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.

123-reg - avoid like the plague

I have a domain name for my company website. I decided I wanted to transfer it from my existing provider to a UK provider. I chose 123-reg.co.uk. But I had problems, and I don't feel very happy any more. In fact I would recommend avoiding them.

When you sign on with them, they demand you create an account before anything else. When you try to log in, so you can do the transfer, they demand your credit card details before you can see anything -- despite the fact the fact that you haven't bought anything yet. And they make clear that this is so they can store it -- remember you have done no business with them yet -- and automatically debit stuff without your permission, unless you unsubscribe from auto-renew.

This is scary stuff. None of this rubbish about "opting out"; I don't want to pay for anything unless I explicitly say so. There's no way I want to have my credit card details stored anyway.

But it gets worse. You request a transfer, and are taken to a screen where you have to put in a lot of personal data. You're asked somewhere to check a box to say you have read their terms and conditions -- but if you click on the link, you're taken to a page full of links to other articles, some obviously irrelevant. It's hard to know what you are supposed to read. If you click on the first one, it spews legal definitionese at you -- I couldn't follow what I was agreeing to.

And worse again. I entered my domain, and the website said "add to basket", so I presumed that was what I did. When I did, they added half-a-dozen other domains automatically to my "order". It turns out that further down the screen was a long list of other possible domains, and they had "helpfully" checked some for me in advance, where I wouldn't see them.

All this makes you nervous. These are loan-shark tactics; force you to hand over your details, force you to consciously opt-out of paying, make it unclear what is happening.

Fortunately for me their website then crashed when I requested the transfer. In fact it did so twice. At that point I decided I wanted out. In particular, I wanted my credit card details removed.

But ... they don't want emails from you. The website is set up to make it impossible for you to contact them. There's an 0871 number (10p a minute, and you can be sure it will be many, many minutes of obfustication) or a postal address. There is an electronic form... but when you fill it in, you're told that they thank you for your "suggestion" but won't necessarily reply.

It is crap like this which has always caused me to avoid using UK domain name providers. Some are sharks. One extorted money from me, years ago, to transfer out -- probably illegally. US ones seem better regulated, and that is what I will now seek.

123-reg? Avoid them. Instead consider Network Solutions, or PairNIC, both of whom seem reputable.

Oh Brother! No printer cable at PC World?

I've just been to PC World over at Copdock. I bought a Brother HL 2035 laser printer, and lugged it home through the ice and snow.

Getting home, I opened the box with excitement. Out came the power lead. Out came the manual. Out came the drum cartridge. But... where's the printer lead?

I open the manual. It says "not supplied". It says "make sure you get a USB2 printer cable". Eventually I find a picture of the item, so I know what I need to get.

Only... it's Boxing Day. I can't get a printer cable. I can't go back to PC World now! So I'm buggered. I've spent £80 on this lump of electronics, and I can't use it. I can't use it until I can get a cable, which won't be until Monday now.

Nor will it be cheap. It would probably cost Brother, doing bulk buy, about 50p to supply a cable. It will cost me at least 10 times that, plus the cost of petrol to and fro. You bastards!

It's pretty bad that the first emotion you get on buying something is to find that it isn't all there. It sort of ruins the moment. Excitement is replaced by frustration and rage. Why would anyone do this?

Of course all businesses face cost cutting. But to cut a small cost that will really annoy your customer? Only an accountant could have proposed that. Indeed some suit probably got a bonus for proposing it. In the mean time... I'm stuck.

Oh, and PC World? Why the HELL don't you indicate on the box, on the display, somewhere, that it isn't supplied?

Taking Sainsburys down-market in Warren Heath

I frequently shop at Sainsburys in Warren Heath, and have done for years. But today I needed some stuff, and I deliberately went to Tesco at Copdock instead. Why?

Sainsburys at Warren Heath used to be rather like a Waitrose; good quality surroundings and goods, and quite upmarket. Over the last 10 years it has slipped, and slipped. Today you go into a large, cold, smelly warehouse-like building, with dirty flooring, and look at rows of own-brand goods. It's getting to be like a caricature of Aldi or Lidl. Often there are shortages of basic goods; or items just vanish. The shelves are frequently allowed to become unstocked over the weekend, at least for things I look at.

