Anomnomnomaly

Some people RGB simply because they're convinced it will make their system cooler... without any regard for the actual useage situation. Take that black friday build video Linus and Anthony did the other day... I started watching but eventually turned it of when it got so stupid that I could no longer be bothered... Linus was more focussed on buying products with RGB in them as if it was the better part... without any consideration for what he was actually building... A VR HTPC system... a system that needs to be both quiet and as invisible as possible... a system that you can't see when using a VR headset and a system that should never become a distraction to what you are trying to watch on the screen. Once he started talking like that... It was simply stupid... and it put me off watching for another second. RGB has it's uses, for those that think it makes their system pretty... those who think of their PC as a fashion accessory rather than a simple functional tool... People who want to display their system. But it has no function outside of that... doesn't improve your abilities, doesn't make it faster and it's only cooler to people who have also bought into the fallacy that RGB is some how cooler and makes you better for having it. So once Linus started down that path... it became moronic... if he'd simply made the case that the item he chose was based on price/performance alone and that the RGB would be turned off because it's a distraction for that use case I'd have respected it... but as it stood... I sat there thinking what a f*cking stupid video and watched something else instead.

The way I look at the current streaming market is simple... the more services that come online, the more fragmented the market becomes which in turn makes it more expensive for the consumer and that leads to arise in people pirating content. This is at a time when access to media was actually reducing piracy. You will always have those that download everything and never buy anything... that's not gonna change. It's those who would buy services if they could, that's who they started targeting and it was very successful... I'm one of those people. But fragmenting the market as they are, pushes content out of my price range and there's no way I'm ever going to subscribe to a new service just because it has 1 or 2 shows that I'd like to watch... So that leaves me with another choice. What I'd really like to see is some legislation that truly levels the playing field... A timed exclusive for original content on that streaming platform and then after say... 12 months it's to be offered up for sale to other services. It's what they used to do for OTA TV shows... syndication... although I think that was restricted to shows that had passed the 52 episode mark so that you could broadcast 1 episode a week all year. Something like that in this case would benefit the whole market, allow companies to compete for business on their exclusives whilst allowing those who can't afford to subscribe to half a dozen or more services to eventually watch the shows later. It won't happen of course... because that would mean applying some common sense and logic to a situation that's only focussed on greed... But if they did the research on numbers it would make sense. Would a company rather earn a small amount each year... say 30 million D+ subs or license out some of the shows 12 months later and reach a target of 180 million people (netflix currently has around 150 subs).... The total number of potential customers only rises from there once you start adding in other services... 300 or so million with Prime, Hulu, Starz and all of the others. It's the most logical and sensible answer to the question... which is also the reason it will never happen. Most of these companies can't see past the next quarters sales figures let alone look at the bigger picture... Long term smaller income vs short term higher income.

the way I look at the whole issue... is that it's simply raised enough questions about their service that it would make me seriously reconsider if I wanted to be a customer of theirs... and if I could trust them in the future. That's all the relevant info most people need... I suspect that most people... myself included use a VPN in part to get around geo blocking of sites and to help protect privacy to some degree... at the very least it stops my ISP collecting and selling my browsing habits/data for ad revenue. I do as much as I can to make any data collected by anyone... as close to worthless as possible... that includes script/cookie/ad blockers, a VPN, a neutral search engine (duckduckgo) and I disabled as much telemetry as I can within android and windows. I sandbox sites in containers within firefox to further stop leakage. I also avoid the biggest data harvesting sites... so no google or facebook sites ever... got them blocked in my hosts file along with others as well as at the router level... and if I visit a new site (and it works without enabling all of the 3rd part scripts/trackers and so forth) I'll happily spend a minute or two blocking specific elements to make the site cleaner and safer. Sometimes this means it breaks a site, I can live with that... most info can be found in multiple places... so any single site is superfluous to any ones needs really. A VPN is not fool proof, but it's just one tool in a bag of many tools you can use to make your data almost worthless to those trying to collect it.

As a former casual rugby player during my school days... I can confirm.

