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Just Saying -- the soapbox thread

Started by alanp, December 01, 2013, 03:30:01 AM

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Govmnt_Lacky

PSA for those that travel and book through 3rd parties......

I booked a family vacation hotel stay apparently through a 3rd party (I was linked to it via the hotel website without knowing) and received what I thought was a decent price for the entire hotel stay. Upon departing the hotel on the last day, I was given a printed receipt for my stay. Funny thing was, the total on the receipt from the hotel was exactly $372 LESS than what I paid  >:( After WEEKS of back-and-forth communication with the booker and hotel, I discovered that the 3rd party had added the extra expense as "Taxes and Fees" even though their policy stated that they only charge a $14.99 booking fee. Also learned that the hotel was NOT supposed to give me a receipt. Now I know why.

Currently have a BBB claim against them and awaiting mediation.

Bottom line... ALWAYS get a hotel receipt when you check out and compare that to what you paid (if booked via a 3rd party)

EBK

You may also consider filing a fraud report with the FTC.
https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/

You won't benefit directly from doing so*, but if the FTC or DOJ ever investigate that third party, they can use what they have in their database as evidence.

*Settlements between companies and the FTC aimed at compensating consumers financially are rarely satisfactory and thus rarely pursued.  Instead, the FTC is likely to force a stop to the unfair/deceptive activity and require corrective disclosure of the company's policies.
"There is a pestilence upon this land. Nothing is sacred. Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress in this period in history." --Roger the Shrubber

davent

Sampling of fifty savory non-dessert pies from all over Europe, filled with vegetables or meat or fish or poultry or cheese or eggs or  various combinations... Pot pie apparently was a Roman Empire dish served at banquets.

https://www.tasteatlas.com/50-most-popular-savory-pies-in-europe

Europe & beyond.

https://www.tasteatlas.com/most-popular-savory-pies-in-the-world
"If you always do what you always did- you always get what you always got." - Unknown

If my photos are missing again... they're hosted by photobucket... and as of 06/2017 being held hostage... to be continued?

Govmnt_Lacky

Don't know how many of you fine people reside in the state of Pennsylvania but, I hope you are all getting serious kick-back checks!

Just got billed for a 290-mile round trip car ride through the state on the Turnpike. Total cost = $81  :o

For those that don't want to bother with the calculator, that would be $0.27 per mile!

I don't remember seeing any gold in them roads!

jimilee

By who?


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Pedal building is like the opposite of sex.  All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

Govmnt_Lacky

#1040
Quote from: jimilee on October 06, 2021, 02:36:02 PM
By who?

That would be the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Collectors for the toll roads.

They don't have people working the toll booths anymore. It is all automated. Go through the toll booth and it snaps a pic of your license plate and they bill you. Got 2 separate bills. One for the trip there. One for the trip back.

Bill #1 = $46.70
Bill #2 = $33.60

That is just RIDICULOUS!

jimilee

Quote from: Govmnt_Lacky on October 06, 2021, 02:46:44 PM
Quote from: jimilee on October 06, 2021, 02:36:02 PM
By who?

That would be the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. Collectors for the toll roads.

They don't have people working the toll booths anymore. It is all automated. Go through the toll booth and it snaps a pic of your license plate and they bill you. Got 2 separate bills. One for the trip there. One for the trip back.

Bill #1 = $46.70
Bill #2 = $33.60

That is just RIDICULOUS!
That's insane. Is there a way to avoid toll roads?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Pedal building is like the opposite of sex.  All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

Govmnt_Lacky

Quote from: jimilee on October 06, 2021, 02:56:55 PM
That's insane. Is there a way to avoid toll roads?

There always is. Until now, it was always better to pay the tolls to save the added time. Now, it may just be worth the extra few hours  ::)

thesmokingman

Quote from: davent on September 29, 2021, 04:00:33 PM
Sampling of fifty savory non-dessert pies from all over Europe, filled with vegetables or meat or fish or poultry or cheese or eggs or  various combinations... Pot pie apparently was a Roman Empire dish served at banquets.

https://www.tasteatlas.com/50-most-popular-savory-pies-in-europe

Europe & beyond.

https://www.tasteatlas.com/most-popular-savory-pies-in-the-world
some of the unmentioned ones I regularly frequent here in Tampa include Jamaican beef patties and the various Cuban entries like pastelitos con carne, deviled crab, papas rellenas, or croquetas de jamon ... a little closer to my midwestern roots I feel like tamales should count as well as bierocks and kolaches
once upon a time I was Tornado Alley FX

alanp

For a couple years now, I've had better luck crimping molex connectors with needlenose pliers than my crimping tool.

I found out a couple weeks ago that there is more than one kind of crimping tool. The one I have is meant for crimping round sleeves over stranded wire. (It's also dead keen for crimping spade connector-y things.)

Bought a proper molex crimping tool from Tayda. So much pain and hassle I could have skipped!
"A man is not dead while his name is still spoken."
- Terry Pratchett
My OSHpark shared projects
My website

alanp

The nice thing about the Melbourne Cup being on this year is that, even though I really don't care about a load of ponies running around in circles, my bosses do. So, on Cup day, it tends to be an early day.
"A man is not dead while his name is still spoken."
- Terry Pratchett
My OSHpark shared projects
My website

Muadzin

Unexpected side benefits of the job for the win?

alanp

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX3CN4-sw0zOgp-ahZ5vrVgpZGydHEr1s

It's a list of videos, this time. All stationary steam engines running rice mills in Myanmar, all at least 90 years old, some 100, one 120 years old, all still chugging along.

It isn't as stupid as you might think, too. They're usually in remote, rural areas where electricity is not reliable, and fuel costs a lot of money. Steam engines will run on anything burnable... like, say, the chaff from the rice, which the mill owner would otherwise have to pay to have taken away, so the engine effectively runs for free.
"A man is not dead while his name is still spoken."
- Terry Pratchett
My OSHpark shared projects
My website

jimilee

Quote from: alanp on November 12, 2021, 02:39:55 AM
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLX3CN4-sw0zOgp-ahZ5vrVgpZGydHEr1s

It's a list of videos, this time. All stationary steam engines running rice mills in Myanmar, all at least 90 years old, some 100, one 120 years old, all still chugging along.

It isn't as stupid as you might think, too. They're usually in remote, rural areas where electricity is not reliable, and fuel costs a lot of money. Steam engines will run on anything burnable... like, say, the chaff from the rice, which the mill owner would otherwise have to pay to have taken away, so the engine effectively runs for free.

Without watching the video, what heats the water, and is it clean energy?
Pedal building is like the opposite of sex.  All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

alanp

The chaff from milling the rice -- basically the shell around the part that you actually cook and eat. (If you eat brown rice, you sometimes get a grain with a husk around it. That's part of the chaff.) It goes from the milling machinery to the firebox.

And yeah, it is not green in any way at all, other than the fact that it's making use of the chaff, rather than dumping it in a river or something.
"A man is not dead while his name is still spoken."
- Terry Pratchett
My OSHpark shared projects
My website