Unscrupulous Car Dealers...

 Another moan, but mercifully, I'll make this one short.

 As alluded to a post or two ago, I was recently coerced by circumstance into buying another car.  My purchase-window was narrow as I was 'on the clock', having rented a car from Hertz expressly for this purpose.  Given the time available, I opted for getting something from a dealer, as opposed to delving into the murky depths of the private-seller's market

 The saying about, "If it looks too good to be true, it probably is", I now see in a different light.  I decided on a dealer based on price.  I had also decided on a price, at least one I would not go above, but circumstance (always a bitch!) & exorbitant car-insurance quotes made it clear that I'd either have to fork out more on insurance or buy a newer used car.  No mention of 'quality' here, all insurance companies are interested in is a car's year of manufacture & engine size.

 I went intending to buy a 2011 Ford Focus 1.6L from the dealer (aka, villain) in question, but after some horrifying insurance quotes, ended up buying a gutless 2014 Skoda Fabia 1.2L, for about 50% more than I had planned spending.  And not just any Fabia, this as it turns out, is one of the lowest-spec Fabia that Skoda manufacture - not sure of the model-name, but this one has no glove-box door, just a hole in the dash & no mirror(s) in the sun-visors - two things I had never seen in any car, let alone one that I owned.

 But this I was assured was in perfect condition, had been serviced, and was being supplied with a new NCT - so the 'luxuries' just mentioned, I reckoned I could live with(out).  In truth, it looked respectable, and given my urgent need for a car, I signed on the proverbial dotted line.  Not before taking it for a test-drive of course.  I specifically requested that I do this solo, something the dealer didn't have a problem with - whether this was down to COVID19 or the percentage of gray hairs I sport, I know not!  It drove ok, and nothing stood out as being a deal-breaker.  One thing I noticed was that the fan-blower only worked at level 4, the highest setting - an easy fix, or so I figured.  The dealer even agreed to deliver the car, free of charge, which was cool.  But things were about to heat up.

 On dropping the car off at my house, the dealer was gone in the blink of an eye.  I had resolved to get a receipt of payment from him, the transaction for which I had done online by way of a money-transfer, the same day I'd given him a €100 deposit - but totally forgot!  I was more interested in checking out my new toy!

 That interest turned to annoyance not long after.  Almost immediately, I discovered that the passenger & driver's electric windows would not open.  I quickly contacted him, and made known my findings.  He 'played dumb' but told me that if I dropped it back to him, he'd check it out and provide me with a replacement car while it was being repaired.  Guessing that the problem was down to water damage to the door-switches concerned, I instead decided to investigate the matter myself.  Turned out I was correct, and on both doors.  The drivers side was particularly bad (see pics) but with some isopropyl alcohol, I soon had them working again, temporarily at least.  After a quick trawl through Ebay, I had replacements ordered, costing a little over €10 - I could live with that. The Blower-fan problem turned out to be a slightly more expensive fix - €14 including P&P for the resistor module that had blown - but it was here that problems started to be compounded!

 Seeing as I didn't want to wait months for fan-blower parts from China, I ordered the resistor-module from the UK instead.  But in order to be certain that I was ordering the right part, it was first necessary to extract it - this meant removing the passenger airbag in order to get at it.  The big mistake I made was, after ascertaining the correct part to order,  I did not reconnect the airbag - instead, I drove around for a week with it disconnected.  After replacing the fan-blower part, on starting the car , I was greeted with an airbag-error icon on the dash!  I had figured on computer code-errors being generated, but hey! I had an EBD2 dongle - I'd just clear them!  Or not, as it turned out.  An Internet search revealed that my EBD2 dongle has only access to engine error-codes.  When I run a scan, I am informed that all is well, there are no errors detected.  After more searching the net, I soon discovered the problem - and problems usually cost money to rectify.

