Red Tape. Who Pays?

We have had a couple of disputes with customers recently following requests for us to check out boilers that were still under guarantee. Naturally we don't want failures during the warranty period but at the same time we know that it sometimes happens. However, our engineers are increasingly meeting excruciatingly complex induction procedures before being allowed access to look at the machines. In two recent incidents one engineer was asked to undergo a two hour wait before attending a two hour induction presentation before looking at a half hour job and another was locked in a prison and only allowed to leave at a set hour some five hours later. As we have so few warranty calls it is not worth running a full time nationwide service department so we sub-contract to engineers whose rates average around £45 per hour. These obligatory inductions each resulted in additional charges in excess of £150. Our boiler list prices start at £419 and we sell them to our distributors for far less. As they say in the US. "Do the math". When asked for a contribution for the wasted additional time we drew a blank.We want to offer an excellent service but come on now big corporations - if you want to waste our engineers' time, you're going to have to start paying for it.



Speaking of customer service, we are currently trying to source some garden furniture for a house warming present for daughter Sarah.We've phoned scores of outlets and looked on the Internet but it seems that there's no recession in that business at the moment as they all seem to be universally unhelpful. Two to three weeks delivery is the best I've been quoted so far and at least three sellers have not even bothered returning our calls.Must be nice to be able to turn business away like that.



Writers' block ended last night and I came up with a title for the novel. It's set in a place that looks a bit like this and the working title is Give Your Tomorrow - don't ask but it does fit the book. Now all I need is that extra 25,000 words.



Orange Wednesday last night "The Hangover". Very good in a very raucous and crude sort of way.A must - as long as you have no aversion to foul language and vomit.Next week it's Bruno. A must - as long as you have no aversion to virtually everything.

Here's something that couldn't offend anyone. Andy Roddick's brother snacking whilst watching the tennis.