Random Irritations

Price gouging? As you say, agree to disagree but there’s a sense of entitlement in your post. The supplier of a service decides the price. The customer decides on paying for what they need, and the supplier they use…
You are right there is a sense of entitlement, this country provides affordable healthcare to all and Dentistry doesn’t anymore. The customer doesn’t have choice as in many cases regions NHS patients are not accepted. If GP’s followed suit there would be uproar.
 
You are right there is a sense of entitlement, this country provides affordable healthcare to all and Dentistry doesn’t anymore. The customer doesn’t have choice as in many cases regions NHS patients are not accepted. If GP’s followed suit there would be uproar.

If the government set a fixed budget for GP services and hard capped both spending and activity, only commissioning enough care to cover about 35% of the population each year (you did realise that’s exactly what they do for dentistry, right?) then yes GPs would absolutely either follow suit or cease to exist.

Hopefully in that scenario you’d be perceptive enough to see that that was a government spending choice rather than blame GPs, call them names and accuse them of price gouging simply because your only personal frame of price reference is government subsidised care where you’re paying a fraction of the cost (or none) yourself directly. Hopefully.

Don’t know why you don’t think that isn’t what’s quietly happening already. My local NHS GP surgery has a 2 month wait for routine appointments, if they get back to you at all. Want quicker? You’ll have to pay. Private GP in centre of town is expanding premises. Private GP services were basically nonexistent outside of Harley Street 20 years ago. Now they’re more than 15% of all scheduled GP appointments (and this proportion is rising fast) with new clinics opening rapidly in all areas.
 
Our club lounge has tables to seat 6 and one big table to seat 10 (plus extra when the room is needed by squeezing up).

Walked in today to see a group of 4 sat at the table for ten with several 6 seater tables available.
Before the "refurb " we had a long table for 8. It was deemed as the domain of a group of elderly, no longer playing, gents. if anyone sat at that table unwittingly, even if they weren't present, there'd be an audible intake of breath from every golfer present.
When they did occupy the table at least two would doze off every minute or so.
I once listened to them discussing mobile phones as one tried to explain to the others where "the Cloud" was.
That worth an entry fee.
 
I went to go out Thursday night and as I started the car I heard a big bang.
Front tyre had blown but being dark I couldn’t see a lot.
So got up yesterday and had a look and one of the coils from the front suspension has snapped and popped the tyre.
I have been saying for years that as soon as something goes on the car I would replace it so rather than getting the coils/suspension fixed I have scrapped the car. (I have had it 10 years and it was old when I got it).

Having a little look yesterday for a new car and the wife decided she doesn’t like her car much so could she have the nice new car and I have hers?

So now she is looking for a new car and I get hers.

Not sure quite what’s happened there
I think it means you are getting a car for which you know all about the usage it has had in recent years. You are very fortunate to have that knowledge when acquiring a car.
No need to feel "not quite sure".
 
A pub near to me has just had a refurb. They had a lot of big circular tables, long bench tables. Small numbers of people on big tables was an issue. The refurb has seen all of those removed and replaced with smaller tables throughout. Those tables can be moved together but it's stopped the hogging of big spaces by only a few people
 
I get that some garages have upped their fuel prices and everyone is up in arms, however..no-one is up in arms over the banks raising interest rates and cutting mortgage products when the BoE hasn't made any changes to the base rate.
 
A pub near to me has just had a refurb. They had a lot of big circular tables, long bench tables. Small numbers of people on big tables was an issue. The refurb has seen all of those removed and replaced with smaller tables throughout. Those tables can be moved together but it's stopped the hogging of big spaces by only a few people
Why are you irritated by this unless you are a space hogger?
 
I get that some garages have upped their fuel prices and everyone is up in arms, however..no-one is up in arms over the banks raising interest rates and cutting mortgage products when the BoE hasn't made any changes to the base rate.
People generally don’t feel the day to day impact of that.

Mortgage rates, for most are a moot point until it’s time to renew or take a new product.

Fuel we feel pretty much immediately and consistently. Apples and oranges really.
 
Why are you irritated by this unless you are a space hogger?
Sorry, I was adding to the previous comments about space hogging. I thought it was recent enough to just post, I should have posted a reply to the original comment to make it clear. My post shows a solution to the original irritation.
 
When we were in Dublin for the new year there was no problems with small groups hogging big tables - if there was room, people just joined the smaller group and joined in with the chat. Was so friendly and welcoming, maybe people over here should be more welcoming.
 
You are right there is a sense of entitlement, this country provides affordable healthcare to all and Dentistry doesn’t anymore. The customer doesn’t have choice as in many cases regions NHS patients are not accepted. If GP’s followed suit there would be uproar.
Hundreds of pounds for a pair of varifocal thinned lenses. Not exactly affordable for some.
 
People generally don’t feel the day to day impact of that.

Mortgage rates, for most are a moot point until it’s time to renew or take a new product.

Fuel we feel pretty much immediately and consistently. Apples and oranges really.
I totally get that. But why have the banks removed products and increased the mortgage rates when nothing for them has changed yet, just as the fuel depots are still supplying oil fuel already paid for and probably increasing the price to garages who do likewise?
I'm just providing a bit of balance to the anti garage sentiments, which I understand but there's others doing the same but out of obvious sight.
 
I totally get that. But why have the banks removed products and increased the mortgage rates when nothing for them has changed yet, just as the fuel depots are still supplying oil fuel already paid for and probably increasing the price to garages who do likewise?
I'm just providing a bit of balance to the anti garage sentiments, which I understand but there's others doing the same but out of obvious sight.

The banks watch the markets and react to uncertainty just like many industries. Mortgages especially, since the toxic debt crisis of 2006-2008 the banking industry has become incepreasingly nervous of being held accountable for unmanageable debts. It’s not that nothing has changed yet and more the risk that something IS happening and banks cannot be seen to be reacting too late. Damned if they do, damned if they don’t.

But again, it’s an apples and oranges comparison as the fuel outrage is amplified by the daily reliance and the impact that it has immediately.
 
I get that some garages have upped their fuel prices and everyone is up in arms, however..no-one is up in arms over the banks raising interest rates and cutting mortgage products when the BoE hasn't made any changes to the base rate.
Are the oil companies are really gouging us?

Don’t forget who earns most for every £ spent at the pump…

IMG_5601.jpeg
 
Hundreds of pounds for a pair of varifocal thinned lenses. Not exactly affordable for some.
I’ve recently had my 2 yearly eye test at Specsavers, I am very short sighted, so I need thin varifocal lenses, so it is never going to be cheap.

Now this year, I have the beginnings of cataracts, so I now need Reaco-lites.

Price for 1 pair of specs £550
Bleeding heck 😳
 
I’ve recently had my 2 yearly eye test at Specsavers, I am very short sighted, so I need thin varifocal lenses, so it is never going to be cheap.

Now this year, I have the beginnings of cataracts, so I now need Reaco-lites.

Price for 1 pair of specs £550
Bleeding heck 😳

If you have cataracts you can have lens replacement surgery on the NHS.
 
I’ve recently had my 2 yearly eye test at Specsavers, I am very short sighted, so I need thin varifocal lenses, so it is never going to be cheap.

Now this year, I have the beginnings of cataracts, so I now need Reaco-lites.

Price for 1 pair of specs £550
Bleeding heck 😳
Aye, the dentists ain’t that bad after all.
 
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