 Due to the ever-increasing number of 'features' found in cars today, manufacturers have long deemed it necessary to assign different categories to each.  Airbag faults for example don't fall into the engine-category.  And the more categories that an EBD2 dongle can access, the more expensive the item - naturally, I had bought the cheapest dongle available, capable of scanning only engine faults.  In practice, what this meant was that I could either go to a dealer to get the airbag error-code reset, or I could try and do it myself - and I've chosen the latter option, though it might prove more expensive, at least I'll learn from the experience.  To that end, I've ordered a 'real' VCDS dongle through Aliexpress, capable of reading all VW/Skoda/Audi/Seat fault-codes, and a whole lot more!

 But I still haven't even got to the point of this post - so much for it being brief!  What prompted this little missive was of what transpired earlier today.  Recall, I was eager to procure from said Car-dealer, a receipt for the amount that I had paid for the car.  After contacting him nearly two weeks ago about it, I was informed that he was not at home, but if I would text him my address, he would post one out to me.  Well into the second week of waiting for it, I phoned him today - no answer.  While I was composing a text to him, I received a call from his number.  On answering the call, I was greeted to a full 2 minutes of 'snap-crackle-pop' - no voice, just random noises, as if crinkling paper, rapping the phone against something etc. After listening to this for as long as I could, without receiving a response, I hung up, texted him, politely inquiring as to why he still had not forwarded me the receipt of purchase as promised.  After waiting several more hours, with still no response to my text, I tried phoning him again.  This time, I received an immediate, "your call cannot be completed" message - as if my number was after being blocked!  That was all the motivation I needed - despite the late hour, I resolved to drive the 50+Km to his place of business to confront him in person.

 Arriving there, I put through another call, which was also ignored.  Turned out he wasn't at his car-lot either.  After walking around and examining a couple of dozen cars of his, I made my way to the nearest house on the off-chance that he might live there.  He didn't - but the really nice guy that did, knew who I was looking for, and more importantly, where our villain resided.  Just up the same road as it happened!  As I drove up to his house, he was collecting something from his lorry.  He seemed startled at my unexpected appearance, and none too pleased to see me.

 The first words out of his mouth were, "Well, what's wrong with it", meaning the car.  For someone selling cars with a 3-month warranty, it's not what you'd expect to hear as an opening line, or at least I didn't!  After telling him I was only there for the receipt, he perked up somewhat.  I ended up  getting the receipt but little else for my long drive.

 But I'm convinced that his reluctance to provide me with a receipt had nothing to do with the state of the car - after all, he seemed quite willing to repair the window problem and provide me with a replacement car.  It's much more likely to be down to having to declare (or not!) the car-sale to the tax-man - no receipt, no paper-trail to taxable-income.

Mobile Broadband: Device-Unlocking Issues...

 But before that, a round of applause for ME - this will be my seventh post for the year - a new record!  Maybe it's down to COVID19, or maybe I'm just more irascible than normal - which is also a hint that this is going to be a another grumbling post.

So, Broadband.  As I've mentioned in the last few posts, Three has been my ISP for 12 years, though it seems longer.  Generally, I was happy enough with the service, up until 1-2 years ago.  The modem/routers supplied by Three got faster, the monthly data-transfer cap increased dramatically (going from 25Gig to 768Gig) and all for less money, well, almost - it started out 12 years ago at €25/month, reached its zenith at €42/month, and I'm now paying €30.  Great!  What wasn't there to like?  The service provided, that's what!

On paper, I had better kit, better transfer-speeds, and a better monthly cap.  In reality, the download speeds during peak-hours was a joke, so I really couldn't avail of any of the improvements in the technology.  So as I've mentioned already, I went searching for a new ISP, and eventually settled on '48', an off-shoot of Three, using Three's network, though a separate company in its own right.  Before November 10th 2020, 48 are offering a 100gig/monthly data allowance, which includes unlimited calls & texts to all Irish mobile & landline numbers - and all for just €7.99.  For me, the unlimited calls bit was the clincher.  I currently have a pre-pay phone with O2 (which is owned by Three) that will eat through €10 of credit in no time.  Since my Huawei B525 modem has a standard telephone socket, all I needed to do was plug in a telephone - I did, and it works perfectly!