The other day I wanted some sliced pineapple. I always buy Del Monte; but Sainsburys had removed these! Not sold any more. Instead all I could buy was own-brand, or some unknown brand with a bright blue tin named "DOLE!" Reluctantly I bought the latter, ate it; and got a stomach upset. No more dole for me, thanks. Today I wanted some sliced pineapple again -- so I went to Tescos, and got the Del Monte. It's only 50p a tin. So why on earth would Sainsburys remove it?

I wanted some peas. I want Birdseye, as I can taste the difference between this and own-brand. Sainsbury feel that I shouldn't have the choice. So... off to Tescos for these.

Sainsburys bread has long been rubbish. I have no idea why Tesco can do bread, and Sainsburys cannot, but this is not a new phenomenon. When I want a loaf, again I go to Tesco.

I'm not glad at any of this. Sainsburys Warren Heath is my local grocer. I don't want to drive to Tesco. But increasingly it seems that I must.

Marks and Spencers - trimming the fat or shorting the change?

To Marks and Spencers in Ipswich today, to purchase my customary granny smith apples. But zounds! What is this?

M&S apples come packed in fours in a foam base, thereby reducing bruising. Except that this week M&S has removed the base. There's now just four apples in a shrink-wrap bit of clear plastic. Funnily enough, most of the apples are damaged, and I have some difficulty getting what I want. I notice that less popular apples are still available in the proper packaging.

I'm sure some fool will whimper that damaged apples saves the planet. But this is about cost cutting, surely? The price is the same; but the goods are inferior.

But onwards. On my way to the checkout I saw a box of sweeties in bags of string. Well, I'm quite partial to their chocolate money, so I pick up one of the little yellow bags full of "coins". But egad!?! The bag is about a third empty! Instead of the usual stack of thick coins, there's a miserable three big ones and a few small ones.

I look at the price; it's £2. It's the same as a big bar of Cadburys milk chocolate, and contains about a third of the amount. It's a rip-off, frankly.

Clearly Mr. Marks (or Mr. Spencer) has been at the accounts again. Instead of raising the already absurd price, he's decided to give short weight. At least, what else can I think that this is? So I throw the bag back. I can get a good big bar of chocolate at Tesco for 27p, after all.

I am depressed. I don't go to M&S to get cheap. I go there to get quality.

Years ago, people used to buy M&S clothes. An M&S suit was the standard interview suit. You paid a bit more, but you got rather better quality. Then the market started to be flooded with cheap chinese imports - rubbish quality, but bottom-dollar price. And M&S gradually reduced... their quality. The prices did come down a little, but suddenly you were getting much poorer quality clothes.

I still buy M&S shirts; just try buying a Tesco shirt and you can feel the difference! But I don't buy M&S as I did, and neither does anyone else, as their sales figures show. And it seems that the food department is now treading the same disastrous route.

BT doing a scam?

In my opinion BT is abusing the direct debit system to try to force its customers to buy its most expensive "all calls included" package.

Sounds weird? Let me explain.

I've been with BT forever, and my usage hasn't varied in years. In some years they put the DD up to a large sum, and I end up with a credit balance of a couple of hundred pounds on them -- which you have to ring and ask for, naturally.

This summer I got a note from BT that they wanted to jack up my standing order to around £45 a month. Now that's a fantastic sum, way in excess of what I actually use. How had they managed that?

Well, they'd reduced the DD to a piddling sum, so a debit quickly came into existence. I rang in and got them to change it to something like what I really use.

All BT paper bills are horrible. They charge in advance for this, and in arrears for that, and they bill over a period of 5 months, but only include 3 months payments, etc etc. All the messing about that goes to make their bills unreadable and inscrutable, which I imagine is intentional.

Today I had another one. This time they say I am £70 in debit. How this is achieved, given that my usage really doesn't vary? The bill is carefully constructed to ensure that the details of the calls are not shown, and I can't tell, really. And they want to put the DD back up to £45 a month.

At this point I get suspicious. The reason I pay by DD is so that I do NOT have wild fluctuations in the cost of my services. How come that it's all over the place this year, all of a sudden? Is there any chance, could it be that there is a marketing reason behind this?

I got to the BT website. And ... ta-dah! I find that their "pay us line rental and all your calls are free" package costs about £41 a month.

What a coincidence. Whack the DD up to something ridiculous, based on manipulating the regular flow of costs, and then suddenly that massively over-priced deal looks cheaper, and hey, someone in BT gets a bonus.

