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Difficult times- Bargains to be had - paul 1963

I know we're all going through strange and worrying times at the moment but I'd thought it worth bringing the following to the attention of back roomers, Son needed a set of tyres for his pug 107, Dad ( me) said he would help out with the costs, hunting about I found a place down his way ( wiltshire) offering a set of continental's for £238. seemed reasonable enough so the car was booked in for Tuesday, Son rang tonight to tell me the company rang him this morning and offered to come to his house today to fit them....

Guy turned up first thing, 4 tyres fitted, balanced etc...total bill £ 150.!! Happy son, Happy Dad.

Can't quite get my head round how reasonable the price was but I can only guess they where desperate for the business? Blatant plug but well done national tyres...if your in the market for some new boots now may be the time?

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - daveyjp

Not quite as good a bargain as Texas oil.

An hour or so ago you would have been paid to take it off their hands. Sales now suspended at 1 cent a barrel.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - SLO76

Not quite as good a bargain as Texas oil.

An hour or so ago you would have been paid to take it off their hands. Sales now suspended at 1 cent a barrel.

Wouldn’t want to be reliant on it to fund public services right now...
Difficult times- Bargains to be had - DavidGlos
I’m assuming it was still the previously quoted Conti tyres that they fitted and not some ditchfinders?!

If that’s the case, good on them!
Difficult times- Bargains to be had - catsdad

What a bargain but it sounds like they made a mistake. Their advertised online prices are pretty high for my ubiquitous 205/55/r16s, although the 107 will be on something smaller.

Maybe they quoted for 2 but fitted 4? Either way, a good result.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Simon

Are you sure that they've fitted 4 Continental tyres for only £150?

It sounds too cheap on the face of it.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - paul 1963

Are you sure that they've fitted 4 Continental tyres for only £150?

It sounds too cheap on the face of it.

Yup, got my son to send me a picture, I can only assume someone has dropped a b@#$ock but I'm not complaining!

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Steveieb

Maybe they thought your son was an NHS worker. They need some recognition right now and hopefully we shall not take them for granted next time the Health Secretary turns down their request for a pay rise or free car parking !

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - johncyprus

Quite so. My eldest daughter is a theatre nurse now redeployed to an ICU dealing with Covid cases. I asked her what she thought of the public’s showing of appreciation by clapping each Thursday night and she ruefully said a pay rise would be more appropriate. From memory of a conversation we had last year I think she gets about £11 an hour (which is slightly more than Aldi shop assistants get paid and I have nothing against shop assistants).
Apologies for going off topic.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Maxime.

Quite,

My niece is an ICU nurse fully qualified working crazy hours, yes she might get paid the extra hours in 2 months arrears If she survives.

She says that it is heartbreaking on the ICU ward.

But nice to see her courage ..

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - SLO76
After this crisis is over a period of reflection will be required and a good long conversation about the financial reward certain jobs now regarded as key attract. Nurses are underpaid for what they do as are carers who earn a pittance while most GP’s I know live in luxury and work 3-4 days a week. Junior doctors seem underpaid for the workload and risk while I’ve friends who are lawyers that live in huge houses with a fleet of cars and multiple foreign holidays mostly for rubber stamping house sales.

Shop staff earn minimum wage in general yet footballers earn more a week than they get in a year. Bus drivers earn a fraction of the wage a train driver gets yet they do vastly more work from dealing with punters to actually steering the thing never mind working around diversions and accidents. Why do tube drivers get the guts of £60k with overtime I’m on around half that?

Our politicians have been awarded a £10k pay rise to sit at home while the rest of us take a 20% cut. The Lords are demanding three hundred quid a day to video call while small businesses accross the land are dying.

BBC (so called) stars are raking in millions yet take no risks and do little work while refuse collectors are risking infection daily to keep things going on just over a tenner an hour.

Why do some jobs attract less than others that involve more work or risk? I support the free market and I respect that we all makes our choices but more respect needs to be paid to what we now regard as a key worker.

Slash all the non-essential middle management and non-jobs in the public sector and boost the pay of nurses to make the job more attractive. The NHS were advertising during the crisis at £50k p/a which is an utter insult to Nurses, carers and junior doctors. Pointless positions that serve no purpose what do ever.

