Bonus thread for people in CanadagpetersFebruary 2 2010, 21:34:35 UTC
In Toronto, my biggest measurement complaint was always the integrity of the pint of beer. An imperial pint is ~568ml. Europeans, who as a rule are wrong about measurements, frequently order beer in 500ml units. In America, the word "pint" means some other thing that works out to about 473ml.
Lots of places will show prices by pint. So I'll order using the word "pint." After that, the server shows up, and gives me a glass of beer that has some confusing shape that I cannot understand.It gets worse. Careful inspection of funny glasses will show a line labelled 50cl. This is a dead giveaway that the glass is some kind of scam. What is a cl? I don't know! Ask a European, but don't expect the answer to make sense
( ... )
they also regulate gas pumps and all kinds of things to prevent exactly this problem from happening since a lot of people would get screwed and not know it.
Preemptive inspection of measuring devices is required in a lot of contexts. It's vital I think to the integrity of gas pumps, and all kinds of scales.
I can't see how I could ever trust an uninspected gas pump, given how you can't trust anything that anyone at a service center says about anything ever. Even if we stipulate that somehow the planets aligned and the service station personel were not actually trying to cheat you[1], I think they'd still just be wrong through negligence.
Likewise Massachusetts, New York & all of Canada. I've seen uninspected marine gas pumps before, but a quick call to measurement Canada has always dealt with that.
However, California has a far weirder thing with gas stations that bears mentioning: besides the combo vacuum cleaner/gas pumps they used when I lived there, there was one more very weird thing about gas stations. Every gas station, every once in a while, had to be completely boarded up, and a 15-20' hole dug completely covering the lot. A few weeks later this was filled, and the gas station reappeared.
No idea why. Obviously something to do with the tanks, but who knows what.
Wow. They actually refused to cooperate with the W&M inspectors? Isn't that the sort of behaviour that just screams "please sir, I would like a larger fine"? Never mind getting to the point where a detail was sent to close the entrance to the garage. Just wow.
The fact is that operating a business using W&M regulated equipment is consent to administrative inspection. Lock a door to block W&M folks? They can hire a detail of city police, come, cut the lock, bash down the door, then bill you for their troubles.
Try to physically obstruct or remove them, as if they were trespassers? That can be assault and battery.
It is insane to not cooperate with a W&M inspector. So insane that the director just hadn't dealt with this kind of noncompliance in quite some time, and couldn't comprehend it. When we spoke, he just didn't understand why the garage didn't take one of the many opportunities they had to avoid escalation.
Why not just charge me $2 when I raised the issue? Why not cooperate with the inspectors? Why not take the call when the director calls about a malfunctioning clock?
Comments 10
Lots of places will show prices by pint. So I'll order using the word "pint." After that, the server shows up, and gives me a glass of beer that has some confusing shape that I cannot understand.It gets worse. Careful inspection of funny glasses will show a line labelled 50cl. This is a dead giveaway that the glass is some kind of scam. What is a cl? I don't know! Ask a European, but don't expect the answer to make sense ( ... )
Reply
they also regulate gas pumps and all kinds of things to prevent exactly this problem from happening since a lot of people would get screwed and not know it.
#1 and #2 would have been a total waste of time.
Reply
I can't see how I could ever trust an uninspected gas pump, given how you can't trust anything that anyone at a service center says about anything ever. Even if we stipulate that somehow the planets aligned and the service station personel were not actually trying to cheat you[1], I think they'd still just be wrong through negligence.
[1] Ha! Ha! Ha!
Reply
Reply
However, California has a far weirder thing with gas stations that bears mentioning: besides the combo vacuum cleaner/gas pumps they used when I lived there, there was one more very weird thing about gas stations. Every gas station, every once in a while, had to be completely boarded up, and a 15-20' hole dug completely covering the lot. A few weeks later this was filled, and the gas station reappeared.
No idea why. Obviously something to do with the tanks, but who knows what.
Reply
I hope you don't get a knock at your door and open it to find someone big and burly, who doesn't take well to thwarting their scam.
Reply
I fell for it.
Reply
Reply
Try to physically obstruct or remove them, as if they were trespassers? That can be assault and battery.
It is insane to not cooperate with a W&M inspector. So insane that the director just hadn't dealt with this kind of noncompliance in quite some time, and couldn't comprehend it. When we spoke, he just didn't understand why the garage didn't take one of the many opportunities they had to avoid escalation.
Why not just charge me $2 when I raised the issue? Why not cooperate with the inspectors? Why not take the call when the director calls about a malfunctioning clock?
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment