Persistence has paid off - in cash!

Re my dispute with Argos, well thanks to a lovely lady called Lynette Adams I am sorted.

I thought I would give them one more call this morning before my visit tomorrow which, for all my front, I was not looking forward to.

I simply said to the first human I spoke to that I wanted to follow up a letter of complaint and didn't know who to ring. I was IMMEDIATELY put through to the director's office and spoke to said lovely lady.

I explained everything and she agreed that, despite the 30 day money back guarantee having run out, two months was not a reasonable time for the vacuum to have become unfit for purpose and that I, the customer, was right.  We came to an agreement that I did not want a replacement and would like to be refunded. She asked for a copy of the email I originally sent plus my reciept details saying she would contact the store and get back to me later today.

After having sent her the email I had second thoughts about asking for vouchers and said I would prefer a cash refund.

I received an email about two hours after my call to say the store would be expecting me tomorrow and that a refund of how we paid, by card, would not be a problem but to let her know if there was an issue.

HA - GET IN!!

The image at the top of my post is something Martin Lewis advocates on his Money Saving Expert website so I have him to thank for helping me in my quest.

Chuffed to bits and it goes to show it really does pay to stand your ground. 

Plans for our new beginnings, and the future - we think. Lol!

How many times do you get an idea in your head and you think you have a plan, and then you change your mind? Me and Jon have done that lots of times, trying to make decisions, for us, the boys, anything and everything.

Well, you may know we have some out-buildings here at Bronllan, thought I'd share that with you - the name of the house!

The section on the right, starting at the far left with the window and door you can just see, has had work begun on it. Jon has plastered completely inside, put up a stud partition wall and got the electrics done. This is all because we have finally decided to turn all three parts of the buildings, plus the largest section that is currently Jon's workshop, into bed and breakfast accommodation; the largest section will be the cooking and eating space.

BIG decision, but we think we can do it. We used to run a 120 seater cafe/restaurant just after we got married and that was mental at times, so this should be easy compared to that. Our plans were originally to have chickens and a polytunnel in the garden as we have enough space for both; it was just a case of deciding where to put them once all the bamboo had been got rid of. Because the renovations are going to take some time, not expecting to take paying customers until at least Easter 2017, we can make use of the garden as I would like to for a while.

I have advertised on Freecycle for a greenhouse and I'm going to offer the small shed we used to have as a kennel for Jake, and hopefully the greenhouse will go on the hard ground where the kennel was. Chickens will have to wait but, along with the work we plan to do close to the house we eventually want to use the field we bought with the house - approxiately 4 acres - as our proper smallholding. We will have ample space for chickens, a couple of sheep, some pigs, maybe rare breeds, the polytunnel and a big old barn for Jon when he loses his workshop. The work here will take some effort, too, as a road needs putting into the field as it has a narrow strip bordered by a stream before breaking out into the main part of the land, if that makes sense.

Phew! I KNOW!! We just have to take it a step at a time. Jon only has weekends to do the work but that is ok as we hope his dad will give us a little assistance. Once we get the greenhouse that is my job to sort out and I'll be looking for lots of advice - so please don't be shy. 

When we moved here we knew we wanted to use the field for a real purpose and also the outbuildings for something, too, but didn't really know what impact it would have on us as a family. The boys have always been foremost in our minds when it came to setting up a business but they are older now. Of course by the time we are ready to get going so they will be another year older so will not suffer and no doubt be eager to help. I like the idea of a business being close to the house but never wanted people IN the house so this is great.

Bore Da - the lesson went well!

My Welsh lesson yesterday was fun actually, Sadie.
 
There were only four of us but I really hope everyone sticks to it. I seemed to be ever so slightly ahead of the a couple of them even though I was the newest person recently moved to the village. I think this is because of the boys talking in Welsh all the time and I have picked up some pronunciations.

I have homework to learn - my colours, numbers one to ten so I can rattle off my telephone number and also look for some place name from each letter of the Welsh alphabet.

One of my aims is to be able to ask for stamps when I go to the Post Office. Small things!

Hwyl!

Pob lwc!

Yes, wish me luck!

Today I begin my Welsh lessons! Luckily they are just across the road at our lovely Community Centre.
                            
 This is a beginners class with four weeks of two hour lessons. Hopefully I will be able to join another group which is a bit more advanced after this finishes at the beginning of next month.

Hwyl fawr.

                                                                                                                                                                    

Could I ask for your opinion on Argos?

Question. 

Would you think that when a vacuum cleaner is not fit for purpose less than two months after purchase a store should quibble about it being returned and a refund or replacement provided?