Too cynical? Somehow I don't think so.

I wonder how many other people are being scammed this way. If only I didn't need a landline for my broadband, I probably wouldn't bother with one at all.

Hughes Direct and Miele - not a great experience

My old washing machine died on Monday. So I need a new one. I decided to buy a Miele WT2670 washer-dryer. OK, it's a thousand quid, but if it lasts 20 years it's worth it.

A look on Tuesday at comparison websites revealed Marks and Spencers were offering it cheapest; but when I went a second time to their site the item had vanished! Inside 24 hours, no less! I suppose imported items will all go up, since Gordon Brown has been printing money. Also they only had a 2 week delivery.

Next in line was Hughes Direct. Their price was the next best. Their customer service is a bit strange. I rang them, and asked to buy this very expensive item and was told to use the website. Well, I did. Then I rang customer service, and they arranged to deliver it Thursday. They couldn't say when, but a call before 9:45 would tell me what time.

Thursday came, and the call came: "before 12 noon". In fact this meant "about 12 noon". It arrived, and since I'd paid for installation, they did that too. Boy was it heavy! They also removed the old machine for £10 - good value compared to the council £26 charge. I was fairly impressed with the delivery chaps, who did an excellent job. But... the machine was dirty on top, really dirty. How can that be, if it is new?

Time to catch up on the washing. But a load or two later... what's this? Water coming out from under the machine? How come?

Water continued to seep slowly but definitely out, even if it wasn't running, even with the input line turned off. Not much; but indicative of a problem. There was a sour smell, as of stagnant water as well. How can that be, if this is a new machine? I inspected the back of the machine; all dry. I inspected the filter at the front in a little panel; all dry.

I try the dryer. It doesn't seem to do much. I wash some socks, and then dry them for an hour. They are not dry at the end of it. That's ridiculous! They'd dry faster over a radiator.

This machine is not working correctly. I don't want to have to repair a brand new machine, but I don't quite know what to do. Maybe I can get an exchange? I email Hughes Direct (although the website makes this hard). No reply.

I clean up all the water, make sure everything is tight, put down towels on the kitchen floor and go to bed. In the morning... more water. Not much, but there is this smell...

Friday I had to go away, but when I get back, the smell greets me as I enter. It's late afternoon but I ring Hughes Direct. I get a rather determined young man who tells me that I have to have someone inspect it to see if it is damaged. I demur, and he says it again. And again. I politely refer him to the Distance Selling Regulations, and ask if it has to get all legal. He goes off to talk to his managers. He comes back and tells me that I can just have it returned, but in that case I have to pay for the carriage to and fro. I give in and agree to have a little man come round to see if there is water.

Presumably this is all really about their company insurance; they can claim on their insurance if it is damaged. But they don't tell me so; and a customer who just spent £1,000 is made to feel very upset and concerned that they are attempting to force him to accept a repair.

I think Hughes Direct must be a fairly small outfit. It is a mistake to order an expensive item from a small supplier. They will only have the one; and maybe this one has already been around the block?

UPDATE: The machine has an LCD display which you use to monitor progress and change settings. This has just gone dark too! Clearly I have a complete lemon here. Even Miele must produce the odd bad machine. It's going to go back, and I will have my money back, whatever it takes. It will be interesting to see just how difficult Hughes Direct try to make this, or whether they are reasonable and I just got someone on a bad day.

But next time, I will pay the extra and order from John Lewis. Apparently they make no difficulties about returns. If you have a duff washing machine, the last thing you need is someone else being difficult. I am sick of the quibbling.

UPDATE: Over the weekend the display LCD started to recover. It had set itself somehow to German. By Monday it was back to 'normal' brightness. This suggests a battery or something.

I did another dryer run on Saturday. I dried some socks for 2 hours; and it still didn't get them dry. But I noticed that water came out while I did so. I suspect that the condenser "dryer" is responsible for the leak.

On Monday I sat around for half the morning, and a man arrived "to look at my washing machine." I told him that I was rejecting the machine under the Sale of Goods Act and under the Distance Selling Regulations and wanted it removed. I told him about the problems. He asked if it leaked overnight; I said it did. He then made a long call to his boss, saying (without asking me) that I wanted an exchange and that it must be the installation plumbing. Then he told me someone would call me and left. He didn't even pull the machine out to see if the plumbing was leaking!

