Hazzanet

Welcome to Hazzanet, the home of Matt Harris. Here, you'll find my general musings, posts, photos and other stuff related to life in general. I hope you enjoy reading :)

What is it with...

posted 29 Aug 2011 06:20 by Matt Harris

Telephone Customer Service these days?

Once upon a time I would call the bank, telephone company or utility company and I would be treated with a modicum of respect. Nowadays, mobile telephone companies want to call me by my first name.

A recent incident with Talk Mobile irritated me when some young chap in their call centre insisted on calling me by my first name, and referring to me as "mate" and "pal". Two things here; nobody in their right mind would call me by my full first name. All that know me will be aware that I like a shortened version of it and I grimace when I hear my full first name. Secondly, I don't know the call centre agent so I am neither his "mate" or "pal".

My relationship with Talk Mobile is one of Customer paying for service and Service Provider giving me a send rate telephone service. We are not friends, you do not know me, and you may not use my first name.

I could rant further, but my blood is still boiling after one of my calls was terminated as they wouldn't accept that the name of the bank I gave them is the one that I bank with... idiots.

Disappointing...

posted 29 Aug 2011 06:15 by Matt Harris

Having been quite a fan of The Inbetweeners, I was about as excited as it gets when I saw the trailer for a full length feature film. On Friday, I headed out to my local Cineworld to watch it.

I must admit that I wish I hadn't bothered; the writers let out all of the better jokes in the trailer and the movie was slow paced, dull dross.

My honest opinion is to save your money and buy the DVD set... forget the movie. It just doesn't hit the mark.

UK Cinemas

posted 8 Aug 2011 12:10 by Matt Harris

There's nothing I enjoy more than to go to the Cinema at the weekend and watch the latest release from Hollywood, the latest venture being to Cineworld to watch Super 8 (which is a great film by the way. Because I'm a Cineworld unlimited member, I just pay a monthly fee and watch films to my heart's content, but looking at the individual ticket prices and food/drink prices I can't help but think that the mickey is being taken somewhat.

Let's just take a quick example; see a film after 6 pm at my local cinema, and you'll be £8.20 short after buying a ticket and if let's say, you take up a Nacho Combo (Small Nachos, Regular Coke) you'll be a further £7.05 down. So by the time you sit down to watch 20 minutes of trailers, your pocket is about £15.25 lighter.

If you read the annual report for the Cineworld chain, their food offerings apparently give good value, however I can go into Asda across the road and buy a 500ml bottle of coke and a large bag of Doritos and still come away with change from a fiver. Good value? I'm not so sure.

The problem here is that very few cinemas are competing; all want about £8.00 to let you in and about a tenner off you at the concession stand unless you're only buying a small drink.

Having been to Finland on a number of occasions, it would seem that the dominant cinema chain there is Finnkino their main site being Tennispalatsi in Helsinki. I prefer their model; it's a little more expensive at between €10 and €12 (prices vary on different days and times, Friday night after 5pm, Saturdays and Sundays being top whack) but head to the concession stand and a regular popcorn and a drink will only set you back about €4 to €5.

Okay, so you're now saying that €12 + €5 = €17 which is about the same as Cineworld's £15.25 (or thereabouts), but there's some cheeky psychology at work here. With Cineworld, I think that £7 for nachos and a coke is extortionate, but £4.50 is expensive, but reasonable in that environment. Had I been paying for my ticket (i.e. I hadn't had unlimited) I would pay the £8.20 at the box office and then forgo the concessions stand. Whereas, with Finnkino, the €12 is a dead loss from the outset - I want to see the film so I have to pay it, but the concessions still seem reasonable so I would buy popcorn and a coke.

There's not much in it, but psychology sends me to the Finnkino concessions stand because I think it's reasonable value, whereas the prices at Cineword keep me away.

Would you be willing to pay more to get in if the popcorn was cheaper? Or are you happy as it is? Drop me a mail and let me know.

According to plan

posted 25 Apr 2011 01:01 by Matt Harris

I must admit that with the lovely weather that we are having, it is difficult to understand why anybody would want to go away for a holiday in another country. That said, I am very much looking forward to going to Finland for a week.

It was a little touch and go a couple of weeks ago because of the strike announced by the unite union who are in dispute with British Airways. Unfortunately my ticket is with British Airways as the flight has been booked using my air miles saved from the past two years.

The plan of action is to fly into Helsinki on Saturday night and take the number 615 bus into the city centre. Although the may day celebrations will be beginning there at the time, I am hoping to be able to get a snack somewhere before my train departs at around 10.30. I am taking the night train to Oulu and I will have a cabin on the train which is private to me, indeed the cabin is en-suite and includes a shower, toilet, and a small washbasin.

The train will arrive in Oulu at around about 7.30 in the morning; however I am unable to check in to my hotel, the Scandic Oulu, until 2.00 in the afternoon. The upside is that the vappu celebrations for mayday will take place throughout the day. The may day celebrations also occur on a Sunday but I do hope that a cafe may be open so that I can get a breakfast somewhere before moving on to have a look at the celebrations.

I’ve also taken time to have a look at the hotel restaurant menu and I see that they have reindeer on the main course selection. I’ve had reindeer a few times before and it really is very tasty and I would highly recommend it to anybody who is considering travelling to Finland.

On the Wednesday, I will travel back to Helsinki by aeroplane and again go back into the city centre where will be stopping at the Scandic Marski which is on the main street through Helsinki.

It certainly looks to be a fun week ahead and it will all start on Saturday.

I will keep you informed as things happen.

A night on the train...

posted 10 Apr 2011 03:52 by Matt Harris [ updated 11 Apr 2011 10:54 ]

I've been looking through some YouTube videos, and came across a video from a guy called Mark Peck who did a trip up to Kilpisjärvii in the very north west tip of Finland. It's a trip that looks like a load of fun, and he posted an excellent video on what services are available on the Finnish night trains. See here:

He also did a great blog about his trip here. Looking at his site, he's from America, but his mum is Finnish and he heads back there for a couple of months each summer. Sounds great. Wish I could spend each summer in Finland :)

Looking at the blog, it hasn't been updated for over a year; hopefully he'll write more over this summer.

Not long now...

posted 8 Apr 2011 13:29 by Matt Harris [ updated 8 Apr 2011 13:35 ]

About three weeks until I head over to Finland. Seven days of Finnish goodness :)

Helsinki

Am I the only one...

posted 14 Jun 2010 01:01 by Matt Harris

That finds that Anne Robinson won't let the people she interviews on Watchdog actually speak? A couple of weeks ago, she had the Spanish Ambassador on, and kept cutting into what he was saying (although I admit that what he was saying was whitewash). Ah well, Watchdog's on a break now - still Anne is better than Nicky Clark.

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