Monthly Archives: May 2019

Shall we prepare ourselves for the last ever Conservative Prime Minister?

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So, Theresa May – and hopefully her WA – are now moving in to the rear view mirror.
I wrote a little while back about God’s plan for Brexit and my main sense is that, no matter what the decisions of individual actors, there is a larger picture going on, determining whether those decisions have any effect.

[Brief aside: I’m more and more persuaded that the EU is going to break down in the next few years (principally through a renewed financial/Euro crisis) and if it survives it will only do so on a radically reformed basis. It will either be a union – maybe a smaller union – propped up by German money, in which case there will be a ‘continuity EU’; or else there will be a new organisation inheriting elements of it. It’s the fact that the French have so many problems that makes me think it will be the latter.]

What is on my mind is the sense that so many actions being taken will not have the effect that is expected; indeed, I think they will often have precisely the opposite effect. In particular, there are lots of assumptions that whoever replaces Theresa May will occupy the post of Prime Minister for a good stretch of time. Consider this line of thought:

– it’s very unlikely that the Conservative Party will elect someone who rules out ‘no deal’ – indeed, I expect the Euro election results to be so bad for the Conservatives that those running for leader will each seek to ‘outFarage’ the others, and make an active embrace of ‘no deal’ as a realistic option a key part of their platform;
– there is a clear majority against no deal in Parliament;
– if we get to end September, with no movement from the EU on, eg, NI, along with lots of noises from Macron etc that ‘this can’t go on’, what will that majority do when they are facing the very real prospect of a no deal exit? in particular, what will the likes of Dominic Grieve do?

I would expect that, with the prospect of a no deal looming large at the end of October, as soon as Parliament reconvenes after the conferences, Jeremy Corbyn will submit a vote of no confidence. Enough MPs will vote for it – so the new Conservative leader will no longer be Prime Minister – they would probably be the last ever Conservative PM. (Would July – October be the shortest modern premiership I wonder?)

Once that happens there will then be lots of back-door politicking out of which either:
a) nobody else commands a majority – therefore an election, or
b) Corbyn (or possibly ANOther Labour person) cobbles together a cross-party coalition for the purposes of implementing a second referendum with Remain on the ballot paper (against what? don’t know, can’t guess) and forms a government on the basis of at least a one-year supply and confidence agreement with other groups (SNP, Libs, CHUK and pro-Remain Tories).

The EU will, in this situation, be cheering on the second referendum crowd from the sidelines, and I would expect them to be happy to provide an extension for that purpose. Unless Macron goes mad of course.

I’m guessing the latter, and this will absolutely enrage the voting public and catalyse a major shift in UK politics
(MPs will hide from the consequences for as long as they can – I can’t see them voting for a new GE if they can avoid it). A second referendum will be truly awful, but afterwards, whatever the outcome, there will be an epochal GE, out of which I expect to see two major parties remaining – TBP and whatever the Remain party turns into once we have left the EU (possibly an enlarged LibDem/Green alliance).

For what it’s worth, I’ll definitely be voting for the non-Boris candidate!

Nigel Farage might just be the prophet of God’s will (Prophetic Imagination and The Brexit Party)

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According to Walter Brueggemann the prophetic task begins with grief – with identifying grief and articulating it. This engenders solidarity with those who suffer, from which point (and only from which point) it becomes possible to speak the word of the Lord into the situation, articulating his ‘bias to the poor’ and criticising all those who maintain the status quo.

The status quo is best characterised, according to Brueggemann, with the phrase ‘the Royal Consciousness’ – these days we might say the establishment consensus, or the Westminster bubble. It represents the shared framework within which the political realm understands itself and its role in events. In Biblical terms it is Pharaoh, the man himself and all those whose role in the society depends upon the existing system carrying on in the accustomed manner: it represents the way they think, it is the ‘common sense’ of the powerful.

In this situation the prophet comes in and invites the people to imagine something different; to grieve; to say ‘this is not God’s will’; to denounce the Royal Consciousness; and to bring down the plagues upon the establishment before leading people to a promised land.

In our situation, who is playing what role in the prophetic drama?

Let us begin with the grief: millions of those who have felt excluded from the operations of society, whose communities have been broken by shocks both economic and social, chose to articulate their grief with a vote against the status quo.

