A new what-I-did-today thread

Whew. I have been worrying about you while I had a bath.
I think cancel your subscription jeni and join BG instead. Today. They will service your boiler and provide 24 hour call out.
The difference between BG and what you describe:
BG have employed fitters who are on call 24 hours. The call centre will tell them to go and they will go. The call centre will also prioritise anyone with mobility issues etc. DH just offered the advice "register yourself as a vulnerable person" with them. Good point DH.

Independent network will have a subcontracted call centre that will "ask" a local plumber to attend. and they'll say "in the morning" because they have just come home from the pub or whatever . When the chips are down as they are in bad weather call volumes shoot up. Independent plumbers will have more work than they can handle and quality of service may drop.
I am no huge fan of most service contracts but in your position you need the best and most reliable version.

Thanks jessM I was wondering about that.by BG I presume you mean British Gad?
Can I just cancel the contract out of hand I wonder

jeni SO sorry to hear about your worrying cold night.Glad the boiler is back on.
I'm thankful that I had a new combi-boiler fitted in Nov ( By your hated Mathison's of Portishead).I must say they gave me an excellent service and minor wrinkles have all been attended to very promptly...and the engineer who fitted lives only a mile away in Nailsea!
Car troubles again in last week...so after supreme effort I managed to get car into garage 3 day ago.-in view of snow warning decided to delay further action--thank goodness.as we now have ( in last 3 hrs ) thick blanket of snow so I'm bunkered in till further notice.
Playing a harp CD and sending you warm wishes

Thanks maniac
I've just remembered I have an electric throw, so I found where cleaner had hidden it. Just plugged it in and started to warm up beautifully.
At least 3" of snow here now and temp -1

Looking more positive now then jeni Keep warm.

Thanks when. We have never been with out a dog or two for the whole of our married life. We've had an Afghan, a beagle, a spaniel, a couple of bassets and a couple of miniature schnauzers plus, always, at least 2 cats.

We always said that, when the last dog died, we would not have another one so we had more freedom. But, less than a year ago we had one dog, three cats and a son living at home. Now it's just DH, me and a lazy, big, fat, black cat!

jeni glad you're getting warm now, and BG sounds like the way to go for you.

Kitty sorry about your dog

Oh kitty {{{hugs}}} I am so sorry. That last visit still sticks in my memory and one of the main reasons for not getting another dog.

jeni I think British Gas would give you a better service.

kitty . We don't have a dog, but DH misses the boxer he had in his old life, she died some years ago. Sadly a small house in London with tiny garden is no place for a bouncy Boxer.

kitty ((hugs)) they leave such a gap, don't they?

kitty Do you have a really good, clear photo of your dog? If so, I'd love to paint a wee portrait from it...as a gift.

jeni keep warm. No snow here at the mo'. Chilly around the trossachs!

Greatnan Mr soop is still "iffy"...the medication should kick in soon, I hope. Nice invitation from the ten children who attend the wee village school. Would we like to join them for lunch? Wouldn't be wise for Mr soop, what with bugs galore in his system. Such a nice thought. They made every elderly person a wee Christmas cake, which was delicious.

Kitty ((((hugs)))). Its the old friends and their constant presence that one misses.

soop that's really kind of you. Our daughter is currently doing one for us which she started when we saw 'the writing on the wall' so to speak.

The people around you seem to totally understand the meaning of 'community', you are very lucky.

Hope Mr soop recovers soon. It is all a worry isn't it. (((hugs)))

Yes British Gas. There might be one or two others that guarantee the same service levels. But at the end of the day BG are going to have the biggest team of employed staff I'd say.
Your boiler certainly needs some TLC, soon as poss.
You can certainly stop your DD jeni and if they are promising a level of service that they are not delivering then they should refund you the remains of the years charge. If they are claiming an emergency 24 callout and are not delivering they are in breach of the contract.
I wish I could send DS1 round. (and not to do the plumbing)
He has a land line HALLELUJAH! So if skype not working I can call them at home, without having to call international mobile rate.
Apparently he is trying to get broadband at new address. As seems quite common, there is a series of mess-ups.
They tried installing it at his old address on the other side of Australia! And sent a new modem to that address as well!
He is a good complainer and got them to wipe out what he owed on the account and gave him a credit of $200. Hence may call.
He said "I have learned that once things start to go wrong there is no point talking to anyone other than the complaints department." Wise words my son.

Trouble is their wording is ambiguous. It actually says they will organise everything. They don't say when! It's 24hour call line!
I have to pay monthly.
Think ill ask a legal eagle when I get back to work on Monday!

I think BG will give you priority if you are disabled.

My daughter was insured with Direct Line and paid a bit extra for emergency repair service. They were really good, and sent out competent tradesmen in double quick time.

jeni - I wouldn't wait, but get someone out straight away to check out the boiler; I know I'd have lost confidence in the thing and want to be sure it's fixed when the weather's this cold.
Nellie and Kitty
soop hope Mr. S is on the mend; what a lovely community you have.

Nobody could get here! Nothing's moving round here. It's likability a morgue!

Good news - 8-year-old GS has a Blue Peter badge for a letter he wrote to tell them about his school's radio station. Looks pretty chuffed.

Ah how sweet.
You can call them and they won't call on you? jeni

Not til the next day it would appear. Last time took several days as I couldn't be in when it was convenient for them!

oh kittylester my heart goes out to you,
My little Rosie will be 10 in March and she is my lifeline with my family turmoil.

Only way to think is you gave him /her 14 years of love and as Whenim says lovely memories when the pain fades a bit.

Love and hugs to all who have lost 'old friends'.

Jeni we used to be very 'brand loyal' and had gas supplied by and boiler maintained by B.G. After lots of looking around (he's good at that!) the OG has settled on Scottish Power to supply gas and Southern Electric to check boiler etc.
In fact when S. Elect took over, they came out and checked everything thoroughly, it seems it is policy to do this when they take over. We have an old boiler, well past its 'sell by' date (31 years old...... long may it continue!) and they were still happy to provide 'care'. We know certain parts may no longer be available so it is 'on borrowed time'. We just hope it doesn't 'conk out'(?) during cold weather.
Good luck with the change-over xx

I am feeling absolutely stupid. I was trying to log into Santander account to review an ISA and yet a- flipping- gain I have buggered up my password or passcode or reg code or what ever the bloody thing was. I have done it so often and Santander are the most complicated.

It happens every time and they send the reset in two separate letters.

I upgraded the existing ISA in April/May and twice the money was sent back to my bank with no explanation at all. The first time I had miscopied the account code. The second time it was refused by Santander and sent back to my bank but Santander did not tell me or my bank why.

I had to ring my bank and then Santander and eventually a very nice lad found out that I had not signed an updated ISA declaration and got it sorted.

But now I have screwed up my password again. I want to swear violently and I feel a completely daft old bat right now.

OK, Nellie, we are covering our ears: Swear now!