Comments for Mark Samuels

Comment on Shoegazing and post-rock: Sad Songs Say So Much by mark

mark — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:20:13 +0000

The orignal; that’s all I could find on Spotify. The Odd Nosdam remix is wonderful. Actually, there isn’t much Boards of Canada stuff on Spotify. And nothing by Stars of th Lid, who I absolutely adore.

Comment on Shoegazing and post-rock: Sad Songs Say So Much by NIck Smith

NIck Smith — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:04:39 +0000

Re Boards – is that the original or the odd nosdam remix?

Comment on South Woodford Waitrose and a £25 car parking ticket by mark

mark — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:05:33 +0000

Good comments, Andrew. Thanks for the advice. Good to see you recognise the timing issue, too. I guess the issue now is about how much time it takes to keep writing and moaning.

And Karl, I agree – we do need to speed up…

Comment on South Woodford Waitrose and a £25 car parking ticket by Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:11:50 +0000

Suggest you keep up the pressure. Write again explaining your disatisfaction with their response. Escalate to someone more senior ( have you contacted your local store manager). Eventually, they will get fed up and refund you. If it was me I would cut off my nose to spite my face although most supermarkets are in my bad books (except for Waitrose and Ocado) so might be reduced to increased visits to the corner shop. Finally, whether or not 2 hour warning sign is displayed is irrelevant. Sometimes it legitimatly takes more than 2 hours.

Comment on South Woodford Waitrose and a £25 car parking ticket by karl flinders

karl flinders — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:51:21 +0000

I take 45 minutes to do my shopping you need to speed up.

Comment on South Woodford Waitrose and a £25 car parking ticket by Parking dispute becomes a row. Almost. | Wansteadium

Parking dispute becomes a row. Almost. | Wansteadium — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 19:43:14 +0000

[...] Wanstead blogger Mark Samuels has recounted in literary style his dispute with the South Woodford Waitrose over a £25 parking fine he received for overstaying the two hour limit – even though he spent all of that time in the shop. [...]

Comment on South Woodford Waitrose and a £25 car parking ticket by mark

mark — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:50:49 +0000

Blimey, Tony – I think your nose-less face is more than justified… Sorry to hear about the car – what a farce.

Comment on South Woodford Waitrose and a £25 car parking ticket by Tony

Tony — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:38:28 +0000

Hi Mark. Ocado is no better. My neighbour asked their driver to deliver from the road, not our shared driveway. He ignored them, drove into our driveway, got stuck in the turning area, and hit my car. Long story short he denied it, even though I saw him and took the registration. Ocado wouldn’t deal with me directly and kept pushing it to their insurer. The loss adjuster wouldn’t pay out without an independent witness. So I made to feel like a liar and had no compensation for a damaged car (which I had owned only 4 days!) … I HAVE cut my nose off to spite my face and won’t use Ocado as a result.

Comment on South Woodford Waitrose and a £25 car parking ticket by mark

mark — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:04:10 +0000

To be honest, Bettershopper – I don’t know. I’m sure it does. If I had noticed the sign, would it have made any difference? Again, I don’t know.

I guess I kind of think the timing issue is of little concern. If I spend £100 in a supermarket, I don’t expect to be fined for overstaying my welcome. If I do, I’d expect the refund process to be simple. Especially from the John Lewis Partnership. Unreasonable?

Once again, I don’t know – but I do know that another local Waitrose charges customers to park and gives them three hours free parking if they spend more than £10. Surely that’s a better solution than outsourcing the management – and annoying your customers?

Comment on South Woodford Waitrose and a £25 car parking ticket by Bettershopper

Bettershopper — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:46:10 +0000

Our Waitrose has a sign that clearly states the 2 hr limit, so I’m surprised yours doesn’t. If it doesn’t have a clear sign, you’d have grounds to complain.

The problem is that a lot of mean non-supermarket shoppers can’t be bothered to pay to park, so supermarkets have no choice but to charge. (I’d have thought that 2 hours was long enough to do a weekly shop to be honest. We rarely take as long as one hour.)If our Waitrose didn’t set a 2 hr limit, the car park would be permanently full of day shoppers and office workers, so we would never be able to park to do a shop.