Entitled house guests expecting to charge their car
Discussion
Mates
This has happened twice now. Old friends come to stay for the weekend for a catch up, drinks etc. As they and we have done with each other many times over the last twenty plus years. Friends are up country a bit, London and Hertfordshire, and we're on the south coast. They arrive, then expect to plug their car in to charge for an extended period.
SWMBO's chums (Hertfordshire) came and stayed over Easter. Generously bring wine and contributions, again as we've all done over the years. They stand their round in the pub, don't generally take the mick and we have an enjoyable weekend. They turn up in their Ioniq thing, park in the drive, unload etc. All as has happened many times over the years, and exactly as we have reciprocated and had many adventures together. Although we don't have an EV to park in their drive.
Early pub Friday, then back to ours for BBQ. Chummy says, 'oh can you put an extension lead out so we can charge the car please?' I was a bit taken aback, I manage to disguise my shock.
Ran the lead out to his 3 pin charger, then forgot about it. Saturday morning I say something along the lines of 'All charged up now, shall I bring the lead in?' Chummy says, 'oh no, may need a few more hours.'. 
I'm a bit pissed now, and told SWMBO, who told me to wind my neck in. They go out on the Saturday afternoon locally with SWMBO, leaving the charger curled up on the ground, still connected to the extension. So I take the fuse out of the extenson lead. Petty I know, but the way they asked was just so entitled. Feign confusion as to why it doesn't work when they come back and keep changing the subject. Not like them at all, as we've all got on like a house on fire over the years. There isn't (wasn't) and entitled bone in their bodies.
f
k me. My chums this weekend, proper lad and his other half. Shared loads over the years. Same story. We were looking forward to them coming, it's been booked for ages. They turn up, in their VW ID twunt thing, a few contributions to the weekend as is the norm. We do pub, BBQ, moderatly heavy drinking. This time at least he has the courtesy to wait until Saturday. 'Oh, do you have an EV charger?' He damn well knows I don't. 'Can you run a lead out so I can get some charge?'. I joke about public charging and Tesco near us having chargers, he stands there 3 pin plug in hand looking like a cross between pitiful/annoyed and a bit surprised why I haven't get the extension out already. I get the lead out, plug him in and we carry on. I'm annoyed. Saving grace this weekend as storms due over Saturday night, so couln't leave the extension out exposed to the elements. I unplugged the charger from the extension and put the extension away, only announcing I'd done this at about 11PM as we're all going to bed.
My issue is the entitled arrogance of both couples to expect free charging for the duration. If they'd said, we're down to the last 10 miles or so, can we get some emergency juice to get us to the nearest public charger or something similar, I'd do all I could to help.
What do I do? Get over, change friends or keep moaning? Is this the norm now and I'm just out of touch? In terms of monetary value, It's probably less that £20-£30 of electricity, just the entitled arrogance I can't get over. Also both couples tirelessly banged on about their EVs through the weekend.
We live near a couple of towns, both have EV chargers on the street, in local service stations and in the local Tesco, so we're not in a remote area bereft of public charging.
Rant over. Not sure how to reciprocate now. Looking up frozen sausages....
This has happened twice now. Old friends come to stay for the weekend for a catch up, drinks etc. As they and we have done with each other many times over the last twenty plus years. Friends are up country a bit, London and Hertfordshire, and we're on the south coast. They arrive, then expect to plug their car in to charge for an extended period.
SWMBO's chums (Hertfordshire) came and stayed over Easter. Generously bring wine and contributions, again as we've all done over the years. They stand their round in the pub, don't generally take the mick and we have an enjoyable weekend. They turn up in their Ioniq thing, park in the drive, unload etc. All as has happened many times over the years, and exactly as we have reciprocated and had many adventures together. Although we don't have an EV to park in their drive.
Early pub Friday, then back to ours for BBQ. Chummy says, 'oh can you put an extension lead out so we can charge the car please?' I was a bit taken aback, I manage to disguise my shock.
Ran the lead out to his 3 pin charger, then forgot about it. Saturday morning I say something along the lines of 'All charged up now, shall I bring the lead in?' Chummy says, 'oh no, may need a few more hours.'. I'm a bit pissed now, and told SWMBO, who told me to wind my neck in. They go out on the Saturday afternoon locally with SWMBO, leaving the charger curled up on the ground, still connected to the extension. So I take the fuse out of the extenson lead. Petty I know, but the way they asked was just so entitled. Feign confusion as to why it doesn't work when they come back and keep changing the subject. Not like them at all, as we've all got on like a house on fire over the years. There isn't (wasn't) and entitled bone in their bodies.f
k me. My chums this weekend, proper lad and his other half. Shared loads over the years. Same story. We were looking forward to them coming, it's been booked for ages. They turn up, in their VW ID twunt thing, a few contributions to the weekend as is the norm. We do pub, BBQ, moderatly heavy drinking. This time at least he has the courtesy to wait until Saturday. 'Oh, do you have an EV charger?' He damn well knows I don't. 'Can you run a lead out so I can get some charge?'. I joke about public charging and Tesco near us having chargers, he stands there 3 pin plug in hand looking like a cross between pitiful/annoyed and a bit surprised why I haven't get the extension out already. I get the lead out, plug him in and we carry on. I'm annoyed. Saving grace this weekend as storms due over Saturday night, so couln't leave the extension out exposed to the elements. I unplugged the charger from the extension and put the extension away, only announcing I'd done this at about 11PM as we're all going to bed.My issue is the entitled arrogance of both couples to expect free charging for the duration. If they'd said, we're down to the last 10 miles or so, can we get some emergency juice to get us to the nearest public charger or something similar, I'd do all I could to help.
