Toyota borrowed my idea and didn't ask first!

[JPB]

Many moons ago, when one of my Renault 12 Breaks was only five years old and I stayed and worked down south, in Leeds, I grabbed some photos of the car in a layby somewhere out in serial killer territory, to the west of the city:




More recently, two days ago to be precise, my bB was dropped in at a friend's workshop where it's having some custom furniture made for it so that I'll have a sink, a cooker and a more bed-like bed for when I'm away from home overnight. Rather than be without transport for the rest of the week, I've blagged myself a shot of a new Toyota C-HR, a sort of Nissan Juke-alike device which has a really annoying ten inch tablet mounted in the dash, but does have a very impressive way of parking itself - essential in a car with no rearward vision I think.
So I looked up the C-HR on the web, wanting to know how to switch off the ten inch tab screen that glares annoyingly at me from the middle of the windscreen (not possible, apparently new buyers will "get used to" this ), and found some publicity images showing the Toyota in an eerily familiar location:




I reckon it's obvious that Toyota's marketroids were heavily influenced by my 1984 image and its location, so how much money should I be asking for from Toyota for their flagrant proffing by my idea to photograph a car in that spot?
I'm thinking that free servicing and general maintenance for my own cars for the rest of my life would be about right, the Toyota employee who let me have the new car to abuse as I see fit reckons that free use of the C-HR isn't a form of punishment but should in itself be compensation enough for this diabolical liberty.
Oddly enough, that weird looking thing has really low floors once you're in, so I won't have to be removed from it by the fire brigade, so just like that old R12 then, but sadly, that's where the similarity ends.

[rich.]

send them a bill or get your lawyers to sue for breach of copyright law...

[JPB]

Hmm, maybe if I were David Bailey and my old photos were famous but, as it is, I'd just as soon retain the option of borrowing their cars as and when I feel the need for modern transportation, so I'll let them off on this occasion and besides, it is rather flattering when the world's most prolific manufacturer of motor vehicles, sewing machines and goodness knows what else, considers the output from my old Olympus camera to be a source of inspiration.

I also found an image from that camera taken at one of the Scottish Autotrader autotest events at the Doune hillclimb & motor museum site. That image resembles very strongly the layout of Alfa Romeo's 1998 Motorshow stand so perhaps I'll see whether they're good for a penny or three in compensation..

[rich.]

try this?

https://www.injurylawyers4u.co.uk/

[JPB]

Did you know, and apparently this is true, that some of these call centres - and this isn't a comment about whether the ambulance chasing sheisters in your link are one of these - call the received number from that web form automatically, so that when the lucky potential punter answers, a customer "service" drone speaks to them about the product, be it legal assistance, internet service provision or maybe even something interesting.

So here's what to do if you really want to wind the buggers up: Put their own phone number on the web form, then some form of Michael T. Mouse name and click to send the form to the company. They won't know that the number that you put on the form is in fact one of their own numbers as they don't usually bother looking and in many cases this isn't even visible on their screen since it doesn't have to be. Then imagine how amused these overworked, underpaid call centrists will be when they realise that the number they just called in response to the web query, from Mister Hugh Janus, for example, is in fact being answered by someone within their own building who will, at some point realise that they've been had.
OK, so it's a wee bit infantile, but at least this way, some poor sap will have a better day at their work..

[rich.]

have you been doing this john?
when i young & foolish with time on my hands i would gather up all the junk mail, chop it into tiny bits & stuff it back into the pre paid envelope & pop it in the post.. childish i know

[JPB]

I do that with junk mail, but instead of tearing the stuff up, I put a bunch of insects in the envelope so that the lucky person who opens the things will save themselves the cost of a day at their local zoo.

As for doing that thing with these marketing web forms, doesn't everyone do that?

[rich.]

I do that with junk mail, but instead of tearing the stuff up, I put a bunch of insects in the envelope so that the lucky person who opens the things will save themselves the cost of a day at their local zoo.

As for doing that thing with these marketing web forms, doesn't everyone do that?

not until now

[JPB]

Rich, you're a terrible influence on me.