This could run

I have mentioned before that we decided to replace our front door and it was back in August that I wrote about the various sales reps and their companies. I also mentioned yesterday that the door was installed earlier this week. Part of my reason for placing the order with the company concerned was the offer of a 15 year insurance backed guarantee - words which were written on the contract form by the sales rep and which are confirmed in the small print terms and conditions on the back of the form. Today I received documentation from the insurance company which stated that the guarantee was for ten years, which period the insurers confirmed when I phoned them.

Having decided to write to the suppliers rather than just telephone, I decided first to check their web site with a view to finding the name of the managing director (it wasn't there). While on the site, I checked their terms and conditions. Lo and behold, the guarantee shown there is for ten years. I have now written asking for comments concerning the discrepancy and proposals for rectifying the matter.

By coincidence, it was about 40 years ago that I last had dealings with this business. It was then operating simply as a supplier of glass and glazing under a slightly different name but the present company is essentially the same business. Back than, I went to their premises with the measurements of a pane of glass I needed in order to replace a broken bedroom window. When I came to fit the glass late in the afternoon, I discovered that it was wider at one end than at the other, presumably because it had been cut using the sloping side of the T-square. I had to call the boss at his home and insist that he provide glass to the correct measurement straight away. His initial response was that I should nail something over the window and deal with it the next day. Unfortunately for hm, I had to be back at work the next day and I refused to leave a baby in that room overnight until the next weekend. It was with a bad grace that he turned out so that I could finish the job that day.

I hope my earlier experience is not an omen.