The Room 101 thread - for things you hate or just having a bloody good moan

[Stormbringer]

although at this point someone walked down the street next to the garden, which is only separated by a gapped fence, so they must have seen the dishevelled, pyjamaed moron stood in the centre of his garden in the dead of night staring in confusion at his house.

[Alan]

Bought Retroid Pocket 5
Sliced open dpad thumb right at the dpad spot just before it arrived.
Fml.

[Mantis]

Bought a Fire Stick so that I could stream my Xbox game pass games straight onto the TV, couldn't get any of my existing Bluetooth controllers to work with it.

Bought an Xbox controller, synced up right away. Tried to play Microsoft Flight Simulator via streaming. Absolutely broken inputs on both versions currently available, inputs don't work at all, the sticks drift instantly in one direction and you can't stop it and the cockpit controls default back to keyboard input so none of the controller buttons work.

And they advertise this as a big feature of Game Pass because they want it on as many devices as possible rather than people just buying an Xbox. They can't even get it working properly for one of their own flagship games.

[Wrathbone]

Was it Flight Simulator 2024 you tried? Because months later it's still apparently a total mess, so I wouldn't rule that out as the culprit. FS2020 is still available on Game Pass as far as I know - might be worth trying it.

[Mantis]

It was 2024, unfortunately the 2020 edition has the same problem. Totally unplayable as soon as you load into a tutorial or free flight.

Very bummed out, I was looking forward to chilling out with this on the big TV. At least there are plenty of other Game Pass options to keep me entertained for the foreseeable future.

[Raid]

Shopping deliveries. I've been using Sainsburys for my normal grocery shopping for 20 years, as they tended to be marginally more expensive but with better quality produce that made up for it (plus, before I moved they were basically on my way home from work via a short detour). For the last four years I've been getting it delivered, as I don't drive and it's a 2 hour round trip to walk there and back. They do a delivery pass where you pay fifty quid, and then don't get any delivery charges, which I think about halves the delivery costs. I've always had grumbles about items being substituted (particularly when I tend to make changes to the order the night before, after the shop will have shut, when they can't possibly not know if something will be in stock or not based on other orders), but recently their complete inability to pack stuff sensibly has been ruining items. Sure, I can refuse any item, but with a £40 minimum order, I can't exactly re-order new ones and hope they get it right this time, I have to wait a week. I get a pack of custard slices once a week, and about 60% of the time they're delivered upside down with the icing entirely adhered to the top of the packaging.

This week was the last straw. A 4 pint jug of milk had been delivered on its side, the seal at the top had been broken, and the milk had covered the bottom of the plastic box they use. They don't pack stuff in bags, so every single item in that box was partially submerged, which comprised half my shop. I either had to reject the whole thing (not practical), or wash every item and then clean off all of the cardboard that stuck to the bottom of items packaged in it in my fridge (they were dairy items so I couldn't leave them out to dry). I must have spent ten minutes doing it. The guy that delivered it was completely apologetic and refunded the milk without asking. I don't think the delivery drivers pack the items, but he told me that it had happened to multiple other customers that morning, and suggested I buy the more expensive Cravendale to prevent it from happening again. It's 2025, and somehow the importance of packing stuff properly has still not made it to Sainsburys, or more likely this is considered a waste of minimum wage time and the workers aren't given the opportunity.

Then this morning I got the reminder for my delivery pass being renewed, which while entirely unrelated to my recent experience, felt like an insult. I'm now signed up with Ocado.

[Wrathbone]

Asda suffers from the same packing and substitution problems, which is part of why I stopped using them. I've been getting deliveries from Tesco for about 9 months now and it's night and day difference - rarely any subs (and when I do get them, they're sensible), far fewer packing issues and mostly friendly drivers*. They also turn up on time, which Asda were regularly failing to do, and they have a tracking map which is handy. Can highly recommend.

* There's one guy who seems to be in a perpetual bad mood, but I won't hold that against him. He does the job perfectly fine, which is all I'm after.

[Raid]

Tesco's the only big supermarket I barely have any experience with (I've bought a handful of things from the little one in town, but I've never done a full shop), so they didn't really feature on my radar. Asda I just didn't like even when I shopped there a few times in person - their produce was always noticeably worse than Sainsburys, barely any cheaper, and honestly every time I went into the one on the north side of the river, every shopper in there looked slightly crazed - not really the supermarket's fault, but a weird thing to pick up on more than once.

The main reason I wanted to go with Ocado was access to M&S stuff. There are a few product categories I'd always choose to get from there (quiches, cakes, bread rolls and a few others), but it's a 90 minute walk there and back from where I live now, so it wasn't usually practical unless I was going into town for something else.

[Stormbringer]

every shopper in there looked slightly crazed

[eny]

As much as I detest Bezos, Morrisons through Amazon is superb. I use Tesco for most of my delivery shopping as they are brilliant too. The thing with Morrisons is that they are all in paper bags, which are easier for me to take delivery of. Tesco's is in baskets, but the drivers are always very understanding and helpful. I use Tesco for the value for money, £3 delivery, usually on a Tuesday as I've found that to be the most reliable re: stocking availability. I used Morrisons last time because of a van breakdown cancelling the Tesco order, which would have meant booking another slot and re-ordering for later in the week. Morrisons delivered the very day I booked, but sometimes there are some unasked-for substitutions, but nothing so bad that I need to it send back tbh. I have used Waitrose now and again for a bit of better quality stuff, who are also exemplary. But yeah, Morrison's and Tesco are very reliable.

[Wrathbone]

Yep, I've used Morrisons before and they were good. Not sure if it's changed, but the minimum delivery cost was only £25 too, which is handy if you don't need a full shop.

Back to ranting: people at work who message you "hi", then spend 5-10 minutes typing out what they actually want. If you're going to break me off from what I'm doing, just tell me what you want from the get-go, because I'm not going to be able to concentrate on anything until you do.

[eny]

If it is above £40 no charge. Always a slot available for me within a day.

[Snowy]

every shopper in there looked slightly crazed

There is a gargantuan Asda across the road from the corporate park I work at in Eastleigh, affectionately known as Chavda by most of my colleagues. It has been the site of some fucking random behaviour. On one of my first days with my employer, I said to the others around me that I was going to walk over to Asda to get some lunch and did anyone want anything. I was asked if I had been there before and said that I hadn't, at which point I was warned that it was frequented by quite a lot of undesirables.

As I walked up to the doors, I had to jump aside as a cuff-ankled grey trackie wearing degenerate charged out, only to be tackled to the floor by the security guard in hot pursuit. On entering the store, I got my first look at women in leopard print onesies and mule slippers who clearly thought walking around like that is fine. Yeah, was an education. I never thought of myself as a snob, but felt like one as I got my lunch and left sharpish!

[Snowy]

Back to ranting: people at work who message you "hi", then spend 5-10 minutes typing out what they actually want. If you're going to break me off from what I'm doing, just tell me what you want from the get-go, because I'm not going to be able to concentrate on anything until you do.

YES! I have a note on my Teams profile requesting that people don't do that and instead write what they need from me in one hit. Doesn't make much difference though.

[ManBearSquid]

Those kind of messages are ignored. State your piece or fuck off.

Regarding food retail, I worked for Sainsbury's for years near the Royal Mile in Edinburgh - I have stories.