The Advice Thread

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

Don’t auto renew it as it will probably cost about £80. You can buy McAfee or Norton loads cheaper on websites like Simply Antivirus.

 

[Tredman]

Not sure you need it, there are free alternatives.

 

[machin05]

No. Built in Windows Defender is fine

 

[Boozad]

The vast majority of AV packages are notorious for causing all sorts of issues including BSODs anyway. F-Secure is probably the best for stability but as Machin says Defender is more than good enough.

 

[The Bear]

I haven't used virus scanner software in at least 10 years. Just not needed these days.

Windows Defender is fine. MalwareBytes is free and can be used periodically to check. I'd also recommend using and running Crap Cleaner once a week.

 

[UKYankieWWFC]

I'll try and keep this as short as possible
Growing up i wanted to join the RAF, was an active member of the ATC from the age of 14 thru 21, that was pretty much my life back then, made it to CWO and all that garb...
30 years later (I'm getting old!) lunch time rolls round and i get a rather long text from my daughter (She's 19), saying she wants to join the military
She's pretty adventurous and very outgoing, but i have lots of mixed feelings, some probably that border selfishness mixed in with apprehension

I've always supported my kids and guided them best i can with what i know, i wouldn't stop her - of course, but feel like i lost a bit of her today as she's grown up and all that
I hope that's a natural feeling..?

 

[sycophantia]

I'll try and keep this as short as possible
Growing up i wanted to join the RAF, was an active member of the ATC from the age of 14 thru 21, that was pretty much my life back then, made it to CWO and all that garb...
30 years later (I'm getting old!) lunch time rolls round and i get a rather long text from my daughter (She's 19), saying she wants to join the military
She's pretty adventurous and very outgoing, but i have lots of mixed feelings, some probably that border selfishness mixed in with apprehension

I've always supported my kids and guided them best i can with what i know, i wouldn't stop her - of course, but feel like i lost a bit of her today as she's grown up and all that
I hope that's a natural feeling..?

It is.

 

[pavlosmacwolf]

I'll try and keep this as short as possible
Growing up i wanted to join the RAF, was an active member of the ATC from the age of 14 thru 21, that was pretty much my life back then, made it to CWO and all that garb...
30 years later (I'm getting old!) lunch time rolls round and i get a rather long text from my daughter (She's 19), saying she wants to join the military
She's pretty adventurous and very outgoing, but i have lots of mixed feelings, some probably that border selfishness mixed in with apprehension

I've always supported my kids and guided them best i can with what i know, i wouldn't stop her - of course, but feel like i lost a bit of her today as she's grown up and all that
I hope that's a natural feeling..?

Most certainly is.....

 

[WarwickWolf]

I'll try and keep this as short as possible
Growing up i wanted to join the RAF, was an active member of the ATC from the age of 14 thru 21, that was pretty much my life back then, made it to CWO and all that garb...
30 years later (I'm getting old!) lunch time rolls round and i get a rather long text from my daughter (She's 19), saying she wants to join the military
She's pretty adventurous and very outgoing, but i have lots of mixed feelings, some probably that border selfishness mixed in with apprehension

I've always supported my kids and guided them best i can with what i know, i wouldn't stop her - of course, but feel like i lost a bit of her today as she's grown up and all that
I hope that's a natural feeling..?

We don't really have them for long and during the short time we have we bring them up to be the adventurous, outgoing people they are. It's very much what being a good parent is. Doesn't make it easier, obviously, but it sounds like you did a good job.....

 

[Dire Wolf]

Does anyone have any experience of making a claim through Small Claims Court? Any advice on whether it is worthwhile using it as a means to recover money owed, given that there is a fee to use the process? We have tried to be reasonable and given this person/business plenty of time (6 months) to settle amicably, but they have consistently fobbed us off with excuses about why they haven't delivered what they said they would and what we paid for. I've completely lost patience and have now demanded they pay up. And crickets. So Small Claims Court seems our only option now.

 

[Stan Hullis]

Have you sent a letter before action yet?

