Got one of these for my daughter after her pulse mini went to mobile Heaven, she had a San Francisco for a while but the USB port was never great on it, after several drops onto tarmac, being filled with water and the USB finally giving up it was time for a new phone.
They don't do this phone in tough cases but for only £10 a month from Tesco it's a great little phone and although a 24 month contract the phone would be £92 anyway so it's easier to get it on contract (100 mins, 5000 texts, 500mb data).
I like to have my phones rooted so I can run SU, backup utilities etc.
One thing to note, unlocking the boot loader wiped the phone so if you intend to unlock the bootloader then either back your data up or be prepared to restart the configuration, it's not a problem for this phone as it's about 5 hours old.
With this phone the recommendation is to unlock the bootloader first, HTC dev have a web site for this with great screen shots and instructions.
www.htcdev.com just needs you to register so it has your email for later, I then selected "other supported devices", it told me to put the phone into fastboot mode.
On the HTC Desire C it's similar to most, remove the battery, then re-install.
Hold Volume down and press power, you get the bootloader screen.
In linux I just followed the HTC tips to get the bootloader token,
In a terminal you type
fastboot oem get_identifier_token
The bootloader key is then returned into the terminal screen.
You then edit the data slightly to remove the (bootloader) from the start of each line.
Cut and paste the data into the HTC web site and you instantly get an unlock.bin code.
Put the unlock.bin file in a folder where fastboot can access it (my fastboot and adb paths are set in the system so I can run them from any folder)
Then type
fastboot flash unlocktoken Unlock_code.bin
Your phone will blip and the boot loader is unlocked.
I booted up and made sure everything worked by signing into Google Play store etc, everything worked great.
Now it was time to root so I can install Link2SD etc.
Power down, remove the battery and go into fastboot again.
I got the r1 superboot file (http://www.modaco.com/topic/355158-r1-superboot-how-to-root-the-htc-desire-c/)
Extract that into a folder, cd into the directory and while your phone is in fastboot you just issue a couple of commands.
Make sure you are in the directory you extracted the files and type
chmod +x install-superboot-linux.sh
and
./install-superboot-linux.sh
You don't need sudo on these commands if you saved the files in your home directories (as you will be owner of the files).
Once done, boot the phone up, I did get an error running the wireless, but I powered down and rebooted and it worked fine.
I've seen this before on some SU/root operations, you get an error probably because you have unlocked some potential in the phone.
I noticed the wireless has more options now so perhaps the error was on this.
I now have bootloader unlocked and SU installed.
As with other phones running SU I installed Link2SD, this needs your memory card split into two so it has a partition for the apps.
This phone is sold by Tesco with 4gb, for some strange reason we didn't seem to get the 4gb micro SD in the box, I'll double check in case it's fallen out but I've got several SD cards so thats fine.
Everything's now up and running great.
A nice phone, 3.5" screen and the ICS OS is nice and nippy, got some nice touches such as a data usage monitor built in and the usual nice HTC widgets.
All in all it takes about 20 - 30 mins to go through this carefully but it works great.
Thursday, 14 March 2013
Sunday, 24 February 2013
Aliens Colon Evacuation
I suppose any anticipation of a game called Aliens Colonial Marines brings expectation of a game offering realism to the Aliens film, smart guns, auto turrets, bright yellow loaders and all out alien battles.
Thoughts of amazing jaw dropping graphics, Aliens in glorified detail and battles worthy of many a competitive game.
You then realize the game is written by the same team (Gearbox) who did Borderlands and the anticipation grows even more.
Where to start, where to start?
Well I suppose it's much easier to go straight to the point and say it promised so much, it could have been everything yet it was nothing.
Memories of Doom on 8086 and 2086 processors, you walk a bit, out jumps an alien, shoot, walk a bit more, jump, shoot, walk, shoot, jump etc.
Along the way you pick up just enough ammo, not too much but just enough, you have the obligatory weapon upgrades which offer a few useful upgrades but on the whole I spent almost the whole game on shotgun, switching to an assault or battle rifle to pick off one or two enemy, or the machine gun when I ran out of ammo.
Unfortunately you couldn't turn any of these guns on yourself and end this shambles, more the shame.
I finished the game in less tha n2 days of on/off playing, perhaps 8 hours total ?
The end level being nothing more than hide, run out, flick a switch, hide, run out, flick switch 2, hide, switch 3, hide, switch 4, yawn, hide, switch 5, end of game sequence, realization I wasted so much time on this rubbish.
There are so many issues it's hardly worth mentioning them as they would take up page after page, but subtle things like you activate a switch then your character is starting straight up at the ceiling, pretty handy if you can hear an alien sneaking up on you and then find yourself trying to orientate yourself and ahh your dead.
Doors open with long drawn out struggles and groans, I supposed for the first time it adds a bit of "atmosphere" but on the 15th or 20th time its just plain annoying, some groan and stutter for perhaps 20 seconds before opening.
The motion tracker should be called boredom or shite tracker, it seems to track multiple levels of shitness, only stopping when you clear the level of aliens and start the next tedious walk through the next level.
Other doors require cutting open and that soon gets tedious , levels are linear so it's walk, shoot, jump etc, rinse and repeat.
One level demands, cut door, open, run through, close, weld shut, rinse and repeat through more doors than I believe is legal under European legislation but there we go.
The AI on your team is pretty appalling, they wander off, run at strange angles and seem to shoot thousands of bullets hitting very little, leaving you to do most of the work, even more fun they seem indestructible so you can pop off for a cup of tea while they fire tens of thousands of rounds and hit jack shit.
It's common to find yourself standing alone, looking around and no one there, you don't have way points or maps to speak of, just a vague message in the blurry heads up/status menu.
You look around and then find after 10 minutes of searching that your team was waiting for you at a door somewhere, quite often on the other side of some nasty shitter standing waiting for you.
Many a time the team run past enemy soldiers or aliens, leaving you to have a firefight, other times you sometimes turn a corner and die immediately.
I found myself placing a sentry gun with no clue why or where, then find a bit later I get killed, you then respawn at the start of the level and find .. ah no sentry gun, thanks Gearbox, did anyone test this game before releasing it ?
It feels rushed, a game prepared by an inexperienced team, poor level design, predictable enemy attacks and levels, terrible/shocking AI and aliens that appear to have no ability to be anything more than stuttering graphics on your screen.
Strangely it feels like Duke Nukem forever, a game I waited some 13 years for and found it ruined 13 years of waiting, this is much the same, a game that should have reinvented the Aliens saga, taking you into realms of Halo type "oohs" and "aahs" as you look at the amazing scenery, and gasps as you look at the amazingly detailed and intense levels.
Instead you go "ugh" and "uh" as your taken aback by the poor detail and effort.