48 doesn't provide any modem/routers to its customers like Three does.  Instead, it outlines the requirements & steps required to get Three to unlock your Three phone/modem - which of course presumes that you are/were already with Three.  Interestingly, it also points out that, failing to get Three to unlock the device, there are many mobile-related business' that provide an unlocking service, but doesn't recommend any one in particular.

After ordering a 48 sim, it didn't take long to realise that it, along with every other ISP, was barred from using my Huawei B525 - 'sim-locked' in mobile parlance - so effectively useless.  In order to get the B525 unlocked, about 3 weeks ago, I opted to look for help through Three's 3Community forum.  Since this is ongoing, I won't say much about it.  Suffice it to say, my interactions with various moderators there went from the sublime to the ridiculous, with my username/profile suddenly no longer capable of posting to the forum, a situation that still has not been resolved.  I may relate the sad, sordid details in a future post.

Falling at that hurdle, I then tried to get help through Three's 'Web-chat'.  From past experience, this has become a 'last-resort' option for me when it comes to seeking answers.  These guys/gals, usually from India, will keep you on for ages, and generally achieve nothing in the end.  This time however, I got a result.  After explaining my unlock request to the rep. I was informed that he could see that an unlock request had already been put through for me, and granted!  I informed him after a thorough check, that no unlock-code had been emailed to me, and would he be so kind as to resend it.  This he did, only for us to discover as the minutes ticked away, that his email wasn't going to arrive.  After another failed attempt, he instead tried sending the unlock code as an SMS to my BB account - success, finally!!!

Naturally, I was elated, happier than a pig in shit.  A few minutes later, I had the 48 sim in the B525, a prompt for a SIMLOCK code, then finally, one unlocked device - EASY PEEZY!  Finding that the transfer-speeds with the 48 sim were identical to the Three BB sim was another plus, so there seems to be no throttling in evidence by the parent company.

But, as the saying goes, "Much wants more", so with the B525 puzzle cracked, I diverted my attention to the other Three dongles I have lying around, namely a E5573 and a E5220, both from the Huawei stable.  The E5573, being 4G-enabled, therefore the more able of the two, I chose to try getting unlocked by Three again, though this time, via their 'Web-chat' help service.  There was no virtually instant unlocking to be had second time round though.  The rep. told me that it's actually Huawei that provides the unlock-codes, Three just forwarding them the request.  I was further informed that I 'should' hear within a month if my unlock-request will be granted.  So I await with trepidation, if not much hope.

The E5220 I figured would be an easy fix as it was old and there must surely be a unlock-code 'calculator' freely available somewhere on the web.  Despite loads of links enticing the unwary to malware sites with promises of such, none was to be had, at least none that worked.  But there must be dozens of sites offering to unlock E5220's, with unlock-fees ranging from the ridiculous (€59) to the downright reasonable (€2-5), the latter's 'cheapness' making them immediately suspect.  Then I came across this site.  It is like most of the rest, promising to unlock modems, while charging rather hefty unlock fees.  But this one takes a different tack to attract customers - the E5220, being just 3G, so now regarded as 'old technology' , it unlocks for free!

Or at least that is the claim.  I submitted my IMEI/Country/ISP 10 days ago and waited anxiously for the coveted SIMLOCK code to be posted on their site.  The only red-flag that something may be amiss is that your request-information is not immediately viewable on their site. Only after the 'unlock codes' have been generated, is their a mass-posting of the requests, accompanied of course by the generated unlock-codes.  The second suspect thing I noticed was that, having just received a working unlock-code from Huawei, the generated-code doesn't look 'right' - the real unlock codes are made up of a variation of numbers & letters, the latter being both of upper & lower case characters.  The site's generated code is simply a string of 8 numbers.

