The £50 Currys PC World laptop scam

On 27th of December last year, Father Christmas bought Tilly a laptop. The machine and all the necessary software cost us £510. It was bought from Currys PC World in Solihull.

Tilly was happy with it. She would disappear into her room for hours, sometimes days, pretending to do college work while looking at boy-bands on the internet. All was well with the world.

In the last week of March, the laptop malfunctioned. It refused to start up and Tilly described it as being 'in a constant loop'. So we leapt into the car and hurried back to PC World, safe in the knowledge that electronic goods are covered by a 12 month warranty. Phew.

However, when we explained our problem to the stone-faced dragon in the PC department, we were told that if it was a software issue then we would have to pay extra to have it repaired.
"Aha!" I replied, "You misunderstand! I bought the laptop from you, including the software, only three months ago!"
This didn't seem to impress the ice maiden behind the counter at all. She told me they would check the machine to establish whether it was a hardware or a software fault. They'd call us when they knew...

An hour later I received a call telling me that it was a software fault and that it would cost me a further £50 to have it repaired. Alarm bells started ringing...

I rushed back to the store and had a sit down with the manager Anand. He explained the situation with a metaphor: according to him, it was as if I'd bought a car from him. The car (the hardware) was fine, he explained, it was the oil (the software) that had caused the malfunction. "Aha" I exclaimed again, this time less hopefully. "I bought the oil from you!"
Sorry, sir?
"The oil! The software! I bought it from you just twelve short weeks ago! Fix the problem and I'll be on my way!"
Anand explained that he was happy to correct the software problem. For £50.

A few days later, I returned to the store for another brief meeting with Anand. He explained to me that they had looked into the problem further: they knew what was wrong with the software (that they had sold me) and they knew how to put it right. It was only going to take an hour or so. "Fantastic!" I cried, much relieved. "Let's have that done, and I'll be on my way!"
Certainly, Sir. That'll be £50.
"But it's the software you sold me! It's gone bendy, but you know how to fix it! Fix it!"
£50 please, Sir.
I quickly tired of this. Anand seemed the sort of chap who, once settled into a certain way of thinking, proved difficult to shape into new ways of going about things. I let him have a letter that I'd written. It detailed a bit of research I'd done: unless the store could prove that I had somehow damaged the software or caused it to malfunction, then the store was obliged to put things right. Anand tried to give me the letter back. I advised him to keep it and respond in writing. He refused to do this and instead gave me a customer service email address.

What followed was three weeks of emails, back and forth, between me and PC World customer services department. Then, eventually, on 26th April, a month after the machine had stopped working I finally got a reply from an decent human being who confirmed that if I called a certain telephone number then a technician would be able to put things right for me. And there would be no charge.
I called the number and sure enough, I got put through to a helpful young man called Jack. He listened to my tale of electronic woe and then proceeded to talk me through how to put the laptop right. He and I completed the procedure within about 60 seconds. "There you go," said Jack cheerfully. "I've just saved you fifty quid."

After a brief discussion with Jack and his manager Neil, it turns out that the stores are charging £50 to simply reset laptops, a procedure that takes seconds to start and only and hour or two for the machine to complete. I find this a very dishonest and underhand way of separating people from their money, especially since they've already parted with their cash in the store to buy the product in the first place!

Shame on you Currys PC World, shame on you.

The 15.0mph Jonnie

We didn't set out to break any records.

It was too windy to ride fast, so we started the day with a chat as we tooled along our new favourite route - the Honiley 40 which we first rode with Gary and Dan a few months back. We both agreed that it was a beautiful part of the world and as we cycled through it, I didn't really notice the speed creeping upwards...

After 21 miles, as we approached Snitterfield, I realised that my bike computer was showing an average speed of 15.5mph. Jonnie's bike registered 15.6mph... I suggested that we might try for Jonnie's first ride with a 15mph average speed!

I've only managed a 15mph average on four previous occasions:

15.0mph over 60 miles (hilly)
15.0mph over 36 miles (hilly)
15.4 mph over 15 miles
15.8mph over 15 miles

Those are the only times I've managed it during the three years that I've been riding road bikes. All of those times were achieved in fine weather during the summer months. On a windy day, it would be a big ask!

I told Jonnie not to wait for me after the descents. He is a fine descender and often finds himself having to wait for me at the bottom of hills. Today, I said I'd try to catch him on the climbs and that he should ride behind me on the flats. In other words, for the reminder of the ride I was going to be his domestique.

