Cheery's country living adventure

Baileys_Babe

I think that is rather rude of Wicks to expect the customer to drop off the item especially given the minuscule value. I doubt even if you took the item back it would be an easy process, as you would need to explain the situation to a staff member and they then would need to work out how to put the item back into stock, which would use up your time, which is worth more than £3. Wicks sent the hanging strips in error why should you be inconvenienced for there incompetence. 
If the item were of much greater value I would expect the company to collect the item or supply prepaid packaging for me to post back to them at my leisure. 
When this has happened to us (and other family members) in the past we have been told to keep the item or pass it on to someone who could use it. Generally cheaper for the company, less admin and staff time in processing and no return postage costs. Also reduces the frustration for the customer.

Cheery_Daff

I confess I was expecting to be told to keep them! There's a number on the delivery note to ring to arrange courier collection but really, why would you bother?

I wouldn't normally advocate 'stealing' but on this occasion, I'll be keeping them as payment for the inconvenience...

Karmacat

Absolutely!  I've dealt with Wickes lots of times over the years: my house is easy to find compared to yours, but they still make mistakes, double delivery or a tub of something that's broken open because they put something heavy on top of it.  At those sorts of values, they always say "forget it".   

Cheery_Daff

Very wise KC. I did sort composing an email to tell them I'd be keeping it, but decided to take Mr Cheery's route of just ignoring it - I suspect they won't chase me for it anyway! 

Cosy here today, Mr Cheery lit the fire in the study for me this morning so it's merrily crackling away while the snow drifts outside. Most jolly. I've met a work deadline this morning, so am spending the afternoon catching up on all the little tasks that have accumulated over the last few days. Very satisfying to tick them all off the list - tick, tick, tick!

Had a call from the windows people, they're coming to quote tomorrow morning. Need to tidy up a bit tonight! They'll only be in the building site area of the house, but they'll be a lot quicker if they can just measure the windows without having to move round loads of stuff, and it means I can stay well out of their way.

Went and sat in the chicken run for a while with the ladies touch wood, they all seem healthy and happy enough, and they're much better off in there out of the snow! 

Right, best get on I suppose. Might get the standing desk set up for an hour, can feel myself hunching over...

greenbee

Cheery - if they do chase, tell them how far you are from the nearest branch and ask how exactly that would qualify as 'essential travel'.  I was recently told to keep £15-worth of coffee pods as they sent the wrong stuff out on my subscription. The right stuff arrived the next day. If there isn't a prepaid return label or a printable option that can be sent via the post office, then they need to be the ones to make the effort. Having said that, Thursday is my last chance to return the broken lightbulbs from amazon, as our PO is only open Monday afternoon and Thursday morning!

Cheery_Daff

Morning MSE chums! 
Today's excitement - geezer turned up to measure for windows on time and without fuss, and did all measuring from outside, so there was no need for me to spend an hour clearing everything off the windowsills last night after all  

He's going to email a quote, should be straightforward. We need to decide about the one next to the back door - it's currently wood, same as the door. The rest of the house apart from the small extension is white PVC, the extension windows are wood. We're going to switch to all pvc, but will that look odd next to the wooden door? Might paint the door green anyway, so...

I'd like to get the windows done as soon as possible - the only complicating factor is the sink. The current window frame has been made smaller so the window sits flush with the sink, but we want to expand it back to the original size - which obviously involves shifting the sink. That will need doing at some point anyway, but I do NOT want to be without a kitchen sink for very long, so decisions need to be made and action needs to be taken...

We'll see...

Right, work! Nice clear day today to get on with stuff, best take advantage!

rtandon27

ooooo - new windows! - how exciting!

The landlord had all new windows put into our old place just before we moved in over 5 years ago.  Great for the heating/oil bill as they are double glazed.  Most of them open completely so we can air the house year round (a relic of my Grandma's housekeeping skills) and also have a nice through breeze in warmer weather.  They are all PVC but appear to be old-fashioned 6-paned windows from a distance.  They don't detract from the look of the house, or the old (now decorative) wood panel front door.  The side door (the actual front door) was replaced about 4 years ago with a slightly more modern one, but also does not detract from the aesthetic of the place.

Karmacat

Cheery_Daff said:
The current window frame has been made smaller so the window sits flush with the sink, but we want to expand it back to the original size - which obviously involves shifting the sink. That will need doing at some point anyway, but I do NOT want to be without a kitchen sink for very long, so decisions need to be made and action needs to be taken...

I had sort of the same issue re window and sink, Cheery.  The window size had never been altered, but I think the sink used to be in a different place - I don't really know, but the issue was that the level of the sink and the work surface is a couple of centimetres above the windowsill of the kitchen window.  Previously, it made for a nasty combo of lots of bits of mdf with old sealant that was coming off.  Wickes (and yes, it was the builder that they sent me to, he was brilliant!) suggested not to do anything bitty like that: there's a "standing" at the back of my work surface, that goes across the whole wall - it's like a skirting board for the work surface, made of the same stuff as the work surface itself.  The windowsill belonging to the window (and the window was only put in, by me, a few years ago) the windowsill is tiled in the same tiles as the wall above the work surface.  It's actually incredibly simple to look at, and really nice to use every day.  I definitely didn't want to move the sink!

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, interesting option KC! I think we'll be moving the sink slightly anyway as you have to stand right in front of a set of steps up to the rest of the house, and it's awkward (and means we can't have a door there - not that Mr Cheery proves of internal doors anyway...). Hopefully it'll just move a couple of feet to the left, not too complicated. We wanted to move it to the other side of the room, but that would involve moving drains etc, and this has gone on long enough already

My new motto with this is 'keep it simple(ish), get it done'.

Basically, if we're happy with the quote, I'll be getting them to do it as soon as they can.

Hopefully this will make a big difference. The three in the offshot are single glazed, with rotting wooden frames, so warmth in there should be improved no end (and draughts reduced into my study). The one by the sink has almost completely misted over, and it will be lovely to be able to see out into the garden. The other one is fine really, but won't match all the rest. Not something that would usually bother me, but since we're redoing the whole kitchen, makes sense to do that too. 

They won't go to waste - they'll all be used in the garden, either for chicken run extension or cold frames etc.

Cheery_Daff

Ooh, more excitement! The post brought the confirmation that premium bonds have changed our address, so I've now set up the online account and transferred an experimental £100 into it. That has gone through with no problems, so I'm about to transfer the bulk of the savings into there too

Also had an email to say the money we paid out for the tree planting has been replaced, so that's cheerful.

Just need to ring and increase the mortgage DD and that's a nice bit of financial admin ticked off!