The weapons are pretty terrible, you pick up a smart gun, have several aliens attack you and almost wake up such is the promise of some decent... ah hold on.
You use most of your ammo then your AI team mate says "use controlled bursts, you can't reload down here" - cheers for that as I'm showing 56 rounds left so I won't bother then, out comes the shotgun and off we go again.
All in all a pretty dull and pointless game, compare it say to Crysis 2 and it's nowhere near the graphics, playability or quality of that game, you're in a controlled and restricted environment and to be fair the aliens are welcome to it.
Personally I would get on the first shuttle out of there and leave the colonists to their fate, you wanted to be there, you're welcome to it.
I think the best thing to do with this is rent it just to experience how not to write an Xbox game, then put your Tea on the DVD and this will help you to stop playing it, if you have a handy shredder then pop it in there and it's sorted.
I loved Aliens on the PC years ago, it was great, I even had a patch which let me play co-op on a local lan and it was great, the atmosphere, the guns, the aliens it was great. Me and little bro played for something like 18 hours straight, being fed tea and snacks regularly, what a blast.
However, time moves on and this game seems to take you back before that time, to 286 processors, limited graphics and shoddy programming.
The only snacks you yearn for are cyanide and any other handy poisons.
Perhaps the best bit was the line "we've got a situation here", that's right, it's shocking programming and we should hunt them down and use the last 56 rounds of our smart gun on them.
Don't even get me started on the Alien Queen or the sewers, just don't.
Perhaps it's best to sum this game up in two words.
It's Shit.
Thoughts of amazing jaw dropping graphics, Aliens in glorified detail and battles worthy of many a competitive game.
You then realize the game is written by the same team (Gearbox) who did Borderlands and the anticipation grows even more.
Where to start, where to start?
Well I suppose it's much easier to go straight to the point and say it promised so much, it could have been everything yet it was nothing.
Memories of Doom on 8086 and 2086 processors, you walk a bit, out jumps an alien, shoot, walk a bit more, jump, shoot, walk, shoot, jump etc.
Along the way you pick up just enough ammo, not too much but just enough, you have the obligatory weapon upgrades which offer a few useful upgrades but on the whole I spent almost the whole game on shotgun, switching to an assault or battle rifle to pick off one or two enemy, or the machine gun when I ran out of ammo.
Unfortunately you couldn't turn any of these guns on yourself and end this shambles, more the shame.
I finished the game in less tha n2 days of on/off playing, perhaps 8 hours total ?
The end level being nothing more than hide, run out, flick a switch, hide, run out, flick switch 2, hide, switch 3, hide, switch 4, yawn, hide, switch 5, end of game sequence, realization I wasted so much time on this rubbish.
There are so many issues it's hardly worth mentioning them as they would take up page after page, but subtle things like you activate a switch then your character is starting straight up at the ceiling, pretty handy if you can hear an alien sneaking up on you and then find yourself trying to orientate yourself and ahh your dead.
Doors open with long drawn out struggles and groans, I supposed for the first time it adds a bit of "atmosphere" but on the 15th or 20th time its just plain annoying, some groan and stutter for perhaps 20 seconds before opening.
The motion tracker should be called boredom or shite tracker, it seems to track multiple levels of shitness, only stopping when you clear the level of aliens and start the next tedious walk through the next level.
Other doors require cutting open and that soon gets tedious , levels are linear so it's walk, shoot, jump etc, rinse and repeat.
One level demands, cut door, open, run through, close, weld shut, rinse and repeat through more doors than I believe is legal under European legislation but there we go.
The AI on your team is pretty appalling, they wander off, run at strange angles and seem to shoot thousands of bullets hitting very little, leaving you to do most of the work, even more fun they seem indestructible so you can pop off for a cup of tea while they fire tens of thousands of rounds and hit jack shit.
It's common to find yourself standing alone, looking around and no one there, you don't have way points or maps to speak of, just a vague message in the blurry heads up/status menu.
You look around and then find after 10 minutes of searching that your team was waiting for you at a door somewhere, quite often on the other side of some nasty shitter standing waiting for you.
Many a time the team run past enemy soldiers or aliens, leaving you to have a firefight, other times you sometimes turn a corner and die immediately.
I found myself placing a sentry gun with no clue why or where, then find a bit later I get killed, you then respawn at the start of the level and find .. ah no sentry gun, thanks Gearbox, did anyone test this game before releasing it ?
It feels rushed, a game prepared by an inexperienced team, poor level design, predictable enemy attacks and levels, terrible/shocking AI and aliens that appear to have no ability to be anything more than stuttering graphics on your screen.
Strangely it feels like Duke Nukem forever, a game I waited some 13 years for and found it ruined 13 years of waiting, this is much the same, a game that should have reinvented the Aliens saga, taking you into realms of Halo type "oohs" and "aahs" as you look at the amazing scenery, and gasps as you look at the amazingly detailed and intense levels.
Instead you go "ugh" and "uh" as your taken aback by the poor detail and effort.
The weapons are pretty terrible, you pick up a smart gun, have several aliens attack you and almost wake up such is the promise of some decent... ah hold on.
You use most of your ammo then your AI team mate says "use controlled bursts, you can't reload down here" - cheers for that as I'm showing 56 rounds left so I won't bother then, out comes the shotgun and off we go again.
All in all a pretty dull and pointless game, compare it say to Crysis 2 and it's nowhere near the graphics, playability or quality of that game, you're in a controlled and restricted environment and to be fair the aliens are welcome to it.
Personally I would get on the first shuttle out of there and leave the colonists to their fate, you wanted to be there, you're welcome to it.
I think the best thing to do with this is rent it just to experience how not to write an Xbox game, then put your Tea on the DVD and this will help you to stop playing it, if you have a handy shredder then pop it in there and it's sorted.
I loved Aliens on the PC years ago, it was great, I even had a patch which let me play co-op on a local lan and it was great, the atmosphere, the guns, the aliens it was great. Me and little bro played for something like 18 hours straight, being fed tea and snacks regularly, what a blast.
However, time moves on and this game seems to take you back before that time, to 286 processors, limited graphics and shoddy programming.
The only snacks you yearn for are cyanide and any other handy poisons.
Perhaps the best bit was the line "we've got a situation here", that's right, it's shocking programming and we should hunt them down and use the last 56 rounds of our smart gun on them.
Don't even get me started on the Alien Queen or the sewers, just don't.
Perhaps it's best to sum this game up in two words.
It's Shit.
Monday, 14 January 2013
Just Cause 2 - the Elusive 75th Challenge
I'm determined to finish Just Cause 2 with 100%, I've got most things like all the pipelines, the radar stations, just some others to get and with the race challenges I got 74 but couldn't find the 75th.