I didn't feel like waiting for a call (which has not come). I rang Hughes, and told them that I had bought it last week and wanted a return and my money back. After three calls I was told that they would collect on Wednesday and I would get a refund to the card after that. Let's hope, hope, that this is the end of the matter.

Because, after all, I still need a washing machine!

UPDATE: 28th October. I waited around this morning, and got a call at 9:45 telling me they would pick up between 1pm and 4pm. So of course I had to be in by 1pm, and wait. And wait. And wait. At 3:45pm I ring in -- and am told they're running a bit late. At 4:15pm I get a call from the driver, who says he'll be with me "by 5pm" in tones that make it plain this is a moveable time. I've sat here all afternoon, yet they must have known they wouldn't get to me for hours and hours. It's now getting dark, and removing it will be difficult and awkward in the dark. I am so wishing I never, ever bought from Hughes Direct!
UPDATE: They finally appeared at 5:05pm. I must have been the last job of the day. So... why did they make me wait from 1pm? But I was nice to the boys who came to collect it. Not their fault (probably).
Only one more step; to extract from their hands the £1,024 which I paid them a week ago for the experience.

UPDATE: They did refund my money. All of it, and no hassle and argument. Evidently I got a dodgy staff member when I enquired. So ... better than it might have been.

Then I went off and bought a washing machine from John Lewis -- another Miele, but NOT a washer-dryer. And this one was fine. It didn't leak, it didn't smell.

I have no doubt whatever that the Hughes item had been sitting in a warehouse for months, getting dirty. Thank heavens I returned it.

Short-changed at Sainsburys Warren Heath - and the result

I went down to Sainsburys Warren Heath in Ipswich this evening, and bought £5.33 of goods. I paid for it with a £10 note. Unfortunately I didn't check the heap of change and just stuck it in my wallet. But when I got home, I had a look; and something was wrong. I only had two £1 coins, and little more. Instead of £4.67, it looks as if I got £2.67.

I can understand a busy shop assistant making a mistake. If I was £1 short, I'd think it was that. But TWO one-pound coins? I hardly think so.

This is the second time it has happened to me in the last couple of months. The recession is clearly making some people steal. And, of course, the great advantage of this crime to the thief is that once the victim leaves the till, it's impossible for them to prove the crime.

I've written to Sainsburys by email, enclosing receipt details.

Watch your change, chaps.

UPDATE: A week passed, and I thought hard thoughts of Sainsburys. But then I got an email from the customer services, telling me they had spoken to the store and I should take the receipt down there and they would refund me the £2. How very generous of them! I was pleased.

Light on Abbeygate lighting

Today I made a trip to B&Q to get a new lighting fixture for my kitchen. Except... they didn't have any!

Oh, they had rows of eco-fittings, glowing dimly. Indeed there was a whole section of what looked like halogen fairy-lights, so feeble they were. But none of them gave any real light. What I wanted was something that does give some real light. I wanted a three-way spotlight using R80 incandescents, each of 60w. That's what I had before. But these items, previously as common as muck, have softly and silently vanished. Even on the web I can't find them.

But I remembered that there is an old-fashioned lighting shop on the square in Felixstowe. And so there is, Abbeygate Lighting (although the website doesn't do justice to what they have). Park in the centre of town and there it is. So I drove down there, and went in.

Bless them! They had two on display, one chrome, one white. The prices were higher than B&Q used to charge, but so what, when you can't get it any other way? They had all the bulbs one would want as well, unlike B&Q whose range gets shorter every day. A wide range of fittings, shades, and so forth, and they could order in even more.

The shop is small, and the lady who runs it gives excellent service. All the fittings are wired up, and you can see what you get. If you want a halogen setup, she's got the higher-wattage bulbs that you would really need to get any light, and can advise on what you would need in order to fit them. You can find out what wattage each fitting will take.

After the impersonality and sheer uselessness of B&Q, it was a relief to find somewhere that stocked what I actually needed.

Prices ARE higher. I bought a dozen R80 bulbs for my new unit, and they were £2 each. B&Q were selling triple life bulbs in two's for £4.50. But... for how long? It isn't B&Q that is focused on selling us what we want. The eco-nutters are determined to get us all sitting in the dark and the cold. Stockpile your bulbs, and the fittings that use them, now.

So support your local lighting provider. I did!

Plumbase, or plumb-no-good?

