I had an evil thought today, following a van with that question on the back, with an 0800 number to 'phone.
How about setting up an 0906 number (£1.50 per minute), then putting it on one of those plates on the back of your motor and going out to deliberately upset a few people?
Actually, I wouldn't have to do it myself, I know a few people I would pay rent to put it on their cars!
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frostbite
At the weekend I saw written in the dirt on the back of a white van:
"If this van is being driven courteously please call the police. It's been stolen"
Tickled me!
Terry
"Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand"
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How many people bother to ring the numbers, even when they're free? There are less dangerous ways of abusing premium rate phone numbers. Sending a tex messages to thousands of mobile phones telling the owners they've won a prize is a favourite.
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I tried calling one of these a couple of years back after I nearly got terminally thin courtesy of a well known national coach company.
After 48 hours I got a call telling me that they no longer subscribed to the service, so there.
Draw your own conclusions on what that tells you about their corporate values.....
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Remember that the sign says 'How's my driving?' so it can be used for both critisism and praise. I've called the number a couple of times to tell a firm that a driver is driving notably well. A few 'well dones' must make a nice change from the many complaints I guess they get.
One lady at a skip company sounded totally shocked when I complimented one of her drivers. He was being really patient after being cut up by different cars twice within a few minutes, so I thought it was worth a call. Skip drivers are not normally well known for their courtesy and patience!
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Skip drivers are in my experience extremely courteous, particularly if you've slip them a fiver to take a skip loaded above the top level...
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About a year or two back I was driving my better half and her parents home when I was tailgated by a Powergen minivan (I state the name because this is primarily in praise of good service, not criticism of a bad driver). It stayed behind me, no more than ten feet away, for the best part of a mile regardless of how I drove. When we reached the traffic lights at a very busy junction and I started to brake it carried on towards me, swerved around onto the opposite side of the road (nearly sideswiping a car that was pulling out), flew past the traffic waiting at the lights, and flung itself around the right hand corner just as the traffic lights turned to amber, cutting across two lanes of oncoming traffic to do so.
Fortunately, as it was tailgating me earlier I'd called out the registration plate and asked someone with a pen to write it down. I rang the company when I got back and launched a serious complaint to the customer service rep (who was very good about it). I later got a callback from her supervisor to offer an apology and check a few details. He told me that they use exceptionally accurate satellite tracking to keep tabs on those vans and can pinpoint them to within a couple of metres (which also allows speed checks to be carried out). He apologised and I thought that was that.
A few days later I got a further call from the regional customer service manager with a further apology, and confirmation that an investigation was being carried out and that action would be taken. I wouldn't have been so ratty over the whole thing if I hadn't had passengers put at risk by stupidity, so it's nice to know that some companies take these things seriously. Can't rate all involved highly enough.
As an aside, I also complained about a Post Office van that cut across three lanes and came within 6" of swiping me off the road. I got a letter a week later saying that they were sorry and hoping that the complimentary book of stamps enclosed would go some way towards apologising.
It might have done, if they'd remembered to put them in.. ;)
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A year or two back I was driving through Ferryhill following a local council van with planks of timber on roof bars. As the van hit a bump, two of the unsecured planks reared up and windmilled across the road in front of me and swiped a small tree near the footpath before settling in a cloud of leaves and splinters. I flashed my lights to try and flag the van down but I didn't want to get too close because there was still some timber left on the van's roof. The van turned off in a few hundred yards so I reported the incident to the local council transport manager who said he would deal with it. Later I got a call at the office to say the van driver had received a written warning. You don't need an 0800 number to report carelessness or stupidity.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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This was a Viz "Top Tip" some months ago so someone's beat you to it
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A friend who runs a courier business was almost side swiped by someone on the A1 while the driver was on the phone. Unfortunately the red mist descended and she managed to get in front of him. After a couple of miles her phone went (hands free of course) and she answered it in the company name. It was the driver calling the number on the van, being a woman he thought she must have been the receptionist and duly reported the act of bad driving. When he finished she calmly asked if he was the driver of the red Focus who almost side swiped her a few miles ago whilst on the phone. He said he was in a red Focus and she promptly said I know you are and I can see you are on the phone again through my rear view mirror, I suggest you get a hands free before I report you!! With that the guy pulled in to the inside lane between two wagons never to be seen again - a classic!
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This was a Viz "Top Tip" some months ago so someone's beat you to it
>>
What's a 'Viz' ?
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What's a 'Viz' ?
It's alleged to be a comic for adults. Beano fans need not apply.
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>> What's a 'Viz' ? It's alleged to be a comic for adults. Beano fans need not apply.
But it's not as funny as it used to be ;)
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