Grumble Thread

[Serial_Apologist]

That's because it's a large super-practice. In other news, never mind the statins, wot about my epilepsy tablets? Not that I care: when they run out I won't have to chuck them out when I get tired of taking them

Well one obviously hopes they don't run out!!! Update on the statins situation: no satisfaction from either pharmacy or surgery, whom the former emailed Monday without then receiving a reply - their only option was for me to contact the latter, which would mean a probably hold-up on the end of the phone sometime within their 8-10 am permitting time slot tomorrow morning. I've gone for informing them of the situation online via the proforma options box specifying "List drugs required". Holding my breath is not mentioned in any recommended remedy!

[eighthobstruction]

Statin rich in Boots Yorkshire !!!

....did you the article in Guardian ref young doctors expecting to leave after a couple of years....

[Serial_Apologist]

Statin rich in Boots Yorkshire !!!

Clearly in accordance with "levelling up"!

[eighthobstruction]

Well, we have after all been trying to raise our heads above the parapet for yers n'yers....using all salient means...

[Bryn]

I popped into my local Tesco this afternoon and enquired at the pharmacy there about the current state of Atorvastatin supply. I was advised that they had a good supply a the moment but it might be best to order my repeat prescription a little early, when I was getting close to taking the last of those I have at the moment.

[Serial_Apologist]

I popped into my local Tesco this afternoon and enquired at the pharmacy there about the current state of Atorvastatin supply. I was advised that they had a good supply a the moment but it might be best to order my repeat prescription a little early, when I was getting close to taking the last of those I have at the moment.

Here the surgery just rang me to say the Atorvastatin problem was shortages of the 80 mg packs, therefore I would have to be taking 40 mg tabs, which he was ordering up for me - two instead of 1 per day.

[Bryn]

Here the surgery just rang me to say the Atorvastatin problem was shortages of the 80 mg packs, therefore I would have to be taking 40 mg tabs, which he was ordering up for me - two instead of 1 per day.

Fortunately, I'm on the basic 20mg per day. Yes, I have read elsewhere that it is particularly the 80mg tablets that are in more restricted supply. As a little bonus,, I stumbled across an old pack of 27 x 20mg tablets which were prescribed for my late mother. If supply becomes critical, I may decide to fall back on them.

[johncorrigan]

I may have complained about this before, but when my pal in Germany sends me a postcard it costs him 0.95 Euros for the postage stamp...for me the stamp costs £2.20 to send one back. It really irritates me. Yesterday I was in the post office and the nice woman in there sold me some lovely Paddington first class stamps - it's £1.10 for a regular first classer, but as of next month the cost of a first class stamp rises to £1.25 - just outrageous - call me old-fashioned, but I like the idea that when I post a letter or pc, it arrives next day, but I may have to go for second classers from now on which will remain, I am told, at 75p.

[Serial_Apologist]

Wording on my latest British Gas renewal of contact confirmation statement, just received:

"Annual service* on your boiler to make sure it's running safely and efficiently"

Turn to lower down the page:

"*Your annual services may be more than 12 months apart".

[smittims]

Yes, I fell foul of this Kafkaesque deviousness. I complained that they hadn't contacted me for over twelve months since the last annual service and they said 'ah, well, the last one was before the end of the contract year and the present contract still has x weeks to run, so we're still right' (or words to that effect) .

[Dave2002]

Yes, I fell foul of this Kafkaesque deviousness. I complained that they hadn't contacted me for over twelve months since the last annual service and they said 'ah, well, the last one was before the end of the contract year and the present contract still has x weeks to run, so we're still right' (or words to that effect) .

Mention of British Gas makes my blood boil. Watch out that they don't automatically renew your contract - even if you move house!

Words [polite ones anyway] almost fail me in discussing that organisation.

If you try to sell a house, and want them to do a service before you leave then there's quite a chance they won't do it, claiming that they have to deal with "emergency" cases first, or they will repeatedly cancel appointments, then not reschedule new practicable ones claiming that possible emergency cases will have priority.

[smittims]

I think they may be the most difficult organisation I've ever dealt with. Try telephoning them, for instance. It can be more than two hours before you speak to a human being. Yet they keep on with their glossy image of 'caring' for us .

[Bryn]

I think they may be the most difficult organisation I've ever dealt with. Try telephoning them, for instance. It can be more than two hours before you speak to a human being. Yet they keep on with their glossy image of 'caring' for us .

'Up' there with Virgin Media, then.

[oddoneout]

Yes, I fell foul of this Kafkaesque deviousness. I complained that they hadn't contacted me for over twelve months since the last annual service and they said 'ah, well, the last one was before the end of the contract year and the present contract still has x weeks to run, so we're still right' (or words to that effect) .

The incremental creep is nothing new. Forty years ago our first family home came with a two year old boiler and associated service contract which was transferrable. It worked fine for 2 or 3 years - we were contacted before the year was up to arrange a service that fell within the 12 month interval. Then they started to delay the contacting,the service date started moving and the interval between services increased, together with the prevalent modern trend of not keeping appointments. A combination of a sudden large cost increase and arguments about whether 15 months was an acceptable interval for a 12 month service sent us to a local company that we used for several years. A few years later there was a special offer for a low cost service plan that included free breakdown cover for the first year. We took it up(with the intention of not renewing the following year as it was only a one off promotion) and not long afterwards the boiler broke down and needed parts, labour etc. By that time the original boiler had been replaced with a combi so the work was expensive. There was an initial attempt by BG to wriggle out of the contract, but as the boiler had been installed by the manufacturer and subsequently serviced by an approved contractor it didn't stick, and they had to meet the full(quite high) bill. It seemed quite a satisfactory payback for the irritations of the changes to the original service agreement.

[oddoneout]

The tiresomeness of small domestic objects. A couple of days ago the bevelled lip( a stuck on strip of softer plastic) of the dustpan came off, so the fine matter no longer gets swept into the pan. I've already attempted to mend it a couple of times but they didn't work. As I already have previous casualty in the shed for garden use this will have to be binned, which niggles. Whether I can get a separate dustpan, or have to have a brush and pan set I don't know - the brush is fine and doesn't need replacing.
This morning I couldn't find the squeegee I use to clear the bedroom window of condensation. I used it yesterday in another bedroom, but it seemed to have vanished completely so I had to get the one from downstairs. I'll give it another day to turn up and then admit defeat and get a replacement - at which point the original will appear in plain sight...
This is one of those occasions where the loss of Wilko is felt - it would have been a trip down town, probably calling in at the library opposite as well, to get both in the same place.