Sounds like a strange title but I have decided to list the most annoying motorway driving crimes/errors, hopefully the muppets involved will read this and change their driving!  I should add that I have over 19 years driving experience, passed my test twice, done the advanced motoring test (Institute of advanced Motorists), done 23 hours of skid pan and advanced skid control, I hold a full motorbike license and an LGV class 2.  I drive around 100,000 miles a year on the motorways so have a good idea how they work.

I don’t have a set driving pattern on the motorway, I drive dependant on time of day, weather and weight of traffic around me.  That sounds fairly obvious but it would appear that not everyone does the same.  Let me give you an example, last weekend I took my wife and two kids to Swansea for a weekend with my family.  Its around 160 miles and 99% motorway driving (M54, M6, M5, M50, M4), it was a little before 10am on a Friday morning and the weather was very nice, no clouds just lots of sun.  So when I got on the motorway I stuck the car at 70mph and sat in the inside lane and was in no rush, before overtaking I ensured no fast moving cars were behind me and gave plenty of warning, if a car did approach from behind at speed I would always get out of its way as quickly and safely as I could then settle back down in lane 1.  On this journey I encountered the worst driving habits and have compiled my top 10 below, all of these were seen on my gentle amble to Swansea.

1. Middle Lane Hogging Yes I know this is a well publicised one but I would like to tell these ignorant fucktards what they are doing wrong!  The rule of thumb on the motorway is if there is room to undertake then there is room to move into that lane.  I hate being undertaken, being held up by slower cars and holding people up but there are some people that have a special place reserved in hell for them.  Those people are the hyper mileage drivers.  They don’t use cruise control, they drive at every speed between 60 and 70 in their quest to save 12p worth of fuel. Its not a bad thing unless they are like the prats who populate the motorways in V reg rovers and ford focuses.  They sit in the middle lane for no obvious reason, lane 1 is clear and forces anyone who needs to overtake to go across to the fast moving lane 3 in order to get past a car in lane 1.  This leads me on to my next hate

2. Mr & Mrs twitchy foot. These are the people who have no idea how to drive at a consistent speed.  You start to approach them at 70 (they are doing around 65) you indicate and move into the next lane to overtake, sit there for a bit and realise they are pulling away from you.  You then pull back in behind them and they slow back down to 65mph and the whole thing starts again.  These people are just like…

3. NOBODY is overtaking me man. I say man because this is a male ego thing. You approach a car doing 65mph so indicate to overtake and as you start passing them they glance in their wing mirror and speed up a little.  You have already committed to overtake so rather than slow down in lane 2 or 3 you accelerate up to 75/80mph and you’re still not passing them.  You then stick the hammer down and take it up to 90mph and finally overtake (and getting a stinking look when you do get past). You then pull back into lane 1 in front of them and slow back down to 70-75mph and in a few miles they are just a spec in your mirror (that is until someone else tries to overtake them).  I find this happens a lot when the man is in a small engine car (1.1-1.6), they see a 300bhp V6 Jag attempt to overtake and thats it they get all defensive.

4. Tailgate and indicate man. Again a male thing, you are overtaking in lane 2 or 3 and a car comes up behind you at the speed of sound from a distance.  They can see you are overtaking, even accelerating to expedite and BANG lights go on, right indicator goes on and they start trying to mount the rear of your car.  Normally these people almost kill themselves because as you clear the car you attempt to go back into lane 2 and find that the numpty behind has already started trying that to undertake you!  I’m guessing these people are related to the….

5. Junction Hoppers. Now these knobs are of mixed gender and generally only ever use the motorway as a bypass from house to shop.  They have no clue on using slip roads, motorways or their cars.  They scream down the slip road, slam on the brakes at the end and race out into lane 3 without so much as a glance in a mirror.  They then tailgate, undertake and generally bully everyone around them.  You do your best to get out of their way and let them pass you, when they do get past you they drive across all 3 lanes to get off the motorway at the next junction at the very last minute.

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Post offices open on a Sunday???