In the end it turned out it was partially hidden under another.
If your like me and stuck trying to find it, check in case it's this one, on the top left clump of islands there's one called Backdoor breaking, just tucked slightly under another.
I seemed fitting the last race was in a Tuk Tuk, I started the game with the bonus one fitted with a rather large cannon.
At the moment I'm at 99.91% completed, just 0.09% left will I finish at 100% or not ... only time will tell.
In the end it turned out it was partially hidden under another.
If your like me and stuck trying to find it, check in case it's this one, on the top left clump of islands there's one called Backdoor breaking, just tucked slightly under another.
I seemed fitting the last race was in a Tuk Tuk, I started the game with the bonus one fitted with a rather large cannon.
At the moment I'm at 99.91% completed, just 0.09% left will I finish at 100% or not ... only time will tell.
Saturday, 12 January 2013
Bit more of the All new Renault Mundane
As an example of the simple problems with the Megane, take driving the car at night, as I said before the car has some great headlights so no problems with them but I want to listen to some music.
The knob in the middle of the radio panel is not the volume button, this tunes the radio up and down, or you use it to select the option in the menu then press it - why not just use the joystick near the handbrake ?
I found this dial really fiddly to use but nothing compared to what I found at night.
Just above the tiny power button is ... the volume knob, at night this is not illuminated so you find yourself feeling around for it, it's literally invisible at night - almost every car I've ever driven has the power button incorporated into the volume knob and they light up so you can see them easily, add to this the terrible radio controls - for example I press the << or >> to search for a station and this radio finds static or what is really a dead station so you do it again and find it jumps a bit more but the same, in the end you have to try and tune manually with the central knob but find the stations jumping around while its finding and removing stations in it's list in real time.
I would rate this as the worst radio I've ever used, simply due to it's poor design and lack of user friendly operation.
In the daytime the radio looks fine but it's just so hard at night, if you looked at say Vauxhall Vectra a few years ago they put a nice LED which shone down into the gear stick area, it was really nice, you had a gentle light at night but things like this wouldn't be an issue in that car.
Only a few minutes before I handed it back I found the stump of radio controls which are hidden by the steering wheel include a phone function, I tried this but it never switched to my phone even though it was paired.
Having 4 buttons on the steering wheel which are exclusive to cruise control seems pointless, most people would use radio or volume etc.
The BMW isn't perfect but on their simple steering wheel I can set a speed limit, activate and turn off the speed limiter, set audio volume, switch from radio to CD to USB, tune the radio/change music track on the CD/MP3, answer the phone, choose who to dial etc, all this from a minimum of buttons.
Renault could easily do similar, just put the wedge that's hidden behind the wheel into the wheel, put the cruise buttons on the left i.e all 4 on the left, sorted.
Then even if you can't find the black volume dial in the dark it's easily located on the wheel.
Alter the software so the radio is easier to use, larger numbers, stop the stations jumping around so quickly and that's sorted.
Reduce the Sat Nav joystick sensitivity so it doesn't jump about to the wrong menu, reduce the buttons so its simple.
When I first saw the i-Drive on the BMW I was sceptical but you don't need any more buttons.
You have Audio (top Left), Menu (Middle) , Phone (Right)
Under the dial you have Back (Left) and so on, it's simple you just twist and press the main dial.
If you can control so much from this then Renault can reduce their Sat Nav buttons and sort this out, perhaps even follow Toyota and put touch screen in, it makes the Avensis radio and Sat Nav easy.
It's the silly things that ruined this car, it bings and bongs almost all the time telling you off for your speed or lighting up big red lights, when I drive at 0.5 degrees C the car simply flashed the temperature in the bottom right of the large Sat Nav screen, no warning, nothing other than a very slow flash which hardly drew any attention.
Start almost any other car and you get a warning bong then a message "outside temp xxx" - some might find it annoying but I see that and alter my journey to work so I pay attention to them, I always have and found them a great help particularly when I used to work in the Derby Dales in the High Peaks and need to keep an eye in case the weather changes.
Sort them out and look at the terrible twisting controls for lights and wipers and your pretty much sorted, most people will be fine with the handling and seats, steering is light and simple then I think the car would be OK.
The knob in the middle of the radio panel is not the volume button, this tunes the radio up and down, or you use it to select the option in the menu then press it - why not just use the joystick near the handbrake ?
I found this dial really fiddly to use but nothing compared to what I found at night.
Just above the tiny power button is ... the volume knob, at night this is not illuminated so you find yourself feeling around for it, it's literally invisible at night - almost every car I've ever driven has the power button incorporated into the volume knob and they light up so you can see them easily, add to this the terrible radio controls - for example I press the << or >> to search for a station and this radio finds static or what is really a dead station so you do it again and find it jumps a bit more but the same, in the end you have to try and tune manually with the central knob but find the stations jumping around while its finding and removing stations in it's list in real time.
I would rate this as the worst radio I've ever used, simply due to it's poor design and lack of user friendly operation.
In the daytime the radio looks fine but it's just so hard at night, if you looked at say Vauxhall Vectra a few years ago they put a nice LED which shone down into the gear stick area, it was really nice, you had a gentle light at night but things like this wouldn't be an issue in that car.
Only a few minutes before I handed it back I found the stump of radio controls which are hidden by the steering wheel include a phone function, I tried this but it never switched to my phone even though it was paired.
Having 4 buttons on the steering wheel which are exclusive to cruise control seems pointless, most people would use radio or volume etc.
The BMW isn't perfect but on their simple steering wheel I can set a speed limit, activate and turn off the speed limiter, set audio volume, switch from radio to CD to USB, tune the radio/change music track on the CD/MP3, answer the phone, choose who to dial etc, all this from a minimum of buttons.
Renault could easily do similar, just put the wedge that's hidden behind the wheel into the wheel, put the cruise buttons on the left i.e all 4 on the left, sorted.
Then even if you can't find the black volume dial in the dark it's easily located on the wheel.
Alter the software so the radio is easier to use, larger numbers, stop the stations jumping around so quickly and that's sorted.
Reduce the Sat Nav joystick sensitivity so it doesn't jump about to the wrong menu, reduce the buttons so its simple.
When I first saw the i-Drive on the BMW I was sceptical but you don't need any more buttons.
You have Audio (top Left), Menu (Middle) , Phone (Right)
Under the dial you have Back (Left) and so on, it's simple you just twist and press the main dial.
If you can control so much from this then Renault can reduce their Sat Nav buttons and sort this out, perhaps even follow Toyota and put touch screen in, it makes the Avensis radio and Sat Nav easy.
