EBAY AND PAYPAL THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES

A very long day out yesterday, I was up at 5am and had a pretty smooth drive up to Sunderland but parking by the metro at the interchange there was no pay machine you had to do this by phone which required getting a text they called a sms why not call it a text, then replying with reg no to confirm but I couldn't make the phone work anyway a young lady with bolts through her bits did it for me, how kind. Then I struggled to get a Metro Day Saver you have to select all areas of the North East then pus buttons a and b and c then go back home then drive to the moon then with luck you still haven't got anywhere, does anyone actually confirm these things work, has anyone bought a day ticket in the last 10 years, I did once. Well I ended up £3 for the poorer as I got a day rover which didn't involve NASA but included bus as well which i didn't need. I lost 40 minutes with parking and getting a Metro both were 2 minutes from each other.

I had a reasonable ride on the Metro but they have renamed all the stations for the Christmas period, how bizarre, life just gets harder to fathom each passing moment. Now they are called after dogs, so Sunder land becomes Dog poo etc, Park Gate becomes Bark Gate, they've actually gone and stuck these names all over the stations, whoopee if you are local and know what is going on but I guess they get no visitors there. Newcastle seemed to lack many buses, never seen it so quiet but as it was mainly cloudy with brighter spells I didn't take too long to get the required film and then went the short ride to Gateshead. The ticket entry machines now work but each requires a staff person to make sure nobody steals the machines, honestly go there and see if you don't believe me! The High St was under road works so no buses but as it was dull I ended up doing even better than usual with near sides leaving and offsides entering from the opposite side to bus station tucked in near the entrance to High St, it all worked out well.

I then had a ride to South Shields, some nice shots out of reasonably non dirty window and arrived in South Shields it was cloudy and threatening rain at times but as busy as ever for buses and I was soon all done and then made the tortuous Metro journey to Sunderland which involves one change of tram. They were going very slowly for a reason which was announced three times in broad Geordie which I couldn't fathom out. The only change had been a light shower of rain, guess that put paid to speed, a man with a red flag after rain or leaves on line or suicides or nicked wires whatever. Then Sunderland, there were road works on the High St thus no buses ( ground hog day or what!) I had never seen Sunderland so quiet for buses, of all the dismal poverty ridden places Sunderland is up there with Motherwell and West Bromwich, it just feels horrible, smells horrible and it horrible but there were a few friendly drivers who returned my waves and nobody was left alive in the bus station to come out and snarl at me filming.

I didn't get finished until nearly 5pm, then got stuck an hour on the A1M going south, arrived home nearly 8.30pm knackered out. The sorry story of EBay and Paypal continues with nothing sorted, it has been escalated to the pope but he isn't giving anything away, like playing poker with the mafia. Did you know that EBay really doesn't have a customer complaints department, if they did they'd complain about customers, Oh dear. No heart to recount further, no money getting from Paypal to my account or is it EBay to Paypal to my account but i'm sending everything out in the hope that customers of mine will be happy and it will get sorted sometime. Photos from Newcastle yesterday, off to Halle concert this evening.