A healthy society would have responded with a heart for inclusion, working to re-engage the excluded, to seek to protect communities, to bind up old wounds, to re-establish a genuine sense of national solidarity.

Instead, the Royal Consciousness has doubled down on its condemnation of those outside the consensus. Instead of requiring more bricks with less straw, the Pharaohs of today simply say that those who cried out with grief did not know what they were doing and are probably uncultured and immoral in any case.

It is very important to the Royal Consciousness that it can see itself as righteous and virtuous. Not many human beings outside of satanic circles can live with the sense that they have chosen to be evil, not even Hitler’s willing executioners. We all cover up the knowledge of our own sin with more or less substantial rationales and justifications for our behaviour. They are all illusions.

What the referendum represents, as a cry of grief, is a shattering of that illusion – for those that can accept a new reality. However, those who cannot cope with the illusion being shattered, who wish to retain their sense of being righteous and virtuous, have to strive all the more to eclipse and efface that cry of grief, to try and restore the status quo ante, to deny this new truth.

This is unsustainable. God is not in that process – God is with those who grieve, with those who have been excluded. God casts down the mighty from their thrones and raises up the poor and lowly. God calls up prophets to speak his Word of justice and solidarity into broken political contexts.

Who, today, in British society, is articulating the grief on behalf of the poor, giving a voice to those who were previously voiceless? Might it not be a man of unclean lips? The extent to which you consider such thing impossible might simply be an index of how captured you have been by the Royal Consciousness:

“Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

(This has been buzzing in my head for some time. You won’t get this point of view in the Church Times – which is the house newspaper for the priests of the Royal Consciousness… Also – milkshakes are quite mild compared to what other prophets have had to endure!)
See: Does God have a plan for Brexit? and Brexit and the baking of bricks, Brexit, the Church and God’s bias to the poor and a little rant about Brexit and the Church of England.

Unaccountable airbnb – customer service in the style of Samuel Beckett #towelgate #WaitingForGodotBnB

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So, went with family to Rome for part-work/part-holiday trip. Rome was fascinating (more on that another time) but this is really about how disappointed we have been with the service from airbnb. We hit a problem with the host (the sort of problem that a hotel could have resolved in 5 minutes) but then hit a much more significant problem with airbnb. So this is by way of establishing a record. Lessons learned I guess.

Airbnb stipulates that the host must provide “bathroom towels available for the Guest’s use”.
When we arrived at the airbnb flat we had booked, we rapidly discovered that the towels provided were inadequate; that is, they were small and thin – imagine a large tea towel and you will get the idea. The image above is of a towel embedded in a coffee cup – a normal coffee cup, not a large one!

We arrived late at night on the 5th May; in the morning I contacted the host to raise the issue of the towels:
On 6th May – I sent a whatsapp message, ‘Hi – we can only find hand towels, are there any bath towels?’
On 7th May, after a bit of confusion, host says ‘I can bring them tomorrow Morning, very big, OK?’ I had a feeling I would need to use the airbnb site for communication, so on there I wrote ‘Just to clarify – and to confirm my whatsapp message – we only have handtowels not bathroom towels. It is essential that we are properly equipped. Please resolve this within the next 24 hours, thank you.’
On 8th May, in the evening, I wrote ‘Hi -, despite your promise yesterday that we would have towels this morning, they have not arrived. We are very sad and unhappy.’ To which the host responded, ‘Sam, you already have towels. You Just asked for bigger ones, so i think It’s not enough to be sad! Life Is beautiful. I Will be there within today, to give you the towels as promised.’
On 9th May, the host wrote ‘I’m very sorry but yesterday I had a problem, and I couldn’t bring you the towels… I will be there in the morning!’ (a pattern is emerging here…) and I wrote back ‘I shall take this up with airbnb :(‘

That was the last communication I had with the host – we were there for a further week after this. Airbnb itself, however, was not great. I left it 24 hours, to see if the threat of contacting airbnb would encourage the host to pull his finger out and deliver what he had agreed to deliver, but no go. So on the 10th May I contacted airbnb support. This didn’t get a response (and the message has now been removed from the airbnb site – hmm….)

