loose in an unsuitable not-quite-taped up slightly squashed box.
Vendor's response is basically 'Oh no, we're very sorry, oh well, blame parcelforce'.

Bit of a visual check and they appear to be undamaged. But am I an idiot if I go riding around on carbon wheels that have been on an unknown voyage of discovery? Should I get them checked by a shop first? Or should I just be 'This is bullshit, I want a refund' and go through all the hassle of sending the fecking things back?

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I would send them back for a refund, just to be a cunt to a retailer who thinks

Oh no, we're very sorry, oh well, blame parcelforce

is an appropriate response.

Is the vendor a business or someone in the cycle industry? If so, you have all the cards.

Check the carbon for scratches, dents, chips, or other damage. And for signs of wear. Then check the hubs and freehub. If it’s all pristine, you might be fine; if there’s any marks, document and reply to seller; if there’s any damage, return to sender for full refund.

What's the warranty situation?

Hmmm...one of the rims appears to be marked around the edge. It's pretty faint but it's not exactly confidence inspiring. Vendor is a business. Have gone back to say 'Thanks for your completely inadequate response, have a gander at this, also can you guarantee you'll accept a return if I send them back in the box I received them in?'

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3 year warranty.

Absolutely not acceptable. Send them back

OH has rented a car and was told that there is no cover if the car gets stolen.

My understanding was that the way rental car insurance works is that you have punatuve excess (which they'll sell you rip off insurance to cover) but your liability is capped.

Eg.

€30k car
€1k excess

Scn 1 - Car is stolen (-€30k)
You pay €1k
Rental's insurance covers €29k

Scn 2 - car is minor damaged (-€500)
You pay €500

Surely they must have 3rd party fire and theft by law, right?

Surely they must have 3rd party fire and theft by law, right?

No, by law the driver must have in place 3rd party cover for injury to persons or damage to their property. It is not a legal requirement to cover any of your own losses.

So my excess policy covers the excess, but then how do I normally cover the principal?

how do I normally cover the principal?

You purchase an indemnity policy from an insurance company. Usually you buy this through the hire company. It's unusual for the policy recommended by a hire company to exclude all theft claims, but many motor insurance policies exclude certain theft claims under a variety of circumstances, all of which boil down to the driver made it easy for somebody to steal the car. Is this what is actually the case and your OH has just misunderstood the matter? The ombudsman can be pretty harsh on insurers who don't give sufficient prominence to such exclusions when selling policies, so it's possible that the hire agent has gone to the other extreme and over-egged the pudding.

Relevant Finnemore: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b09nxzn7

This is why I always get my hire car insurance from an independent supplier.

This is the most hipster thing I’ve ever read.

But is that a full insurance policy or the excess cover? Do you have a link to the one you got?

We have an annual excess cover, but annoyingly I put it on my name rather than family.

Basic insurance will usually be included when you book car hire, but you'll still have to pay an initial amount (or 'excess') if you have a crash or there's other damage to the car.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-car-hire/#excess

Is this what is actually the case and your OH has just misunderstood the matter?

My guess is that it would have been a sales spin and misunderstanding. This is why we generally only go with the main brands now. But that wasn't viable this time.

Either way it's done. But I now want to be sure that the annual excess I have in place is sufficient.

Wait.

We don’t own a car (live on the Z1/Z2 border in London so don’t need one) therefore we don’t have car insurance.

Are you all telling me that if I hired a car and it was stolen, I would be liable for it because I hadn’t taken the offer of the insurance at the hire desk?

I was always under the impression that the insurance offered was just an excess waiver. I buy third party single trip excess cover for car hire, but never considered the car being stolen.

EDIT: my usual third party insurance covers theft.

But is there still a case where someone hiring a car could be liable for full replacement in the event of theft!?

Nah, it’s the least hipster thing.

least interesting question ever: i have a company laptop for the uni i work at. last night i was prompted to download windows 11, the prompt had the university’s logo. when i wake up this morning the log in screen has a different user name and I can’t log in. uni service desk says the new user name is not on their system?! there doesn’t seem to be an option to change user and i have shut and turned on a few times

Sounds a lot like malware. Turn the machine off and give it to the IT department for them to isolate and run whatever forensics tools they have. Change your password for important things usita different machine. Check your email accounts for anything you didn't send, your bank accounts, online shopping etc.

is there still a case where someone hiring a car could be liable for full replacement in the event of theft!?

Yes, whether it's a hire car or your own car covered by your own "comprehensive" insurance, there are likely to be some theft exclusion clauses. Typical exclusions are when you left the vehicle unlocked with the key in the ignition, when a member of your household stole it, or when it was stolen by deception.

Right. But what if a car thief smashes a window and hot wires the car and drives it off?