My current set up is pretty similar to yours. There's an AOC C32G1 currently on a black friday sale on Amazon here in the UK for the same price as the 24G2U, it's a curved panel 144hz and a whopping 31.5" vs the 24" the only real difference I can see is that one is curved and the smaller one is flat. I've got the 27" version of this monitor myself which I also got in the black friday sales... I actually bought 2 but had to return one due to transit damage and am actually considering the bigger one when the refund comes through (if it's still on sale) Plus I'm betting it overclocks like mine does... I'm currently running at 1440p/144hz without any issues at all... lovely smooth gameplay and freesync for my 5700XT. After gaming on 75Hz for the last couple of years and before that just 60hz... It's a lovely little upgrade.

Most monitors you buy in the EU should include both a UK and EU style plug... at least that's been the case with the last 3 monitors I've bought 2x Acer and 1x AOC. I've also found that both of those brands also include both a HDMI and Display port cable too... which is nice.

Sounds like it could be a simple case of having an older 1.4 spec HDMI cable... get a 2.0 one or switch to a proper display port one. I'm getting 144hz over display port on mine.

I've been considering my options and I'll re use the old double stand and see if that can fit 2x27" properly... put the new one in the corner and reorganise the desktop as my main is normally in the middle... At least I can get most of the stands of the desk that way... and I don;t 'need' two 144hz monitors, I just thought as they were on sale, it'd look cool to have them curved in the corner. So I'm kinda OK with just getting refund for now. I can put that money towards rebuilding my mediaserver in the new year as that's still on windows 7 which is EOL in Jan. So new MB/CPU is required, I've already got 32GB of DDR4 3200 as I originally got 64GB for this build but it was overkill. I'm waiting for the B550 boards to come out so I can get one of those and a Ryzen 9 3900X for my gaming rig and the 2600x can go into the media server.

I'd never actually had a bad panel in the last 10-12yrs. I've had a BenQ 24" 1080p for about 9yrs and it's still going strong, my mum has a 24" Asus 1080p since 2012 that's working perfectly well. I had a couple of 4:3 HP business grade panels that were used 24/7 for years before I got them and had thousands of hours on them... got rid of those in 2010... and a few years ago I bought a couple of Acer 27" that work perfectly too. Going back to the mid 2000's I'd had a few 17" and 19" 4:3 panels that had the odd dead sub pixel but still worked fine when I sold them on. But today.. I received 2 AOC 27" 144hx monitors and one was damaged out of the box with visible screen delamination in 3 places... the other one is fine and looks great. But gotta send one back.

I've had a triple monitor setup for a few years now... nothing special, 2x 27" 75hz Acer that can be overclocked to 1440p@ 75hx and an old 24" Benq 1080p 60hz panel that I have to one side in portrait. Kinda looked like this before I built my new system earlier this year. I've replaced mouse/keyboard this year too but kept the monitor setup. Then I spotted some AOC 144hz curved monitors in the black friday prime sale... and as I was a little flush this month... Decided to buy 2 of them. I also threw in a triple monitor mount for up to 27" to replace the double one I've got and get rid of that little stand in the right corner. Everything arrived today and I spend 2hrs messing around... first the stand was too heavy and was bending the back of the desk up... Was worried it might actually split the wood. So I got underneath and braced it with some thick batons to resolve that issue. Then I started mounting the new monitors and discovered that it cannot fit 27" monitors properly at all... or maybe it's just curved ones that it struggles with. But the curve isn't that bad... but the overlap is and the height is 2" lower on one side and you've only got about 1.5" of adjustment. So even if they fitted properly you can't get them level. So that's gotta go back... Not a major issue, I can manage for now... the new ones have height adjustment whilst the old ones don't... But at least they can be lowered to be level across all 3. So I remove the mount and fit the stands to the monitors and that's when I just happen to position one of the screens in the right light and angle to see what appears to be delamination under the screen in 3 places. So now I've got 2 items to return and there's no option to return/replace only return/refund and because it was in the prime sale... by the time I get my money back, I'm not going to be able to get one at the same price again... and I'm not paying the extra £70. I could still do a triple 27" setup, but they'd be sitting too low for my liking and the point of the triple mount was to get cables and stands off the desk to create more room. But at least one of them works, (insert caddyshack meme) which is nice.. and I can confirm that these panels will do 144hz 1440p

