Daily Archives: September 2, 2008

Just leave that crap there mate, someone else will pick it up

Posted by David Hurst on September 2, 2008 None comments

I fancied a Burger King for lunch today. After ordering myself a rather tasty Meat Beast Whopper, I headed to the upstairs seating in BK Yeovil, to sit and enjoy my lunch with a magazine. The mess was unbelievable. There were empty food wrappers everywhere. I had to clean my table before I could sit down, and there was even a pile of rubbish at my feet.

I don’t think this should necessarily reflect badly on BK Yeovil – they did send someone up to clean it up – rather, I think it has more to do with ignorant, arrogant, retards who believe it’s perfectly acceptable to leave your crap all over the place for someone else to pick up. Burger King, and indeed all such eateries, are not full service restaurants. There is no table service, and that is partly why the food is cheap (unless of course you are in a motorway services Burger King, in which case a [Burger] King’s ransom is what you will pay).

Leaving your rubbish behind is not just about the staff that have to clean up after you either, it’s about the next people that have to use the table. If I can go to these places with two children and leave the table as clean and tidy as I found it, then so can everybody else. Stop being so lazy. Clean up your own mess. Become a decent and civilised member of human society. Even animals can clear up their own waste. You are a human being, aren’t you?

I’m confused.com so compare the market and quote me happy

Posted by David Hurst on September 2, 2008 3 comments

Every ad break on every show I watch on TV, one of these car insurance websites is telling me that I can save money on my insurance bills with them. They all claim to be cheaper than each other, so you could be forgiven for expecting to actually get cheap insurance premiums right?

I had to arrange insurance for the new family roadster, a Fiat Grande Punto. It’s only a 1.3 diesel, so I’m not really expecting to have to pay top dollar. My experience over the years has always been that it is cheapest to buy your car insurance from Direct Line, and yet still, each time I need some, I feel the need to shop around. Every time I do, I usually end up back where I started with Direct Line. Anyway, I thought I’d get a few quotes for the Punto, the question is: where do I start?

Well, I decided not to bother with Norwich Union. I called them a couple of years ago for a quote on my Fiat Coupe and was given a figure of £1,600. I now understand the “Quote Me Happy” slogan: they quote you, you fall about laughing, and then you phone someone else. In this case I phoned Direct Line and insured my coop for £350. So, I narrowed my list down to three places this time:

  1. Confused.com – because I hate their TV commercials so much. I don’t believe they can save money and I wanted to verify this.
  2. Tesco – my business partner Tom is convinced they are the cheapest.
  3. Direct Line – because they are bound to be cheaper than the above.

So, confused.com – not an actual insurer, but one of the new scourge of Internet price comparison websites that are systematically re-channelling profits away from the actual provider into the pockets of a middle man. I’m convinced this is ultimately bad for the consumer, as it will result in inevitable price increases. If the insurance company has to pay a cut to confused.com, then you are not getting the best price, and the provider is not getting the best margin. Anyway, after inputting all the details (and there are a lot of details to be entered), I got a list of insurance quotes in order of cheapest. The top entry was some budget outfit that I had never heard of, that had a huge excess and no windscreen cover. There’s no way I would take such a useless policy – the chances of a smooth payout if you ever needed one are slimmer than Beckham’s missus. Anyway the amazing price was £228. Bearing in mind I pay £330 for a group 19 performance car, this seemed excessive.

Next up, Tesco. I have noticed that Tesco’s insurance paperwork and quoting engine are identical to Direct Line’s. Does this mean Tesco car insurance is actually Direct Line? I don’t know, but, they were cheaper at £198. They also offered me a “Value” policy, so called because it has no value, just like the rest of Tesco’s “Value” range. Not for me thanks.

And finally, Direct Line, who came in at £152. Thanks very much. I’ll take two.

In fact, as my Coupe was already insured with Direct Line, I just adjusted my existing policy. I got a refund and they covered the Coupe for another 2 weeks free of charge to give me time to sell it.

So, if you’re looking for insurance, I reckon you are much better off going direct to the insurers, rather than helping fund Confused.com’s directors’ new fleet of Ferraris, which will probably be insured with Direct Line, because they’re cheapest.