Which doesn't work!  My first attempt was a copy & paste from the site, which resulted in a "invalid code" error.  So, just in case there was some 'invisible' character being included in the Copy & paste, I tried it again, typing it in this time.  Same result - that's 2 of 10 unlock tries wasted, with only 8 more attempts permissible before the E5220 gets 'bricked'.  What the site presents to the public is dozens of legitimate unlock-requests, accompanied by their non-working unlock-codes.  So basically, just more scumbags, giving people false hope. [UPDATE!!! Though I didn't mention it, after the failed attempt to unlock the E5220, I copy & pasted from the E5220's Web-browser interface, the hardware information from its 'Device Information' option, and re-posted it to the free-unlock site, in the vain hope that they might have made a mistake. As this 'extended information' contained an identical IMEI number to the first one I posted there, I didn't hold out much hope.  So imagine my surprise just a few minutes ago, when intent on closing forever, the Firefox open-tab to this site, I saw my re-posted hardware information there - along with a newly generated unlock-code!  AND THIS ONE WORKS!!!  I obviously owe the guys running this site an apology - SSSOOORRRYYYY.  Terrific!!! - two down, just the E5573 to go].

So it's looking like the B525, the best of the lot, is the only one I'll get unlocked, at least without paying for the service, be that from Three/Huawei, or one of the unlock sites available online.  Or maybe I'll see if some of the mobile-phone selling shops in my locality do unlockings cheaply.

Although I planned to ditch Three last month, I dithered, then finally decided to hang in there for another month, just in case there are more unlockings to be had from them.  If not, it's no biggie.  I have the 48 ISP waiting on the side-lines.  I've been using them for over a week and can see no difference in the level of service provided - and at less than a third of what I'm paying Three!  Sure, not an "unlimited" (aka 768Gig) data allowance, but 100Gig is more than enough for what I do.  Then there's the included unlimited calls & texts - also something I'll never use much, but again, it's nice to have!

Edit:

Dropped into my local mobile unlocking/internet cafe today to inquire about getting these unlocked.  Not a problem, according to the guy I spoke to, for about €25 a pop - actually less than I was expecting to be quoted!  Probably not worth doing the E5220 for this amount seeing as it only offers 3G speeds, but if Three/Huawei won't unlock the E5573, I'll definitely consider it. [Update: After Three Web-chat proved unhelpful, I played my last card and asked one of the 3Community moderators could she see if my request to unlock the E5573 had been submitted.  24hrs later, I had one unlocked E5573!!!  For the record, the sim-(un)lock code she provided was another 8-digit number, just like that generated by the unlock-site, so completely different to the E525's unlock code.] 

I've had the B525 and the E5573 setup & running from the same location for a while now, so that I can see how they compare, and I've gotta say that the B525 is the clear winner.  Even without the 'rabbit-ears' antennas, transfer-rates are much higher with the B525.  But the E5573 and E5220's 'super-power' is that they're battery-powered,  so are not without their uses.

 

FBD Insurance: "Insurance for Farmers, By Farmers"... - BOLLOCKS!!!

 Another rant ensues.   I gave up on the car six years ago, mainly because it was only a 10 minute cycle-ride to my workplace.  The last 'serious' cycling I had done had been in my teens, so getting 'saddle-fit' once more, proved the biggest obstacle I encountered - don't know if it's typical, but going from saddle-sore to saddle-fit took me about six-months, an experience I don't remember fondly either.  Ouch!

 Up till now, any time I needed a car, I'd just rent one from Hertz, who, though not the closest car rental company to me, have at least proven to be both cheap & reliable.  Damn, I could do a whole other 'Rant' regarding car rental outfits, given all the experience I acquired while on hols here, when I lived in the UK - but I'll suppress the urge!  Anyway, car procured, I'd do my thing, then go back to pedalling.  This was my routine, and since I like cycling and have no special affinity for cars, it worked for me - and it was much cheaper!