Fair use for non profit is the only legally defensible answer to that argument... if they got paid by a comic dept owned by disney for a piece of work that they copied for personal use that's owned by disney... Then they'd have grounds for being sued themselves. A simple acknowledgement that the scene was inspired by said person is all that could be done here. Also.. regarding your comments about anyone who would dare to say anything about their dislike of what has been done to the SW franchise... calling people out for 'toxic shit' is just as disrespectful as what you accuse them off... So you might also want to 'knock that shit off' as you put it

Every article keeps going on about the razor being the first flip phone and the year 2003 keeps being mentioned... But a friend of mine had a flip phone back in 98, I remember because he kept trying to use it like Captain Kirk and failing... and 98 is when he moved away and we lost touch not long after. After some quick research... the motorola StarTAC was the first ever flip phone released in 1996... at least the first with the familiar clamshell design... But in 1989, they also released the MicroTAC which was a semi flip design.

I've heard the name mentioned, but I've never seen a single one of his videos and wouldn't recognise him if you shoved a picture in front me with his name written on it. The same applies to all of these so called 'influencers' whose names you keep hearing thrown around. I'm not interested in the shallow, vapid, ravings of the self obsessed and those that are... I feel sorry for. It's like the Kardashians... I've heard of them... but have no fucking clue what they look like really.

hot fizzy lemonade (sprite), some honey and some paracetemol capsules (not tablets)... you want drinks that coat and sooth the throat.... I'd take lozenges like Halls or Fishermans friends but I cannot abide the taste and have a strong gag reflex so I can't even suck on a sweet that tastes bad to me. Even minty things makes me retch which is bad for a sore throat.

I find that funny.. because there's no way in hell I'd ever actually buy anything from them ever again... After years of avoiding them... last week I needed a new microwave convection oven to replace my now 11yr old one. I went in a few places, but it's getting hard to find one that I need... most are microwave/grill without the convection oven part... and I need to check dimensions. So I ended up buying a Kenwood one that was on sale £55 off and just £125... I was expecting and prepared to pay up to £200 for a decent one. Got it home, opened the box and found that it had been dropped hard on one corner. Very little visible damage to the box but the entire oven was twisted, bent out of shape and the door had popped open and would no longer close. Took it back a few days later, expecting to get a replacement... Only to over hear the woman in front me at the returns desk had exactly the same problem with the Samsung microwave convection oven she'd bought a few days earlier too. This was almost 11am on a Sunday, they'd been open less than 1hr. So I asked for a refund instead and pointed out that perhaps they need to look into how they're getting damaged and why they're being sold when damage has occurred. Lesson learned... never think that perhaps they're better than they used to be... they're not... never shop at a currys/pc world.

The same one I mentioned in my post, as well as mentioning the currency for it in the subject header and the post multiple times.

I've not had a laptop for about 14-15yrs now, my last one was a Pentium 4 that's how long it's been. But I find myself often needing something a little better than my tablet when I'm away from home... From various requirements like watching movies on a decent sized screen, to working on docs/spreadsheets and being able to access diagnostic software for cars as well as being able to upgrade/update the scan tool firmware and d/base. It needs to be fairly powerful, but not gaming powerful... at least not modern games, be nice to throw on a game of Civ 5 every now and again. Decent amount of ram in the 16gb range, good storage with ability to add a second M.2 to expand it. Most of the reviews I see only deal with the higher end and completely ignore the price range I'm looking at... not to mention that reviews in GB pounds are even more scarce and with the way we get screwed on tech prices... if it's $500 then we'll be paying at least £500 maybe more. Take the recent RX5700 XT prices... the Sapphire Pulse 5700 XT is around $420 but here in the UK it's £440 or more which is closer to $500. To answer a few obvious questions... I won't touch a chrome book, I've no experience with linux nor with macs of any kind in over 20yrs. I don't need a 4k screen, nor HDR and I won't be creating content on it, it doesn't need a mechanical switch keyboard or a touch screen but it does need a decent trackpad or be so good in other areas that I can overlook the trackpad and plug in a mouse of my own. Bluetooth would be a bonus as would a decent webcam with a cover/switch to disable it and the mic... and of course up to date spec wifi and an ethernet port. I don't see the need for thunderbolt/lightning (very, very frightening) ports so a mix of USB 3/C is just fine. Does such a laptop exist in that kind of price range... or at least very, very close to it... At a push I could stretch to £500. But I'd like to have something before the middle of Dec.