It's the silly things that ruined this car, it bings and bongs almost all the time telling you off for your speed or lighting up big red lights, when I drive at 0.5 degrees C the car simply flashed the temperature in the bottom right of the large Sat Nav screen, no warning, nothing other than a very slow flash which hardly drew any attention.
Start almost any other car and you get a warning bong then a message "outside temp xxx" - some might find it annoying but I see that and alter my journey to work so I pay attention to them, I always have and found them a great help particularly when I used to work in the Derby Dales in the High Peaks and need to keep an eye in case the weather changes.
Sort them out and look at the terrible twisting controls for lights and wipers and your pretty much sorted, most people will be fine with the handling and seats, steering is light and simple then I think the car would be OK.
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
The All new Renault Mundane
Unfortunately the BMW blipped up a warning, something minor about steering not working.
Deciding that life was worth living I called up the Emergency assist and arranged for it to be lifted into the local dealers, their running some tests etc and upgrading software (firmware).
In the mean time I booked a hire car and I will always remember the hire companies words, "We've got a lovely Megane for you, a beautiful car, full of gadgets", at the time I almost quipped "is one of the gadgets and engine?" but thought it best to take it out and see what's what.
So I find myself in a Megane estate with (I believe) a 1.9 Diesel engine (Dc110), it looks bigger than the BMW, in many ways internal room is no better if worse.
Boot is a little bigger, not much, I had 4 adults in it Saturday and one 12 year old, the 3 passengers in the rear complained all the time of problems finding and plugging the seat belts in, rear room was no better than the BMW, the passengers felt there was more room in the BMW and despite the seats looking nice and thick they are not comfortable, quite hard, in the drivers position my arms are almost fully outstretched yet my feet are touching the pedals OK so I'm driving almost in a cartoon style hands straight out pose.
The first thing I noticed was the strange controls, I took it on the Motorway, the car has cruise control and speed limiter, now then to engage cruise control I ..... ??? hmmm, the cruise control switch is .. wait for it ... on your left side, under the central arm rest, sit yourself in a dining chair, put your hands in front of you to mimic the steering wheel, take your left hand, put it down and back touching just behind your left pocket, fumble around a bit and you've found the switch !
The picture doesn't do it justice, the switch is almost on a vertical panel so you literally fumble around at 70 mph on the Motorway feeling for the switch, one way enables Cruise control, the other the speed limiter.
I noticed the car enjoys telling you off, you enable cruise control, the steering wheel only has 4 buttons on it, faster/slower, resume and set, so no buttons for radio, phone etc. the wheel just has those, anyway you set the speed, you then get to a hill and the car picks up a bit of speed, the speedo (which is digital), then lights up 2 large Red lights, when you slow to the cruise speed two other Green lights come on - why 2 ? why not 1 or why not NONE ?
The speedo, erm, now then ...
You have a traditional Rev counter on the left, with a pretty unobtrusive Gear Up/Down indicator, no issues there, the speedo is digital and shines a bright white light in your face all the time, the white segments around it I have no idea what they are for, the top two left ones light green when cruise control is at the set speed, the top two right ones shine Red, I have no idea why anyone would make a speedo so over the top.
On the right is some information, mpg, average speed etc quite amusing to see a message that the vehicle has stopped even though I was doing 70 mph.
Pressing the right hand wiper stalk on the end cycles the options.
The indicators sound literally like a 70's pong game Blip, Blop, Blip, Blop.
The one issue is the lack of buttons, the lights are on the left stalk, you turn things but most are a flick rather than turn and click so to put front fog lights on you turn part of the light stalk one way, it springs back, you do it again to turn off, hmmm I suppose at a push I could live with it.
The lights can be set to Auto (annoying mode), on, something else and whatever, so I left them in Auto.
The radio is quite awkward, with the BMW you drive along, press the audio button and you see a list of radio stations nice and big, it's simple, no frequencies to fiddle with just a list.
With this the tuning button is tiny and I mean tiny, you turn it and there's a small name and frequency, as I was turning it the station I wanted kept moving as it's re-tuning to other stations - several times I missed my station and found something else.
There's a large Sat Nav screen so why have such small writing and fiddly use ?
Even Ford Escorts from 10 years ago would put stations onto push buttons around the edge of the display, quick and simple, this seems far too fiddly.
Search buttons are again tiny, almost child finger size, not much use at 70 mph on a Motorway, even worse when you're also looking for the cruise control switch.
In front of the cruise control switch is the Sat Nav controller, I can only deduce this was designed by a mad man, quite hilariously it has a joystick/selector device but it's so strange you press it and find the menu or option moves because the joystick moves with the tiny finger movement, I found several times it was much simpler to turn the Sat Nav and radio off and just not bother.
Compared to the I-drive in the BMW this is primative and far too complex, Renault seem to have a nice enough Sat Nav Display but have not gone the length to tidy things up, it would be a mere software update to sort the radio out, why have controls on the radio in tiny tiny buttons when you could use the joystick system ? Why have such a sensitive joystick ? when your driving along it's too easy to nudge it or move it.
With the BMW control its accurate and quick so there are ways to do this without hundreds of buttons.
Just reduce the joystick sensitivity or stiffen it up, remove most of the buttons from around it or add a Radio and Tel button and make navigation and selection on the joystick.
There are radio controls on the right side of the steering wheel but they are obscured totally by the wheel, I never used them as I can't find them easily, hopefully they are better than the ones on the radio itself.
You can see the wiper controls in this pic, I almost got out and walked tonight, it was raining (not too much ) but enough to need the wipers, it has rain sensitive wipers, many years ago I thought they were a great idea but I found they often shot into super high speed and you have to turn then off and on to stop them going nuts, this does exactly the same.
Drive along, no wipers, a bit of drizzle, fine, the wipers turn on and wipe, then they do what I've always seen, the sensor thinks it's raining heavily so the wipers shoot into first, and then second speed wiping back and forth like a Randy dog's arse.
There seemed to be a delay dial on the end but all the way home I found myself either turning the wipers off or trying to stop them going bonkers, one moment I would have nothing, next the wipers scraping the glass off my face.
The rear wiper has two speeds, on and off so I labelled them pointless and worthless, the rear gets wet quickly so you need to keep it on have to keep turning it on and off to stop it annoying you.
While your driving the last thing you need is to put mental thought into what wiper settings you need and which thing needs turning.
I have to say these are the most confusing wipers I've ever used, coupled with the same controls on the left for the lights and it's too complex, you just need press once, intermittent, a bit more 1st speed, press more, 2nd speed - done and dusted, not fiddle, nothing, fiddle too much, fiddle what the hell, fiddle "God Sake", fiddle and so on with the Randy dogs arse mode engaged, I had similar issues with the Vectra years ago, you get some drizzle or a splash of water, the auto wipe engages, the sensor picks up some droplets from the wipe itself and thinks the rain is heavier so it switches into the next speed and so on, Randy dog arse mode again.
