Friday, June 15, 2007

crime scene


This is the window the burglar forced to get in. He inserted a tool to unlock the latch, then 'popped' the sash over the (chubb) window locks and pulled it down - leaving very minimal damage to the window and only scuffing the woodwork paint. He then tried to lever the secondary window open, several times, leaving huge gouges in the metal frame before smashing the glass. He was then able to climb in, closing and relocking the outer sash behind himself (he left through a back window).

The police found a few smudgy fingermarks on the outside of the frame, left by someone climbing out. Inside he wore gloves and wiped down behind himself.

He left a few muddy footprints on my cream sofa.

Anyway, so that's the story. I am now in conflict with Everest about replacing the window - despite charging me £72 for a call-out I have no say over when they will come, the date or even the time. And their telephone operators have clearly been trained by watching Catherine Tate videos - it's all "Whatever, I'm not bovered". It's now almost a month, and I haven't even been quoted for the damage!

So now, Norwich Union have written to say they are sending in their own claims people to sort out the damage - after originally telling me to get a quote, and after me paying Everest £72 to quote.

Absolutely the only reason I am still considering using Everest is because they were the installers of the original windows and using a different company to replace a window will affect the guarantee.

Similar issues are happening with Visa and mastercard. The 'secure' postal people they use to deliver cards are utterly frustrating. No British company believes in personal customer service any more. Even getting the police to come out and do a security check is just not happening. I would say my Bank, Barclays, has been the best organization I have dealt with over this so far.

No comments: