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That is a dire experience RT. Sad & angry for you.I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.
Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
"A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.
***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb. ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.2 -
@themadvix - oh dear hunny, you have opened up a can of worms - don't read on unless you have a strong coffee and an aspirin to hand!
The problem for me is that disability that is now (nearly) invisible doesn't count for much in a world that sees disability equaling a mobility aid or a visible physical impairment or difference. I look quote / unquote normal, I wear smart workwear most of the time I'm commuting and have (well-applied) slap on my face. I've learned to mask the tremors & tics and I'm no longer in a wheel chair or using medical grade crutches or walking sticks. I do however have a foldable white symbol cane to use in crowds but it's for others not for me! (Un)fortunately I also have the ability to loose my rag while sounding like a thesaurus so it appears to most people that I can fend for myself. Even with good manners, polite requests and all the officialy issued priority and medical alert cards in the world if you don't demand something that is a basic human right you get didly squat & the morons get away without learning to care for their fellow human beings and respecting difference.
Since returning to work full-time, on principle I have learned to demand the treatment and service that should be afforded as a matter of course. Human rights are not to be scoffed at and far too many people do! I also fire off a tersely worded e-mail or two or three once I've recovered from the shear exhaustion & trauma of the experiences. The pattern of the train companies is to offer money as a way of apology. I do accept the apology (as the horrific experiences normally end up in extra costs for me - takeaways, taxis, medications, physio therapy) but I'm also am keeping a record of the incidents. At some point they whole wack or written proof will go the rail ombuds as if it's not documented it never happened & by offering the 'hush money' as I like to call it they are acknowledging fundamental faults within their system that need to change.
Enabling change is always worth the effort!
So the short answer is yes, I will complain!4 YEARS 10 MONTHS DEBT FREE!!! (24 OCT 2016)(With heartfelt thanks to those who have gone before us & their indubitable generosity.)...and now I have a mortgage! (23 AUG 2021)New projection - 14 YEARS 8 MONTHS LEFT OF 20 YEARS (reduced by 16 mths)Psst...I may have started a diary!10 -
Quite right too! I absolutely 100% agree - but knowing that fatigue is one of your problems (and knowing how much complaining about things can take it out of one, partly from the re-living it as you write), I wasn’t sure if you would. Saving it up and reporting to the ombudsman is definitely the right way to go - you have to hope that at some point actual changes happen. ❤️Mortgage free 16/06/2023! £132,500 cleared in 11 years, 3 months and 7 days
'Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.' Ernest Hemingway3 -
@themadvix - awww, thank you so much for thinking of that! in this case you are 100% correct about the fatigue, but I'd rather give up my house chores for the day than the opportunity to get it down on paper so to speak! 🤣🤣🤣 - OH knows how to use the washing machine if he's desperate! 😘
ETA - @beanielou - oops hunny I missed you there! - thank-you for the sympathies - you know what they say - a burden shared is a burden halved so thank-you for acknowledging!4 YEARS 10 MONTHS DEBT FREE!!! (24 OCT 2016)(With heartfelt thanks to those who have gone before us & their indubitable generosity.)...and now I have a mortgage! (23 AUG 2021)New projection - 14 YEARS 8 MONTHS LEFT OF 20 YEARS (reduced by 16 mths)Psst...I may have started a diary!5 -
I would be the same - but I know not everyone is! We finally received a response (and small requested refund) from the issue we had on holiday - but writing the email took it out of me and all the adrenaline-fury kicked it as I was typing (and in the scheme of things it was an inconvenience, nothing major), so I am fully aware how tiring it can be.Mortgage free 16/06/2023! £132,500 cleared in 11 years, 3 months and 7 days
'Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.' Ernest Hemingway2 -
So OH and I have had an ongoing conversation about Thurday's drama & have come up with a bit of a solution going forward! As I tend to get mildly panicked when my ability to easily commute is thwarted - it would be, in the first instance, a good idea to give him a call instead of relying on the morons of the world to do their jobs! He has in the past called passenger assistance for me & in his gruff no-nonsense English manner has strong-armed them into doing what they are meant to do.
In hindsite, I could have easily returned to charingX under my own steam, walked out to the taxi rank or even back to the office to rest and regroup. I do happen to have two mates who are ex-cabbies & could have called them in a pinch to find me one of their black cab mates to get me to WAT. (One that has the map of London in his head and not on his phone & speaks and understands English in an English-speaking country!) The cost would have been claimed back of course from the train system, but it is easier to fight a battle like that in writing after the fact than to waste the time being stuck! Again, avoiding the moronic poorly trained staff and relying on my own wits seems to be the way to go. (I'm a bit out of practice.) I guess the next step in learning to live with a life changing diagnoses is to remember that I'm not as vulnerable as I was two years ago and can really do under my own steam if I have to!4 YEARS 10 MONTHS DEBT FREE!!! (24 OCT 2016)(With heartfelt thanks to those who have gone before us & their indubitable generosity.)...and now I have a mortgage! (23 AUG 2021)New projection - 14 YEARS 8 MONTHS LEFT OF 20 YEARS (reduced by 16 mths)Psst...I may have started a diary!6 -
It is much easier to think of these solutions after the fact than it is in the heat & stress of the moment. Still a comforting thought for if it should happen in the future. There is nothing quite like having a plan.3
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A mega- stressful journey, it must have been horrible. Good for you for finding a way through and I hope the complaint doesn't take it out of you too much. It's also a good idea to have your OH as an advocate - not only can he be there for you and mediate, but it will show them that there's more than one of you to deal with.
Here's to a better day today.I think a bit of sunshine is good for frugal living. (Cranky40)
The sun's been out and I think I’m solar powered (Onebrokelady)
Fashion on the Ration 2025: Fabric 2, men's socks 3, Duvet 7.5, 2 t-shirts 10, men's socks 3, uniform top 0, hat 0, shoes 5 = 30.5/68
2024: Trainers 5, dress 7, slippers 5, 2 prs socks (gift) 2, 3 prs white socks 3, t-shirts x 2 10, 6 prs socks: mostly gifts 6, duvet set 7.5 = 45.5/68 coupons
20.5 coupons used in 2020. 62.5 used in 2021. 94.5 remaining as of 21/3/222 -
That sounds utterly exhausting. Glad you have some potential alternative options for if / when (sadly likely I suspect) it happens again.Is little recovered from his sickness?Hope the weekend is restorative and I love the idea of you collating these ‘insults’ of incidents and then going to the ombudsman. I will be cheering you on all the way, along with everyone else here! 😉😊
KKAs at 15.07.25:
- When bought house £315,995 mortgage debt and end date at start = October 2039 - now £233,521
- OPs to mortgage = £11,816 Interest saved £5,28 to date
Fixed rate 3.85% ends January 2030
Read 41 books of target 52 in 2025, as @ 9th August
Produce tracker: £276 of £300 in 2025
Watch your thoughts, they become your words.
Watch your words, they become your actions.Watch your actions, they become your reality.3 -
I love the idea of a diary of errors and insults going to the ombudsman rather than treating each incident as isolated. Always so easy to think of solutions after the fact, but, having done so, you now have the solutions for the future. One always hopes they wont be needed, but, they probably will regrettablyMade it to mortgage free but what a muddle that became
In the event the proverbial hits the fan then co-habitees are better stashing their cash than being mortgage free !!3
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