Tigger had a day off today and as it was sunny though cold, we decided to go out. The first thing was breakfast and for this we returned to Giraffe.

Looking out of the window at Giraffe

Later we would go across the road to the bus stop in the picture and take the bus into town.

The Yorkshire Grey

Along the route is this pub, the Yorkshire Grey. Each time I see it I think what a handsome building it is. The figure of the horse soldier is very well executed too, as you can see from the close-up below. (Please note that the picture was taken through the grimy bus window.)

A fine figure

We took the 38 bus to Victoria and travelled on from there to South Bromley. By bus, this is a long journey, partly alleviated by the scenery along the way.

The Glades shopping centre, Bromley

Bromley, once a market town in its own right and now a part of the huge organism called Greater London, seems a fairly lively urban centre but from the little I saw of it, I did not find it particularly striking.

Bromley public library

I was, however, quite impressed by the Bromley central public library that shares accommodations with the Churchill Theatre. I found the building itself an ugly lump outside and rather boring, not to say depressing, inside, but the library itself was a fine example of the species, with automated processes for the issue and return of books.

Café Rouge

Before setting out again, we went to Café Rouge for a coffee. Café Rouge is a chain of pretend-French cafés. I am never sure whether their inaccurate French is accidental or whether it is a deliberate ploy to attract attention. It irritates me but I still feel a certain affection for them, especially as they make no bones about serving just drinks even during the lunch hour.

The weather seemed to be closing in again with rain and threatening skies. It was also becoming rather cold. Going home was an attractive proposition. We changed buses in Peckham and passed in front of the rather dilapidated Civic Centre whose striking mosaics must date from an earlier more affluent phase.

One of the mosaics, Peckham Civic Centre

It was a relief to get home, turn on the heating and make tea. Maybe we should have spent the day quietly sitting at home? No, I don’t think so….

Today was catch-up day after our expedition to Sheffield and Derby yesterday. Having struggled home through London’s traffic that seems to run slower and slower every day as road works multiply beyond any sensible measure, we had an appointment at the doctor’s to have our flu jabs.

St Mark’s Church, Myddelton Square

Much as I dislike winter and the early coming of darkness, I have to admit that it brings the bonus of prettily lit scenes. In Myddelton Square, St Mark’s Church had a very dramatic look to it. You could imagine all sorts of sinister goings-on up there in the sculpted shadows.

Florist’s shop

On the corner of River Street with Amwell Street, the florist’s shop was prettily lit up. I am not sure whether these lights are early Christmas decorations or simply an exuberant response to the darkness. Either way, it was an oasis of light and beauty amid the gloom of a cold November evening.

The fact that I had two slices of chocolate fudge cake in my pocket to eat when we got home might have added to the cheerfulness of the mood!

Tigger’s train is at 8:55 and mine an hour later, and as Sheffield trains leave from St Pancras just down the road from us, we could start the day in relaxed way.

Tiggy was up too Phone photo

Tiggy, the house spider, was up too and running along the cables on my desk. Then he disappeared again so when the time came for me to leave, I switched off the laptop but didn’t close the lid in case he was in the hinge.

Tigger left at 8:15 and I followed an hour later, taking the 214 to St Pancras station. Although I had had a small breakfast before leaving and didn’t intend to have anything more until lunchtime, once on the upper deck I found the Camden Food Co exercising an irresistible attraction. I went in, just for a cup of coffee, but saw that they were advertising porridge with “fruits of the forest”. Naturally, I gave in to temptation because, after all, porridge is a healthy dish and warming in chilly weather such as this!

At 9:45 our train was ready so I went aboard. It’s fairly crowded – usual for this time on a weekday – but I found a seat easily enough. It was raining when I set out and now, as we run through the countryside, the sky is still covered with clouds but there is a lot of movement up there and the light has brightened. Perhaps it will clear up for us.

Tigger, ahead of me, has sent a text saying she has seen sunlight and now, looking aloft, I see patches of blue between the clouds. I could read my book but for the moment, François Mauriac’s Le noeud de vipères is not enough to attract my gaze from the scenery.

The landscape is bathed in a pale golden sunshine Phone photo

Suddenly we run out from under the clouds and the landscape is bathed in a pale golden sunshine. I try to take a photo with my camera but, as usual, trees, blurred by the speed of the train keep throwing themselves into the picture and blocking the view.

