Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Airline Infographic

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Travel Infographic

• MoneySavingExpert.com (has own legal team, and a set of balls)
• Shelli’s Blog (hosted in the US, has freedom of speech)
• Facebook’s “You don’t have to pay parking tickets – spread the word!” group
• PePiPoo’s consumer rights forum, where the posts were originally posted (ignored a similar take-down order)

OK, the whys and wherefores.

The issue I had was with [company name removed so I don't risk allegedly defaming them]. Their lawyers are M Law. I am hosted on a One&One server.

According to M Law I defamed [company name removed so I don't risk allegedly defaming them] in the post. They complained to One&One who, due to the fact that “as an ISP Provider, we have legal obligations in accordance with the Godfrey v Demon Internet Limited 1999 case law to ensure that all the defamatory posts have been removed, or litigation will be pursued against us not yourself.”

Do note that the major point here is “defamatory posts”. The post was not defamatory. At most it was allegedly defamatory. No judge had looked at the case, someone had simply complained that I had not put [company name removed so I don't risk allegedly defaming them] in a good light.

I will not make further comment about [company name removed so I don't risk allegedly defaming them]. I will not make any statement about them. What I will say is that whatever I do say would be in the public interest as they are a company who many members of the public deal with regularly. The public is allowed to complain about poor service, or quality of goods. If they didn’t then every single reviewing website or publication would be impossible to publish. BBC‘s Watchdog and Which? magazine could not function.

This is what I believe would be the result had the alleged defamation claim been taken to court. Instead, both organisations seem to have jumped the gun and proclaimed me guilty without a trial.

However, it seems that One&One don’t grasp this and neither do M Law.

Further, I don’t want to lose my entire blog which was the threat laid against me if I didn’t remove the post by midday on 25th October 2010.

All of the above is stated fact, at least as far as I have been able to ascertain from the limited information supplied to me by both the solicitors involved and my web host, despite several requests for more detailed information.

I have not defamed anyone with any of the above text. I leave it to the reader to make their own judgement, research as they require and – for instance – do a Google for the relevant companies. I’m sure the evidence will be enough for you to make your own judgements.

It has been suggested by more than one quarter that, in fact, by making a claim that I was (without due process) guilty of defamation, I myself have been libelled. This is something I am investigating. After all, if a newspaper reports someone as a thief, for instance, before the case has gone to trial and a verdict found then the alleged offender can sue.

Incidentally, prior to the takedown order my blog post had been read approximately 40 times.

As of the post being replaced with this explanation, it had 427 hits. Plus the MSE mirror was over 280. And Shelli’s blog hits had trebled.

Several statements spring to mind, but the two choicest are:

OWN GOAL

and

SHOOTING YOURSELF IN THE FOOT.

So that’s why I can’t mention Parking Eye on here any more.

Whoops.

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Don’t pay “Parking Charges”

Lyingair - talking crap once again

I pinged this on Twitter and facebook, but it really deserves a proper little rant on here. Ryanair (Lyingair has never been a more apt pseudonym) have popped a story on their news page. Go have a read – it’s laughable:

DUBLIN AIRPORT TO BE RENAMED ‘THE JEDWARD’

There are several things wrong with this story. First up is the mis-spelling of “pipped”, but I’ll let that slip although it does enforce Lyingair’s overall slipshod impression.

The main thing is that the story is factually incorrect. Hell, it’s bollocks. Dublin airport is not to be renamed “Jedward Airport”. Just because Ryanair pushed it as their little comedy entry does not mean it’s going to happen. Of course, expect a lot of whinging from Michael O’Leary when it doesn’t happen.

I also find it profoundly ironic that the names for the airport were all picked for reasons along the lines of “prices go up faster than Jedward’s hair”. This from an airline that sells tickets for a penny. Plus checking-in fee. Plus luggage fee. Plus booking fee. Plus tax. Plus the cost of getting to the remote airport that’s nowhere near the advertised destination.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Ryanair guilty of misleading ads – Again (politics.ie)
• Ryanair Passenger Escorted Off Plane For Calling Food ‘Rubbery’ (huffingtonpost.com)

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Ryanair talk fecking bollocks again

Not just for young persons

Can’t believe I only just found this out – after booking some rail tickets. Although they may be canned with the upcoming strikes. CHecking for rail passes in England gives the option of 16-25, Family & Friends, Senior, Disabled and Network (SE/London). Checking in Scotland gave me the same options with Network replaced with Highland.

No obvious option for the mature student, which I thought a little unfair. After all, a 23 year old could be a graduate on £40k. I’m 36 and on £4k, all of which I have to pay back.

But, lo! Dig into the “Are you eligible?” section at the 16-25 Railcard web page and it includes mature students! As long as you’re attending 15+ hours a week for 20+ weeks per year, you qualify for the card. You require an ISIC (international student ID) card or a signature/stamp from the college and one passport-style photo. The pass can then be obtained from any manned railway station. You cannot apply online if you’re a mature student.

As it happens, this would only have saved me a smidgen over £6 on my London trip which doesn’t offset the £26 fee a great deal but these things mount up quickly over a year. It would definitely encourage me to use the train more.

Another point to note is that if you get the card on the last day of uni, it is still valid for the following 12 months – the same as if you get one on the day before you turn 26. So if you get a card partway through your final year and get your £26-worth, then just fork out for another one the day you leave!

So, bad advertising? Or a deliberate attempt to hide the fact that some people could be saving money? Either way, spread the word!

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Over 25? Student? You can still get a railcard!

"Flight delayed, sir? £5, please."

[note - issue resolved in a very positive manner. Details here]

I had some fun and games getting down to Norwich on Friday (which will be detailed on another blog shortly), mainly due to French air traffic controllers being complete arses. Please, if you happen to know where one of these ignorant sods lives, please let down all of his tyres and see how he likes being delayed.

National Express assed to my misery somewhat by “fining” me for being on a delayed flight… and then allowed people who hadn’t changed their tickets onto the later coach for free. That isn’t on. Hence the following letter. Let’s see what I get back.

I booked a return from Stansted Airport to Norwich online a couple of days before travel. Unfortunately due to French air traffic controllers, my plane from Glasgow was delayed by three hours. I called your helpline who told me it was £5 to change my ticket to a later bus which I duly paid by debit card.

However, when I got to Stansted I found that several other people had fallen foul of the same delay and were boarding the bus happily without a changed ticket.

Given that this delay was due to matters outside of our control I felt that this was a nice gesture by your driver. However, I feel aggrieved at being charged £5 as I went through the “correct” channels. After a long delay (with no food due to EasyJet never being adequately informative about when the plane was actually going to turn up) this really added insult to an injurious evening.

Incidentally, your call centre staff and website also mistakenly listed my arrival time in Norwich as 02:40 when the bus arrived at 02:00 – which seems correct judging by the timings of earlier schedules. As a result, I ended up waiting in the freezing cold of the bus station for ages to be collected by a friend who’d expected me to turn up 40 minutes later.

I’m going easy on them as, in fairness, my ticket change and fee were within the sale conditions. I just feel “punished” for going through the correct motions to change the ticket when those who didn’t/couldn’t were given a freebie.

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

National Express – adding insult to injury

Not that cheap, definitely not cheerful

I don’t comment on new stories too often any more, but it’s nice to see Ryanair getting a hoofing now and again. A lovely report from the BBC about the Office of Fare Trading branding Ryanair’s charging of credit card transactions “puerile and childish”.

The most interesting points of note:

• Ryanair are charging for card processing by having one free option – this is the law, but a loophole that must be closed
• It costs Ryanair approximately 30p for each debit card transaction. They charge you £5. Per leg of flight. Per passenger
• Their spokesman claims that “Ryanair is not for the overpaid John Fingletons on this world but for the everyday Joe Bloggs”. Yet they heap charges on these everyday Joe Bloggs’ and expect then to cough up
• Also “passengers prefer Ryanair’s model as it allows them to avoid costs, such as baggage charges, which are still included in the high fares of high cost, fuel surcharging, strike-threatened airlines such as BA.” Which is cobblers – name me anyone who likes buying a £5 flight then finding out it’s going to cost them £40 with fees, luggage, check-in and a cab ride as it lands 85 miles from the city advertised after all the buses have stopped.

What is the point in advertising “low cost flights” when people are now figuring out that, while the flights are indeed low-cost, all the “optional extras” such as checking in (erm… can you fly without checking in?), hold baggage, going to the toilet (is this actioned yet?), cabin baggage (soon, I believe?), paying by anything other than MasterCard pre-pay… will all add to the cost?

If I go to BA’s website and book a flight to London at £30 do you know how much comes off my credit card? Exactly £30. I don’t pay a penny extra. And I get a drink and a snack on the flight. Plus a plane seat that doesn’t feel like it was stolen from a primary school pedal car.

I can book a flight that departs and arrives at a reasonable hour to a central airport with good transport links.

And when it lands I don’t get a bloody annoying fanfare on the tannoy telling me how great it is that we’ve landed on time.

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• ‘Puerile’ Ryanair attacked by OFT (news.bbc.co.uk)
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Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Ryanair “puerile” according to OFT

I'm talking to you!

I’ve done a lot of stuff over the last three years that I never imagined I would. For the full story, check out my Travel Blog. I never, even a little over four years ago, would have guessed I would have done what I have done, achieved what I have achieved, experienced what I have experienced. Sometimes things just happen than give you a nudge in the right direction.

In short, for those new here, I met a lovely young lady who had already arranged to go travelling for 18 months. I was living in a nice house next door to the world’s worst neighbour who was – no exaggeration – driving me insane. Seriously over the edge. I’d bought my house when it was cheap and it had doubled in value. My job, for a great company and with wonderful co-workers, was pretty dull.

In short, I had a lot of reasons to go. A woman to follow, a neighbour to escape from and the funds to do so.

I’m no longer with that woman. In fact, I’m no longer with the next one either! I am, however, the owner of two passports (one full, one getting there), a PADI Divemaster card, and a collection of photos and stories that are simply staggering to me.

This isn’t a post to show off. This is a post to make you sit up and think “I should do that” if you’re at all able. And the reason for this is a story I heard today. It’s a sad one and very true.

To maintain confidentiality I shall use “a friend of mine” as the source. She is a schoolteacher and one of the children she taught last year is nine years old. He has a five year old sister. Last weekend they were sorting out a new hamster cage in preparation for getting the animal itself.

Their mum felt a little weird, and a headache was developing so she went for a lie down. Shortly after she called for her husband – the pain was getting far worse so they called for an ambulance.

By the time she made it to hospital she was brain dead.

Within two days, the machinery keeping her alive had been switched off.

She was 37.

Thirty. Seven.

And with no medical history that pointed to the fact that this might happen.

By all accounts she was very well liked and a wonderful mother to her two children. At least she had the time to bring them both into the world. She achieved something.

I sometimes wonder “what if” I’d not sold up and left. I’d still have a house and (possibly) a steady job. I’d likely own an X-Box360 and a pool table and have a home cinema. But I’d have missed out on the biggest adventure I could ever have hope to have. Walking across Europe, sky-diving, working in a temple in Thailand with baby tigers for crying out loud.

Then I hear about someone like this being taken at such an early age – barely a year older than I am now – and all my regrets vanish.

You only live once. If you’re lucky you’ll get maybe 70-80 years on this planet. If you’re less fortunate, maybe half that. Or less.

Don’t think “I wish…”.

Do it!

For me, it was seeing foreign countries and really pushing my independence. For you, maybe it’s a course in French or spending more time with your children.

Whatever it is – you can do it. It’s too easy to focus on material stuff these days: the flat screen telly, the bigger house, the flasher car. You don’t need them. Penny-pinch, save up, change arrangements, get rid of things you don’t use. You’ll be surprised how much you can make.

And go for it.

You only have one chance. It’s a huge, wonderful world. Don’t regret never giving yourself the opportunity.

You never know when your time is up.

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Go for it!

Mine smells like eggs

…and all of it flowing from my poop-chute.

It’s been over a week since anything remotely solid passed from between my bum-cheeks. Leah came down with something when we were on Gili Trawangan and I think passed it on to me so that by the time we got to Gili Meno I really wasn’t feeling well. And I’m a really bad ill person. Leah will vouch for this.

Similarly to her, after some time with the runs a good old vomit suddenly made me feel better. I expected to perk up within a day or so and indeed since then and until now I feel pretty good in myself.

However, I still don’t think I’ve passed anything that wouldn’t pass through a reasonably-graded collander since. In face in the last day or so I’d go so far as to say sieve.

With an eye operation coming up on Saturday I could really do with ensuring my stomach, at least, is in working order. Here’s hoping the Immodium I have in my medicine bag is in date. At least they have Boots in Bangkok so I can get new ones if necessary.

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Water, water, everywhere

You wanktard

Were you the individual who left your bag in the ladies’ toilet at Edinburgh Airport yesterday? The one who sparked the security alert which caused a 4-hour delay to Leah’s flight (not to mention other changes and cancellations), which made he rmiss her connecting flight to Singapore from Heathrow and onward flight to Kuala Lumpur? Which means – assuming she makes the new connections – will have her arriving over four hours late, close to midnight and with no luggage for two days?

If so, I hate your guts. I hope beyond hope that the bag contained enough material to identify you and have you crucified. At the very least I hope all of your travel documents, passport, money, house keys and the like were inside and it was blown up in a controlled explosion and it costs you a fortune to replace it all.

You stupid, bloody idiot.

Post from: Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog - why not pop by and read some more shit?

Dear passenger…