Crazy Utility Suppliers
My new house has four different suppliers for gas, electricity, telvision/broadband/phones and water, as is fairly typical in the UK.
I’ve now got them sorted, but sometimes you wonder what sort of muppets designed their systems.
- One supplier needs me to sign a contract, but they don’t have any means to send the contract to an address other than that of the property. And as the property has had tenants in it, good knows where the contract went to! I would vote for the rubbish, if my previous experience with tenants is anything to go by.
- One wanted me to sign on on-line for good reasons, but after two hours I gave up, as they kept asking who was my previous supplier, when obviously there wasn’t one. They also said I should phone a particular number, which had a fault. After I’d finished, they asked me to fill in an on-line survey, which I did truthfully. As it didn’t ask for my name, phone number or e-mail address, I doubt I’ll get an apology for the time I wasted.
- The water company were OK, but tried to sell me things I’ve never needed before.
- On a first call, nPower were short and to the point, so after I’d given up on the other energy company, I phoned them back. I did a combined gas and electricity deal, which may not be the cheapest, but it took me just ten minutes on the phone with a salesman who seemed much more competent than the rest combined.. He also informed me that my new house had a prepayment meter and arranged a suitable date for its removal.
It just goes to show that you can win some and lose some.
It would certainly help if some companies had properly designed systems.
An Inspiration to All of Us
It has just been announced on Radio Five that Sir Christopher Chataway will be running the Great North Run tomorrow, aiming to beat a time of one hour fifty two minutes. He is nearly 80 and it is also reported in The Independent. This article also gives details about the water project, he’s set up in Ethopia with his son, Adam, in memory of Adam’s fiance, who died in 2006. He also discloses in the article, that he used to smoke.
I can remember as a seven-year-old watching on television as Sir Christopher bear the unbeatable Russian, Vladimir Kuts, over 5,000 metres at the old White City and also claim the world record. Kuts sadly died at just 48!
Sir Christopher has been one of my heroes, since that night in October 1954.
New River Walk
The New River is one of London’s hidden treasures. It could be argued that the growth of London owes just a bit to this early seventeenth century feat of engineering to bring clean drinking water to London.
It is still used to bring water to London and most of the route is an easy walk. But from Stoke Newington onwards the river is now not used to provide water and in some places it has been converted into walks and parks. One such is the New River Walk at Canonbury.
New River Walk
Note the bamboo!
