I thought that you can now take your car for service to an independent dealer - using non original service parts - provided that those parts meet certain criteria (ie recognised as oe quality)? Or is this an entirely different 'thing'.
You may be right as I can't be exact about that but our problem required a lot of labour charges. They said, after all the arguing and the summons, that they would want to do the job under warranty (including labour) themselves, would pay to pick up the car from our local garage and pay the local garage for their time and storage. They would also give me a courtesy car. To avoid further arguing I decided to agree (although I wasn't too happy with their dealer doing the work). When they brought the courtesy car we then had another little discussion. They wanted me to pay for insurance for the courtesy car. I pointed out, and showed the delivery man, that my insurance covered me for the courtesy car. They refused to let me have it until I said that I would not be able to let them take the broken car! they agreed instantly. From all that I assumed I was correct. Just after that the CA (I always update them on my cases) said that a court case, that they were backing, had decided that the Manufacturer couldn't impose the rules that they had been doing up till now. The company was Volvo.
Well it sounds a really great idea, but it dont work. What actually happens is they drag us down, is there any wonder our standard of living is not rising anymore, well mine aint for at least 10 or more years. So what actually happens is we shore up countries where they have very different tax laws, have more public holidays etc. and basically take the pee. No wonder they live longer on the old Mediterranean diet of olive oil. Mill stones and necks comes to mind.
When Greece needed its latest bailout, they had to agree to, among other things, a retirement age more in line with the rest of Europe. They were outraged. Basically, they wanted everyone else to work harder for longer, so we could afford to fund their pensions for them while their own government had blown their money.
Since the MVBER came into effect that is the case. Shiney's issue is a different thing from a different time (I suspect). How long ago was this? The amount that we pay is minute in terms of GDP of the Euro zone............... 2014 Rank Country 2014 in USD 1 Germany 3,859.547 2 United Kingdom 2,945.146 3 France 2,846.889 4 Italy 2,147.952 5 Russia 1,857.461 6 Spain 1,406.855 7 Netherlands 866.354 8Sweden 570.137 9 Poland 546.644 10 Belgium 534.672 11 Austria 437.123 12 Denmark 340.806 13 Finland 271.165 14 Ireland 246.438 15 Greece 238.023 16 Portugal 230.012 17 Czech Republic 205.658 18 Romania 199.950 19 Hungary 137.104 20 Slovakia 99.971 21 Luxembourg 62.395 22 Croatia 57.159 23 Bulgaria 55.837 24 Slovenia 49.506 25 Lithuania 48.232 26 Latvia 31.970 27 Estonia 25.953 28 Cyprus 23.269 And lets not forget that it was just forty years ago that the UK went cap in hand to the IMF. A little harsh maybe. (@ARMANDII and @shiney - help me here with the facts) When the second world war ended Greece descended into four or five years of civil war. By the time that all this was over the Greek economy was ruined. Loans and aid from the Marshall plan helped kick start the economy but by the mid sixties a military coup left the country under military dictatorship for about ten years. It was when the country returned to democratic rule that Greece really started to borrow heavily to invest in infrastructure and thirty years later it all caught up with the Greek people. Of course it would help if they weren't so keen on dodging their taxes but the reality is that a nation of just ten million people borrowed too much and then ended up borrowing even more just to pay historic loans. Then it all came crashing down!
I don't mean to be harsh about Greece. But the reality is they've been allowed to dodge taxes, and they did have a better retirement and pension setup than most, and they did continuously borrow beyond their means to repay. They also got well and truly shafted by Germany decades ago, with their war reparations compo being roughly equivalent to their nation as the loose change that I can't be bothered to retrieve from down the back of my seat in my car. Then more recently, if you go to Greece, there is a surprising number of luxury German cars. I read at one point that when the big dealers started to get worried about extending credit to the Greek people to buy their cars, Merkel gave assurances that the loans would be backed by the German government. Why do this unless the German government was either stupid (i doubt that) or were planning to shaft Greece once again, something that they have gone on to do, most recently by very different means.
I can't really remember but it must have been somewhere around the turn of this century. At a guess, between 2001 and 2003. Sorry, can't help with the Greece situation without some research and I've a number of reports to do and a Benefits case to prepare for tomorrow.
