A few years ago, Jeremy Paxman was in the news complaining about the declining quality of his new M&S underwear. He was of the considered, and somewhat forcibly-expressed, opinion that they no longer provided “adequate support”. Being Paxman, he got a personal reply from the CEO of M&S and was invited to bring the offending […]
There’s been a lot of fuss in the papers recently about Apple becoming the most profitable company ever. There’s so much hype about their products that, if you’ve got an iPhone, you get sweet-talked into upgrading it every year when the next generation product is brought out. After all, what self-respecting tech geek is going […]
Christopher got a letter today from the NHS. I opened it with considerable annoyance – surely they should have known that he was dead, since he died under their jurisdiction! The letter said that his medical exemption certificate to give him free prescriptions was about to expire, and would he please renew it. Since he […]
The new cleaners have got off to a somewhat shaky start. They certainly turn up on time every week, are much more reliable in that respect than my previous cleaning company. And they do a pretty good job at keeping the house relatively clean. However, there was a definite problem last week that has led […]
Plant Catalogues have started arriving through the post, trying to encourage me to splash out on plants and bulbs to plant this autumn. The photographs in the brochures are always alluring, and the prices often very attractive, but as always there is a catch. I got caught out this spring, when I fell for an […]
My passport is due to expire in early January next year. So, since many of the counties I visit insist that passports should have several months validity on arrival, I really need to get it renewed this summer. I decided that I’d put it on my to-do list for when I got back from France. […]
A few months ago, I had a run in with Orange who sent Christopher a letter saying that his price plan was changing. I spent ages on the phone to “Customer Services” who assured me that they would take the necessary action to delete his account. So I was surprised and very annoyed when I […]
I was replanting my herb garden on Friday – the rosemary and sage had suffered over the winter, and I wanted some more thyme and chives. I filled up the watering can to give the plants a good watering-in, and realised I had a problem. The outside tap wouldn’t turn off! It felt like the […]
It’s four weeks since my new bed was allegedly “three weeks away”, and there’s still no sign of it. I phoned the furniture shop this afternoon, and asked them for an update. They phoned back half an hour later, having been on the phone to the supplier, saying that it was apparently another four weeks […]
I would have thought that after three and a half years, all the companies that Christopher dealt with would have got the message that he is dead. But apparently not. I waded into battle with unfeeling and impersonal “Customer Services” once more yesterday afternoon. This time it was Orange, who sent Christopher a letter about […]