Add the daft amount of buttons for Sat Nav, the radio buttons, there's buttons everywhere, you don't notice them when sitting in for the first time but soon realize they are everywhere and you're pressing most of them while your driving.
As an example, the radio says bluetooth so I look for the Tel button, it's tiny but I press it and nothing happens, on most cars they will pop up and say no phone configured or similar but this does nothing so you find the one marked Setup or whatever and then start fiddling, it's pointless.
Even on the Avensis with touch screen you just touch the phone and then it offers to set up etc so it was pretty much intuitive, the BMW is pure simplicity so the Renault lags far behind in plain simple ease of use.
Driving was so-so, its not a sprinter, 1st gear gives you 20 mph and not much more, your quickly into 2nd and 3rd, there is some low end torque you expect from diesel and the engine at idle and driving is quiet enough, give it some throttle and it's rattly at the top end.
On the Motorway there was no problem cruising, it hasn't got much punch in 6th gear so if you need to overtake you find the acceleration lacking.
One problem I found was the digital speedo was hard to use, you can't see how the cars accelerating or slowing down, it's just a number so you often found the speedo lighting up red on the top to say "Too fast", then you ease off a little and see you've dropped 10 or 20 mph, it would have been nice to have a digital version of a traditional speedo so you can see both or choose and then get used to it, I'm sure over time you would be OK but it was very tricky to get used to.
At night the speedo lights up your face like a torch, the Sat Nav dims into night mode automatically but not the speedo , what the hell ???
Most cars are easy to set up or automatic, the Avensis you can program day and night easily, I've always liked the Avensis display it's really easy to read and perfectly designed, the BMW turns a nice dark red when you put your main lights on and is nice and gentle on the eyes, this glares at you.
Taking a pic with no flash you see the difference, on a dark road with no lighting I would say this is terrible.
Another annoying quirk, driving along the Sat Nav start flashing a speed sign such as 30mph, it then flashes if you start to exceed the speed limit, that's fine but I then saw it saying the road I was on was 60mph, in fact the road had been signposted for several years with a 50mph limit so if you're not careful this could get you a ticket if you follow this and not keep your wits about you.
Although it's a good Idea the combination of the cruise control lighting two bright red lights and flashing them, the Sat Nav flashing warnings the car is being too over the top, you don't need all this.
If I set a speed limit in the BMW for example I get a simple bong and the message "Speed limit Exceeded", that's it, in this you get lights flashing, things bing and bong, it's not nice and quite distracting.
Again some software work would sort that out, after all why not make one light on the speedo come on perhaps Orange, then change to red or similar rather than a sudden dose of Red.
All in all I don't like it, I find the drive is dull and uninspiring, in fact I feel old driving it, hands straight out like I'm flying a kite, the seat not comfortable, wipers needing almost constant attention to try and get them working at a comfortable level, the radio using a tiny font on a large screen, trying to tune it and finding a different station, Sat Nav navigation difficult on the sensitive joysitck the list goes on.
Fuel economy ? It says the engine gives up to 74.3mpg, I got 47.4 on the Motorway at the same speeds the BMW returns 65mpg, on the country roads to work I got 47.1 the BMW returns just under 50mpg so not a great deal of difference there.
It's a shame really as the car has potential but I find the controls and buttons designed by someone with a control fetish, there are far too many, you need simple, intuitive controls and these are OTT and complicated.
Perhaps the best thing about this, the headlights, it's got nice bright lights, very nice but it's everything behind it that needs a bit of a think.
If I didn't want a BMW and was casting an eye over this I would get the Avensis without question, it's a far better drive and the "gadgets" promised here are far better in the Toyota and easier to use, even if I did get worse fuel economy.
If not it would have to be offered at a hell of a discount to encourage me to put up with the lifetime of button mashing I know I would have.
Deciding that life was worth living I called up the Emergency assist and arranged for it to be lifted into the local dealers, their running some tests etc and upgrading software (firmware).
In the mean time I booked a hire car and I will always remember the hire companies words, "We've got a lovely Megane for you, a beautiful car, full of gadgets", at the time I almost quipped "is one of the gadgets and engine?" but thought it best to take it out and see what's what.
So I find myself in a Megane estate with (I believe) a 1.9 Diesel engine (Dc110), it looks bigger than the BMW, in many ways internal room is no better if worse.
Boot is a little bigger, not much, I had 4 adults in it Saturday and one 12 year old, the 3 passengers in the rear complained all the time of problems finding and plugging the seat belts in, rear room was no better than the BMW, the passengers felt there was more room in the BMW and despite the seats looking nice and thick they are not comfortable, quite hard, in the drivers position my arms are almost fully outstretched yet my feet are touching the pedals OK so I'm driving almost in a cartoon style hands straight out pose.
The first thing I noticed was the strange controls, I took it on the Motorway, the car has cruise control and speed limiter, now then to engage cruise control I ..... ??? hmmm, the cruise control switch is .. wait for it ... on your left side, under the central arm rest, sit yourself in a dining chair, put your hands in front of you to mimic the steering wheel, take your left hand, put it down and back touching just behind your left pocket, fumble around a bit and you've found the switch !
The picture doesn't do it justice, the switch is almost on a vertical panel so you literally fumble around at 70 mph on the Motorway feeling for the switch, one way enables Cruise control, the other the speed limiter.
I noticed the car enjoys telling you off, you enable cruise control, the steering wheel only has 4 buttons on it, faster/slower, resume and set, so no buttons for radio, phone etc. the wheel just has those, anyway you set the speed, you then get to a hill and the car picks up a bit of speed, the speedo (which is digital), then lights up 2 large Red lights, when you slow to the cruise speed two other Green lights come on - why 2 ? why not 1 or why not NONE ?
The speedo, erm, now then ...
You have a traditional Rev counter on the left, with a pretty unobtrusive Gear Up/Down indicator, no issues there, the speedo is digital and shines a bright white light in your face all the time, the white segments around it I have no idea what they are for, the top two left ones light green when cruise control is at the set speed, the top two right ones shine Red, I have no idea why anyone would make a speedo so over the top.
On the right is some information, mpg, average speed etc quite amusing to see a message that the vehicle has stopped even though I was doing 70 mph.
Pressing the right hand wiper stalk on the end cycles the options.
The indicators sound literally like a 70's pong game Blip, Blop, Blip, Blop.
The one issue is the lack of buttons, the lights are on the left stalk, you turn things but most are a flick rather than turn and click so to put front fog lights on you turn part of the light stalk one way, it springs back, you do it again to turn off, hmmm I suppose at a push I could live with it.