By the time we arrived at the feed station (Jane and Eric's home in Wilmcote) we had maintained a 15+ average. We only had 16 miles to go now, but we would be riding into a headwind...

We enjoyed a feast of homemade biscuits, clambered back on the bikes and, after a dash down a hill which pushed the average up to 15.8, I took the lead and started punching a hole through the wind. The pain in my legs, shoulders and back gradually worsened until the average was down to 15.1mph and I had nothing left to give. As he came past me, I gave Jonnie a shove on the backside and he got his head down and rode into the wind. For the remaining 6 miles I would catch glimpses of his high-vis jacket as he turned into corners or crested hills. After a massive solo effort he managed to get back home with a 15.0mph average speed intact!

I'm pleased to report that I managed to complete the ride with a 15.0mph also, just 2 or 3 minutes behind Jonnie. We celebrated with tea and homemade cupcakes courtesy of Jonnie's better half, Sally.

The route for the Honiley 40 is here [just ignore the average speed which includes me walking around Jane's kitchen with my mobile phone in my pocket]: Strava

 

 

We Didn't Want to Go to Coventry

It was never our intention to go to Coventry.

After the partial success of our Kenilworth Castle ride last month [see Kenilworth Castle Knee Explosion], we decided to try it again, with some 'improvements' made to the route home. I volunteered to come up with the new route back, so I sat myself down in front of Google maps for an hour and came up with the worst ride we've ever done.

Jonnie never wanted to go to Coventry

The first 20 miles, our original route, was fantastic: gently rolling countryside, quiet lanes, breathtaking scenery. At this point, we were tooling along at a respectable 16.0mph average. Unfortunately, that was when my version of the route took over and within half an hour we were hunched up on the B4113 as a steady stream of cars and lorries roared past us at 60mph.

I missed a turning and we ended up in Coventry. Moody looking fellas peered at us from Transit vans as we carefully navigated our way through backstreets and between parked cars. Jonnie and his phone's satnav found us a way back on track and we time-trialled our way around Knowle and back to Solihull for a total of 45 miles. Unfortunately, the unkempt cycle paths and stops to consult Jonnie's phone had eaten into our average. To make matters worse, I bonked 5 miles from home and Jonnie stayed with me for the last painful minutes. By the time we limped home, our average had disintegrated to 14.1mph.

Strava details here: New Route

2 hours and 2 beers later, Jonnie and I watched in disbelief as a pack of elite riders let Niki Terpstra ride away from them to win Paris Roubaix. I lost my money on Sagan then...

Finally, the knee. It didn't seem to be too bad on the actual ride, although it was aching. After the ride, however, I was finding it difficult to get around. Walking up the stairs was very painful and down them was even worse. I smothered the knee in Deep Heat and elevated it. Maybe a visit to the doctor's is needed?

Knee update: 2 solutions

I've rested the knee for a week. I've driven to work with the rest of the cagers for the last five days. I haven't run my usual 6 miles per week. All I've done is lift some weights [avoiding squats, lunges and deadlifts].
I was very eager to get back on the bike today so I leapt out of bed at 6:30 ready for action. By 8am I was at Jonnie's and the poor guy was still in his dressing gown!
On the road at 8:20 we were prepared for a soaking. Happily, the BBC weather got it all wrong and our ride was a dry one! I chose a shortish ride to test the knee - a total of 22 miles through places like Packwood and Henley, finishing with our usual ride through Tanworth and the 3 mile time trial back to Jonnie's.
It was a quick fun ride, with beautiful scenery. In a playful mood, we decided early on that Jonnie was to be Contador and dance up the climbs while I was being Froome with some serious high-cadence stem-staring.
The knee? Today it was almost back to normal. I was so relieved to find that all I had to contend with was a dull ache after dashing up some of the steepest hills in the area. Of course, the resting of the legs must have helped the knee to recover but I also had two not-so-secret weapons with me. The first was a change of pedals: The terrible Toys-R-Us quality pedals that the Specialized was supplied with were hurting my feet and may have been having an adverse effect on the knee. I spent some quality fettling time on Saturday and managed to construct some Frankenstein pedals out of some bodies from Deadly Dan and some French toe clips taken from the Holdsworth. They were dramatically more comfortable and must have taken some of the pressure off the knee. My second solution was to wear an elasticated bandage donated by my mother during a visit on Saturday. It seems to have worked a treat!

22.53 miles at 14.3mph. A fun ride with a good result for the knee! Phew.
Next week, 40 miles heading out to Alvechurch, perhaps?