I need a monobloc mixer tap for a kitchen sink in a house I'm renovating. Mustn't cost too much; mustn't look too cheap.

B&Q have one, for £45, which seems a bit steep; except that they haven't any stock in the East Ipswich branch. So I drive over to West Ipswich B&Q and they haven't any either.

OK, let's go to a plumber's merchant. Plumbase are on the Ransome's Industrial Estate, near Sainsburys. I go in there at 12:30.

Joy! There is a pile of just what I want on the side, at £26+VAT. That'll do fine. There's no-one on the desk, and two people waiting, but no doubt someone will come back in a moment. I expect slow service in a plumbers' merchant; it's the reason why the DIY's took so much trade from them.

I wait. And I wait. And I wait.

Eventually some dozy herbert comes back. He ignores me, and stands in front a terminal and starts tapping away. And carries on, ignoring all the people in the shop.

Some minutes later, another blank-faced herbert very slowly appears, and slowly hands over some goods to the man at the front of the queue. Then he slowly walks off again. And doesn't come back.

More time passes. I've been stood here holding a monobloc mixer -- a heavy item -- for nearly 10 minutes now. Smiles are long gone. I want to get on.

Blank-face finally comes back. He lethargically starts talking to number two in the queue, who is dressed in overalls and starts reciting a long list to him, evidently in no hurry. Meanwhile Dozy is still tap-tapping away, slow but continuous.

I suddenly realise that I am the only person in this shop whose time is not being paid by someone else. They're wasting time, because they're being paid for it. The staff don't give a damn if they sell anything or not.

At that, I feel disgust, put the mixer back where I found it and walk out. Not a word is spoken. It's as if I was never there. But I'm glad to get out. Why should I give money to people who treat me with such contempt? Any business should just have paused for a second to take my money and let me go. These people? Useless.

I had a bad experience some years ago at this same joint. I needed a bit for a toilet, and brought up the old bit. They didn't have it. But the guy on the desk put on a face which I have since learned to call "the faithless look", and offered me an item which he said "might" work. I declined, acting on instinct. Later I found that it certainly would have been useless; and that he must have known this. But hey, I was a punter, and he didn't give a damn. But he was willing to swindle me, and, to do so, blocked out of his mind that I was a fellow human being whose money was not so great as to waste it. Thus the faithless look, as he mentally dehumanised me.

We all feel sorry for people at the bottom of the job heap who can't find work. But then you get an experience like this, and you realise that some of them are overdue a period of unemployment.

Avoid Plumbase. They're time-wasters.

Direct line car bodywork repairs - a good deal?

Lucky me. My car bonnet paint-work got damaged in a hotel car-park.

OK, I've been insured with Direct Line for 14 years, and haven't made a claim since 1997. So I ring up. They tell me that there is an excess of £125, and no courtesy car. They refer me to Rackhams of Ipswich to fix it.

Rackhams reckon that a machine polish of the bonnet might well take out the damage, and the price be less than the excess (which is good of them). I have to leave it with them for a day, which means a day of leave lost. They don't do a bad job; but somehow there is a dark mark now visible under the paint at the front of the bonnet. I see it instantly. Price is £2 less than the excess; a little surprising to be so close to the exact figure of the excess. They convince me to go off with the car that way. But part way home I get cold feet. I call in at Marshalls Vauxhall, and their bodyshop tell me it's no good and needs to go back.

Back I go, and it has to go in for a week for a respray. Of course I need a car to go to work. So I go to 1car1, who are just around the corner. They lease me a Vauxhall Corsa for a week for £85, including insurance, which is excellent value. In fact 1car1 are very good to deal with indeed, advising me on special deals and to book via the website. They give me an air-conditioned car, although the price didn't theoretically include this.

Rackhams ring up during the week. Do I want the stone-chip damage on the bonnet fixed as well? If I don't, it will look terrible. Of course I want the bonnet prepared for spraying -- what kind of game is this? I say yes, and learn it will cost £30.

Is Rackhams trying to diddle me, I wonder, so I ring Direct Line. The claims line tell me this is normal. They will pay for the respray, but not to prepare the bonnet for the respray (!). In short it's a fiddle by the insurance company to sneak out of necessary work for the repair.

Since I'm getting a respray, I ask about my scratched wing mirrors. Oh no, say Direct Line. That would have to be a further claim, and a further excess! At £125 per excess, it won't be worth a claim.