Edited by SLO76 on 21/04/2020 at 18:41

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - bazza

I could not agree more with your post, well said.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - 72 dudes

And let's not forget it was Boris and the previous Conservative government who in 2016 debated and eventually voted against giving the NHS workers a decent pay rise.

Now of course the politicians go along with public opinion that the NHS workers are invaluable heroes ......... maybe next time it comes up for debate, a good pay rise will be awarded.

And as for footballers and their obscene pay levels, don't get me started, Avant would have to ban me.

I was called a w***er yesterday at the petrol station where I work part time by a customer with several teeth and a Mohican, because I wouldn't sell him a road map of the UK. We're strictly selling just fuel and cigarettes at the moment. On reflection, I wish I'd told him that I was going to report him for non essential travel, but it would have led to a slanging match. He didn't even buy any diesel!

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - dan86

And let's not forget it was Boris and the previous Conservative government who in 2016 debated and eventually voted against giving the NHS workers a decent pay rise.

Now of course the politicians go along with public opinion that the NHS workers are invaluable heroes ......... maybe next time it comes up for debate, a good pay rise will be awarded.

And as for footballers and their obscene pay levels, don't get me started, Avant would have to ban me.

I was called a w***er yesterday at the petrol station where I work part time by a customer with several teeth and a Mohican, because I wouldn't sell him a road map of the UK. We're strictly selling just fuel and cigarettes at the moment. On reflection, I wish I'd told him that I was going to report him for non essential travel, but it would have led to a slanging match. He didn't even buy any diesel!

My Wife works at Tesco exspress with a esso station attached and has to deal with the sam manor of inbreads as the one you've described. They don't get paid enough to deal with these individuals who believe they can talk to store workers ect like they're dirt on their shoe.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - SLO76
“ The NHS were advertising during the crisis at £50k p/a which is an utter insult to Nurses, carers and junior doctors. Pointless positions that serve no purpose what do ever.“

Edit: The NHS were advertising diversity and inclusion managers during the crisis at £50k p/a which is an utter insult to Nurses, carers and junior doctors. Pointless positions that serve no purpose what do ever.
Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Steveieb

What would make a large boost to recruitment would be to reintroduce zero tuition fees for students undertaking NHS approved training I.e. nurses, physios etc.

This encouragement for students from lower salaried parents was removed by Andrew Lansley around 2017, when the thinking was maybe why train our own when we can encourage trained staff fro overseas at no cost. Such shortsightedness.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - alan1302
Our politicians have been awarded a £10k pay rise to sit at home while the rest of us take a 20% cut.

That's not true - they have been given an allowance to spend up to £10k on working from home for themselves or their staff members. They are not just being given the money and is not part of an extra wage.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - SLO76
Our politicians have been awarded a £10k pay rise to sit at home while the rest of us take a 20% cut.

That's not true - they have been given an allowance to spend up to £10k on working from home for themselves or their staff members. They are not just being given the money and is not part of an extra wage.

Yet it won’t be repaid if they don’t need it and why would they require extra money to work from home? Others don’t get it.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - alan1302
Our politicians have been awarded a £10k pay rise to sit at home while the rest of us take a 20% cut.

That's not true - they have been given an allowance to spend up to £10k on working from home for themselves or their staff members. They are not just being given the money and is not part of an extra wage.

Yet it won’t be repaid if they don’t need it and why would they require extra money to work from home? Others don’t get it.

They have not been given it so they can't replay it. It's extra money they can spend if required.

It's not just for them it is for other people that normally work for them as well. If someone who usually works in the office does not say have a laptop at home then the MP is now allowed to buy one so they can continue working. No different to being given a laptop to work from home like any other office worker. If I was sent home and did not have a laptop then I could be given one by the company that I work with. This is no different for the MPs and the people that work for them.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Engineer Andy

Are you sure that they've fitted 4 Continental tyres for only £150?

It sounds too cheap on the face of it.

Yup, got my son to send me a picture, I can only assume someone has dropped a b@#$ock but I'm not complaining!

He may have been lucky - I once got a set of Bridgestone RE720 175/60 R13Hs for my old Micra for that price when ProTyre misquoted £37.50 each (fitted) rather than £50 each. They honoured the price, but then that was in 2003.

