Blinds direct -- pulling the wool

DirectBlinds have quite a nice website. But something is wrong with the website. I use Amazon all the time; I have never used that site before.

I ordered a blind a few weeks ago. I entered 106 cm width, or 3 feet+ in real money, expecting made to measure. So I was rather surprised to get a blind just over a foot wide.

Naturally I wondered whether I had had a "senior moment" and entered the wrong value. I did not think I could have done; but of course you doubt yourself under such circumstances.

But then I went to the site last week, entered those measurements again, pressed "Get price", then "Add item to shopping cart" and found that the site then altered the width down, silently, on the next page by a number of centimetres, although not to the same extent as in my first go!

This made me suppose that they must in fact be selling standard sizes. So I wrote to them asking for a refund (why not, if it is a standard size blind?)

They wrote back today, refusing, on the grounds that it was made to measure. So I tried again -- and today the widths remain exactly as I input them at 106 cm.

Indeed if I fiddle change "recess size" to "exact size", the width still remains exactly at 106cms (which sounds a little odd - aren't these supposed to change to allow some headroom in the former case?)

But I'm not barmy here. There's no way that I can use this site three times and get three different results, if the site is working correctly. I may not be quite certain about what I did a couple of weeks ago; but I am very certain that the site did one thing last week and a different thing today. I would imagine that the code that adjusts width for "recess size" and "exact size" is defective in some way.

Of course I can't prove any of this, and the sum of money is too small for me to spend a lot more time on it. They sent me a very nice blind, it is true. But because it is the wrong size -- and not, I am now sure, because of any error by me -- I shall have to consign it to landfill. Not a good experience.

Avoid these people. And if you do use them, check and recheck the measurements on the order after each click. Because sometimes ... they silently change them. I would never have bought a blind 43 cm wide -- but the order did say that was the width. Be alert ... or lose money.

Plumb Center -- the place to go

I've got a bath tap that's playing up. Taking it apart, I find the brass core of the tap seems to have a problem. I go up, carrying the duff item, to B&Q, and what's on sale isn't really what I need.

Foolishly I go to Plumbase next, of whom I have written before. I show the brass widget to the man on duty, and ask him if he has a replacement. He walks off and returns carrying replacement tap units. He doesn't even examine the brass widget. Then he tells me that spares are not made for this part. And then he then tries to tell me, with a "let's see if I can kid this guy along" look on his face, that the taps on my bath operate in different directions. Fortunately I know better and realise what is going on.

Out I go, and up to Plumb Center in Derby Road. The assistant takes the widget and tries to fit it to a tap they have there on the counter for the purpose. It doesn't fit, and he tells me that it is clearly an unusual size. He then gives me advice to try B&Q, as having the widest range, and some info on what to look for. In short he does his best to help me.

Well done Plumb Center.

No returns at the Asda Carphone warehouse?

Funny experience today. I went and bought a smartphone at the Carphone Warehouse near Asda. Once I'd got it home and charged it up, I made a first call ... and found I got buzzing when I spoke. It's the old "short-circuit" bug that some phones have.

I take it back, and they demand I prove to them that there is a problem. This is a bit weird -- if I haven't got a problem then why am I there? -- but I do my best. Of course it's nearly impossible in the noisy showroom to hear yourself, never mind a buzz. I do produce the effect eventually -- but am told that since I'm calling an ansaphone, it might be the ansaphone (!).

I get refused a return or exchange! I ask for the manager and am told he is in tomorrow.

I recommend we avoid these people. Who needs an argument when returning defective goods?

Good service at XL Windows

Don't you just hate dealing with double-glazing people? I've seen them all. There's the majors (people like Anglian Windows) who won't give you any idea on price until a salesman comes "to measure up", and promptly sits there for hour after hour beating your ear until -- in desperation -- you fling him out, quoteless. Or there's the small players who aren't that much good. And one and all seem to be out to cheat you.

Of course you can go to B&Q and look at the windows on offer there. That will give you a pretty good idea of what costs what. It is not actually very difficult to fit these things -- but if you are not very handy, you'd really rather have someone do it for you.

For years I've rather hopelessly tried to get my house done, and always been put off by the sheer difficulty of dealing with the shysters and swindlers. But I'm finally getting there.

If you want plastic windows, tho, XL Windows seem to be OK. They have an online calculator, which means you can work out precisely what it will cost. The prices are not very sensitive to size, which is natural (and casts an interesting light on the demand of major companies to "send someone to measure up").

The prices charged are about double what the frame alone would cost to buy from B&Q, although no doubt they get them wholesale. Then there is the glazing and the fitting and, of course, a reasonable profit. Standard retail mark-up on anything is 50%, and that seems to be about what they're charging.

I've had a set of sliding doors, a door and three windows done so far, in two chunks. It takes 6-8 weeks to get the items made, and they then fit them fairly quickly. They don't ask for any money up front. The quality of the fitting is good, and it took a morning to fit the door plus three windows.

They're also responsive to what customers want, and easy to deal with. They even will deal with you by email. Once you agree a price, someone does come round to measure, which just takes minutes.

So ... consider them recommended. My experiences so far have been pretty good.

Ipswich Electrician

I needed an electrician to stick a light in the loft and a switch on the landing. I found ipswichelectrician.com online, and it looked impressive, although there was no postal address -- which I believe is not allowed these days. There's a Facebook page here. He also came out on a Saturday, which was useful. His name is J. Stanojevic, although he's clearly lived in Suffolk a long time and there was no language issue. He seemed to know what he was doing. When he had to go off for parts, he was only gone 15 minutes. He did work rather slowly, but it was a fixed price job.