The lights can be set to Auto (annoying mode), on, something else and whatever, so I left them in Auto.
The radio is quite awkward, with the BMW you drive along, press the audio button and you see a list of radio stations nice and big, it's simple, no frequencies to fiddle with just a list.
With this the tuning button is tiny and I mean tiny, you turn it and there's a small name and frequency, as I was turning it the station I wanted kept moving as it's re-tuning to other stations - several times I missed my station and found something else.
There's a large Sat Nav screen so why have such small writing and fiddly use ?
Even Ford Escorts from 10 years ago would put stations onto push buttons around the edge of the display, quick and simple, this seems far too fiddly.
Search buttons are again tiny, almost child finger size, not much use at 70 mph on a Motorway, even worse when you're also looking for the cruise control switch.
In front of the cruise control switch is the Sat Nav controller, I can only deduce this was designed by a mad man, quite hilariously it has a joystick/selector device but it's so strange you press it and find the menu or option moves because the joystick moves with the tiny finger movement, I found several times it was much simpler to turn the Sat Nav and radio off and just not bother.
Compared to the I-drive in the BMW this is primative and far too complex, Renault seem to have a nice enough Sat Nav Display but have not gone the length to tidy things up, it would be a mere software update to sort the radio out, why have controls on the radio in tiny tiny buttons when you could use the joystick system ? Why have such a sensitive joystick ? when your driving along it's too easy to nudge it or move it.
With the BMW control its accurate and quick so there are ways to do this without hundreds of buttons.
Just reduce the joystick sensitivity or stiffen it up, remove most of the buttons from around it or add a Radio and Tel button and make navigation and selection on the joystick.
There are radio controls on the right side of the steering wheel but they are obscured totally by the wheel, I never used them as I can't find them easily, hopefully they are better than the ones on the radio itself.
You can see the wiper controls in this pic, I almost got out and walked tonight, it was raining (not too much ) but enough to need the wipers, it has rain sensitive wipers, many years ago I thought they were a great idea but I found they often shot into super high speed and you have to turn then off and on to stop them going nuts, this does exactly the same.
Drive along, no wipers, a bit of drizzle, fine, the wipers turn on and wipe, then they do what I've always seen, the sensor thinks it's raining heavily so the wipers shoot into first, and then second speed wiping back and forth like a Randy dog's arse.
There seemed to be a delay dial on the end but all the way home I found myself either turning the wipers off or trying to stop them going bonkers, one moment I would have nothing, next the wipers scraping the glass off my face.
The rear wiper has two speeds, on and off so I labelled them pointless and worthless, the rear gets wet quickly so you need to keep it on have to keep turning it on and off to stop it annoying you.
While your driving the last thing you need is to put mental thought into what wiper settings you need and which thing needs turning.
I have to say these are the most confusing wipers I've ever used, coupled with the same controls on the left for the lights and it's too complex, you just need press once, intermittent, a bit more 1st speed, press more, 2nd speed - done and dusted, not fiddle, nothing, fiddle too much, fiddle what the hell, fiddle "God Sake", fiddle and so on with the Randy dogs arse mode engaged, I had similar issues with the Vectra years ago, you get some drizzle or a splash of water, the auto wipe engages, the sensor picks up some droplets from the wipe itself and thinks the rain is heavier so it switches into the next speed and so on, Randy dog arse mode again.
Add the daft amount of buttons for Sat Nav, the radio buttons, there's buttons everywhere, you don't notice them when sitting in for the first time but soon realize they are everywhere and you're pressing most of them while your driving.
As an example, the radio says bluetooth so I look for the Tel button, it's tiny but I press it and nothing happens, on most cars they will pop up and say no phone configured or similar but this does nothing so you find the one marked Setup or whatever and then start fiddling, it's pointless.
Even on the Avensis with touch screen you just touch the phone and then it offers to set up etc so it was pretty much intuitive, the BMW is pure simplicity so the Renault lags far behind in plain simple ease of use.
Driving was so-so, its not a sprinter, 1st gear gives you 20 mph and not much more, your quickly into 2nd and 3rd, there is some low end torque you expect from diesel and the engine at idle and driving is quiet enough, give it some throttle and it's rattly at the top end.
On the Motorway there was no problem cruising, it hasn't got much punch in 6th gear so if you need to overtake you find the acceleration lacking.
One problem I found was the digital speedo was hard to use, you can't see how the cars accelerating or slowing down, it's just a number so you often found the speedo lighting up red on the top to say "Too fast", then you ease off a little and see you've dropped 10 or 20 mph, it would have been nice to have a digital version of a traditional speedo so you can see both or choose and then get used to it, I'm sure over time you would be OK but it was very tricky to get used to.
At night the speedo lights up your face like a torch, the Sat Nav dims into night mode automatically but not the speedo , what the hell ???
Most cars are easy to set up or automatic, the Avensis you can program day and night easily, I've always liked the Avensis display it's really easy to read and perfectly designed, the BMW turns a nice dark red when you put your main lights on and is nice and gentle on the eyes, this glares at you.
Taking a pic with no flash you see the difference, on a dark road with no lighting I would say this is terrible.
Another annoying quirk, driving along the Sat Nav start flashing a speed sign such as 30mph, it then flashes if you start to exceed the speed limit, that's fine but I then saw it saying the road I was on was 60mph, in fact the road had been signposted for several years with a 50mph limit so if you're not careful this could get you a ticket if you follow this and not keep your wits about you.
Although it's a good Idea the combination of the cruise control lighting two bright red lights and flashing them, the Sat Nav flashing warnings the car is being too over the top, you don't need all this.
If I set a speed limit in the BMW for example I get a simple bong and the message "Speed limit Exceeded", that's it, in this you get lights flashing, things bing and bong, it's not nice and quite distracting.
Again some software work would sort that out, after all why not make one light on the speedo come on perhaps Orange, then change to red or similar rather than a sudden dose of Red.
All in all I don't like it, I find the drive is dull and uninspiring, in fact I feel old driving it, hands straight out like I'm flying a kite, the seat not comfortable, wipers needing almost constant attention to try and get them working at a comfortable level, the radio using a tiny font on a large screen, trying to tune it and finding a different station, Sat Nav navigation difficult on the sensitive joysitck the list goes on.
Fuel economy ? It says the engine gives up to 74.3mpg, I got 47.4 on the Motorway at the same speeds the BMW returns 65mpg, on the country roads to work I got 47.1 the BMW returns just under 50mpg so not a great deal of difference there.
It's a shame really as the car has potential but I find the controls and buttons designed by someone with a control fetish, there are far too many, you need simple, intuitive controls and these are OTT and complicated.
