The funny things people try to get away with.

HugalHugal Shipmate
edited June 29 in Heaven
I just had to laugh. At work a couple just came up with a voucher each for buy one get one free on a cream tea. They only wanted the free bit. So buy none get one free. How did they think that would fly?
What daft things have you seen people try to get away with?

Comments

  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    I did a treasure hunt for the children on our open Gardens day. One little girl came back after 10 minutes or so and said "Can I do it again and have another prize?"

    Nice try. 🙂
  • North East QuineNorth East Quine Purgatory Host
    Scene: A train going from Inverness to Aberdeen.

    Ticket Collector to young woman: You have the wrong ticket.
    Young woman (alarmed) Isn't this the Aberdeen train?
    T.C. Yes, but you have an off-peak ticket, which isn't valid for this train.
    YW - If this is the Aberdeen train, then I have the right ticket, because I'm going to Aberdeen.
    T.C. But this is an off-peak ticket, it's the wrong ticket.
    YM - It's the right ticket. I chose it because it was the cheapest.
    TC - It's not the right ticket for this train.
    YM - It is the right ticket. I went online and I chose "Aberdeen" and "cheapest option" and this is it.
    TC. This ticket is for trains that run between 10am and 4pm. This is a peak fare train. You should have travelled on the 3pm train.
    YW But I didn't want to travel at 3pm. I wanted to travel to Aberdeen at 5pm with the cheapest option. This is the right ticket.

    The entire carriage was falling silent and listening to all this with increasing fascination.

    It just kept going. The TC kept trying to explain. The YW kept repeating that it was the right ticket because it was a ticket to Aberdeen, it was the right ticket because it was the cheapest option, it was the right ticket because she wanted the 5pm train and here she was, on the 5pm train.

    Eventually the TC told her that she would not get through the ticket barrier at Aberdeen with that ticket but he would sell her a single from Dyce (last stop before Aberdeen) for £5, and she could use that to get through the barrier. This was a great offer as the price differential between off-peak and peak fare was a lot higher.

    She refused. - Why would I buy another ticket? I've got a ticket!

  • Scene: A train going from Inverness to Aberdeen.

    Ticket Collector to young woman: You have the wrong ticket.
    Young woman (alarmed) Isn't this the Aberdeen train?
    T.C. Yes, but you have an off-peak ticket, which isn't valid for this train.
    YW - If this is the Aberdeen train, then I have the right ticket, because I'm going to Aberdeen.
    T.C. But this is an off-peak ticket, it's the wrong ticket.
    YM - It's the right ticket. I chose it because it was the cheapest.
    TC - It's not the right ticket for this train.
    YM - It is the right ticket. I went online and I chose "Aberdeen" and "cheapest option" and this is it.
    TC. This ticket is for trains that run between 10am and 4pm. This is a peak fare train. You should have travelled on the 3pm train.
    YW But I didn't want to travel at 3pm. I wanted to travel to Aberdeen at 5pm with the cheapest option. This is the right ticket.

    The entire carriage was falling silent and listening to all this with increasing fascination.

    It just kept going. The TC kept trying to explain. The YW kept repeating that it was the right ticket because it was a ticket to Aberdeen, it was the right ticket because it was the cheapest option, it was the right ticket because she wanted the 5pm train and here she was, on the 5pm train.

    Eventually the TC told her that she would not get through the ticket barrier at Aberdeen with that ticket but he would sell her a single from Dyce (last stop before Aberdeen) for £5, and she could use that to get through the barrier. This was a great offer as the price differential between off-peak and peak fare was a lot higher.

    She refused. - Why would I buy another ticket? I've got a ticket!

    We all want to know what happened next ... and we never will!
  • I'd bet that the machine at Aberdeen - if it was working - let her through, and if it didn't, the human minding the barriers at a busy time like that just opened it and waved her through, as often happens.
  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    edited June 30
    I'd bet that the machine at Aberdeen - if it was working - let her through, and if it didn't, the human minding the barriers at a busy time like that just opened it and waved her through, as often happens.

