u/AccomplishedFudge174

I've got a guest staying at my apartment. He's not at all tech literate, so I don't feel comfortable asking him to download and install the Homey app. I'd rather get him to scan a QR code, which magically pops up a page on his phone :)

I thought about setting up Dashboard Studio which seems ideal, but doesn't seem to be able to easily run flows (I almost never just turn on one device – I nearly alway trigger a flow). (Homey dashboard is a no go because it requires him to have an account.)

Is there something I can use that can do that, and will run on Homey Pro 2019?

I was looking for a nice new dentist, and almost every one I clicked on showed they removed feedback because of "defamation". I even tried to use VPN to see if, in other countries, Google continues to show the removed feedbacks, but unfortunately not.

Finally, I found one with nothing removed – and they have 4.9 stars.

I wish dentists (and other businesses) realised what a massive red flag it is to remove feedback in this way. If they did something bad, they should own up to it and do better, and the bad reviews would disappear off the bottom.

If the only way they can get high scores is to cheat by removing the bad ones, then I don't want to be their customer!

I'm flying to Alicante then heading to Santa Pola on a Sunday around 15:00. Is taxi the only option, or are there buses? Or can I save money with an Uber/another app?

I used to have a Fritzbox, and the landlines worked fine using a landline phone plugged into the back of the modem/router. While that was working, I went to my Vodafone portal and saved the VoIP login info, but couldn't make it work anywhere. I forgot all about it since it wasn't important

Now I switched to the other station, put it in bridge mode and connected a better Netgear router. I want to still use the landlines, but the VoIP login info is no longer visible in my account; and the saved info I have doesn't seem to work in an app I downloaded – I tried first at home when connected to my home wifi, and again without being connected to home wifii.

Has anyone else made it work in these circumstances?

I used to have a Fritzbox, and the landlines worked fine using a landline phone plugged into the back of the modem/router. While that was working, I went to my Vodafone portal and saved the VoIP login info, but couldn't make it work anywhere. I forgot all about it since it wasn't important

Now I switched to the other station, put it in bridge mode and connected a better Netgear router. I want to still use the landlines, but the VoIP login info is no longer visible in my account; and the saved info I have doesn't seem to work in an app I downloaded – I tried first at home when connected to my home wifi, and again without being connected to home wifii.

Has anyone else made it work in these circumstances?

When a train is pulling into the station, I usually want to hold the door button so that the doors open as soon as the driver releases them. But I noticed this doesn't work on trains made by Siemens. Nothing happens – you have to release the button and press it again.

I realised this because Thameslink and Berlin's new S-Bahn trains are both Siemens. Other train types seem to allow it.

Anyone know if this is a deliberate feature to somehow protect people – or just something about how the system works that it’s not possible?

First of all, I'm astonished that it’s the fire brigade's job to come cut off tree branches if they seem in danger of falling. But twice they've come to my apartment building in Berlin in the last couple of months because someone's called them. They cut the tree branch off and then leave.

Anyone know how much they charge for this? I can't help thinking it’s expensive to send a whole team (and yes, they use the blue lights!), which is of course all going to increase our nebenkosten.

Also, is it even their job? or should they really call a tree surgeon or gardener instead? I mean, I know they do it, but I'd think they have better things to do with their time.

I've got 3 different ecosystems running at my place at the moment – Hue, Switchbot and Tuya – and want to rationalise them. The lamps and buttons are connected via Zigbee to my original Hue Bridge hub. If I reset them, will they connect instead to my Tuya Zigbee hub, or are they somehow not compatible?

Thanks!

I signed up to the Más Renfe loyalty programme, because they said I'd get a 10% discount off a journey. But every time I try to use the code, it gives an error message "Error on obtaining place prices (G001-PTBB)". Anyone else seen this and know how to resolve it?

The journey is in 60 days time, so the voucher isn't expired, and it’s an AVE train. I'm booking directly on the Renfe website.

I emailed Renfe but of course they didn't reply.

Easyjet shifted my flight by 6 hours, so instead of arriving in London at lunchtime, I'll be arriving at dinner time. I tried contacting them to find out what their policy is for refunds, but after half an hour on hold, I gave up. Anyone here had a similar experience and know if they'll refund in full, or if I'll have to fight them for it?

I paid additional NI contributions based on info provided by HMRC.

They then wrote to me to say they got the calculation wrong, and where should they send back the overpayment. This was April 2025. As I'm not in UK, the only reply option was by post, so I wrote back to them immediately with my UK bank details.

The £350 refund arrived on Friday – ie, 16 months later!

I got stopped by police for a minor infringement of the rules. They fined me 10€. I paid by card. I was on my way again in minutes. They never asked my name, let alone for ID. And I didn't get a telling off either.

My question: what's the point of such low fines?

Surely a police fine is meant to be a deterrent, but few people would avoid doing something just because a police officer may be hiding round the corner with a credit card machine!

I'm freelance, and one of my clients geoblocks email access (via Outlook); you can only get to it from one of the countries they operate in. Which means it doesn't work when I'm visiting family in UK, unless I tell them in advance – once I'm in a "foreign" country, the form to tell them doesn't work!

Is this a good way to ensure IT security? Seems like a blunt instrument to me.

(Yes, I know I can probably use VPN, but I don't see why I should!)