But it wasn't that good an experience. He did put the light in the loft, but then left it with one bulb not functioning.  It was necessary for me to point this out. He also put the switch on a surface-mounted box on the wall, sticking out an inch, which he said was unavoidable.  Yet ... it's a plasterboard stud-wall.  He also drilled through that wall into the next room by accident, leaving a half-inch hold.  He said that he couldn't fix that. He gave no receipt either.

He seemed a genuine enough guy, but no good at plasterwork sort of stuff.  But surely this which must be an essential part of doing domestic electrics? And ... looking at the bottom line, he did leave me with a problem that I didn't have before. So ... not really that pleased.

Suicidal Hotel-keeping in Sproughton

Out for a drive in the sun, and I drove from Tescos Copdock towards town, down to the dilapidated hotel -- is it still a Holiday Inn? -- at the lights. On a whim, I turned left and headed into Sproughton. A right turn, and ... what's that? That can't be a Premier Inn sprung up there, can it? Well, it turned out it could. It's got a nice view over Chantry valley. It might be a little close to the bypass for quiet nights, tho -- I'm not sure.

In to ask about room rates. And a shock -- the receptionist murmurs that they don't do the "old way" of having a standard room rate Monday-Thursday and a cheaper one Friday-Sunday "any more". Instead they have "dynamic pricing". "What's that?" I ask.

She tells me that they charge a lower price when the hotel is empty, and as the hotel fills up, they increase the price, until the last few are at a high price. (I could almost hear the computer algorithm ticking under the desk). What is the "low price", I asked. The answer was £60, which in a recession for a place hard to get to seemed steep. And the "high price"? It could be in the mid-£80's. I thanked her and left.

I remember when the British hotel industry died, back in the 80's. Booking a hotel room was an exercise in pain and stress. Every hotel had a rate which it quoted, which was incredibly high. This was known in the trade as the "rack rate". If you turned up, weary, one evening, this was what they would do to you.

But if you were in a position to negotiate, they might -- or might not -- offer you a cheaper rate. So you had to haggle. You had to book in advance.

Corporates didn't bother with all this. They outsourced the job to agencies, who obtained 50% or more discounts and fixed rates for their staff. Staff were told to ask for "the BT rate". Sometimes hotels would ask for staff ID!

The result was that most people felt overcharged (except the business customers, who weren't paying anyway -- the company paid). Even if you weren't, you could not be sure. Most people hate haggling; but this was what you were forced to do. So most people were ripped off.

Organisations that rip off their customers cultivate a culture of hate towards them. It was no surprise, therefore, that the British hotel was notorious for the poor quality, the "couldn't care less" attitude of the staff, the appalling food. By dehumanising the tired elderly couple at the desk into "two rack rate customers, full price", the hotel staff dehumanised everyone.

The result was that no-one stayed in a hotel if they could avoid it. The only people who did were commercial travellers, who were avoiding all this, but even so suffered from the poor quality endemic in consequence. And the hotel trade died. No-one, even now, will stay in most British hotels without gritting their teeth.

Then Travelodge came along. They imported the US concept of the motel. They were convenient, they were well-built, they were at a fixed price, and they were all identical. You knew exactly what you were going to get, and at exactly what price, anywhere in the country.

And they boomed. People loved them. They could be more expensive than some "discount deals" in the rotten old hotels, but few were tempted; none tempted twice.

Travelodge were soon joined by Premier Inn. The build quality was not so good, but the room quality was generally better.

Time passed. Travelodge were part of Little Chef, and that organisation was passed round and round, getting more and more run down and shabby. Eventually the hotels were bought by some venture capitalists, who have started opening new ones.

But the recession hit, and bookings dried up. Every year the prices had increased. So the fixed price had to go, and weekday and weekend rates came in. This was still acceptable, because you still knew that you were getting the same price for the same room.

Then Travelodge introduced discounts, bookable in advance on the website, where you could not cancel if you couldn't come. Suddenly you were back in the old atmosphere. You had to gamble; book 4 weeks in advance at a high price, when you might have to cancel; or 4 weeks at a lower price, when you could not. Stress! Stress! Stress!

Today I learn that Premier Inn have abandoned the fixed price altogether. Instead they will charge a high price when the place is empty, but gouge people who book later. We're now so close to the old hateful system.

Now watch these chains die.

The "new" Premier Inn was apparently taken over from a Holiday Inn Express. It ought to have said something, to the dipsticks clearly in charge now, that Holiday Inn couldn't make it work under the system they are now implementing. What idiots!

What it means, of course, is that once again we cannot travel in Britain.

Still silly at Sainsburys Warren Heath

I was running low on laser printer paper, so I popped down to Sainsburys Warren Heath to get some. I know they do this at £2 a ... well, whatever you call one of those slabs of wrapped copier paper.

Oh dear. None in stock. A large shelf, completely empty on a Friday night, peak shopping time. I call over a shop assistant who goes off to see if there is any "out the back". Back she comes, and there is none. There's been none since Thursday.

Over to Tesco at Copdock this morning. Loads of £2 chunks of paper there. I bought two. That epitomises the difference between the two places.

As I have remarked before, the management of Sainsburys Warren Heath is atrocious. To allow empty shelves at the start of the weekend ... hey, the idea, guys, is to SELL stuff. If you don't have stock, you go out of business. Even if you don't allow your store to become a cold, smelly shed, as they have chosen to do.