I tried again, and I’ve now archived the conversation, so here it is – airbnb in italics

10 MAY 2019

Sam
17:16
Hi, I’m trying again as my other request for help hasn’t gotten anywhere. We have no bathroom towels for a ten night stay, and there are other issues (possibly legal ones) on which I need advice. Please help. Sam
?
Thanks for your message — Airbnb Support will reply as soon as a specialist becomes available.
17:16

Airbnb Support
17:18
Hi Sam,

Thanks for reaching out to us regarding this issue. I’ve forwarded your inquiry to a member of my team who can better assist you. They’ll be getting in touch with you soon.

In the meantime, please feel free to respond to this message with any further questions or concerns.

Best regards,

Sam
17:19
Thank you for the quick reply. I don’t know what happened to my message yesterday!

11 MAY 2019

Sam
06:03
Anything happening?

Airbnb Support
14:08
Hello Sam,

I am Patricia from Airbnb, the Trip Department, I am glad to assist you today.

I verified the message thread between you and your host and from what I can understand, you have towels at the listing, but you would like to have bigger ones.

As there are towels existing at the listing, it is the host decision if he can provide different types of towels and different sizes.

Let me know if there is something else I could help you with.
Thank you.

Best regards,
Patricia

Sam
16:38
Hello Patricia, no reasonable person would consider the towels provided to be bathroom towels (bathroom towels being specified in the airbnb contract). I can send photos of them alongside the provided tea towels for comparison if you would like evidence. I would also like your comment on the fact that we arrived back in the flat to find an estate agent showing customers around the property; we had not been warned of this and our belongings were on open display. This is unacceptable. The host also charged us the tourist tax – please confirm that this was legitimate – and took photos of our passports, again, please confirm that this was in accordance with the law. Finally please comment on the two day delay between my registering my concern and airbnb engaging with me on this issue, and explain why I had to comment on Twitter before gaining a response. Thank you for your attention.

Airbnb Support
19:48
Hi Sam,

My name is Bre, a Case manager here at Airbnb. Before I continue, let me thank you for your participation in our Global Community as a guest! Airbnb is truly grateful you have chosen to travel with us!I am sure you have many rewarding experiences ahead of you!

Thank you for contacting us on Social Media regarding the troubles you’ve had with your host requesting larger towels to better accommodate you. I apologize if this matter has affected your Airbnb reservation. rest assured I will be helping provide a swift resolution.

I will be reaching out to your host in efforts to align with your ideal outcome to receive the requested towels. I will be in touch soon with an update regarding this. All I’d ask is your continued patience while I work to rectify this matter.

Sam
20:05
Thank you. Please also see my earlier message to your colleague Patricia; I would be grateful if you also addressed the questions that I asked of her. Sam
By the way, the request is not for larger towels simply as a preference, the request is that the contracted-for bathroom towels are actually provided. We are half way through our ten night stay.

12 MAY 2019

Sam
13:34
So, 3 days in and still no nearer a resolution. I am very disappointed with airbnb.

Airbnb Support
18:50
Hi Sam,

This is Bre again here with Airbnb. I hope this message finds you well. I tried giving you a call, but I was ubable to reach you. I apologize for the delayed response, I just spoke with your host today. He informed that he will be providing larger towels tomorrow to make your stay more accommodating.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns.

Sam
19:02
Hello Bre, please review this dialogue. You have not answered the concerns that I raised at 17.38 on 9 May. Are we to understand that airbnb now consider the matter dealt with? We are 7 nights in to a ten night stay before the contract is fulfilled. This is not acceptable. Sam

Airbnb Support
20:06
I have taken some time to look at your previous correspondence with our support members. In regard to the tourism tax, this is common for hosts to be obligated to collect occupancy taxes in some areas that Airbnb currently does not remit the taxes on their behalf, While I am not a legal advisor, I am not authorized to determine if this is legal in the area, however we do encourage hosts to be in adherence with any local regulations. 

I do apologize for the time it has taken to get your concerns addressed. We are currently in peak season and have received a high influx of cases from both guests and hosts which has contributed to the delay.

