First world problems

I do love poppies. Here's an orange and purple one.

We finally had some rain - thunderous, torrential rain - but very short lived. I was enjoying a brief respite from the oppressive heat in the new kitchen, where I spend much of my time these days, when the rain started - indoors, under the new roof light. A bucket was deployed, a text message sent to Ulf the builder, and the following day Doors and Windows Ulf attended in my absence and left me a written account of the issue. His view is that conditions were abnormal and the strong wind forced rain to travel upwards and under the cap; he has added some sealant or other such obstacle to prevent it happening again.

What I was doing when the indoor precipitation occurred was in relation to my television, which you may remember was purchased in April. Since then I had required support from the manufacturer, which runs a highly effective telephone support service, and which had repaired my TV remotely over the Internet three times - the third requiring me to install a software update from a USB stick that was sent through the post. Each of those three times the problem had been fixed, but I did query at what point would it be regarded as unacceptable for me to be phoning the helpline every time I wished to watch TV? I got no joy from the manufacturer - it was more than 28 days since the purchase, they wouldn't consider replacing it while they continued to fix it.

One Friday, however, I was watching a program on BBC iPlayer, and it just switched itself off and refused to turn on again. This time the support line couldn't help via remote control, but diagnosed a cable failure and proposed sending me a new cable through the post. At this point I got back in touch with the retailer, described my experience, and they acknowledged that it was time to offer me a replacement TV. Except that the TV I originally bought is no longer sold, so I would have to choose a comparable one. Off I went to the shop on Saturday morning, followed by more time on the website, and found that there was no comparable TV within the parameters that were set. I had another discussion with the retailer.

This left me with the option to take a lower specification television which cost the same as I paid, or a comparable specification television for £380 more, of which they would contribute £130. I did a bit of online scouting about, and found that I could get an ex-display model of the exact same TV as I had originally bought, for £200 less than I paid, but from an unfamiliar retailer. The only thing to do was to consult various people (step up Lola II, Mr M and the Decision Assistance Helpline - 'Your difficulties are our business') and also seek advice from the iPod of Fortune.

Need a decision handled with precision? Don't make a fuss, just call us! 

They all gave very good advice except IoF which seemed to have become confused with a different conversation we were simultaneously having about a trip to Israel (IoF's advice was 'Jerusalem').

On Thursday, then, I started by phoning the unfamiliar retailer to see if they really exist, answer the phone etc. Their website had a real location and phone number and I couldn't find any obvious scam opportunities, and although they only answer the phone betwen 11am and 4pm they confirmed the availability of the stock showing on their website. So I plucked up the courage to phone the original retailer again, who confirmed that they couldn't improve on their offer. We agreed on a refund. I went straight back to the unfamiliar retailer's website to order the TV I wanted, at which point I discovered a) although that morning there appeared to be four in stock none was now available, b) actually, all the televisions on their website had disappeared and b) they have a lunch break between 1 and 2pm when they also don't answer the phone.

This is where a spot of meditation can come in quite handy. Phoning back after 2pm I discovered that the website was being updated and the television section should be back tomorrow. The person on the phone couldn't tell me anything specifically about the availability of the item I was after. So I spent an uneasy evening trying not to think about it.

Next morning, as described, the website was back, televisions were still in stock, and... the price had been reduced by another £100! So I ordered one. And waited. And no email came, and at the weekend I tried to log into my account to see the progress of the order, and it didn't recognise my email address. One step forward, one step back. On Monday I phoned them again, and I had indeed made a stupid mistake with my email address, so we corrected that and we are now discussing delivery - they won't even guarantee a day, let alone a time.

I'm spending the difference in price on a washing machine. I've even ordered it at last. I'm hoping that this will be the end of my first world consumer issues for the time being.

BMI update - as predicted, the two weeks of holidays sent my weight drifting up a little bit (but nowhere near previous levels), and then I managed to get it going back in the right direction. Latest BMI is 23.9 kg/m². Back on track. I can't remember what dark chocolate tastes like any more. The next challenge will be to decide exactly how much to relax the regime, assuming I reach my target. At the moment I am certain that I will go back to semi-skimmed milk instead of skimmed, but no idea about anything else that I am currently denying myself.