I learned to drive on a manual... I can drive both an automatic & a manual... You learned to drive on an automatic... You cannot drive a manual only an automatic... So already... my skill/knowledge level when it comes to basic driving ability is greater than yours. It doesn't matter one tiny little bit if you 'want' to drive a manual, or 'need' to drive a manual... You have limited your ability to drive other vehicles... It matters not one bit of the majority of cars sold are automatics... it only means that you can never drive a manual unless you relearn how to drive using one.... I already know. It's not any kind of elitism... it's simple truth... I can drive both kinds, you cannot. I can jump out of my car and into an auto... you cannot do the reverse... Your lack of a desire to do so, is irrelevant. You lack the ability to complete such a basic task and your entire argument is that you have no need of it... and that's fine. But you cannot do as much as those that can do both. If having a wider skill set than you makes me a d-bag... then I guess not knowing how to do it, makes you a f-wit.

Close, but not quite... You are only legally required to have the TV license if you are watching broadcast TV and or via catchup on the BBC iplayer app (it was changed a year or so back). It is perfectly legal to own a TV if it cannot receive a broadcast signal without needing the license. For example, I have no cable/satellite service in my home and the TV in my lounge has no ariel wired up to it. Technically I could refuse to pay for the license as I am not watching broadcast TV... But I do watch catchup TV on my PC and my TV in the bedroom. But 95% of my viewing habits are streaming from Netflix, Prime and my own mediaserver... So even though that remaining 5% is BBC related streaming. I'm still legally required to have a license. The BBC doesn't come around to your house... it's farmed out to Capita who are well known to use dodgy tactics to try and scare people. You are quite right when you say they have no legal right to enter your home, nor do they have any right to ask you questions at all. In the UK there is a little bit of legislation called 'implied right of access' this allows people to step onto your property for the purpose of knocking on your door, delivering mail/parcels and so forth. But this right can be removed for a company... So if you get these 'capita' arseholes knocking... print out a letter and give it to them when they come... If they step foot on your property again.. they are trespassing and a complaint can be made to the police for it. People got fed up with their tactics and so devised a way to fight back... You can also right to TV licensing and demand that you be removed from their lists if you have no ability to watch broadcast TV. They also try and get you another way... for those in the UK... if you've ever bought a TV and been asked for your name/address at the purchase point... You do not have to give it. It's a way to pass on details to them... Not sure how that would be viewed these days against the GDPR though. I've bought all my TV's online in the last 10yrs so, I have no idea if they still do it. Also.. detector vans were never a thing... another scare tactic. Technically it was possible to pick up the signal from a CRT screen and get a rough idea of the direction. But they were never able to tell if you were watching TV or not and since the advent of flatscreen TV's... they can't even do that anymore.

It's no different with Ubisoft either, you have to have Uplay installed or the games won't run... Firing the game up from steam simply fires up uplay. As for EA... I wouldn't buy one of their games if my life depended on it... Acquiring it via other means on the other hand... sure.

If you really want to to make it a hard choice... Firefly or Farscape.