Perhaps the best thing about this, the headlights, it's got nice bright lights, very nice but it's everything behind it that needs a bit of a think.
If I didn't want a BMW and was casting an eye over this I would get the Avensis without question, it's a far better drive and the "gadgets" promised here are far better in the Toyota and easier to use, even if I did get worse fuel economy.
If not it would have to be offered at a hell of a discount to encourage me to put up with the lifetime of button mashing I know I would have.
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
BMW 116ed fuel consumption
Just did a business trip to Bolton. Lots of stop/start from Leeds, bits where I was cruising at good Motorway speed and lots where I was sitting in traffic so expected low mpg.
So impressed with this every time I see it. I am saving £££'s on fuel.
Even though i'm 1/2 full I've got enough to go home, come back and probably go home AGAIN. When I passed this junction in Avensis on way to Blackpool I had almost used 1/2 a tank in the same mileage, I've done something like 280+ and hit 1/2 tank on the BMW, I wasn't counting really.
I find I don't need to look any more.
Miles covered now, just coming up to 7000 since May.
So impressed with this every time I see it. I am saving £££'s on fuel.
Even though i'm 1/2 full I've got enough to go home, come back and probably go home AGAIN. When I passed this junction in Avensis on way to Blackpool I had almost used 1/2 a tank in the same mileage, I've done something like 280+ and hit 1/2 tank on the BMW, I wasn't counting really.
I find I don't need to look any more.
Miles covered now, just coming up to 7000 since May.
Just done the return trip and I was not hanging around, in fact drove at the same speed as everyone else.
I actually got 65.5mpg for most of the trip, dropping a little when I hammered the final few miles due to people hanging on my boot at 70mph or cutting up, popped in sport mode and pulled some extra speed, it would have popped back up nicely I'm sure as I did see 65.8 at one point but 65.5 was pretty stable for a good 40-50 miles.
Considering the cars rated maximum economy is 74.3mpg if my maths is correct this is 88% of the maximum economy, when you look at what I used to get with several Avensis or Passat then this is staggering.
I would even say if someone was gentle on the throttle and not lead footed like I am then I see no reason they would not get this even higher.
Absolutely staggering !
Friday, 14 December 2012
Not More Reasons to Shop at Morrisons
Last week my Brother was in Morrisons while we were, my daughter was talking to him as he went through the checkouts, the staff issued him through their challenge 25 process and point blank refused to serve him alcohol, despite the fact he worked in that store until 6 weeks ago and they knew him by name.
I sent Morrisons a complaint, he's written his own, it's the implications they stated that are total rubbish, beware if you have any children and intend to buy anything they will challenge you on as they point blank will not back down.
Here's what I wrote, further on is their useless reply.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Customer Services Department
Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC
This reply is actually wrong, they don't understand what happened , have not read the full letter and don't give a shit.
The under 25 rule is voluntary, the stores do it because they are at risk of loosing their alcohol license, perhaps they think a few customers who walk away is a small price to pay, however the quote about refusing to sell cigarettes just shows they have no idea.
Although it is illegal to sell them to a minor there is no legal age for smoking in the UK, they cannot stop an adult if they chose to give a cigarette to anyone under 18, in fact if a parent wanted to give wine to their child that is also legal in the UK, you cannot give alcohol to under 5, you cannot give spirits to under 18 but Morrisons have no right to adopt a high and mighty self styled moral high ground simply because they think you might possible just might give some to a minor.
What's next ?
Refusing to sell you peanuts in case you give them to someone with a nut allergy ?
Refusing to sell you cling film in case you put it over you lovers face and suffocate them ?
Refusing to sell you a TV in case your children watch 18 rated films ?
Come on Morrisons GET A FUCKING GRIP and realize you are being over zealous and you are totally out of order just because you wanted to upset an Ex-employee.
Ask yourself why did he leave? That might help you understand what's wrong with your store.
Everyone else, brace yourselves if you get challenged, they will NOT back down despite the staff not knowing the UK law.
HERE is the UK Law on both aspects, Morrisons, you should get your staff to read it particularly the very unhelpful, arrogant and morally self centered Lisa who I hope I never speak to again.
Before the age of 18, you are not allowed to buy alcohol in pubs or shops, drink alcohol in pubs or outside in public places. It is also unlawful for anyone else to buy alcohol for you if you are under 18 and the drink will be consumed in a pub or public place.
However, if you're aged 16 or 17, you are allowed to drink wine, beer, or cider (but not other alcohol) with a meal in a restaurant, hotel or part of a pub set apart for eating meals. You can only do this if someone aged 18 or over is with you at the meal and buys the alcohol.
Any child aged five or over can drink alcohol at home or on other private premises but it is usually against the law to give alcohol to a child under five.
It's illegal to sell cigarettes, tobacco or cigarette papers to anyone under 18, but it is not a criminal offence for a person under 18 to smoke.
I rest my case that Lisa is incorrect in her statement not to sell cigarettes if my brother chose to buy them and my daughter was with him, how can they possibly uphold this?
One really funny part was when I asked how they thought my daughter could possibly pay for any alcohol when she has no funds or means to do so, apparently that's not important, she had no ID (being 12) and so they refused to sell a 31 year old man some.
I laugh at the stupidity and overall ignorance of Morrisons for their attempt to Police our lives at this level when it is not justified.
I sent Morrisons a complaint, he's written his own, it's the implications they stated that are total rubbish, beware if you have any children and intend to buy anything they will challenge you on as they point blank will not back down.
Here's what I wrote, further on is their useless reply.
I believe the store did not exercise
sensible use of their over 25 rule tonight. I, My wife and daughter
(12) went in the store to get a few supplies, my brother (who
previously worked for this store) was with us, he picked up his
shopping and in there was a bottle of alcohol, along with coffee and
other supplies, my wife and I went through one checkout, my brother
went through another and my daughter was with him. She was helping
him pack his bags and the store refused to serve my brother alcohol
unless she could prove she was above 25.
I believe the supervisor was
Lisa ? They 100% refused to serve him even though he told them my
daughter was not with him, just standing with him while he got his
shopping.
In the ensuing argument Lisa and another staff member
insisted they had done nothing wrong and despite me saying in that
case you CANNOT sell alcohol to anyone who has a child with them as
in your own words you were not sure if she would drink any.
I pointed
out the store thought nothing of selling 6 large cans of Monster
drink to my daughter and Lisa said "that's because it is not
illegal", however that drink can have serious impact on your
health so the rule seems simple, the store recognized my brother and
simply wanted to be obstructive.