What do I do? Get over, change friends or keep moaning? Is this the norm now and I'm just out of touch? In terms of monetary value, It's probably less that £20-£30 of electricity, just the entitled arrogance I can't get over. Also both couples tirelessly banged on about their EVs through the weekend.
We live near a couple of towns, both have EV chargers on the street, in local service stations and in the local Tesco, so we're not in a remote area bereft of public charging.
Rant over. Not sure how to reciprocate now. Looking up frozen sausages....
I'm not sure it's £20-30. More like £10-15 depending on hour of day and your tariff?
TBH, I have no issue with some old friends needing a bit of power. I would buy them a pint or a meal without a thought, I've lent friends my car or camper for weeks at a time, and I wouldn't think anything of the extra food and shower heating etc.
TBH, I have no issue with some old friends needing a bit of power. I would buy them a pint or a meal without a thought, I've lent friends my car or camper for weeks at a time, and I wouldn't think anything of the extra food and shower heating etc.
We take quite a few weekend breaks in England and almost always choose a rental house - cottage , I have noticed most now have a sign banning ev charging .
I do understand why it looks like a piss take , I’ve got a petrol car and I don’t expect the house owner to give me £30 towards the petrol money to get there .
I do understand why it looks like a piss take , I’ve got a petrol car and I don’t expect the house owner to give me £30 towards the petrol money to get there .
keo said:
If they were good friends and I would only have good friends stay at my house. I wouldn t be bothered at all. What goes around comes around with my group generally and we are all pretty good.
You say they came across entitled that would put my back up though.
Same here, wouldn't bother me. Just ask them to buy some more beers, why risk a friendship if they are good friends? You say they came across entitled that would put my back up though.
"They turn up, in their VW ID twunt thing"
Yeah, you're definitely approaching this with an open mind...
That said, it IS entitled of them to take maybe £15 of electric (say 60kwh x 25p) without offering to pay. Just forgive it the first time. I would politely ask "how much can that thing take ?" as an opener for a conversation about cost, on the second occasion they ask to do it. If they don't offer to pay when prompted subtly like this, then either terminate the friendship with extreme prejudice or politely ask for payment.
Yeah, you're definitely approaching this with an open mind...
That said, it IS entitled of them to take maybe £15 of electric (say 60kwh x 25p) without offering to pay. Just forgive it the first time. I would politely ask "how much can that thing take ?" as an opener for a conversation about cost, on the second occasion they ask to do it. If they don't offer to pay when prompted subtly like this, then either terminate the friendship with extreme prejudice or politely ask for payment.
There is also a safety aspect. Anecdotally many household sockets, though rated for 13A, are actually not that well wired up and can get pretty warm if continuously asked to give 10-13A. I would want to supervise the plugging and and running of the cable and check whether the socket was getting warm after say an hour, certainly before going to sleep....
Half a battery's worth of charge, let's say 30kWh which is ballpark 12 hours of charging, will have cost you about £7.50 - assuming you're paying a normal tariff of about 25p/kWh. Not £20-30.
I do wholeheartedly agree, though, that they should have been much less flippant about the cost to you and pushed you to accept money for it, rather than just expecting it as a perk of visiting a friend with a driveway. It would never occur to me to just take a tenner's worth of anything from a friend's house. EVs accurately log what they consume in a session (well, mine does, so I assume most can get similar information - but in any case X hrs times 2.4 = power consumed) so even if you wanted to be extra picky about the cost, this should be trivial to get right.
I do wholeheartedly agree, though, that they should have been much less flippant about the cost to you and pushed you to accept money for it, rather than just expecting it as a perk of visiting a friend with a driveway. It would never occur to me to just take a tenner's worth of anything from a friend's house. EVs accurately log what they consume in a session (well, mine does, so I assume most can get similar information - but in any case X hrs times 2.4 = power consumed) so even if you wanted to be extra picky about the cost, this should be trivial to get right.
occasionalranter said:
There is also a safety aspect. Anecdotally many household sockets, though rated for 13A, are actually not that well wired up and can get pretty warm if continuously asked to give 10-13A. I would want to supervise the plugging and and running of the cable and check whether the socket was getting warm after say an hour, certainly before going to sleep....
Correct. The OE supplied granny chargers should have a temperature sensor in the 3 pin plug end, to shut down/throttle back and counter any heating issues. Which is why they explicitly advise not using any extensions whatsoever with them. So there’s your get out. Out anorak them.Interesting how people have different perspectives on these things but if I had an EV and went to stay with family or friends I wouldn't dream of expecting to use their electricity for a top-up except in the case of an emergency. There are enough public chargers around nowadays that people should be able to make sure their car's charged without needing to impose on the goodwill of a friend and host...
Olivera said:
Just stick to non-EV friends, more fun and less sanctimonious.
'Round here it's the anti-EV brigade who have the majority on being sanctimonious. JNW1 said:
Interesting how people have different perspectives on these things but if I had an EV and went to stay with family or friends I wouldn't dream of expecting to use their electricity for a top-up except in the case of an emergency.
Me neither, but I'd still not begrudge them a few pounds of juice. Did you allow them to plug their phones in to charge overnight? Did they use the lights in their room? Did they use any water to have a shower or use the toilet? In an emergency situation would said friends give you a Jerry can of fuel to get your car going again?
I just can’t imagine getting my knickers in a twist about someone wanting to use some electricity, especially a good friend and after they asked and I said yes.
I just can’t imagine getting my knickers in a twist about someone wanting to use some electricity, especially a good friend and after they asked and I said yes.
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