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Welcome to the world of the Vincent D'Onofrio obsessed - and a bit of real life thrown in.


Friday, September 10, 2010

Jaw Hits Ground in Amazement


My faithful readership may remember the saga of my new fridge-freezer, in which I was delivered something not only not what I ordered, but not actually a fridge-freezer. I ended up being sold the correct item in the shop at the much cheaper online price.


As they took my old appliance away, the extremely sullen and surly delivery men bashed my central heating thermostat, cracking the casing. I was fooled into believing it was still working because when I turned the dial it clicked. But when I tried to run the boiler for my poor dear old Shelley a couple of weeks ago, I found that it was in fact defunct.


What to do next? I have extensive insurance cover for all sorts of eventualities, and it transpired that the thermostat was covered for accidental damage - but only if I damaged it myself. Third party damage was not covered. In any case, to make the premium cheaper, I have a £50 excess to pay for each call-out.


Before I checked this fact, I'd already bought a new thermostat from a DIY superstore for £13.59, so I decided to fit it myself. I was careful to take note of where the wires had been, all to no avail, 'cos the layout inside the new one was totally different! (Well, the old one was installed around 30 years ago.) I tried a couple of connections, which failed to work, then I studied the instruction leaflet more closely. (As an aside, I really find wordless instruction leaflets almost impossible to understand. They assume a knowledge I do not possess, and a clarity their pictures do not have.) On closer examination, there appeared to be a wiring diagram, for 4 wires as against my 2. However, I understood the letters L for the live wire and N for neutral.


Which these days are blue and brown. Back then they were red and black. AND I REMEMBERED WHICH WAS WHICH!


I hooked up the wires, flicked the switch, turned up the thermostat and BINGO! Fixed!


Nevertheless Comet, the electrical suppliers, were to blame, so I emailed them a bill last night - £13.59 for the thermostat, £2 for the phone call regarding my insurance cover, and £15 for half an hour of my time, £30.59 in total.


You are not going to believe this. They have agreed to pay. Just like that. No arguments. No burst blood vessels of frustration on my part.


Maybe I will shop there again. Perhaps not till the next century, but that's an improvement on how I felt before.

8 comments:

judith said...

That must be a 'first' from any Company. Well done Val.

JoJo said...

Wow Val, I'm impressed! I have a few little things that need doing in my house, can you swing by? lol Glad that the company is going to reimburse you!

Eliza said...

I'm in awe..I wouldn't have even dared to try and fix it myself..well done!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's amazing Val. Way to Go!

SnarkAngel said...

Let us know when you get the actual check ... and when they fire the surly delivery jerks. LOL

Music Wench said...

Congrats on your initiative! I probably would have electrocuted myself if I tried that on my own. And I'm impressed the company actually agreed to send you the money. Well done all around!

Ruby said...

That's wonderful, Val! Very impressive! I'll definitely keep you in mind the next time something breaks around our house!

Anonymous said...

I wonder if they were so shocked that someone would actually bill them that they rewarded such tenacity...good for you! I do all the repairs in my home but haven't ventured into electrical work; too chicken. Once when I was a kid I stuck my finger into a lamp socket and got shocked. Don't ask me why I did it, but I never did it again!

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