I asked Lisa and the girl at the
cigarette counter, "OK , if she was with him and he wanted to by
himself some cigarettes would you serve him ? ", the answer
"NO", I declared then is is blatant and simple
discrimination, of course you can challenge someone purchasing, and I
back this 100% but as I tried to point out you cannot under any
circumstances sell any family or person alcohol, cigarettes or sharp
items if they have a teenager with them, lest they touch, consume or
otherwise partake of these items outside the store.
At the end of the
day I saw other families packing shopping without challenge, I asked
"What about scouts and young children packing for charity ?"
- The answer "they are different" - NO I disagree, you
cannot make the rules up as you go along, why is it OK for a 9 year
old scout to handle 10 bottles of wine, knifes or solvents when a
supervised member of your own family cannot ?
It's clear to me that
although they thought they were following the 25 rule they simply
wanted to make a point that in fairness only serves to embarrass
Morrisons.
I've no doubt Lisa will put a totally different side to
the story but there's nothing to stop someone buying a bottle of
alcohol and handing it to minor outside the store, or what if my
brother had packed the bag and my daughter inadvertently carried it ?
As I clearly said to Lisa you're being a Jobsworth, your taking a
problem that does not exist and bending the rules to suit yourself..
If this is your policy then I will make sure I keep an eye out over
the coming weeks, if I see ANY family with children who look suitable
then I will challenge Morrisons staff to ask why they have not
refused to sell them the alcohol, surely this is just as stupid and
pointless ?
You are coming to the busiest time of the year, surely
families cannot bring ID around for children, nor will they be able
to separate bags at the checkout so minors do not see or touch such
items, we cannot logically exist in such a state, the controls need
to be sensible and meaningful otherwise these rules are worthless and
no one will benefit from the obvious positives in stopping people
buying such items.
Perhaps even the most absurd part was when I said
my daughter was now coming home with us, my brother was going his own
way, would you now sell him the alcohol the answer was an abrupt
"NO", it was clearly stated "We CANNOT reverse or
change anything once a challenge has been issued", common sense
it appears does not apply to these people ?
We ate at a pub earlier
in the day, perhaps they should have refused to serve us alcohol as
well seeing as my daughter was with us, in fairness they are not to
know that she might or might not touch the glass. Lisa will no doubt
say I swore at her, I clearly said the issue was "Bo!!ocks"
and stand by that, I have never ever heard such a jobsworth answer
and simple attempt to obstruct someone, singled out amongst an entire
store.
I also clearly told her that she cannot discriminate, the
store MUST challenge every single parent or person in this situation
to satisfy her answer that they are following the rules they MUST
follow in all instances, you cannot single someone out and then say
one thing is ok and one thing isn't, the next step if we don't use
common sense is not selling someone a clothes line in case they use
it to end their life - the limits need to be common sense, not
opinion and it will do little for customer loyalty to deter people
from buying things because their children of nieces are with them.
The irony is that perhaps in a year my wife and I might have one
drink, so out of all the people you could have an argument with the
most teetotal is not the one to pick.
I welcome a response on this
but I accept you won't do anything, you will believe Lisa and the
checkout operator at the time acted in the correct interests and
you'll do it again and again, upsetting people who did nothing more
than buy a present for someone else (or attempt to) and happened to
have someone with them in the store, although it's not safe in my
mind to leave them outside in the dark.
I've seen this issue many
times tonight in news articles returned in a quick Google search,
perhaps it's time you advise the stores to use a bit of common sense.
Morrisons - very predictable reply
Thank you for contacting us.
I
was most concerned to learn of the poor service you received from our
staff members at our store when your brother attempted to purchase
alcohol.
Our
aim is to make your experience at Morrisons as pleasant as possible and
on this occasion I am sorry that you feel that we have let you down and
I would like to take the opportunity to apologise for any inconvenience
caused.
If
we believe that the customer is under 25, or we suspect, or knowingly
know that the alcohol could be bought for anyone under age then the
cashier has the right to ask, challenge or refuse the sale.
I
can only apologise that you feel we may have been over zealous in our
approach. I can assure you that no discourtesy was intended however, I
hope you now understand our reasons for the refusal .
Thank
you again for taking the time to contact us. We really do take the
utmost care to look after our customers well and I do hope that we can
be of service to you again in the future.
Kind regards,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC
This reply is actually wrong, they don't understand what happened , have not read the full letter and don't give a shit.
The under 25 rule is voluntary, the stores do it because they are at risk of loosing their alcohol license, perhaps they think a few customers who walk away is a small price to pay, however the quote about refusing to sell cigarettes just shows they have no idea.
Although it is illegal to sell them to a minor there is no legal age for smoking in the UK, they cannot stop an adult if they chose to give a cigarette to anyone under 18, in fact if a parent wanted to give wine to their child that is also legal in the UK, you cannot give alcohol to under 5, you cannot give spirits to under 18 but Morrisons have no right to adopt a high and mighty self styled moral high ground simply because they think you might possible just might give some to a minor.
What's next ?
Refusing to sell you peanuts in case you give them to someone with a nut allergy ?
Refusing to sell you cling film in case you put it over you lovers face and suffocate them ?
Refusing to sell you a TV in case your children watch 18 rated films ?
Come on Morrisons GET A FUCKING GRIP and realize you are being over zealous and you are totally out of order just because you wanted to upset an Ex-employee.
Ask yourself why did he leave? That might help you understand what's wrong with your store.
Everyone else, brace yourselves if you get challenged, they will NOT back down despite the staff not knowing the UK law.
HERE is the UK Law on both aspects, Morrisons, you should get your staff to read it particularly the very unhelpful, arrogant and morally self centered Lisa who I hope I never speak to again.
Before the age of 18, you are not allowed to buy alcohol in pubs or shops, drink alcohol in pubs or outside in public places. It is also unlawful for anyone else to buy alcohol for you if you are under 18 and the drink will be consumed in a pub or public place.
However, if you're aged 16 or 17, you are allowed to drink wine, beer, or cider (but not other alcohol) with a meal in a restaurant, hotel or part of a pub set apart for eating meals. You can only do this if someone aged 18 or over is with you at the meal and buys the alcohol.
Any child aged five or over can drink alcohol at home or on other private premises but it is usually against the law to give alcohol to a child under five.
It's illegal to sell cigarettes, tobacco or cigarette papers to anyone under 18, but it is not a criminal offence for a person under 18 to smoke.
I rest my case that Lisa is incorrect in her statement not to sell cigarettes if my brother chose to buy them and my daughter was with him, how can they possibly uphold this?
One really funny part was when I asked how they thought my daughter could possibly pay for any alcohol when she has no funds or means to do so, apparently that's not important, she had no ID (being 12) and so they refused to sell a 31 year old man some.
I laugh at the stupidity and overall ignorance of Morrisons for their attempt to Police our lives at this level when it is not justified.
I really think the World has gone mad !
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