 Fast-forward to the present.  Events dictated that another car-purchase was essential, and in order to do so, back to Hertz I went, as it's practically impossible to car-shop without having a car!  Long story short, I ended up buying a car that would definitely not have been my first-choice under normal circumstances, but given that I had a limited time available, it will have to do for now.  But onto the meat of the post.

 Everyone in Ireland knows what a rip-off the Car-Insurance market here is.  It has in fact been proven that it's little more than a price-fixing Cartel.  So before actually buying a car, I had sought insurance quotes from multiple players here, the first of whom was FBD Insurance, mainly because I'd been insured with them continuously for 12 years, and 'claim-less' for the entire period.  Also, being of Farming-stock, I was more inclined to give my business to a company that had started out (and continue to advertise), providing "Insurance for Farmers, By Farmers".

 Therefore, I was initially disappointed to discover that FBD-online could not provide me with an insurance quote, suggesting that I should visit their office instead - which I proceeded to do on the last day of my Hertz car-rental.  This disappointment turned into bewilderment on being told by the FBD rep. I spoke to, that she could find no trace of my decade+ with them on their system, then outright anger when she said they would not even be prepared to offer me an insurance-quote.  I could accept that it was policy throughout the insurance industry to render a lapsed-driver's no-claims-bonus (someone that had been off the road for more than 2 years), null-and-void.  But for an insurance company to purge all traces of my time with them, then treat me like some 17 year-old starting out, rather than someone who has been on the road & claim-less, since 1984, just made me angry.  To top it off, a couple of days later, I received in the post a letter from FBD, explaining their refusal to insurance-quote me, though in reality, explaining nothing, which I'll include below.

  Thing is, they were the ONLY insurance company that refused to offer me a quote!  I'm not saying that ALL of the other insurance companies offer quotes, only that the half-dozen or so that I requested quotes from, did so - and they all did so online as well, which is another black-mark against FBD.  In fact, I'm now convinced that the FBD rep. I spoke to, has no more access to the FBD 'innards' than I have - all she sees on her computer screen is what I see when I apply for a FBD-quote online.  Irrespective of how they operate, they've burned their bridges with me, I'm done with those arse-holes.

 I eventually ended up getting car-insurance with Liberty Insurance, who offered me the best quote by far.  AXA Insurance's quote was close to twice that from Liberty, who then proceeded to spam my email with the same quote!  The worst quote was from XS Direct - these jokers quoted "Fully Comprehensive" for considerably more than Liberty did, but also stipulated a €3,000 excess (Liberty's is only the standard €300 excess). Good as Liberty's quote was, it was still more than 3 times as much as I was paying 6 years ago - so, I miss my no-claims-bonus, Sob.

 But, the thing is, they all at least offered me a car-insurance quote, which is more than can be said for FBD, The Farmer's Friend Fiend.  SCUM-BAGS.

 The only thing worse than Car-Insurance companies, are Car-Insurance Brokers.  I came so close to falling into the Brokers net.  This in fact was at the behest of the FBD rep. I visited as well!  A real pretty lady too, which given the nature of the business, is probably a pre-requisite to getting the job.  It turned out that the quotes I received from her, for Liberty car-insurance, were almost TWICE what I ended up paying Liberty by going direct.  I know Brokers have got to eat too but for fcuks sake, there's price gouging, then there's financial-rape - how can these pricks legally get away with this?  I tried two other online-brokers, but only one of them offered a direct online quote, which was €600 less than the one I visited in person - so, not so desperate to screw you over!  Most broker's sites give you the impression that they will give you a direct quote, only for you to discover, once you've fed them all of your contact details, that you must then phone them to proceed.  These guys are vermin, that are being freely allowed to prey on the unwary.

Aliexpress: Fast Becoming a Joke (*RANT*)...

