Sunday, September 20, 2009

Why can't all deliveries be like this?

My game was cancelled again this week, so I set out to look into the possibility of getting either a dining table or a tumble drier delivered. In the event, I got a nice new tumble drier.

Some months ago, I had searched out the dining table I wanted, but due to financial pressures I never actually got around to ordering it. Unfortunately, it has now increased in price, but that wasn't the barrier. What was the barrier this time is the conditions of the delivery: they'll arrange a delivery date some time in the next four weeks, on a weekday, and the slot they'll offer is "some time between 8 and 6". In other words, I would have to take a day of work (which I currently can't) just to wait in for a delivery. Yay!

(And, of course, there isn't the option to go to the store to get the table, or even to have the table delivered to the store and collect it from there at a time that suits me. Oh, no. It must be delivered to my apartment, and I must take a day off to get it. It looks very much like I'll be getting another table entirely.)

By contrast, there was the drier. This I got from Comet, which was one of the more expensive options, and I had to pay extra for the delivery, which was also more expensive. But it did work so very well...

They offered a bunch of options. For orders placed before 2, I could have next-day delivery, or I could instead opt to wait longer and get free delivery. I was permitted to choose my delivery date at the time of ordering (and have the delivery made on any day of the week, including both weekend days). If I wanted, I could also choose either a morning or an afternoon delivery (although this did cost more).

Having made my selection, they then arrived when they said they would, on the day they would, phoned to say "it will be in the next half-hour", and delivered the drier with a minimum of fuss.

Basically, it was the way all deliveries should be done.

#46: "The Princess Bride", by William Goldman

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