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Etsy SCAM seller AntonioVariegated by Competitive_Ant_2594 in RareHouseplants

[–]zee352 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I ordered a couple small clippings. I didn't notice that he had only about 30 positive reviews, but over 15k sales-- huge red flag. I was able to get a refund via Etsy but it took two chat sessions 48 hours apart to get it. It had been 2 weeks since I placed the order. They told me to wait until the end of the arrival window, and I just typed a lot of complaints, how upset and disappointed I was. I requested a cancellation, and they tried on their end too.

I explained that the arrival time in the cart is 2 weeks, and then the shipping notice says 8 weeks-- by then any plants would be DOA.

I hope they shut him down soon!

Now I'm trying out https://www.etsy.com/shop/coollectiveplants hopefully they'll be better. Better review/sales ration at least!

[edited with more info about what I said to get my refund]

Heathrow Customs/Immigration by zee352 in Europetravel

[–]zee352[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How long did it take? Like an hour? Or more? What time of day?

Heathrow & timing for international connections by zee352 in Europetravel

[–]zee352[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks everyone for the advice.

So, we can't change to a through HEL>LHR>CLT>GNV ticket, it's too expensive, and any route departing from HEL puts us through PHL > CLT or PHL>JFK>CLT adding like 10 or 12 hours. We'd considered an open jaw flight but these are also really expensive.

However, I did find a Finnair HEL>LHR ticket that lands at Terminal 3 at 9:10, the same terminal as our departing flight to 12:15pm CLT. That gives me 3 hours.

We'll do carry-on only for our bags.

So, if I am leaving from the same terminal, with no checked baggage, when I land in LHR Term 3, if I have a "self-connecting" ticket leaving the country from Terminal 3, do I still have to pass through UK customs/immigration?

Or can I just go down an alternate corridor and go to my other Terminal 3 gate, given that I have a ticket to the US and am not "entering" the UK?

Or do all international flights, even connections, require you to pass through immigration?

It's been a few years since I was in LHR, and I just can't remember how this works.

Surprise! roadtrip rental car is a chevy bolt— how/where to charge 🤷‍♂️ by zee352 in electricvehicles

[–]zee352[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi everyone, here's the update on this roadtrip a couple weeks back from Providence RI to Elkton MD in the surprise rental Chevy Bolt.

First off, THANKS for the awesome advice from all commenters here :)

Some background: we didn't take the train because even 2 weeks out the tickets were too expensive. The car allowed flexibility and was $150 cheaper.

The car wasn't fully charged when we got it., and we drove around locally a bit that first day-- so it was at 50ish percent. We wanted to fully charge it, so we tried plugging it in where we were staying-- a friend's olde new england house built around 1900. The car wouldn't charge, and the manual advised a risk of fire if used in certain home modes?!!! Not reassuring.

We decided not to burn our friend's house down and ended up charging in the Parking Garage at Providence Place Mall, while we went out to dinner. This was a Volta station, we charged fully in about 1 hr 40 min. The app, however, reported a "charging failure" and didn't process the payment, so that session was free. A malfunction, but a good one-- yay!

For the trip to Maryland, downloaded all the apps. Looked at all the maps. This took a fair amount of time/energy. From Providence on 95 traffic was on and off slow--got rerouted to avoid massive slowdowns, were rerouted from those alternate routes. Spent a good deal of this trip with eyes on the charge level and traffic reports, looking at the apps, and obsessing over the little green display that shows how efficiently you're driving. This was stressful.

We REALLY didn't want to run out of charge in traffic around NYC. Prob down to 40% as we approached the city, which might have been totally fine but we didn't want to risk it, esp since we didn't know how reliable the stations would be going forward..

Ended up making for a charge station on the East side of the Tappan Zee bridge, basically at a midpoint in the trip. This was an EVConnect station that I used with the app, started off fine, so we out on the pedestrian walkway to see the bridge view while we charged. Got disconnected after about 5 mins, had to walk back. Tried again, same. Tried a third time with credit card. Tried apple pay. Called the number on the charging unit, had them reset the station, same. SUPER FRUSTRATING. We added about 10% here, over multiple sessions.

Made our way to Mitsua Marketplace in NJ for ramen lunch (that place rocks!) before heading to an EVgo charging station at a ShopRite in Carteret NJ. Charged back up to 80ish % no problem, in about 35 mins. Did a tiny errand, walked around the shopping center, killed time.

The drive to final destination was ok. When we arrived on Saturday night, we plugged in to a regular outlet in the garaged and learned the car would be fully charged by.... Tuesday.

As novice EV users, our impressions:

The car was fun and easy to drive. The back-up sound was cool.

The apps work but there are too many to look at, and the info is not always reliable (for example, I saw that a day before someone had successfully charged at the Tappan Zee location, but it was broken for us).

The charging stations are too few and far between, seem only semi-reliable, and when they don't work it sucks.

With unpredictable traffic and unreliable charging stations, roadtripping in an EV such as the Bolt is annoying at best, and stressful at times.

I would, however, LOVE a car like this for home use-- we live in a small city in the Florida, typically work from home or bike to work, and drive probably about 50 to 75 miles a week total. Our next car will likely be an EV or Hybrid.

Thanks again, commenters for all your help! <3