At Derby (where we intended to come later) we once more ran into rain under a dull grey sky. Such are the fortunes of travel: you may pass through several weather zones on your journey and it is a matter of chance what the conditions are when you reach your destination.

The hope is that as it is sunny further south, the weather will clear here too. Not that there are any guaranties.

Reaching Sheffield on a wet day

Our train reached Sheffield just after midday. Unusually, there was no message from Tigger so I made my way to the station’s Hallam Square exit. Tigger was waiting at the foot of the stairs. Her mobile was playing up and would no longer send text messages. She had called me and left a voicemail but in the noise of the station I was unaware of it.

Mobile Art in the Winter Garden (The silver leaves flap up and down)

No matter, we were together now and we caught the free bus, the FreeBee, to the Winter Garden, which is continuous with the museum and art gallery in whose cafe we hoped to have lunch.

Vegetarian fish & chips (and mushy peas)

We had come hoping they had their “Vegetarian fish & chips” on the menu and they did. (The “fish” is deep fried haloumi cheese.) While we were eating, it rained determinedly but it had eased off by the time we finished and we were able to walk to the station in the dry.

Rainy Sheffield. Will it ease off?

The London train we hoped to catch to go to Derby was cancelled, so all the passengers were advised to take the Reading train which was consequently packed and people were standing. Even so, Tigger managed to find us seats and the journey to Derby only takes half an hour or so.

Still spitting in Derby

It was still spitting with rain when we struck out from the station at Derby. Conditions were already dull because of the clouds and the light would soon fade anyway but, nothing daunted, we headed for the town centre.

The Book Cafe was nice but…

In an area called the Quarter we found The Book Cafe and went in for tea and toasted tea cakes.

… it was still wet and miserable outside

After this we continued our explorations and came upon the Guildhall, burnt in 1841 and rebuilt in 1842 (good going, wouldn’t you say?).

Derby’s Guildhall

Going through the Guildhall entrance, you come to the Market Hall, a very striking building, already decorated for Christmas and housing some very fine stalls, ranging from the traditional, such as fruit and vegetables, to the modern, including computers and mobile phones.

The lovely Market Hall

It had been a dull day to start with and now the light began to fade in earnest so after a few more photos, we began to walk back to the station, not retracing our steps but trusting to Tigger’s inner pigeon which took us through a shopping centre before finally bringing us onto the road to the station.

Local heroes and heroines remembered

We reached the station at 4:53 and found that a St Pancras train was due at 5:01. It could not have been more convenient.

A modern market hall

The day was wet and a little chilly but that is only to be expected at this time of year, as is as the early fading of the light. We were spared the heavy rains of yesterday and therefore cannot grumble. A day out is always day out. I will admit I dozed off a couple of times as we rumbled along the rails back to London.

We finished our wet Sunday on a high note. This evening we went down to St Pancras station to meet a friend returning from Brussels on the Eurostar.

St Pancras at night

We spent time catching up with our friend’s life and activities while sipping coffee in Starbuck’s, then accompanied him to the tube station to catch his tube home.

Colourful Carluccio’s Phone photo

We decided to have supper in Carluccio’s on the upper floor. I like Carluccio’s. The interior is colourful and the staff are friendly. The prices are reasonable and the food delicious. What more could you ask for?

To Kings Cross to catch the bus

We left by the back stairs to go to Kings Cross to catch the bus home. The rain had stopped but big puddles remained and we had to take care to avoid being splashed by vehicles in the street.

The sky had cleared and, despite the city lights, some of the brighter stars and planets could be seen, not to be confused with the lights of aircraft criss-crossing the sky to their various destinations. The weekend ends but tomorrow we are on the road – the rail road – heading north, with more adventures in view.

I have a new desk companion. He dropped in on me – or rather my computer – yesterday evening and seems to have made himself at home on my desk.

Tiggy, my desk companion

I say “he” though he could as easily be a “she”, and I am not in a position to say one way or the other. I have decided to call him – or her – Tiggy, which is a suitably unisex name.

Tiggy appeared on the screen of my computer yesterday evening. At first I thought I must have been infected by one of those programs that change your mouse pointer into a kitten or a cloud of stars but, to my relief, found he was definitely on the outside of the glass.

Looking up spiders on Google, we decided this one is a house spider, Latin name tegenaria, but if anyone knows better, please let me know. I was thinking of catching him and putting him outside but the name “house spider” suggests he would be just as happy indoors.

Tiggy spends his time sitting completely still or rushing around. He seems to take a certain interest in following a cable along its length and, believe me, there are plenty to choose from on this desk. I suddenly found him abseiling down from the lamp over the desk though how he had got up there in the first place, I don’t know.

He tends to disappear and that’s when I get worried and don’t close the lid of the lap top or move anything around in case I squash him. I am also concerned that he may not be getting anything to eat though I don’t know exactly what Tiggy would eat anyway. Maybe he is just over-wintering with us before setting out into the wide, wide world in the spring. If so, then as long as he doesn’t starve or attract Freya’s attention, he’s found a good place to stay.

We had a number of things to do today, some more urgent than others. You will not be surprised to hear that the first of these was breakfast. We set off down towards Kings Cross, dragging the skeleton of the shopping trolley as this would come in useful later on.

At Kings Cross, we stopped for breakfast at the cafe across from the old Thameslink Station. We used to come here a lot in the good old days when you could actually take a train to many interesting destinations from this station. Now that all the trains go from St Pancras, we don’t get the chance to come here quite so often.

While we were breakfasting, the skies opened and it rained until there were huge puddles and rivulets in the road and running across the pavement. We tarried, hoping the clouds would blow over but in the end, we had to go out into the rain.

We passed through Kings Cross station, to benefit from the shelter, and crossed to St Pancras. We were heading for the booking office to buy tickets. This was the first of our more urgent tasks as Tigger is off on a courier run tomorrow and I am going to join her.

At the ticket office, a pleasant surprise awaited us. The package has to be delivered to an address in Sheffield but, as we have been to that city several times lately, we thought it would be a good idea to lunch there and then go to Derby, a town we have already visited but not seen for a while. So, in terms of tickets, how do you go from London to Sheffield, then to Derby and finally to London again? We assumed that you would have to buy a single ticket for each of the three legs of the journey.

The pleasant surprise was that ticket regulations have changed, for once to the benefit of the customer. You can now buy a return ticket from London to Sheffield and break your journey as often as you wish. In other words, as long as you stick to the route (London to Sheffield and back), you can visit any other destination along the way. Brilliant, isn’t it? Tigger is going early to make sure that the package is delivered by the deadline and I am going along an hour later when the cheaper prices apply.

Having sorted out tomorrow’s arrangements, the next fairly urgent task was to find a new bed. We had to go to several shops before making up our minds. We wanted a bed under which things could be stored but not one with a mechanism that could go wrong. We finally plumped for a simple metal frame (any other material will get clawed to pieces by Freya) with the traditional four legs, and space underneath for storage. This will have to be delivered, so we will still have to sleep on the mattress on the floor for a while yet.

Finally, we popped along to Argos. Our slow cooker, which is such a boon in winter, has begun to play up. Perhaps one of the heating elements has failed because it doesn’t cook the food through. After several days of eating semi-cooked vegetables and making various unsuccessful attempts to remedy the situation, we have decided that we need to replace the cooker. That’s why we had the trolley with us – to trundle it home on rather than get aching arms carrying it.

We found that Argos was still selling what looked like the same model of cooker and as we had had a couple of years of good use out of the other one, we thought we would buy the same. Unfortunately, having bought it, we realized that it was a smaller model than the one we have, too small for our purposes. We shall have to return it and choose another model.

Still, two out of three (three out of four, if you count breakfast ) isn’t bad. We’ve had worse days. (Spending the day waiting for a phone call from Dwell springs to mind.)

While I was writing the above, my phone rang. It was the shop selling us the bed, calling to arrange delivery. They suggested Monday, which is out because we are away on that day, and proposed Tuesday as an alternative which I gladly accepted. How’s that for service? Pretty good, I think.

This evening we shall celebrate by going out to dinner. Breakfast was already a while ago so I am looking forward to it already!

Update

While talking on the phone to the bed people I became confused as to the date. I thought they were delivering the bed the coming Tuesday but have now realized that they meant the following Tuesday, December 1st. So we shall be sleeping on the floor for a while yet.