I have a scenario for you, its Friday and your car dies suddenly, so you take it to a garage, they tell you it’s going to cost £2500 to get fixed. Rather than pay that to get it fixed you decide it’s time to buy a cheap run-around.  So you trawl through auto trader and the free papers and you find a great little car for a couple of thousand pounds but it is 100 miles away from your house.  You travel by train, which gets seriously delayed and arrive at the garage at 4.30pm.  You fall in love with the car and have to fight people away from it because it seems that half the country is trying to buy it.  You part with your money, sort the insurance out and realise that the tax ran out last month, what do you do?
Under normal circumstances I would walk away and return on Monday to collect but I needed the car for Monday 8am.  So I drove it home and plonked it on my driveway and thought I would have to get tax first thing on Monday morning but curiosity got the better of me.  I decided to google “post office Sunday opening times” and found nothing but a link to the store locator.  So I whacked in the post code of where I just bought the car and could you believe it I found a post office that did road tax on a Sunday.  So I started putting in different towns all closer to home and found that there are a handful that do open on a Sunday.

So if you live in the Midlands and need to tax your car on a Sunday see below for a short list of post offices that are open on a Sunday.

I will be adding to this list and maybe will include all areas of the UK because this list doesn’t appear to exist anywhere on the net.  Alternatively if you know of any other post offices that are open on a Sunday and will provide road tax just leave a comment and I will update this post!

Bradgate Mall Beaumont Shopping Centre
Leicester
Leicestershire
LE4 1DE

Opening hours
Monday     08:30     19:00
Tuesday     08:30     19:00
Wednesday     08:30     19:00
Thursday     08:30     19:00
Friday     08:30     19:00
Saturday     08:30     19:00
Sunday     10:00     16:00     

Castle Vale
Unit One
Castle Vale
Birmingham
West Midlands
B35 6DL

Opening hours
Monday     08:30     17:30
Tuesday     08:30     17:30
Wednesday     08:30     17:30
Thursday     08:30     17:30
Friday     08:30     17:30
Saturday     09:00     13:00
Sunday     10:00     13:00

Soho Road
235 Soho Road
Birmingham
West Midlands
B21 9RZ

Opening hours
Monday     08:30     17:30
Tuesday     08:30     17:30
Wednesday     08:30     17:30
Thursday     08:30     17:30
Friday     08:30     17:30
Saturday     08:30     17:30
Sunday     11:00     16:00     

Villa Road
121 -125 Villa Road
Birmingham
West Midlands
B19 1NH

Opening hours
Monday     09:00     17:30
Tuesday     09:00     17:30
Wednesday     09:00     17:30
Thursday     09:00     17:30
Friday     09:00     17:30
Saturday     09:00     14:00
Sunday     11:00     16:00  

Berriew
Berriew Stores
Welshpool
Powys
SY21 8PG

Opening hours
Monday     07:00     20:00
Tuesday     07:00     20:00
Wednesday     07:00     20:00
Thursday     07:00     20:00
Friday     07:00     20:00
Saturday     07:00     20:00
Sunday     08:00     20:00

http://www2.postoffice.co.uk/branch-finder

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We’ve all been there, wake up in the morning and notice that your twat of a neighbour has launched a lighter into your windscreen and cracked it, well maybe not all of you but I’m sure any drivers out there have experienced the nightmare that is a cracked windscreen.  I first noticed this crack on a cold morning before setting off for work, it was at the top and kind of hidden behind the rain sensor and tinted section of the screen.  At first I assumed it was just a flying stone but the debris of a lighter was also found within the immediate area.  However I didn’t think much about it as I had windscreen cover with my car insurance and made the call when I arrived home that evening.

The call was fairly straight forward, they took my details and advised me someone would call back to arrange the replacement.  A few minutes later Autoglass called and asked about the car and the damage then told me that he would arrive the following day.  Just as we were sorting out the finer details he told me it would cost £75 for a repair and £150 for a replacement, apparently my rather expensive windscreen cover carried a high excess!  I told him not to bother calling out until I had spoken to my insurance company (Admiral via Bell).  They then told me that the excess was required and I should have opted for the “free” windscreen cover at a cost of £70 a year (I’m already paying an extra £50).  Completely unhappy with this and knowing my insurance was due for renewal a couple of weeks later I chanced driving with the ever increasing crack in my screen.

After 2 weeks of watching this crack get bigger I decided to bite the bullet and start getting quotes, my partner has a premier account with Lloyds TSB which offers a big discount if you buy from AA windscreens, however that quote came in at £600 with the discount.  Thinking that I would be better off just paying the excess I made one more enquiry and found a local company (Auto Price Windscreens) who quoted me £140 for the screen and fitting.  As this was cheaper than the excess I arranged a next day replacement at my workplace.

