Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Mega sorry.


School holidays. This morning there's no rush of late running parents taking toddlers to school. We do however wave at the young garagiste in his go faster Citroen and the farmer in the Toyota with the hyper-active Westie.


Furnishing a house on line has been a nightmare. The transition from bricks to clicks a problem for some retailers. John Lewis and Case Furniture were wonderful. Heals and Debenhams on the far side of nightmarish. Today Angus starts to go after the money that should have been paid back when items were returned or not delivered.


The first call is to a firm that he's spoken to 27 times over six months. '' We can only process the credit card charges after you've returned the items in question " says a young man using a stilted form of formulaic English. Angus points out that the items were returned on April 26th '' Do you have proof of that ? " comes the reply. Thankfully Angus does. After being put on hold for ten minutes the young man comes back to say he's '' Mega sorry about the delay ". I don't think I've ever heard anyone use that phrase before. Guess it's the inverse of being '' super excited ".


The frogs in the village pond now in full song. Angus and the PONs watch as they leap off the lily's into the water. Sophie finds the splosh sound they make intriguing. She is 'encouraged' along before the possibility of going after them enters her head.


Last night a huge thunderstorm overhead. The security lights forever coming on. We wonder whether this is due to a change in air pressure or more prosaically and more probably because the whole house shakes. Sophie sleeps through it all. When the power fails Bob opts to get close to 'The Font'. He adopts a male " I'm not worried but I thought you might be " attitude. This morning he sleeps on the door step with his nose out.

A special in the supermarket. Buy two bars of rhubarb and quinoa milk chocolate  and get a third bar free. Why am I not surprised ?



One of the art work that's been bought for the wee house in Scotland is a print of Hercules the bear on Loch Sunart at night. I'd assumed it was a figment of the artists imagination but is based on a true story. http://www.scotlandnow.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/who-remembers-hercules-bear-bid-6508312
Even more amazingly we discover the artist was trained by a woman we know and who once was a neighbour. Now, that's a small world or as 'The Font' points out it might equally show how small a place Scotland is .



A record of those little things too unimportant for a diary but too important to go completely unrecorded.


Another sign the world is changing : https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/998932355527139328


13 comments:

Taste of France said...

Mega sorry sure beats mega indifferent.
Love the story about the Hercules the Bear.

Coppa's girl said...

Perhaps mega sorry means that they are more sorry than just very sorry?
Rhubarb and quinoa chocolate? No, I don't think so, thank you - not even with the free bar !

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
There was a whole programme devoted to Hercules and his bid for freedom some time back - probably the anniversary - and about the monument being raised. What a lovely connection to discover!

Was that 'chocolate' meant to be in the pharmacy aisle by any chance? I am 'supremely sorry' to hear that you still have to wage battle with furniture peeps. YAM xx

Poppy Q said...

The bear picture is sweet - such moody colours. The chocolate however sounds very horrible, not nice flavour choices.

Well I would be emailing the above companies to let them know about their substandard online sales. It seems to me that many shops are quick to take your money, and then make it super complicated to get a refund, even though they say they will make it easy, it is often not. Good luck with getting your refund.

Sheila said...

Lovely yellow rose. I trust it's not supposed to be pink. Wonderful story about Hercules especially since it ended so well. Surely you must remember the actual event.

Angus said...

It is a sad reflection on my priorities but Hercules the Bear seems to have passed me by both at the time and subsequently.

Swan said...

My husband has discovered that most phone calls regarding refunds or complaints are actually “Call Centers” in foreign countries..they read answers off of forms..always guaranteed to raise blood pressure. You have our sympathies.

Angus said...

British companies ( credit card co's excepted who seem to be keen on Bangalore ) tend to farm out their after sales and customer service functions to companies in high unemployment regions outside London. This farming out of the post sales function cuts costs but the staff working there have no interest in the brands reputation or whether the problem is resolved. Everything, as they say, falls through the cracks. We have discovered Trust Pilot. Compare John Lewis or Case with Heals or Debenhams.

OJ said...

Mega-coincidences no longer surprise me!

WFT Nobby said...

You are no doubt feeling "mega sorry" you tried to buy something from the company in the first place...

rottrover said...

Is that a 'yellow rose of Texas?' It's very beautiful.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

The most perfect print ever.

liparifam said...

Never heard of Hercules, either, but I LOVE that print!