Monumental Stupidity
I was sitting in the British Consulate today watching a Foreign and Commonwealth Office video on the glories of Britain. As propaganda it was topnotch. Oh, the lovely Scottish glens! Ah multi-cultural Britain! Yes, the splendours of Sir George Gilbert Scott’s Victorian edifices! etc etc. Made me feel quite happy and excited to be going back.
Had to apply for an outrageously expensive (GBP500) settlement visa in the end. They said, the rules for returning residents is that you have to have been resident in the UK less than 2 years ago. Well, why didn’t they sodding well say that yesterday? I told them at the time that I had been out of the UK for the past 7 years. What is the point of saying, let us consider it, as if they have any discretion, if they don’t? Asinine bureaucrats.
Also arguing with some idiotic letting agents in London who charged GBP800 on my credit card as a deposit for a flat which then fell through. They claimed to have voided the charge, but when I checked on my credit card account, the GBP800 had gone through and had not been reversed. When I enquired, the agents sent me a screendump which showed that they had attempted to void the transaction, but with a statement on the top of the screen saying that it was impossible to void a transaction that had already settled. Considering the transaction had already settled by the time the flat fell through, I would have thought it was obvious to the meanest intelligence that therefore the Void attempt would have failed. Why am I having to explain to these idiots how their own credit card system works? Or to explain to them how they can check their own bank reconciliations against their own accounts to understand that they are now GBP800 richer than they should be? What function do these people fulfil on the planet, since clearly performing their jobs competently is not in their scope?
How, in short, is it possible to be this stupid?
Had to apply for an outrageously expensive (GBP500) settlement visa in the end. They said, the rules for returning residents is that you have to have been resident in the UK less than 2 years ago. Well, why didn’t they sodding well say that yesterday? I told them at the time that I had been out of the UK for the past 7 years. What is the point of saying, let us consider it, as if they have any discretion, if they don’t? Asinine bureaucrats.
Also arguing with some idiotic letting agents in London who charged GBP800 on my credit card as a deposit for a flat which then fell through. They claimed to have voided the charge, but when I checked on my credit card account, the GBP800 had gone through and had not been reversed. When I enquired, the agents sent me a screendump which showed that they had attempted to void the transaction, but with a statement on the top of the screen saying that it was impossible to void a transaction that had already settled. Considering the transaction had already settled by the time the flat fell through, I would have thought it was obvious to the meanest intelligence that therefore the Void attempt would have failed. Why am I having to explain to these idiots how their own credit card system works? Or to explain to them how they can check their own bank reconciliations against their own accounts to understand that they are now GBP800 richer than they should be? What function do these people fulfil on the planet, since clearly performing their jobs competently is not in their scope?
How, in short, is it possible to be this stupid?
posted by FBT at 11:13 am
11 Comments:
The grasping oafishness of the letting agent is understandable (you'll find a great decline in standards of service, intelligence and competence in the time you've been away), but the five hundred quid just to come back in is wicked. Go to Monte Carlo instead.
Bastards.
I am confused, is it out of the UK for more than two years or onlky lived in the UK for less than two years.
500 quid **** thats loads of money. What do they do with that then I wonder.
The estate agent, oh yes you have it the bane of life. A pimply little twat whose sole reason for living is to sell property/lease property to unsuspecting people. The trouble is fbt you gave them a credit card, they have no control of their senses (what little they have anyway) and exploted their position. Like QAmerican presidents never trust an estate agent for anything.
Sorry about all the typos its too early.
You need a beer and cheese sandwich at The Mitre on your arrival
I need a vodka tonic now, and it's only 3.30 in the afternoon!
Random Thoughts! The Mitre! What a bloody good thing to be reminded of at this time of day.
I used to work right next door. Assuming we are talking of the same place, which we might not be, but I'm chuffed anyway.
Britain may be crap, but at least you can go to pubs and get beer and cheese sandwiches.
Are they soggy? Or is it beer bread? Beer cheese? I'm confused. Beer and cheese sandwiches sounds wet. Oh! Is it like those English bread puddings only savoury?
I believe real Welsh rarebit has beer in the cheese mixture...
The Mitre I know is between Hatton Garden and Ely Place near Holborn. It has a tree growing in the middle of it and the chairs have not been replaced in 200 years. The bars are tiny but it is the best pub ever.
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