Dustbins for Rubbish and Rubbish Ryanair Customer Services - Tuesday 5 June, 2018

A lazy day today. Rough night getting to sleep – no idea why – but then slept in by an hour or more compared to the previous mornings. Did a general 'tidy-up and organise' of the house. The principal reason being the need to move everything out of the lounge-diner in readiness for sanding the floor, but the other benefit is that (despite the need for a total re-decorate), the various rooms are starting to take on a homely quality at last – which is nice. Up until now it has felt as though I am living in an empty house; now it is starting to feel more like a home.

Next it was a walk up to the Hotel de Ville to sort the refuse collection. I popped in the estate agent’s en-route to drop off the now redundant ‘For Sale’ sign. It was also nice to see Cassandra again. At the Hotel de Ville the receptionist spoke little English and, unlike most here, didn’t seem inclined to meet me half-way. Fortunately I had prepared a set of translated questions. As soon as she understood the questions she simply handed me a telephone number – I was dismissed.

Back at the house I called the number and spoke to a far more accommodating lady at the refuse collection company. Even though she spoke a little English, as I expected, the questions and responses were too complex to readily handle over the phone, so I played my Ace card and explained that I would ask my daughter, who speaks French, to call her. I Skyped Natasha and she happily agreed to help.

Next I had a snooze.

Eventually I motivated myself to get up and go shopping. It was off to one of the local supermarkets and a near-by DIY shop for food and putty respectively (amongst other things). 

When I got back, Natasha Skyped to say she’d spoken to the refuse collection people and they would drop off two bins (re-cycle and normal) towards the end of the week – sorted. Thanks Tash!

Late afternoon and evening will be spent continuing the day in a lazy manner.

One other bit of news I received was an email from Ryanair. I have been trying for 7-months to get them to provide the letter, confirming a flight from Limoges was cancelled, that my insurers require. This should have been a straightforward matter and would have involved no cost to Ryanair and yet I have been trying for over half a year to get them to provide it – only after taking the matter to the Aviation Alternative Dispute Resolution service did I finally get the letter. And there was not even a covering note with an apology. Ryanair Customer Services (sic) really are the pits in my opinion. Even having taken it to the AADR, It took well over 3-months to get resolved.

Unfortunately Ryanair are the only company offering direct flights to the region so we are a captive market for flights. This is a significant part of my motivation for investing in a Eurotunnel Frequent Traveller Account.

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