Now I work in Stoke, the head office is in Telford (where I live) however I drive a company car around the country as part of my job meaning I was not there to inspect the work once finished.  I paid over the phone before he came out and collected the car once I had finished work.  The invoice had some advice about when I could drive the car and the “no car wash for 4 days” warning and all appeared good.  The following day the company car wasn’t available so I drove my car to Norfolk to do a job and on the way home the windscreen lifted and the rubber flew off.  After making a dive into the hard shoulder I retrieved the trim pieces and called them.

I was quite angry at the situation as I was stuck in Milton Keynes on the side of a motorway wondering if I could drive home.  The MD then called me and once I had told him the problem I was safe to drive home (slowly) and he would send someone out to me as soon as he could.  I got home and just started making a cup of coffee when a van pulled up and the fitter knocked my door, amazed that they knew I was home I showed the chap the problem and he set about fixing it.  Problem sorted or so I thought…

Today I decided to go to the garden centre to make use of the week off I have and went over a pothole and a big part of my rain sensor/alarm thingy/rear view mirror fell off and was left hanging on by a couple of brightly coloured wires.  Once again I called them and they advised me that someone would call out within the hour.  Just as the friendly lady had said a chirpy chappy came out and fixed the mirror thingy, cleaned up the roof lining, polished the windscreen inside and out and even had a crack at polishing my dashboard.

One happy customer later I finish off my gardening and think about telling the world about a company who stand by their work and who came out to me to put right any problems I had.  Do I think they should have done the job correctly the first time?  Yes of course, however they haven’t once given me the brush off and have fixed everything professionally, without question and best of all without charge.  Would I use them again and recommend them?  Yes 100%  I doubt any of the major companies would have tried so hard and called out twice to put things right without charge.

So if you are in the Stafford/Shropshire area and need a windscreen then try Auto Price Windscreens by calling 0800 298 0469

http://www.autopricewindscreens.com/

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A look into what went wrong with Excel and a response from the former MD Mr Stuart Box.

It would appear that our friends at Excell have gone bump. Yes I understand that you have probably heard this before on this blog but after a slight legal issue I can now post this.

On the 6^th of December Excell Communications was placed into administration by Begbies Traynor after the company ran out of money, leaving up to £1.3 million owed to customers.  The Midlands based mobile dealer used to offer low cost tariffs and services by offering cash-back or redemption deals which is common within the industry.  Basically the customer would sign up to a £30 a month tariff and the dealer would give a cash back of £125.00 which would effectively reduce the monthly cost to £25.00 (24 months x £5).  This way the dealer can “undercut” the network’s advertised price meaning the customer gets a better deal, the network gets a subscriber and the dealer gets a returning customer, everyone wins.  This business model is very common among dealers and Excell had successfully used it for many years prior to its collapse.

18 months prior to the collapse of Excell Stuart Box (former MD) had taken a leave of absence for personal reasons, during this time the company was run by Richard Taylor and the existing management team.  However when Stuart decided he needed to leave the business there were complications between the distributor and existing management team.  These complications left the company in financial hardship and as we all know these financial difficulties eventually driving the company into administration.  Although no longer part of the business, Stuart still contributed financially towards the business out of his own pocket, yet no amount of funding was going to save this sinking ship.  This contribution was born out of loyalty to those staff,  including many family members still working within the business who had worked for Stuart for a number of years. Stuart was of the firm opinion that common sense would prevail and that trading relationships would resume.  This contribution was supplied as loan to the new owner of the business.  Unfortunately, trading relationships were not resumed between the Distributor and the new owner leaving Stuart as a large creditor of Excell.

Stuart also ran another two businesses (B2BMobile & Wolves Mobile) which had been trading independently since 2006 which were not part of Excell and removed all association from the failing Excell business.  This might have looked like Stuart was bailing out yet this was not the case, these businesses were completely separate entities and was well within his rights to protect his current business interests however the damage was already done.  Interestingly Stuart had no access to the administrators reports as he was no longer part of Excell and could not have guessed the trouble the business was in.

Orange decided to take the decision to issue a “do not deal” notice to all companies involved or previously linked to Excell (including B2BMobile).  I have to point out that it isn’t just Stuart’s companies who have been hit with this condemnation from the Orange, premier telesales now owned by Richard Taylor, and all its associated companies have also taken a fall for their part in the Excell collapse.