I read a lot of Heinlein and Silverberg in my early teenage years, progressing onto Asimov, Greg Bear and then into more horror genres with Stephen King, Clive Barker, Den Koontz and so forth. So my love of Sci-Fi and fantasy was shaped very early on by Star Wars and Star Trek. I was a little kid when I saw Star wars and I remember going to see a double bill of SW and Empire at a local cinema around 83. We got re-runs of Star Trek TOS on a Monday evening which was when we were at a local youth club and almost every crowded round into the TV room to watch it each week. Throw in movies like Tron, Blade Runner (which I didn't really fully understand until I was much older). So many great movies in my early years. Then we had TNG from around 87-88 in the UK on BBC2 and I'd watch that without fail every week... I loved DS9 too but wasn't a fan of Voyager... still think it's the weakest of all ST series. I went to see most of the Star Trek movies at the cinema (when I was old enough to go on my own) and even went to an 8 movie Star Trek all nighter they did when Insurrection came out. I've enjoyed Discovery so far and thought Enterprise was ok to begin with and got a little worse towards the end... But not Voyager bad. I still think DS9 is the best of the 3 we had in the 80's and 90's. So for the TV shows my order would be DS9, TNG, TOS, E, V... and I'd have to decide where to slip Discovery in there now... probably equal to TOS... and we've got Picard coming in a few months... and the trailers look so good and appear to touch on events in both TNG and Voyager. So that could easily jump to the top of the list if my expectations are met or exceeded. I own all of the ST movies on either DVD or bluray inc the reboot alternative timeline... which I don;'t want to go into until later... for reasons that will become obvious. I've seen the original SW trilogy in the cinema, owned them on VHS and anxiously awaited the 20th anniversary special editions of Star Wars that were released in 97 and went to see them all... was ok with most of the changes, disliked a few parts... that changed the characters essence (Yeah, we all know I mean Han MUST shoot first, it defines his character and how he evolves over the trilogy). I bought those on VHS too. I had tickets for the first showing day of Phantom Menace with a friend from work... and walked out feeling bitterly disappointed... It was just a little boring after the initial buzz wore off. Episode 2... again, disappointed but laughed my arse of at Yoda bouncing all over the room to fight Dooku. Episode 3 was finally a little better... but still not even close to the original trilogy. Again I bought them on DVD, along with yet another release of the original trilogy with even more 'adjustments' having been made... But I've not yet bought them on bluray... although I do have them on my mediaserver How many times can you be expected to buy the same thing over and over again? Fast forward 10yrs and Episode 7... and once the Rose coloured lightsabers have worn off... you realise what a dull film it is... it was nothing more than a rehash of the originals. But given the JJ Abrahms is completely overrated as a director and is nothing more than a mediocre one who hasn't had an original idea in more than a decade... My expectations were already low after the prequel trilogy. Then Rogue One came out... and I LOVED it.... It's the prequel movie fans had wanted... no.. needed for over 30yrs. It was brilliantly directed, written, the acting was superb and it wasn't made like a typical star wars movie... it was more like an old war movie and it kept the tension high and gave every single fan one thing they needed... VADER!!! Then we had Last Jedi... OMG... what a piece of shit that was. I honestly can't think of a single redeeming part of it that was of any use at all in the entire franchise. Remove the entire Finn/Rose sub plot and nothing changes in the movie at all. They are entirely superfluous to the entire thing... it's pointless having them in the movie at all. Bad writing, shitty direction, the worst plot of any SW movie outside of TPM... and it deservedly earns it's place as the 2nd worst SW movie ever made. Solo... I really enjoyed it... and I'd love to see more of the years between it and Ep4. So with Ep9 coming along in Dec... I don't even think I will bother going to see it... if I do, it won't be until the new year. So we can come back to the ST reboot now... because you'll have probably guessed... JJ Abrahms is the reason those movies aren't that great... He's a mediocre hack, he can't make anything good anymore... he's a one trick pony and all of his