Rackhams do a good job indeed, and I am happy with the quality of the work. 1Car1 take the car back, without trying to swindle me in any way, and I will certainly use them again.

But DirectLine? I'm not a happy bunny. Their excess is so high that you're paying most of the cost. A respray is perhaps only £200 anyway. Their way of sneaking out of preparation cost me extra; so did their refusal to supply a courtesy car. The price is good, when you insure; not so good, when you come to claim.

Charging me up - getting new phone batteries

My Nokia 6230 takes a small BL-5C battery. I've had it for a few years, so the battery doesn't take much of a charge any more. Getting a replacement has been a struggle, tho.

My first port of call was Amazon. Lots of those batteries there... until you discover that they're all practising a scam -- ask £4 a battery, and then £9 postage! Lots of stuff about 'genuine Nokia' batteries gives the impression of lots of counterfeits around, eh?

Anyhow, I order two: "Nokia Genuine Battery for 6230 Bl-5C Li-Ion Nokia Sealed product" - £8 each plus £8 P&P.

A day or so later, a tiny jiffy bag flops through the letter box. Posted first class letter post (cost less than 50p), it contains, loose, a single (1, not 2) BL-5C battery, not in any kind of wrapping at all, as if it had come straight out of the back of a phone. The P&P was clearly less than a pound. Back it went, and, to their credit, they made no fuss.

Bruised, I try ordering direct from Nokia online. They stock the batteries, but want a lot. Total order is £35! I order, sit, and wait. 8 days later, I look on their site, and it has not despatched. I email them and ask when it's available. No answer is received. Next day I telephone their customer service. I get an Indian who tells me that the order has been cancelled and that I should talk to my bank. As far as he is concerned that is the end of the matter. Considering the quantity of books I have bought over the last week, I know better. Nokia, it seems, don't care about customer service at all.

I'm not going back to Amazon. I want a reputable supplier. In the end I try an online advertiser again, Foneshop.com. I ordered two today, £23 including next day postage. Let's see what arrives...

Ipswich Hospital - robbing the sick?

I went to see my GP today, and he asked me to do a sample and drop it in to Ipswich NHS Hospital for analysis. I drove up there, parked... and found that they wanted £2.50 for the privilege. I was there around 10 minutes in total.

Petty officials can be very mean and very impudent when they think that they can get away with it. It's hard to imagine such a nasty tax on the sick -- worst, of course, for those poor souls who must go there regularly.

The moral of the story is that the NHS probably needs to be abolished. It's sad to say, but what can you do with so rotten an institution? It's not as if it is free for most of us. It costs £100bn a year; since there are around 25 million workers in the country, that means each worker pays around £4,000 a year for the health service in tax. Most of us probably get about £15 a year of value from it. You could get a pretty huge amount of care for that sum, privately.

I'd rather have a proper NHS. But at the moment, we pay...and pay, and pay ... for one which is cheapskate in every respect.

I noted today that Rose Gibb, who was 'chief executive' of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust in Kent, and was forced to leave after a dirty-hospital scandal, is sueing for 'compensation' (See The Great Simpleton: Rewarding failure goverenment style). In my opinion she deserves to hang. What can you say, however, about an institution that handsomely rewards greed, impudence and negligence, at the cost of our health and lives?

British Gas - shortchanging the customer?

I've had a British Gas homecare agreement for years. They used to service my boiler every August. In 2006, I got no letter arranging an appointment for this; I rang, eventually, and it was done in November. In 2007 likewise no letter arrived; I rang in January and it has been done today. Not that they serviced it -- today BG call it "an inspection".

The engineer managed to turn off my pilot light and couldn't restart it. This was very bad news, and somewhat annoying. I don't need to have someone come out to disable my system, after all. But then he announced that he would have to call someone else to fix it. "I don't carry parts" he said. "You'll be lucky to get someone today". "You need a technician". When I queried whether the service engineers used to carry parts, he confirmed that they did. "We used to do services in the summer and concentrate on breakdowns in the winter."

Fortunately it was merely being difficult, and restarted after a few attempts and a long wait to reset the thermostat. But I feel swindled. British Gas forced me to take half a day off work. If there was work to be done, that's fine; but to make me wait even longer, possibly a day or so, if they manage to break something?

I want my boiler serviced every year. But in fact they're stretching the window longer each year. And they don't service it, they carry out "an inspection". And then they won't fix any fault they find?