It might be the Spring Equinox tomorrow but this particular spring was off my car!
Admittedly my car’s not as young as it used to be but this is the second road spring to make a bid for freedom.
I’ve had quite a few cars in my time and this is the first that has broken road springs. Maybe it’s all the potholes that are becoming almost impossible to navigate around.
Mind you, I’ve seen stronger springs on a pram.
I recently received my quarterly electricity statement from Scottish Power which was based on an estimate of the amount of juice I’d used. In the next post, I received a letter saying my Direct Debit was going to be increased from £40 to £47 per month starting in April.
Nobody likes price increases but I thought ‘fair enough’, we can’t do much about it.
But I noticed that the estimated meter reading was more than I’d actually used so I completed the online meter reading webpage. You never know, the DD might only increase to, say £46 a month instead and better in my bank account than theirs.
Got an email this morning thanking me for my updated meter reading.. oh and we’ll be increasing the Direct Debit to £49 a month (not £47) and starting in March instead of April !
Hmm, use less leccy than they estimated but pay them £2 a month more and starting a month earlier!
Phoned them up and explained I couldn’t understand the logic behind their accounting so they’ve dropped the DD to £45 a month (starting in April) – the £49 for March has already gone through!
I’m not sure how they work out the monthly Direct Debit but I bet they’re crap at pinning the tail on the donkey as well!
My roofers lost a Brownie point today. There was only about 30 minutes of work left to do but they arrived nearly 4 hours later than previous days. I wouldn’t have minded if they had let me know in advance but, as it was, I wasted the entire morning waiting in for them for the sake of a 30 minute visit.
Although they’d managed the rest of the job with their wagon parked on the road, for some reason, they backed into my drive today even though they were only here for 30 minutes or so.
Pity their driving skills aren’t as good as their roofing skills. 🙁
Ever since I’ve had my current phone number, I’ve been plagued by ‘Unavailable’ and ‘International’ nuisance calls two, three and even four times a day – many of them from UK companies getting around the TPS rules by using overseas call centres.
I’d looked at the ‘TrueCall’ device but was somewhat put off by the £100 price tag. Although, it has fewer features, at around £40, I decided to go for the CPR Call Blocker which, according to their website would do all I need.
I decided to order through Amazon and was a bit disappointed when it arrived as it was a version 103 model whereas the latest model is v 105. I quick comparison of the online User Guides showed I was missing a feature or two that could prove useful.
I thought there was nothing to lose, so I emailed CPR’s customer care and was absolutely amazed at their response. Not only did they answer emails almost immediately (at one point emails were passing back and forth almost instantaneously) they also gave me a Freepost mailing address and exchanged the Call Blocker for the very latest model!
Now, I don’t want this blog to turn into a product review site but I think such superb customer service deserves a mention as it seems quite rare these days. They could have just ignored my first email or replied with a simple “tough luck” type of message!
Incidentally, I note that the devices on Amazon are now only distributed by the manufacturer so it’s likely that you’d get the latest version when ordered through Amazon. Never-the-less, I’d compare the prices if I were you!
It’s never ceases to amaze me what some people will pinch…
Well, despite the heavy snow, my roofers have returned today to carry on with the job.
.
That’s what I call dedication!
It’s uncertain whether they’ll be able to re-set the two end ridge tiles today because of the wet conditions but they’re tradesmen in whom I have every confidence in their decision – unlike the cowboys who attempted the job late last year.
Update: Even the special low temperature quick setting mortar holding the ridge tiles wouldn’t set so they’re coming back tomorrow, hopefully. They’ve left the job safe and watertight.
Early this morning Peninsula Fencing arrived to renew my back fence. I’d been patching the old one ever since I moved in back in 2007 and it had reached the point when it was beyond practical repair.
No sooner had they backed their wagon into my drive, when Furber Roofing arrived to do my Dry Verge.
I’m very pleased with both jobs, the roofing company needs to return tomorrow to finish off, then it’s back to my normal routine. Amazing how it can be so tiring having workmen around the house or garden all day!
Been waiting in for a FedEx delivery from Maplins for a Storage unit.
Huge box arrives, which seemed about the right size so I just signed for it. Loads of bubble wrap and, inside:
The guy at Maplins couldn’t quite fathom what had happened but said I could keep the truck and they’d send my proper order!
Can’t be bad – good ol’ Maplins 🙂
This blog entry has its roots back in June 2008 (Fascia), so bear with me…
In June 2008, I had the bungalow’s fascia, soffitts and Dry Verge replaced with uPVC. Overall, it seemed to be a good job and I was generally satisfied with it except, over the years, the Dry Verge stuff had been bleached by the Sun (that big orange ball in the sky that makes an occasional appearance).
I’d decided that I’d get it re-done this coming Spring but last November, I’d spotted an “All Seasons Roofing and Guttering” van (NOT to be confused with 4-Seasons uPVC) parked nearby. After a word with its occupants, they offered to replace my Dry Verge the following week.
To be honest, I had serious misgivings the moment they arrived. They (or rather ‘he’) arrived late despite saying a team of four would arrive nice and early. On top of that, he was flitting from job to job. Sometimes you get a bad feeling when you let someone loose on your property and this was one of those times.
The photos (click to enlarge) show some of the defects I found the following day. The end of the Dry Verge was unsecured and flapping in the breeze, the Dry Verge was pressing too hard against the edges of the roof tiles and had forced the tiles over causing them to lift and large parts of the Dry Verge were, in my opinion, insufficiently secured – borne out by the fact that a whole four-foot section broke away just 3 months later.
At the time, I made several attempts at getting them to come round but all I could get out of them was that it carried a 10-year guarantee. At one point, I seriously considered contacting Wirral Trading Standards, but I knew they’d insist that “All Seasons” be given the chance to make good and, to be honest, I preferred to cut my losses and start again. In my opinion,“All Seasons” are nothing more than a bunch of chancers and cowboys – just my opinion, of course.
When the builder came yesterday to give me a quote, I had intended to point out what I considered to be defects – in addition to the gaping gap, of course, but I didn’t need to: He pointed them out to me!
One of the most glaring defects was that, according to the Dry Verge manufacturer’s website, all the old mortar and ‘undercloak’ needs to be removed and new, treated, battens fitted. The original, June 2008, installer hadn’t done this but that was no reason for All Seasons to follow suit.
Anyway, I’m now awaiting a written quotation from Furber Roofing Ltd to have the entire Dry Verge done properly front and back.
Hopefully it’ll be third time lucky – watch this space!