Author: Richard

Delivery Delayed

| Richard

I went in to the dealer today and asked whether the delivery date I had been told – 1st March – was definitely happening as I was making my arrangements and managing my diary around that.

I was very disappointed to be told, after waiting for 20 minutes, that it was probably going to be delivered at least a fortnight later but even that isn’t guaranteed.

Now my present insurance runs out on the 9th March. The promised delivery date of 1 March obviously would have meant that I would not need to take out insurance on the ST200, but a later date means I will have to take out new insurance and then almost immediately cancel it which will mean I incur additional costs as the best insurance quotes for the RX-8 R3 and ST200 are from different insurers.

Similarly, I was going to obtain a refund for my road fund licence but again I will be out of pocket because of the delayed delivery.

When I placed the order on 22nd January, I was told that 1st March delivery was achievable and had relied on this date, even to the extent of booking a service on our other RX-8 bought from them recently for the same day.

I have now asked the dealer for their proposals for achieving the 1stMarch delivery date or alternatively covering the extra costs this delayed delivery will mean for me.

K I M S Plumbers in Chesterfield

| Richard

What a bunch of incompetents these are. And then to make things worse, they also employ sarcastic chavs to answer the telephone (01246 554237) and ask whether you – the customer – are experts because you have said they could just get the parts at your local Plumb Centre.

That’s after they’ve played you “Alone” by Heart – oh the irony – when they put you immediately on hold!

“Till now I always got by on my own
I never really cared until I met you
And now it chills me to the bone
How do I get you alone
How do I get you alone”

Well after more than two weeks without heating or hot water, we know what’s it like to be alone and chilled to the bone.

They’ve sent out one guy twice who had no idea what was wrong with the boiler and left it limping and leaking. It died later that night. He came back – after locking himself in another customer’s house – and said it needed a particular part. The guy who came out to fit that said it didn’t and that these other parts needed to be fitted. He had to order them from KIMS’ suppliers and they take three working days to deliver off the shelf parts.

So we still don’t have heating and hot water. Useless twats!

Santander

| Richard

Once upon a time, I had a savings account with Bradford & Bingley. On 29 September 2008 Bradford & Bingley’s savings accounts were transferred to Abbey. On January 11 2010 these were rebranded to Santander, who are one of the biggest banks around. On the basis of my experience tonight, I have no idea why.

I wanted to close an account, so I rang their phone number as printed on the statement. I had to wait whilst the automated service threw a wobbly as I didn’t enter a card number – I have no card with them – before I sat in a queue for 21 minutes. The dial tone then changed … and the fuckwit telebanker cut me off!

Useless wankers.

After another 22 minute wait, I finally got through to an operator who couldn’t help me anyway!

6% Chance of Dying

| Richard

So today I had my check-up at the doctor’s surgery. It turns out that I’d lost two kilos and 1cm around my muffin-top since my last visit, my BP was down to a better 128/78 and everything else was OK apart from my cholesterol which was reading 5.2 which is actual below the average UK level for men.

When all the stuff is put into a calculator, it means that in the next 10 years, I have a 6% chance of dying from a heart attack or stroke. Or put another way, a 94% chance I won’t.

Which is nice.

So, more vegetable soup for the next two days and repeat again (hopefully not ad nauseum…).

Apple iFad, sorry, iPad

| Richard

So Apple has unveiled its new iPad, a tablet of around the same size as a netbook PC but at twice the price, as usual, because people who like Macs are prepared to pay for the pleasure.

What you get for at least $500 – so £500 in the UK, then – will be a glorified ebook reader with the ability to look at photos or browse the web and send e-mail … provided you’re at a WiFi hotspot because it doesn’t ship to start with with any 3G connectivity (and won’t at that price either).

What’s worse is that, like an ebook reader, it’s not exactly pocket sized either.

Now if you’re in the market for an ebook reader that’s twice the price and that brings the option of web browsing where there’s a WiFi hotspot – and with no USB ports a 3G dongle is not an option – then you might want to consider it. For me, I’ll make do with a 3G phone for portability and the ability to look at photos, play music or films, and send e-mail and browse the Internet, or I’ll use a cheap netbook like the one I already have that does a similar job for half the price.

Thanks, but no thanks, Apple.

Another Tesco.com Non-Delivery

| Richard

Oops! They did it again. After the recent debacle with Tesco cancelling my groceries delivery after the expiry of their two hour delivery slot, I placed another order at the weekend for delivery tonight between 8.00pm and 10.00pm.

And guess what? Yes, they rang me at 9.20pm and cancelled tonight’s delivery leaving me without food and milk due to a problem with the van. Great! Tesco cannot afford more than a man with a van that’s a bit rickety, apparently.

The customer services operator was surly at best but after prompting from me, he promised me another £10 voucher against my next online shop and in the meantime rescheduled the delivery for Wednesday night.

We’ll see if they can be arsed this time!

It doesn’t really matter though because after I’ve used that voucher, I’ll be switching to Sainsbury’s…