Tim S wrote:
The recession is here. I still can't believe the customer misservice
attitudes abounding.

Went into a kitchen suppliers in T Wells this morning... Supposedly a good
one. Superficially nice stuff, but on closer inspection, lots of chipboard
in the shelves and carcasses.

OK - it's a certain price bracket - but I despise chip personally,
especially near things that are wet or need cleaning. But what got me was
the bloke's attitude (paraphrased):

Me: Hmm chip. I'm worried about spillages killing it.

Him: None of the other customers have complained. You don't spill things in
cupboards anyway.

Me: We do.

Him: How?

Me: Soy sauce bottles always seem to dribble, once a jar from a supermarket
wasn't noticed to be cracked, got put in and collapsed spontaneously later.
And washing the shelves always exposes the chip to damp

Him: Well, no one puts jars in cupboards - they use this demonstrates
sliding pull out drawer thing

Me: Thinks WTF? He's telling me that my experiences didn't happen - does he
think I'm dreaming them?!!

Sigh...

Then...

Me: Are the feet the usual adjustable affairs? I have a flat but not
perfectly level floor.

Him: Oh just put some latex down - it levels itself.

Me: No it doesn't, it smooths itself. Please explain how to level a floor
with 30mm variation without ending up with a step.

Him ???

Me: Other than a *lot* of grinding or digging out the floor, the only
practical solution is a little grinding and a little screeding *flat* but
slightly off level. Maybe 8mm in 2m.

Him: Oh, er. Yes, the feet will adjust to that.

---

So instead of addressing my concerns which are valid, he chose to argue the
toss about everything. Needless to say he's straight off the list. Silly
rabbit.

Contrast with a quick visit to Topps Tiles to show SWMBO the porcelain tiles
I found 2 weeks back. Very helpful to a man/lady. Showed me their version
of Marmox insulating board ("Warmup" - identical stuff). Listened to my
technical arguments about what I was after, listened to SWMBOs artistic
theories and showed us lots of interesting stuff.

I'm going to try my damndest to given them a big sale if we can agree on
some tiles from their ranges.

I have always found Topps Tiles to be one of the best shops I have used.
Helpful, very knowledgeable and eager to please.

Dave