 A couple of earlier posts here reveal my past dealings with Aliexpress and the slightly tempestuous relationship that developed as a result.  Summarising, while Ebay and Amazon have basically 'got it covered' with regards to about 90% of the stuff that I order online, there's always that other 10% that must be catered for by someone else - enter Aliexpress.  While that might suggest that Aliexpress (and its parent-company, Alibaba) are marginal players in the online shopping arena, the truth is probably the opposite - generally they have for sale, everything the other two offer, only MORE - there is a reason that China has become the economic powerhouse that it is!

So occasionally, when the need arises, I place an order or two with Aliexpress.  Whereas, I've never been screwed financially by Amazon or Ebay, the same cannot be said for Aliexpress.  In the past, I've had an Aliexpress Seller renege on an order I'd placed with them.  Another, refused to cancel an order that had been in limbo for almost 2 weeks, instead putting the order through immediately after I had issued a Cancellation Request - the 'Request' is capitalised for a reason, you cannot cancel an order that has been placed on Aliexpress, like you can with Amazon, you may only meekly 'request' the Seller to cancel & refund your money.  What experience has shown is that many Aliexpress Sellers lack the 'professionalism' seen on both Ebay and Amazon.  This is more down to their fear of repercussions, or lack thereof, from the platforms on which they operate.  Putting it bluntly, Ebay puts the fear of God into Sellers and will suspend their accounts once they fall below a certain 'Customer Satisfaction' level, whereas Aliexpress doesn't appear to give a shit about how its Sellers treat their customers.  Sure, Aliexpress pays lip-service to stuff like 90-day money back guarantees, but this for the most part is Public Relations stuff - I once had an undelivered order that had been placed 5 months before, and had ZERO ways of contacting Aliexpress to get a refund - the opportunity only came when, after God knows how long, they finally put their Customer Forum  back on-line.  So, notions like "the Customer is always right" would be a source of amusement, not contemplation, to Aliexpress management.

Segway-ing to a point, what has me venting of late is the state of the Aliexpress platform itself.  Frankly, it's becoming unusable.  First off, there's the 'semi-insistence' that you must login to your Aliexpress account, even when just doing a search.  I've tried various workarounds to avoid this, including deleting all Aliexpress cookies, to no avail.  Add to this, for whatever reason, Aliexpress has found it necessary to lace its platform with 'anti-bot' verification measures, where before proceeding with even a search, it is often necessary for prospective customers to 'swipe' a bar from left-to-right.  This would be bearable if the bloody thing worked - half the time, this is what I see;

This 'swipe-left' thing doesn't appear to effect the Russian Aliexpress site, which in desperation often finds me trying to negotiate the site using the Cyrillic alphabet.  Another attempted 'work-around' has included creating a dummy Aliexpress account.  This worked for searches, at least initially.  It appears that after a certain number of cookies have been created, or after a certain amount of time since their creation, the infernal 'swipe-left' thing comes back with a vengeance.  But what really grinds my gears, is when the 'swipe-left' thing works and I get a "Verified" green tick-mark, only to see the following when it tries to proceed;

Witnessing this nonsense day in, day out, had me wondering if maybe it was the Firefox browser that was somehow incompatible with the Aliexpress platform, so I decided to test the theory by installing a fresh copy of Google's Chrome on a Win7 box - just to rule out the Linux OS as well.  Result?  - same thing happens!!!  In fact, the 'experience' is even worse with Chrome - here, after every search, the user is treated to a pop-up window that must be forcibly closed in order to proceed.  This makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER!!!

Summing up, the Aliexpress platform appears to be on its way to becoming an unusable POS.  It beggars belief that something that is essentially a license to print money, has undergone such woeful development.  As a long-time Aliexpress customer, I can at least attest to the fact that yesteryear, the platform itself was on-par with Amazon and Ebay.  Today, as far as usability goes, it's a shadow of what it once was, no doubt a result of management's reluctance to employ competent web-developers.

*** WAKE UP ALIEXPRESS, YOUR SITE IS CRUMBLING BENEATH YOU ***