movies are the same. He's a notch above Michael Bay... he's a sub par director like Tim Burton and M Night Shamalamadingding... All of whom had a few decent movies in their early years and then produced repetitive garbage over and over again. That said... 2009 Star Trek was a reasonably good movie... Into Darkness was just more of the same and just a rewrite of ST WoK without the dramatic elements. and ST Beyond was a worthless pile of crap... More akin to a Fast and Furious pile of shit movie that the ST universe. So thank feck we had Discovery to elevate the dramatic and scientific aspects of the ST universe once more because letting JJA direct or produce the franchise is only going to produce more crap. So I'm really torn.. from the ST side movies have become a worthless experience... but it's strong point was always the TV side anyway... and long may that continue with Discovery and Picard... I can accept that any new ST movies fall outside of the ST universe and can simply be ignored and disregarded as anything to do with ST canon... In fact I'm pleased that you can do that. On the SW side... I used to think that the prequels were worthless garbage and would be happy if they never existed... Oh how times have changed... When you've grown up through all 3 of the trilogies. It gives you a greater perspective on the whole, rather than cherry picking what just happens to be the 'in thing' for your current generation. I'm not trying to play down the importance of these movies to a younger audience... I'm pleased that it still has the ability to enrapture young minds and draw them into a universe that I've loved my whole life. But I'm not that little kid anymore, my love of cinema in general means that I analyse all aspects of a movie. I will watch films several times to focus on different things. I initially get an overall image of it, then I'll drill down into minor details, the writing, the acting, the direction, the cinematography, the musical score... It all now plays a part of my opinion... for younger audiences (as it was for me) it's no longer all about the big whooshy space explosions and funny/cutesy droids. My love of cinema has evolved in a way that the franchise has not. That said... and I'm aware that this post has dragged on and I do hope that you do read it all. (if you quote, anything remember to trim the quote so as not to annoy everyone else with poor manners). What they are currently doing with the SW franchise is killing it dead. Trying to eradicate everything that came before instead of using it and building on it. I think they're actually starting to realise this now... But the Skywalker ark is dead to me now... I no longer care what happens. I want more of the expanded universe... I want a VADER movie set between 3 & 4 that shows how they eradicated and hunted down the remaining Jedi... In fact make it a TV series with a tone akin to Dexter... which made a serial killer seem cool and chaotic good... But this is Disney and they'd never do it... But the franchise and the fans would love it and flock to it like you'd never believe. I want more of Thrawn as we've only seen him in the Rebels tv show. His character is worthy of exploration... In fact I'd go so far as to say make CGI movies of the Zahn 'heir to the empire' trilogy of books with the original characters to revive the 'Skywalker' side of SW in general. I'll reserve comment for Mandalorin and Obi Wan shows coming in the new year until then... But I'll tell you now... I will NOT be purchasing a subscription to yet another streaming platform that is becoming over saturated and will only serve to fragment the market more and cost consumers more and more money. So my rating system for the movies is thusly... V, IV, RO, VI, So, III, II, VII, VIII, I... anyone who thinks anything else is wrong. I'll state with absolute authority that the increased fragmentation of the streaming market will only serve to increase 'piracy' as consumers get increasingly fed up and frustrated with companies pulling content from already established platforms in favour of being greedy and wanting a bigger slice. I'd love to see legislation introduced that forces companies to license out their shows/movies to other streaming services after an adequate exclusive time period... say 12 months. Movies are now on average out on Bluray/DVD within around 3 months of the cinematic release and companies make their money in those initial periods. Licensing out a tv show after 12 months allows them to continue brining in more money.. especially after 'syndication' status is reached (normally 52 episodes, so 1 a week can be shown all year round).