If not, this is a useful guide: https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/letter/letter-before-small-claims-court-claim-aSFAC8Q6Jqan

 

[Dire Wolf]

That information isn't on the Gov.Uk website for filing a claim, which isn't very helpful! Thanks, I'll do that first then.

 

[Stan Hullis]

Good luck!

 

[lemonjelly]

Does anyone have any experience of making a claim through Small Claims Court? Any advice on whether it is worthwhile using it as a means to recover money owed, given that there is a fee to use the process? We have tried to be reasonable and given this person/business plenty of time (6 months) to settle amicably, but they have consistently fobbed us off with excuses about why they haven't delivered what they said they would and what we paid for. I've completely lost patience and have now demanded they pay up. And crickets. So Small Claims Court seems our only option now.

the question is how much money are you talking? which then becomes a question as to whether or not it is worth the stress for you.

ultimately, you can get a CCJ in your favour. You need to be aware it is then your responsibility to enforce it. The court doesn't, so you then move on to the next step.
If you get the CCJ, what would you then do next? I am assuming it is a business you are referring to? So you'd then be looking at either engaging bailiffs to enforce it, or issuing a statutory demand depending on how much the debt is for.

 

[Dire Wolf]

the question is how much money are you talking? which then becomes a question as to whether or not it is worth the stress for you.

ultimately, you can get a CCJ in your favour. You need to be aware it is then your responsibility to enforce it. The court doesn't, so you then move on to the next step.
If you get the CCJ, what would you then do next? I am assuming it is a business you are referring to? So you'd then be looking at either engaging bailiffs to enforce it, or issuing a statutory demand depending on how much the debt is for.

Thanks for the response. It isn't for a huge amount, but having paid out money to them to provide something which they then didn't provide, and the chain of communications we have had with them, it feels like they have operated a fairly clever scam operation. A successful claim would get us back about 5 or 6 times the cost of pursuing the claim, so seems worth it. That doesn't take into account the cost of potentially having to use bailiffs to enforce the claim, however. Doing nothing and allowing them to effectively steal/defraud us doesn't seem right though.

 

[EpsomWolf]

As difficult as it is I’d say you must separate the need for the money from the sense of injustice. It’s unbelievably frustrating when someone can’t pay you and absolutely rage-inducing when it’d done with deliberate intent. But just focus on the realistic outcome around the financial recovery and park the injustice.

Even a ‘win’ can come at a cost. Some people are very adept at presenting in court as having no assets or resources despite you being convinced otherwise and there is no success in being awarded 100% of nothing. Bailiff’s can have limited affect for the same reason. Bailiff fees themselves are not unreasonable (about £250 + a % of the debt iirc) although there can be a considerable time delay plus additional court fees between the initial ruling (assumed in your favour) and the actual date the bailiff arrives.

I’d be wary of pursuing, BUT, go for it if you’re very confident of a ruling in your favour, AND that the arseholes do in fact have the resources to pay (bailiff-induced or otherwise), AND your costs are fully understood, fixed and manageable right the way through to the end. Then of course there’s the mental resilience to cope with the inevitable frustrations and you’ll not have to be chasing a resolution date either.

All that paints a pretty bleak picture but it’s by no means impossible to get a successful outcome. My limited experience has always seen a resolution once court papers have been issued and have thankfully (just) avoided the very worst case scenarios. You never know, fingers crossed the initial correspondence might be enough to trigger a satisfactory outcome, but if have to go all the way at least know what you are getting into.

I don’t envy you but best of luck.

 

[Boozad]

Anybody know of any decent local drive cleaning companies? I've neglected mine for four years now and it's an eyesore and I just don't have the free time to do it. The cheaper the better obviously but I suppose you get what you pay for.

 

[BillyDee]

Just buy a pressure washer. They're fun.

 

[Boozad]

Just buy a pressure washer. They're fun.

I have one. I don’t have time to kill the weeds, scrape the moss a get rid of all the leaves and shit before pressure washing it. I used to do it every year but now it would take me a week to do it. And I just don’t have that time spare.

 

[Paul]

Whack your pressure washer up to full blast, the leaves, moss and shit will either be the Councils or your neighbours problem