Sam
20:10
1. Do airbnb consider it acceptable for a host to invite an estate agent into the property (a self-contained flat) without warning the guest? 2. Is it acceptable for a host to take photos of identity documents? 3. Is there a way of contacting airbnb legally which is more reliable than this messaging service? A legal address that I could write to would be appreciated. Thank you. Sam

13 MAY 2019

Sam
19:06
Hello. Nearly 24 hours since my last message and airbnb have not responded. Nor have any towels arrived. I consider airbnb to be in breach of contract. Please advise me on how I can take this further. Thank you. Sam

15 MAY 2019

Airbnb Support
21:11
Hi Sam,

Thanks for reaching out to us regarding this issue. I’ve forwarded your inquiry to a member of my team who can better assist you. They’ll be getting in touch with you soon.

In the meantime, please feel free to respond to this message with any further questions or concerns.

Best regards

Airbnb Support
21:54
Hi Sam

This is LaNiece here with Airbnb, we apologize for the delayed response. 

I am a case manager I have the pleasure of supporting you. If it is past your local time of 6pm during our communication is it okay if I call ? 

I apologize for the inconvenience you may have experienced during this process. 
You may respond to the message or email I send.

Airbnb Support
22:10
Good evening Sam

LaNiece here with Airbnb I just spoke to the host and asked him about the towels. He advised he left them at the front door entrance. Please let me know if they are there give me 30-45 min to respond to you I will wait your reply.

16 MAY 2019

Airbnb Support
03:52
Sam 

LaNiece here I will close this tomorrow when I arrive in have a good night.

Sam
07:20
Hello LaNiece, there have been no towels for the duration of our ten night stay and we are now heading home. I am astonished that you think the service that airbnb have offered is sufficient. As I stated earlier, I need to be put in touch with someone who can deal with my case properly, rather than one more different person (I think I have now had four people dealing with me?) who simply begins from scratch each time (and believes the host!!). Please do not close this case, it is not resolved. Thank you.

17 MAY 2019

Airbnb Support
01:28
Hi Sam 

I personally did not state that this was resolved. 
I asked and advised that I will follow up today. I did speak to the host, so I had to ask. Rather, the reservation has ended or not if the host out right lied about this to me I will be addressing and updating you. Consulting on how I can help with some sort of compensation. You should not have to beg for towles.
I do apologize for any confusion that was created with the message I sent last night.

LaNiece

Sam
08:35
Hi LaNiece – thank you so much for this message. There are lots of things I need to discuss about this with airbnb – please can I have your assurance that the case will not be closed until it is all resolved? I would be very grateful, thank you. And no, there were no bathroom towels provided – part of the problem is that there is disagreement over what counts as a ‘bathroom’ towel, but I am happy to provide further information and documentation on that. However, whilst that is an issue that could have been easily and simply resolved, I have since become very frustrated with airbnb’s customer support. If I can continue to deal just with one person – yourself – then I think we may be able to get somewhere. Thank you. Sam

18 MAY 2019

Sam
16:30
Hi LaNiece, just following up on this. I thought it would help if I set out my concerns more systematically, as we can then work out how to proceed with each element:
1. The ‘towels’ provided were not bathroom towels. Bathroom towels are specified in the contract, so I regard this as a breach of contract.
2. The host’s behaviour was a little odd. The most concerning thing was coming back to the flat on one occasion (early on) to find an estate agent showing a couple around the property. We had not been warned of this, and feel it to be an unacceptable violation of our privacy. We are also worried about the fact that he took photos of our passports.
3. Very early on the host offered to replace the towels (from 9th May I think – the message system should make it clear) which he did not do, despite promising this to both ourselves and to you as ‘official’ airbnb.
4. It proved very difficult to get hold of airbnb to try and resolve this issue. After not getting anywhere using the standard messaging system I resorted to using Twitter in order to gain your attention. This is not good.
5. I have found the airbnb support system less than good, mostly because of the repeated changes of ‘lead person’ for the case. I am very much hoping, LaNiece, that this chopping and changing has now come to an end!
6. Up to now we have really enjoyed using airbnb and have recommended it to others. We are concerned that our positive rating on airbnb may be affected by what the host says about us. We were very sure to leave the property in a good state (and have taken pictures as evidence to back that up) and would like to leave an honest review, but we do not wish to jeopardise our own continued use of airbnb. Please reassure us on that question.
I think that’s it. I look forward to hearing your response to my concerns 🙂

20 MAY 2019

Sam
15:08
Please reassure me that I have not been forgotten in the last 48 hours. Is it time for me to contact you on Twitter again? Sam