Life begins at 6.30am

I had a nice day yesterday, played on the computer for a bit (Benjamin bought me Might and Magic IX, but I want to complete the last level of M&M VIII first, so I have a few more monsters to kill and some odd levers and locked doors to try and sort out), had a haircut, had an excellent bacon and brie baguette at the the bakery in Park Gate, did a little light shopping and then came home for birthday tea. Once the younger children had gone to bed we started watching Munich but by about 10.30 we were too tired and turned it off. The only disappointment of the day was that Daniel's laptop came back from Medion with the screen working but with no wireless connection and with a return of the old problem that the battery won't charge from the mains. (I never did get a reply to my complaint.) I went out and bought a new Netgear wireless card which also failed to work. There seems to be a conflict between the Netgear software and the standard Windows wireless networking setup (huge thanks to Alex, who came for birthday cake and then spent ages trying to sort this for me), despite not having a problem with a Netgear wireless PC card elsewhere on my network. In the end I gave up, and we may resort to Daniel checking there's nothing on there he wouldn't want to lose, and then we'll try restoring the factory settings. If that makes the software work, we'll look at the prices of new batteries; if not, we'll have an expensive paperweight.

Anyway, I'm trying to get into the habit of treating each day as a gift from God, a fresh start and chance to do things well. I doubt I'll succeed fully every day, but it's worth a try. And I have my first session with the hypnotherapist today, so it seems like a good time to embrace the possibility of change.

Laptop

Over a month ago I sent Daniel's laptop to Medion for repair or replacement, as it was less than a year old and had gone wrong (for the second time). I had phoned their customer service line several times - they never ever phoned me despite promising someone would call me back - and run up phone bills listening to their choice of queuing music, as well as repeatedly emailing them a scan of the receipt (which at first they denied receiving - they don't reply to emails either) to prove that the laptop was less than a year old. Eventually they conceded that the screen being completely white wasn't something they could sort out over the phone and Parcelforce took it away. I called again two weeks ago to find out what was happening and was told that they had replaced the keyboard (why?) but it had failed testing because the screen was white, so they'd ordered a new screen. I called again this morning and was told that two weeks ago they'd replaced the main board (aha - so not the keyboard then) but it had failed testing because the screen was white and so they'd ordered a new screen. I pointed out that this was two weeks ago, but the lady in their call centre explained there was nothing she could do except email someone to point out that the new screen hadn't arrived. Given Medion's record on emails, I wasn't hopeful, so asked who I called to complain. I was told that complaints have to be in writing - presumably nobody wants to talk to angry customers. She did give me an email address, to which I will send a copy of this blog post, in the hope that I can find out

• why it has taken so long to diagnose the problem with this, given that I gave them a full description over the phone and simply trying to switch on the laptop on the day it was delivered would have given them a clue
• whether in fact the delay is due to the incredibly high number of faulty machines sent back to Medion or to their underinvestment in tech staff
• why it takes a company over two weeks to get a component for one of their own machines
• whether they have any comment to make about never returning phone calls or replying to emails

If I get a reply I'll post it here, but I'm not indulging in any breathholding.

UPDATE: I've just realised that Medion's hotline web page is headed "I have a problem" and continues "is a phrase that we often hear when customers call our telephone hotline." Could it in fact be the phrase "I have a problem with your appalling level of service and apparent total disregard for your customers"?