Basically your license will specify that you can only drive an automatic. It will also list if you are allowed to drive/ride a motorbike, HGV and PSV (Heavy Goods Vehicle & Public Service Vehicle), and you need to take special tests for anything over 3.5 tonnes, or that carries more than 18 passengers. With motorbikes, you can apply for your license, and you have 2yrs to take and pass your motorbike test, or you have to apply again. You are limited to 50cc and under if under 17 and 125cc if over 17 (You can ride a bike at 16, but cars at 17).

In my opinion, if you can't drive a manual... you can't drive properly at all. In the UK if you pass your driving test on an automatic car, you are banned from driving a manual at all unless you retake your test using a manual car. As far as I am aware, this isn't a requirement in the US... Hence my personal opinion that you can't drive properly and shouldn't ever be allowed behind the wheel of a manual car.

It can be difficult to get it sorted and because it's a fairly new requirement, I'd have to look up exactly when it came into effect... but within the last 5yrs I think. You'd better be prepared to fight for it as companies will fight you all the way up to the point it might cost them either money or bad publicity. In recent months I've taken to calling out crappy companies on Twitter who have tried to screw me over... using hashtags like #fraud #scammers #useless #incompetent and so forth. They ignore you when you email and submit complaints... But get on twitter and start telling your story and calling them out on their shady practices... and it's amazing how quick they respond. In the last couple of months I've had Amazon try to steal over £500 from me because they kept screwing up for 6 weeks. I ordered a new mattress during the sale and it was almost £200 off. The mattress that arrived was supposed to be 25cm deep... it was 20.5cm deep. Spoke to the manufacturer and they said a 1cm deviation is quite normal... 4.5cm is not and it must be defective. Contact amazon they want it sent back of course, I say.. what am I supposed to sleep on? So they agree to send a replacement, which arrives about 4-5 days later... But they didn't take the old one, which I can't repackage because it's a mem foam one and once unpacked can't be re-vacuum sealed in it's box... Over the next 6 weeks they fail to collect it 6 times... One time I actually catch the guy pulling up outside my house, looking at his forms... realising what it is he's collecting and simply driving off. So I give amazon some crap and tell them I'm putting it outside and if they want it, they'd better hope it doesn't rain... They tell me if it's not collected the following day I can dispose of it myself. So after they fail to collect again...2 days later of it goes to the recycling centre. 3 weeks later they steal £558 from my account for the replacement mattress that they invoiced me for £0... I went ballistic at them. I got my money back, a £30 credit on my account and an apology. Next up.. my insurance company... after a drunk, uninsured driver crashed into 3 parked cars when I was visiting my mum back in mid August.... who also did a runner. I'm fully covered, it's a simple no fault claim and my car is a total loss. I jump through every hoop and after about 3 weeks it's getting harder and harder to get any kind of a response from them. Meanwhile I've got a hire car that's costing the motor insurance bureau a couple hundred a week to supply me with... after 6 weeks I've had enough. I've been collecting proof of the value of my car and the average I've got is actually £600 more than I was asking. Off to twitter I go and start calling them out... after 24hrs I get a response agreeing to resolve it within 1hr... and 90 mins later I've had a call to agree to pay me out what my car was worth... my value not the lowball one they would try and fob me off with... Which is funny because it's £500 more than I paid for the car 6 months earlier. Mind you I did spend £1000 on it after buying it, refub wheels, new tyres, servicing, a few upgrades and so forth... I use the ins money to buy an identical car, same colour, better spec, newer and few miles on it... for £700 less than the payout and swap over a load of the improvements from the totalled car... My new car is now worth almost 40% more than I paid for it. Third one... breakdown cover... AAA to those in the US I think. All I wanted to do was transfer cover from the old car to the new one... they don't respond to webforms which is the only way to contact them... no number published on their site and online company only. Complain on twitter and get an immediate response... but I end up dealing with a snotty condescending, obnoxious person who's taken offence at me complaining on twitter... over the next 48hrs and many emails back and forth... with them condescending to me expecting me to have memorised every single detail of the ToS and can only respond to questions with 'you agreed to this in the ToS' instead of simply typing a few words extra and expecting me to go scouring through 20 pages looking for a tiny snippet buried in the small print. So I'm getting more annoyed, they deliberately aggravating me... the end result was I got a full refund and went back to the previous company I was with... with the bonus that as a 'new' customer it was £11 cheaper than the one I got refunded... which was cheaper than the 'renewal' quote I got that prompted the switch in the first place... Confused... yeah.. so was I. The moral of this very long and rambling post... or tl:dr... make a nuisance of yourself, complain loudly, firmly and politely... don't rant and rave, state your case with facts and don't be afraid to be aggressive (politely). It seems that's the only way to get results these days, by calling them out publicly. I now have a twitter account specifically for that purpose.