Still, that’s a fairly typical delivery time for furniture and it would be churlish to grumble. How nice it will be when we finally have a proper bed and one that doesn’t sound as if it is about to collapse under us!

We got up in good time this morning so that we could arrange things for the men coming to collect the ill-starred bed before Tigger had to go to work.

We first upended the mattress, on which we have been sleeping on the floor, and leaned it against a wall. Then we stacked all the parts of the bed against the opposite wall. I had collected the nuts and bolts in a plastic bag and even had the building instructions which I left next to it.

Tigger went off to work, I switched on my Artone loopset (which has been a real boon over the last few days with all that telephoning) and got on with the usual chores. Then I sat down to wait, something one seems to do a lot of when Dwell is involved. On the other hand, they did warn me that the collection would probably occur later rather than sooner as they would have to make room on the van.

At 9:40 the phone rang: it was the van men, and they promised to be with me in 30 to 45 minutes’ time. “Perfect,” I told them. I was hoping it was the same amiable pair of lads as last time but it was hard to tell from the few words spoken.

In fact, it was over an hour later when they finally rang the doorbell. It was not the two amiable lads but a rather dour-looking couple, one of whom sounded foreign. I led them in and explained they would have to carry things into the front room first in order to get around the front door as there was no room for manoeuvre in the tiny hall.

They stood in the bedroom for a few moments looking at the dismantled bed in a rather disappointed way and then the foreign one spoke: “Boxes?” I assumed he was asking whether we had the original packaging and, by implication, why we had not packed the bed away neatly.

“Boxes long gone,” I replied, aiming for a similar laconicism. He grunted and took on a disgusted expression such one might on winning a wet weekend in Walsall. I did have some sympathy for them. We live on a red route and so delivery people have to park in one of the short-stay bays and walk from there. They were going to have to make several trips carrying all the bulky bed parts.

I stationed myself on door duty, opening it for them as they carried out their burdens. A couple of grunts seemed reasonable recompense in the circumstances.

They were soon done and I had just to sign their docket and that was that. They disappeared and, as far as I know, that is the end of the matter. Well, except for one thing, of course: the money. I shall be watching my credit card account carefully and if no refund appears within a reasonable time, I will start telephoning again.

The good news is that I have a date on Sunday. With Tigger, naturally. We are going to a certain bed shop where Tigger proposes to bounce on their beds until she finds one we like. I can think of worse ways of spending a November weekend afternoon.

I initiated the experiment to allow comments by SMS on August 21st. After nearly three months, it is clear that there is no call for this so I am ending the experiment.

I still think it was worth the effort as you can’t know whether or not there will be any take-up until you try it out.

This is the last post to carry the “Comments by SMS” tailpiece.

The Dwell assistant promised to phone me this morning having spoken to her manager to authorize a return of the bed against a refund.

By 10 minutes past midday, she still had not phoned so I called Dwell. This is annoying, not only because Dwell do not keep their promises to phone when they say they will, but because I then have to go through the customer services rigmarole, giving my order number, confirming my name and explaining why I am calling.

The CS person put me in hold to consult. She came back saying that the woman who was to phone me was on the phone but that they had arranged for new slats to be delivered on Friday, together with a crew who would fit them. I replied that this was not on, that we had got beyond that point and that the only thing that interested me was a confirmation that they were coming to pick up the bed. I was put on hold again.

I was then told that the person concerned was still on the phone but would call me. I pointed out that I had already waited in all morning for a promised call that did not materialize and now had to wait some more. It is added frustration that there is no point in shouting at the CS person who is merely the messenger and can do nothing to expedite matters.

So here I am at 12:45, still waiting for a phone call that can actually achieve something. Dwell is steadily doing downwards in my estimation. First, one of their products fails and then their customer services turns out to be extremely poor. A reputable company does not behave in this way.

I will update this post when there is anything to add.

By 2:30, I had not received a call, so I called them. The person I needed to talk to was actually doing a stint on the customer services line so I was able to speak to her. Her excuse was that the manager was currently busy with training so she had not been able to speak to her.

She promised to do so and call me back by 3pm. “But will you do so?” I asked, “as you keep saying you will call but don’t do so.” Yes, yes, she would call me. By 3pm. But will she?

Dwell. Remember that name: Dwell.

Wonders will never cease. Dwell called me back at 2:57 (just inside the 3pm deadline).

