grumpy diy'ers
while i was at college i had a job in a well known UK diy store who shall remain nameless (wickes). diy shops seem to get a large share of the consumer complainers maybe they dont like being told the way they are attempting to do something in their own homes wont work, or wont last long, or is down right dangerous or maybe they are being forced to so some work by the missus and take it out on the staff... but in my time there i had one official complaint letter sent in about me and this is that story...

At the back of our store was the racks where you could select your own bricks, edging stones, decorative wall cappings, brickweave, paving slabs etc... these racks where 2 bays high... most of the bricks and cappings were on the floor level and the slabs and other flooring where at about shoulder height.... we used to get a few women sent in for slabs while their hubbys were at home laying some or preparing to... and of course one of us blokes would happily load 20 slabs on a trolly... cart them outside and break the suspension on their cars with them...

one day i was having a tidy up on this aisle, re-stacking the bricks and sweeping up etc, i saw but didnt really pay any attention to a family further down near the the bags of cement and sand and gravel etc.. there was a middle aged couple, a bloke in his late teens... son im guessing and some younger girls... i saw the son and dad both lifting bags of cement and sand from the floor level racks onto their trolley, proving straight away that they were able bodied gentleman. the son then pulled the loaded trolley down towards me and they all stood there for a few seconds surveying the selection before the dad suddenly exclaimed loudly in my direction

man: "how am i supposed to get these down from there... thats bloody dangerous"

me: "i can give you a hand if you want"

man: "thats not what i asked, whats the point of having them up there"

me: "well we dont have the space to have them all on the floor"

man: "so you expect people to get them down from there, thats against health and safety

me: "well its the same in most of our stores and most other diy stores, its lifting single slabs from shoulder height to the trolley, like i said im happy to do it for you"

man: "well its dangerous, i dont mind lifting them from the floor but not up there"

me: "sir arn't you going to take these outside, lift them into your car... then lift them from the car and to where ever in the garden you want them"

man: "yes but none of those places are at this height"

it was then i uttered the words "well sir, loads of other people have managed just fine" and walked away

3 days later head office faxed through a complaint letter they had received and the man was sent a gift card and some flowers for his wife who was deeply shocked at the service they had received. As always head office had blanked out the address on the letter so that i and probably many other people across the stores in the UK couldn't call round or post a note using the words twat, wanker and c*** several times

length ? 16 x 16 x 2 in terracotta red
(maxumus HEY!.... diddly dee, de de de de de de, Fri 3 Sep 2010, 22:54, 1 reply)

"As always head office had blanked out the address on the letter"

That's to stop you marking out the Wickes logo on his lawn, in weedkiller.
( eXOBeX, Sun 5 Sep 2010, 18:31, closed)