Any more? Come on, I can take it!

Today I went to a DIY store with garden centre attached to get a large plastic box as a substitute for the potting bench I couldn't build. This is for the storage bins for my chicken feed.

Bonus - it was really light. And it just clicks together. What could be simpler?

When I got home with my new acquisition, I found a message on my answering machine from the company that makes the potting bench. The score goes like this:

I phone them and have to leave a message, even though their helpline should be open.

They leave me a message the next day.

I leave a message, even more snitty than the first.

Nothing.

I leave a third message.

They phone me up and leave a message while I am at work, saying that they will be there till 6pm.

I phone at 4.15. The helpline is closed. I leave a really snitty message.

This is the current state of play.

I take my new purchase into the garden and start to put it together. Everything is clearly labeled, and fits together really well.

As I start to put the end pieces on the lid, I find that I HAVE TWO RIGHT ENDS AND NO LEFT END!

I phone the manufacturer. Their helpline closes at 4.30. It is 4.45. They say leave your contact details but not a message. I do both. Then I phone the store and give them the details of the item and the fault. I can hear the assistant looking the item up on the computer. She says, "Unfortunately we don't have any more in stock." I reply, "Unfortunately you had a pile of them when I bought this an hour ago." She goes out and checks, returning to say that she has found them, and will reserve a left end for me till tomorrow. So another trip out of my way is on the cards. At this rate I won't have enough fuel to get to the rescue centre.

The phone rings at 5pm. It is the manufacturer. Unlike the first company, they appear to have a customer service policy, rather than a customer aggravation policy. They will send me a replacement part in the morning. It seems I will now have 2 left ends!

Meanwhile, I have received a message from the suppliers of special feed for ex-battery hens. I emailed them yesterday complaining about the fact that their carrier had left a large bag of feed on my doorstep, in full sight of the street, so that any passing burglar could read it as "No one home, please break in". This despite the fact that I had given the instruction that they could leave the package with either neighbour.

They had the damn cheek to say the driver had left it with the neighbour to the right, who must have put it on my doorstep! Never in over 30 years has she done such a thing, nor would she. In fact, nor could she - she is in her late 60s, with a gammy shoulder, and they think she heaved a 20kg bag of chicken feed next door? As it happens, she wasn't even home.

Do you think I am not meant to rescue these chickens?