Call me old fashioned, but when a much loved watch goes on the blink or a still newish vacuum cleaner breaks down, it is good to have the option of a repair.
Better for the environment and sometimes – in the case of the watch – it can have sentimental value.
Yet try to get something repaired and 9 times out of 10 you’ll throw in the towel. At least that’s my experience.
A couple of months ago I damaged a lovely watch. The glass face got cracked and the hands seemed to have stopped working. I took it to a local watch repairer who replaced the battery and that sorted out the stationary hands! But I was told that the glass had to be dealt with by a ‘specialist repairer’, so off went my little watch.
I was given an estimate of £46.00 for the work and decided to bite the bullet – after all, I love that watch. Two months later – repeat TWO months later – I’d heard nothing back so I phoned the shop. The assistant said something along the lines of: ‘Oh yes, the repairer has got back. The watch isn’t working properly and it will cost you £120 to put it right.’
What?! The watch didn’t cost that much to buy new, so I told her to forget it. Then I had another apologetic call to say that there had been a ‘misunderstanding’ and the watch was still actually in working order – it was just the small date indicator that had given up the ghost. By now I was losing the will to live but at least they agreed to knock the glass repair price down by £10 for my ‘inconvenience’. Yippee doo.
When I finally went to reclaim my watch, I noticed a large advertisement on the shop door. ‘Ladies watches down from £49.00 to £19.00’ – and the very same brand as the one I’d just spent £36.00 on repairing!
A mug then for not throwing it away? Maybe but at least I’ve done a little bit for the environment and a watch repairer – albeit a very slow one – somewhere in the country.
While in full grump mode, has anyone had trouble spending gift vouchers close to their use by date? I had one purchased as a Christmas present from a local facial/nail treatment business and it stated on the receipt that it was valid until December 20 2014.
Spotting that I still had a few remaining quid to spend on the voucher, I decided to treat myself to a manicure. I was then told that the person who used to do the treatments had left and the place was under new management with a new self employed therapist.
‘So where does this leave me with my voucher?’ I asked. Apparently, the new owner doesn’t have to honour it. As things stand, I’d spent most of it already but what if I’d still got £50 outstanding? Gift voucher buyers beware.
Now over to our very Cornish Cockapoo for her latest news….
‘Hey folks,
This has been a great week for little me. I’ve been able to hit the beach most days even though it’s mid November and I even saw some kids building those sand castle thingies.
The new extendable lead my rents have bought, gives me a whole lot more freedom. Hey, a girl needs to hang loose on the beach and this is the next best thing to complete freedom.
I hear that I’ve got to come back when the rents blow a whistle before they’ll let me go off exploring on my ownie boney.
Hmm – need to think about that one. Depends on what treats get dangled my way – Bonnie still needs to play hard to get.
So I’ll keep you posted on that one. Woof and out….’