We’ve been chasing (far too many times) for the registration number for Mr BW’s new car, as the new insurance can’t be sorted until we have a registration number, and the cost of the new policy is rising by the day as 1st March – the date of inception – gets ever closer.
At first we were told it couldn’t be allocated until the car (a ‘special build’ as we required a towbar and a heated front screen) was in the country. The website says it has now ‘landed’, but today there was some rubbish about the salesman’s admin person having to go home at 3pm and not being in again until Monday. Having been admonished by Mr BW, the salesman then rang me and said he’d, “Noted your husband’s expressed displeasure, so I’ve called in a favour and a colleague’s admin assistant is now doing it instead and you should expect the list of numbers to choose from by email in the next 10 minutes.” I’m left wondering how many tens of thousands of pounds one has to spend before one gets decent service these days, without hassle or having to be assertive. I already know what we will be putting on the inevitable feedback form on him that we will receive…
I’d insisted on seeing the choices for plates as I am very particular about such things. They don’t like giving you any choice at all these days, but, they were eventually persuaded.
In the eventuality, all the choices (ie all their allocated numbers from DVLA) were horrible, but some of them were hilarious. I’m surprised that a couple of them were even considered suitable for issue.
The choices were:
BW25 FFS
BW25 FEK
BW25 FEM
BW25 FFO
We decided that any of these choices would only be funny for the first ten minutes, and eventually went for a choice that was the abbreviated name of an ultra-high-tech product manufactured by the company with whom Mr BW spent his working life. As Mr BW said, ultimately, it was the sales of that product that had paid for the car.
It’s hard to believe that it is now almost 10 years since Mr BW retired. Or, as he said at the time, as it was 17 years before his official government pension age, he took his ‘gap year’. Which has turned into a ‘gap decade’.
Our new entrance gate was initially installed 2 weeks ago today, but their electrician, originally due at the beginning of last week, turned out not to be available until today. And then, the job could still not be finished, as a crucial component was ‘not in its box’, so tonight the gate is still secured shut by a loop of old-fashioned sisal baler twine off a large spool that I purchased at the local auction a couple of weeks ago.
They might be back tomorrow afternoon, depending on how quickly some cement they are laying elsewhere sets, as they want paying and we made clear we wouldn’t be paying until the job was actually completely completed and working to our satisfaction.
FFS. We clearly should have picked that registration. You just can’t get the staff.