I'm presuming your son's were something of the order of 175/65 R14 or perhaps a 15in equivalent? Normally that rough size will cost between £200 - £230 for a set of 4 for some Contis, so he got a good deal, assuming they weren't tyres sitting on a shelf for ages!

One thing you have to watch is if they fit a particular make but older designs (e.g. Eco Contact 3 rather than 5 or 6), which often are (in comparison to newer designs) not so good on the mpg.

It could've been that under the current difficult operating climate, he wanted any business he could get.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - paul 1963

Are you sure that they've fitted 4 Continental tyres for only £150?

It sounds too cheap on the face of it.

Yup, got my son to send me a picture, I can only assume someone has dropped a b@#$ock but I'm not complaining!

He may have been lucky - I once got a set of Bridgestone RE720 175/60 R13Hs for my old Micra for that price when ProTyre misquoted £37.50 each (fitted) rather than £50 each. They honoured the price, but then that was in 2003.

I'm presuming your son's were something of the order of 175/65 R14 or perhaps a 15in equivalent? Normally that rough size will cost between £200 - £230 for a set of 4 for some Contis, so he got a good deal, assuming they weren't tyres sitting on a shelf for ages!

One thing you have to watch is if they fit a particular make but older designs (e.g. Eco Contact 3 rather than 5 or 6), which often are (in comparison to newer designs) not so good on the mpg.

It could've been that under the current difficult operating climate, he wanted any business he could get.

Think your spot on Andy, there only little 13" jobs and our original quote was over £230. for 4 premium contact 5's and that's what the guy fitted. I know its a little silly but I'm starting to feel a bit guilty now ( I'm basicly a honest guy and I'd hate to think of some poor fitter getting a rocket for making a mistake)...

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Senexdriver

Moving away from tyres, but still on the subject of bargains, I am surprised that dealers aren’t making more efforts to shift new cars during the current hiatus in business. Maybe it’s deliberate and they are sitting it out.

I was looking at changing my car around this time last year but ended up sticking with my existing one. At that time the new car I was interested in could be had for around £30K on Carwow. A year later it’s more like £34 or £35K which seems a massive jump in just 12 months and in the current climate I can’t imagine many are being sold. But maybe I’m wrong.

On the other hand, a few days ago I found a 69 plate 2020 registered example in the spec I’m after with 1100 miles on the clock for just £28K. That seems to me more representative of the real value. However, I won’t be following it up because having decided not to change the car last year we’re now in the midst of some home improvements instead!

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Avant

"We're strictly selling just fuel and cigarettes at the moment. "

That sounds unfair of your employer to put you under that sort of pressure, 72 dudes. As long as there are proper safeguards against too many people being in the shop at once, I can't see why you shouldn't sell whatever you stock - particularly if it's food.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - SLO76
"We're strictly selling just fuel and cigarettes at the moment. "

Cigarettes are essential but milk, bread, food and papers etc aren’t? Odd surely?
Difficult times- Bargains to be had - 72 dudes

Avant and Slo. I probably should have said that it's a petrol station attached to a large Sainsbury's store, so customers can get everything (even road maps) from the main store.

We have closed the small petrol station shop, and customers are paying through the night hatch, so anything bigger than a pack of cigarettes would be hard to manage.

All food and newspaper deliveries have been suspended and diverted to the main store.

Odd maybe but we had no screens between us and customers and we were feeling quite exposed until the night hatch idea came in. I think all Sainsbury's petrol stations nationally are the same if they don't have pay at pump.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - SLO76
Ah, makes total sense then. Didn’t know it was a supermarket petrol station. I’ve fortunately not had to fuel up recently as Polo runs locally on a thimble of fuel and old Terrence Toyota isn’t really being used at all.
Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Engineer Andy
"We're strictly selling just fuel and cigarettes at the moment. " Cigarettes are essential but milk, bread, food and papers etc aren’t? Odd surely?

I think they're doing so because demand for food etc in petrol stations is not constant, and many now have very little trade at the moment, meaning their stock could go off (or papers not sold) and cause yet more financial hardship. My local (branded) filling station is now closed (and probably signed up to the furlough/business protection scheme) becaue it's 100m from tesco, and everyone who is filling up does so there.