I think that pretty much nails it down, longk, but the Greeks were already heavily in before democracy and the economy was, in reality, in worse fare than it is now due to many causes. Although they didn't join the EU until 1981 when Greece was in a steep recession and of course the agenda of the EU was to gain as many members as they could, in the shortest time they could, and in any way they could. So Greece was given loans, and other less known and acknowledged funding which it's alleged exceeded the total sum of the EU loans. Clueless makes a point about the tax dodging of the Greeks but in truth that attitude is rife in the whole area of the Mediterranean countries so it's not just the Greeks. But Greece was, as you pointed out, racked by civil wars, an succession of undemocratic governments and no real stabilisation or Leader so was especially vulnerable. Plus, if we had had a succession of Governments that didn't exactly enforce or impose taxes then, let's face it, we would have gone the same way, or would we have stood up and demanded that we pay our taxes in self righteousness?.......I don't think so. So I think it's too narrow a view to criticise the Greeks for getting into debt when on their financial backs and still in the infancy of democracy. It's all too easy to forget that the UK entered into the Lend Lease agreement in 1941 where we received, in today's money, around £350 Billion in cash, materials etc. That supposedly finished in 1945 when the agreement was that most of the materials would be returned back to America without any real cash repayment. The Lend Lease also included loans to Russia, France, China and other Allies. When that return agreement failed the Americans then changed the agreement and the UK signed the Anglo American Loan in 1946 and we finally paid it off in 2006. But the question is could we have done paid any of it at all if we had suffered the fate of the Greeks after WWII?? Again, I think that is a very narrowly focused example which seems to suggest that most of the Greeks, while being in Hock up to their bottom lip, are driving around in German Luxury cars without a care in world. The general unemployment rate in Greece is 27%, while the young unemployment rate is 52%. We can quote comparative growth rates of the different countries as much as we like. But the truth is that even in a stats ridden country like ours we have seen our prophesied growth rates be revised, revised and revised again in a matter of weeks.......so I don't given comparative or stated growth rates any parlance. I think the only way to realise the parlour state of the country, the attitude of the people [who are not all tax dodgers], the grim reality of permanent recession, and the effect of having the boot of the EU Bankers on their necks is to go and live there for a year........and that might change our views of the actual situation.
Mr Kandy was telling me the other day that he read somewhere that if we come out of the EU then a lot of the workers rights that are in place at the moment will be taken away but as I pointed out to him why should he care as he is retiring soon Does anyone know if all the British expats living in Europe get a vote to stay in or out?If so I wonder if they all received Mr Cameron's propaganda booklet the other week and is he going to do any campaigning to them all if they are allowed to vote
Hi @Kandy this might help If you are moving away from the UK, you will still be entitled to vote in elections. Provided you have been included on an electoral register within the past 15 years (reduced from a previous 20), you will still be entitled to cast your vote. If you remain away from the UK for any more than the 15 years, you will then automatically lose your right to vote in British elections. In recent years, the Electoral Commission has vastly improved the information that is available to UK expatriates. Prior to the recent changes, information was difficult to obtain and only a small minority of expatriates actually realized they were eligible and exercised their right to continue to vote in British elections. The Commission assures us that this lack of clarity has now ended and they make a determined effort to furnish expatriates with all of the information on how they may go about registering to vote in the UK, when living in another country. With regards European elections, it is important to remember that you will only be permitted to vote in one country. If the member state where you now live has granted you the right to vote in these elections, you will not be entitled to cast a second vote in the UK. Safeguards are in place in an attempt to prevent this from happening. Your right to vote in the nation that you have moved to will vary considerably from country to country. This will usually be dependent upon when you are considered to be a full citizen within that particular country. It is usually then that this entitlement is granted. Obviously, it will be a matter of verifying the relevant criteria for the applicable country involved.
That's all part of the scare tactics being used. Won't happen. That's more than the Scottish election allowed. Any Scot not living in Scotland wasn't allowed to vote. My neighbours were rather unhappy about that! The May 5th and June 23rd elections mean that I have to open up the Polling Station at 6.30 both mornings . Fortunately, once I've made sure that they've got themselves organised I'm going to leave them to it and get on with the gardening .
Ha yes. The same kind of safeguards that allowed eu states to keep track of who moves through which airport, just in case a terrorist is on the move. Information sharing within the eu has been found to be woefully inadequate. I can't imagine this case being any different.
Good morning I only posted my previous post to try and answer our friend @Kandy@s @ question It doesn't mean that I accept the statement contained in that post it was just for information
I think that everyone got stiffed in that! The Greek household debt as a share of GDP is about 65% which is about the same as Japan and Finland. For comparison the same figures are (approx); Germany = 55% UK = 90% US = 80% Italy = 45% Australia = 110% Netherlands = 120% Sweden = 85% That kinda makes sense as the MVBER was passed into law roundabout 2003/04. I asked as from about 1987 through to '95 (ish) Volvo operated a Lifetime Care scheme. This basically offered free repairs or contributions towards any failure that was regarded as premature. This was only valid if the car had been serviced on time within the franchised network. As part of my training I spent seven months seconded to a Volvo dealer within the group which was what Volvo called a devolved dealer. Being devolved meant that we (actually me as my job there was to administer the lifetime care) could make any decision on behalf of Volvo and it would be honoured. One day I decided (to the owners utter joy) to make a warranty refund on a complete car as it had been nothing but major grief from day one!