As you are probably aware I have taken this mission rather personally and published various stories that were removed from the internet regarding this.  However as I pointed out at the beginning of this post I had a slight legal hiccup regarding some of the comments I had made and through this I got an opportunity to speak to Stuart Box personally.  I have offered him the opportunity to set the record straight regarding the whole Excell saga.  The post will appear completely unedited and exactly as he wrote it, I will however put full moderation on the comments, this is to prevent a flame war starting, as was the case on various other sites.

On the subject of flaming, this post does not mean I am siding with anyone, had any involvement or condone what happened.  I just believe everyone has a right to an unbiased platform to tell their side of the story.

A note worth adding at this point is that as of 18:48 on 15th April 2011 premierphoneshop.co.uk is offline, by the looks of things all files have been removed from the domain directories, however BKMobile and PremierTelesales are still live.

Excell Communications (Shropshire) Limited administration notice

10 January 2011

As you may be aware, Excell Communications (Shropshire) was placed into Administration on 6 December 2010.

Any amounts owed to customers will form part of an unsecured claim in the Administration proceedings.  Indications are that there are insufficient funds to make any payments to customers under any cash back agreements or transfer fees from previous airtime providers and any monies owed to you will be lost.

If you have not already done so, please log your details, including any amounts owed to you, via our website link to Excellcommunications@begbies-traynor.com.

Queries regarding your ongoing contracts should be directed to your airtime operator.

Begbies Traynor is unable to answer any individual queries and telephone calls will not be taken.  All enquiries in writing please but given the number of customers affected, it may be some time before we are able to respond.

Stuart has given us a statement which we have published in full below in a completely unedited format.  Please note that due to this statement coming directly from Stuart, no correspondence will be entered into regarding this.

Statement

In the past few months numerous bloggers have made inaccurate claims against me in connection with this matter and when I have sought to have them removed, the incorrect accusations  re - appear via different means of social media which has caused great distress to me and my family.

I have agreed to give this final statement purely on the basis of trying to get some facts across so that readers are not left to rely on rumour, speculation and inaccurate reporting of my involvement.

In all honesty, I haven’t known how to fight back against these allegations, believing publishers were bound by libel laws which mean the claims had to be taken down.

This has been a huge source of stress not only for me but for my family, who were at the heart of the reason why I left Excell and had not been playing an active part in the business for a year and a half prior to my departure from the company.

It was reported I sold the company “just weeks” before it went into administration. It would be reasonable to surmise from that, that there was a degree of expectation of anticipated financial difficulties on the horizon. This could not be further from the truth. There is no connection between me leaving Excell and my former company going into administration. I left following an 18 month sabbatical due to personal reasons following the birth of my son and an illness in the family.

When any company goes under it is a difficult time. When that company is one that you have built up from scratch, working with close family and friends, the toll of distress on those involved can be heartbreaking.

Adding to this nightmare is the inaccurate and in some cases very damaging accusations made against me and my current company. In recent months both me and my family have been the subjects of personal abuse and unfounded accusations from online commentators and local speculation. I hope that my setting out some of the facts here goes some way to helping people understand the nightmare myself and my family are now enduring.

I have every sympathy for those owed money and I myself are a larger creditor of Excell  because, in a bid to save Excell and even though I had by that time left the company, I have also signed a number of personal guarantees that have also resulted in substantial financial claims being made against me.

Due to the very nature of this and the complications surrounding the administration of the business, I do not wish to make any further comments relating to Excell and would welcome the opportunity for me and my family to move on .

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Over the next few weeks I am going to be adding more posts to this section mainly to share the knowledge I have accrued whilst working at Geko Direct.

Geko Direct Limited is a Midlands business to business mobile phone dealer, who offer bespoke tariffs based on your needs rather than a simple “off-the-peg” solution.  Geko Direct Limited are also one of the very few Specialist level Orange Business Partners which is a great accolade and one that I am proud to boast.

I started working at Geko a couple of years ago within the porting team and my role was assisting customers transfer their numbers from network to network.  However through sheer hard work and determination I have worked my way up to sales executive and taken many different turns during my career, this isn’t without complaint though.  Not only do I offer support to both staff and customers I am now able to sell the product I believe in so much.  Geko Direct has been one of the best career moves I have made since I moved to Shropshire 5 years ago.  As you probably know I have already tried my hand in Litigation and Credit Control with some relative success but I have now gone back to my roots in Technical Support with the added responsibility of sales.

So keep checking back and maybe that question you have been searching for might finally get answered!

Link Dump
Links to various sites mentioned in this blog.

GekoDirect Limited: http://www.gekodirect.co.uk/
Orange: http://www.Orange.co.uk/

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