    I would think there would be legal issues related to forcible confinement if you physically compelled someone, even a fare-dodger, to spend an extended length of time in a train station? At the very least, I'd hope that your thwarted attempt at an exit would at least somehow prompt the transit-cops to intervene, if only to issue a ticket and let you out.
  • North East QuineNorth East Quine Purgatory Host
    I wondered if she'd ever tried that in a restaurant - I'm going to pick the food I want, steak, from this side of the menu, and the price I want, the one opposite the mac'n'cheese, from the other side of the menu.
  • TheOrganistTheOrganist Shipmate
    @North East Quine Some time ago I encountered that attitude in a restaurant. The woman at the table next to us started to argue with the waiter when the bill arrived "that meal wasn't worth that - you could do it at home for far less". I suspect this was a frequent thing because her dining companion - son, I think - responded very swiftly "Yes, some people could, but you're not one of them and, in any case, we're paying for being in someone else's place and for them to be working at a time when you'd rather not". My other half burst into hysterical laughter. Suffice to say, the son settled the bill and they left PDQ 🤣
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    Passing in essays for evaluation that are the product of AI.
  • SipechSipech Shipmate
    Another train related one. On a few occasions on the London Underground, I've confronted shoulder surfers. These are the people who want to get through the barriers without paying by picking someone in front and following them through as close as a backpack, so they get past the barrier before it shuts. Have spotted some on my shoulder and then I've paused when I'm an inch past the barrier, so it closed on them and sounded an alarm.
  • sionisaissionisais Shipmate
    @Sipech, thanks for the term “Shoulder surfer”. I have come across this on the underground and conventional trains but at 6’2” and 15 or 16 stone I’m a pretty effective barrier myself.
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Purgatory Host, Circus Host
    I hate shoulder surfers. I particularly hate them when I am carrying a cello on my back.
  • sionisaissionisais Shipmate
    I hate shoulder surfers. I particularly hate them when I am carrying a cello on my back.

    I wouldn’t think they would try. I remember a young music student with her double bass on the underground years ago. She was probably 5’3” although maybe the size of the instrument case made her look small.

  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Purgatory Host, Circus Host
    You wouldn't think anyone would be so stupid and careless as to try to squeeze themselves behind someone carrying a valuable musical instrument through a turnstile. But they've done it to me before and I hate it with the heat of a thousand suns.
  • ChastMastrChastMastr Shipmate
    Caissa wrote: »
    Passing in essays for evaluation that are the product of AI.

    I’ve literally gotten personal introduction paragraphs (“introduce yourself and tell us your major and something interesting about yourself”) that appear to have been written by AI. The dead giveaway was “rate this response” or some similar text that was left in at the bottom. 🤯
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    Cheating well is as much work as doing the job.
  • SparrowSparrow Shipmate
    Sipech wrote: »
    Another train related one. On a few occasions on the London Underground, I've confronted shoulder surfers. These are the people who want to get through the barriers without paying by picking someone in front and following them through as close as a backpack, so they get past the barrier before it shuts. Have spotted some on my shoulder and then I've paused when I'm an inch past the barrier, so it closed on them and sounded an alarm.

    Had one of those a while ago, a young man who then yelled at me calling me a "forky weesh". Well I got the idea.
  • stetson wrote: »
    I would think there would be legal issues related to forcible confinement if you physically compelled someone, even a fare-dodger, to spend an extended length of time in a train station? At the very least, I'd hope that your thwarted attempt at an exit would at least somehow prompt the transit-cops to intervene, if only to issue a ticket and let you out.
    Some years ago I was on a train from London to Ipswich. There was a fare-dodger who was evading the conductor. He said to me that, as it was a Saturday, there were no Transport Police he could call. However he radioed through to the station staff at Colchester who would not only help him get the dodger off the train but ensure he didn't leave the station before the end of their shift, several hours later.

  • Not so much shoulder-surfers, but people on buses and trains who forget they are wearing a backpack, swing round and clout one on the face or upper arm. This is especially bad if said backpack is big and/or has a metal frame. Also folk, especially those with backpacks, who stand in the gangway near the front of the bus (even though there are seats available further back) making people getting on and off squeeze past them. (Explanatory note: Cardiff buses only have one entry/exit door, unlike many buses in London which have a separate exit further back).
  • DiomedesDiomedes Shipmate
    Mea culpa! I once came back from Scotland with a 12 point red deer antler which I had found. Strapped it on the outside of my (metal framed) rucksack and travelled back to Essex. Could have caused fellow passengers harm if the underground had been crowded!
  • At least that's more original than any old backpack!
  • ChastMastrChastMastr Shipmate
    And if the deer had been radioactive, anyone stabbed might get super-powers! Deer-specific super-powers, but still! :D
  • ArethosemyfeetArethosemyfeet Shipmate, Heaven Host
    I once got on the ferry with a sack of 6 sheep fleeces strapped to my rucksack. I had to be extremely careful cornering.
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