I advocated the supermarkets temporarily closing their filling stations where local indies can pick up the slack, as supermarkets really only use theirs as loss-leaders to entice people into the shop - why do they need them - they have guaranteed business and little competitors at present.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - 72 dudes

Reports today that 100 rural filling stations have closed due to Coronavirus. Clearly in these times of reduced travel, people are more likely to stick with the supermarkets.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Engineer Andy

Reports today that 100 rural filling stations have closed due to Coronavirus. Clearly in these times of reduced travel, people are more likely to stick with the supermarkets.

I suspect it not because staff are self-isolating, but twofold - one, a lack of business because, as we've said, most people will get their petrol when they go shopping, and the other, because many small indie filling stations don't have many, if any, 'pay at pump' machines, meaning they'll have to make provision for extra safety measures when people pay at the kiosk.

I still maintain that most people wouldn't be that bothered about going a little way to get petrol separately from shopping, especially as it often is more useful in rural areas and also can give the car a nice run out to keep it in good nick - it's not as though they'll be doing that much extra mileage over the long run as a result.

I think there is merit to some (not all) supermarkets looking to help their local rival filling stations, plus it would help reduce congestion in and around the supermarkets and free up some staff for in-store/marshalling duties. As I said, supermarkets rarely make a profit from selling fuel - they are there to get people in the shop, which isn't needed at the moment.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - gordonbennet

Those that need fuel, not everyone is sat in the garden enjoying the weather, will be taking advantage of the cheapest fuel for years at Asda and Morrisons.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - madf

Those that need fuel, not everyone is sat in the garden enjoying the weather, will be taking advantage of the cheapest fuel for years at Asda and Morrisons.

I am building an oil tanker to take adantage of being paid to take crude oil. :-)..

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Maxime.

Those that need fuel, not everyone is sat in the garden enjoying the weather, will be taking advantage of the cheapest fuel for years at Asda and Morrisons.

I am building an oil tanker to take adantage of being paid to take crude oil. :-)..

My husband has filled two 50 gallon drums in the shed.

Good job it's a long garden.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - groaver

My husband has filled two 50 gallon drums in the shed.

Good job it's a long garden.

Petrol?

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - gordonbennet

don't tell 'em Pike

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Engineer Andy

Those that need fuel, not everyone is sat in the garden enjoying the weather, will be taking advantage of the cheapest fuel for years at Asda and Morrisons.

I am building an oil tanker to take adantage of being paid to take crude oil. :-)..

My husband has filled two 50 gallon drums in the shed.

Good job it's a long garden.

Boom!

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Andrew-T

<< My husband has filled two 50 gallon drums in the shed. >>

I hope that is legal - I suspect it may not be.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - groaver

<< My husband has filled two 50 gallon drums in the shed. >>

I hope that is legal - I suspect it may not be.

It isn't unless it's notified.

www.hse.gov.uk/fireandexplosion/petrol-storage-clu...#

That's for petrol.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - edlithgow

Those that need fuel, not everyone is sat in the garden enjoying the weather, will be taking advantage of the cheapest fuel for years at Asda and Morrisons.

I am building an oil tanker to take adantage of being paid to take crude oil. :-)..

Yes, I was reading somewhere that there is A LOT of oil "parked" in recommissioned tankers that are going nowhere.

I understand short-term physical oil future contracts are now going negative, so they pay you to take the stuff because they have nowhere to put it..

I dunno why they can't just stop pulling it out of the ground (or even pump it back in if they need crude storage) but I suppose they'd have thought of that.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Engineer Andy

I used to see from time to time many oil tankers moored offshore when I was on holiday in the South West - normally when oil prices has dipped. I wonder if the same is happening now that stocks are full and only 40-odd% of vehicles are on the road.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - alan1302

I used to see from time to time many oil tankers moored offshore when I was on holiday in the South West - normally when oil prices has dipped. I wonder if the same is happening now that stocks are full and only 40-odd% of vehicles are on the road.

I expect it will be - buying it cheap, storing it to sell on later when prices rise.

Difficult times- Bargains to be had - Heidfirst

I dunno why they can't just stop pulling it out of the ground (or even pump it back in if they need crude storage) but I suppose they'd have thought of that.

Apparently the oil cos. reckon it will cost them even more to shut down than it will to just keep on pumping ...