They will come to pick up the bed on Friday, between 8am and 2pm and have asked me to dismantle it, which I was expecting to do anyway.

I was pretty sure that we would eventually reach a resolution but, after the uphill struggle to get there, it is a huge relief to have finally achieved it.

We can now concentrate on shopping for a new bed, all being well something that will not give us the trouble that this one has.

Now that the matter is resolved, I will say no more about the company that supplied it but leave you to form your own opinion.

After another night of sleeping on what can be described as a mattress stuffed into a box too small for it, I rang Dwell’s customer services this morning. After looking up my customer number, the customer services person said “I’m putting through to him now”. This “him” sounded like the person who had left me the voicemail asking me to arrange delivery of the new set of slats.

I explained that the new replacement unit was useless as the hinges could not be fitted to it. He found that odd because, he asserted, it had come from a bed just like ours. Reading between the lines, I guessed that this bed and the one mentioned later, are beds being returned by customers.

I suggested that perhaps the design had changed and went on to say that we had the original building instructions for the bed so we knew what we were about and that we could therefore say with confidence that this was the wrong component.

He then said that they had another bed coming back and would send the slats from that. I pointed out that whereas before we had been sleeping on a broken bed we now had no bed at all and that there was as yet no sign of a resolution of this situation. (After all, I don’t know when this other bed will reach them and whether its slats will fit our bed.) In view of this, I said, we were now at the stage of thinking that we would rather return the bed and buy another one somewhere else. Could we not do this?

Our man went off to consult someone on this and returned after a while to say that they would have to consult their manager in order to authorize this. They would phone me back during the day.

That’s where things stand at present. I am sitting here with my Artone loopset at the ready, awaiting a call, not knowing when it will come or whether it will come at all. When I do hear from Dwell, I will update this post accordingly.

Update

At 4 pm I had still not received any calls from Dwell so I decided to ring them. I found myself speaking to a customer services woman who insisted on asking me questions that I felt were a waste of time as we had already gone beyond this stage. I repeated that I had been told a manager would phone me and as this hadn’t happened I was now calling myself to ask what was happening.

Finally, she agreed to speak to someone and put me on hold. When she came back it was to say that someone would definitely call me before 6pm. Reluctantly, I accepted this and settled down to wait again.

The next two hours passed without any phone calls. 6pm came and went and I had about given up hope when the phone rang. By then it wast about 6:10. It was the woman I had spoken to earlier. She apologized for calling after the agreed time. She had apparently been delegated to make certain offers to me.

Firstly, she told me, as I had already been told, that another bed was coming in and the slats were sure to fit our bed. I said I was sceptical, given that the present set didn’t fit. All right, then, how would it be if we came and fitted the slats to your bed for you? I asked when that would be. November 29th. I asked if she realized the conditions in which we were sleeping and described these to her graphically. I said it was far too long to wait and she agreed.

All right then, how would it be if they sent someone around who would fit the current slats, drilling new holes as necessary? He would do this by Friday at the latest. I said I was doubtful whether this would work and then came out with my killer argument. There are three square brackets to be attached to the frame to hold the mattress in place. I hadn’t realized this and they had gone away with the old frame. We didn’t have them so they could not be attached by the putative man with a drill.

By now I was feeling that we were getting nowhere. I was very nice about it. I said I felt she was doing a good job explaining my options to me but as a result of these useful discussions, I had become convinced that the only reasonable solution was to return the bed against a refund. She said she understood and “In your place I would do the same.”

By now, the manager had apparently gone home and was not available to sanction a refund. I find that ridiculous. Why did she not speak to me herself but delegate the job to someone who, if I wanted a refund, was unable to authorize it? I will now have to await another phone call tomorrow, letting me know that the refund has been authorized and when the bed will be collected. Another day will have been wasted, along with an opportunity to set things right.

All in all, this has been a rather sorry episode and I don’t think Dwell has dealt with it particularly well. I am prepared to believe we have been unfortunate and that most beds sold by the company are perfectly acceptable. But, as I have often said, you judge a company not on the fact that it makes mistakes but on how well it deals with those mistakes once they come to light. If the bed is removed against a refund within the next few days, I shall be ready to forgive and forget and to look forward to the fun of choosing a new bed from another supplier.