I am having a bit of a thing with Argos. We bought a new vacuum in October and in December the upright tube part did not fit into its housing properly and the part you wind the flex around had broken. It also lost suction. I didn't have my receipt but got the transaction details from customer service at a later date.

On taking it back to the shop in Aber we had our bank statement, no receipt details at that point, I had looked at Martin Lewis about our rights and I went armed with information. The staff could not find the item we had bought and paid for in the catalogue or a catalogue number on their system. I feel we were given a substitute item and it was briefly mentioned that it could be a replacement item therefore that would be mis selling. The manager told Jon that the statement didn't necessarily mean we had bought that item, suggested we try and mend it ourselves and that he would have not complained if he had a vacuum which gave up the ghost after two months! When you buy an item the contract is with the shop not the manufacturer.

I have called, hhhh!, written and emailed. I emailed again today and it has not bounced back, which previous ones have done so I live in hope. 

Jon is loathe to return to the shop as the manager was so rude to him, but as we have the transaction details I was advised to try again with them. The shop said they could not trace any transaction but I was told on the phone that they can!

I'm not letting this one go. We have spent a lot of money with them since the boys were small but this has really put me off, especially when I see on forums etc. how badly other customers have been treated re their complaints. 

Anybody with similar experiences with Argos?

A Bit About Us

I am quite surprised I even manage to write a blog as it takes me so long to do the things I want to with it! 

However I managed to add an "A Bit About Us" tab near the top of the page. 

Yay!!!

Inspiriation For Life.

(Green for the New Year I think, plus appropriate for this post.)

I have just read an inspirational post by Shoestring Cottage - Frugal Living.

It made me think about a few things I would like to change / do this year. I haven't made any resolutions but rather I think it is great to have aims. So... 

Grow some vegetables when we have cleared the right space. We have bigger plans for the future but this will have to suffice for now.

Use my washing machine on the cheaper night time tariff. I've already started doing this and when I read and posted my monthly meter readings just this morning it showed I had taken about £9 off the bill I currently owe them - I do pay by Direct Debit but they put that on my account as soon as the reading had registered which I thought was fab and maybe it is already working.

Turn off lights that I sometimes leave on for ease. I turned back and switched the light off in the cellar this morning when I came back in from taking the Christmas decorations to store away. I leave it on as I go out the back of the house a lot, take the recylcing out of the way up there etc. but think I should really only turn lights on when I need them. (Tell that to my boys who insist on having the landing light on at night - STILL!)

Re-use bread bags for sandwiches or things I put in the freezer. I did manage to make most of the family bread requirements during November and will return to that next week. I use the Rayburn warming oven and the top to prove the bread then ramp it up to bake it. If I bake it at the right time Jon can have a red hot, soothing bath when he comes home from work. (We had oil delivered on Christmas Eve and for 500 litres we paid £160 which was £8 cheaper than the same amount we bought when we first moved into the house.)

Have things made by reusing and recylcing. Jon recently made Jake a new Dawg House and a frame for an old Belfast sink so we can wash him outside after he took down a big wooden store in the middle of the garden. Plus we have a mountain of kindling, the trailer in the picture is 8 feet long, from the same source and are planning on giving some of it away as we have sooo much.

I like the idea of using cerial boxes for notes and lists; I love a list you know!

Buy more clothes from charity shops. I bought a cardigan for £3.69 last week and we have bought furniture and household items from Craft in Aber and will continue to browse there. Love it!

Well, I had better get on with something now, turkey burgers to make for tea. x

Happy New Year!

Hello

Yes felicitations for the new year, if a little bit late! Sorry.

I hope you had fun, we had a very quiet Eve day time but thoroughly enjoyed Jools Holland's Hooternanny which we watch every year. It was just wonderful with Tom Jones, Paul Weller (long time fan), Jess Glynn, who on some days I will take over Adele as she reminds me of 1990's dance music, plus a singer called Rhiannon Giddens, check HER out!

My niece has left us today after her stay and unfortunately her first train home was cancelled so she has a coach ride ahead of her. Luckily we popped into The Works today and she picked up a number of books that were on sale so she will have something to occupy her for the extended journey. I purchased a new notebook to be this year's Journal of Gratitude.

I have been taking down a few decorations but none of the major ones; I will start and tackle those on Monday. I think bringing in one storage box at a time from the shed and packing accordingly will be a lot easier than taking it all apart and then attmpeing to find the right box!

Due to the unfortunate incident with my financial scam we were eager to put the laptop back to factory settings ensuring everything was wiped. At the same time as this we put the photos from it onto a disk - or so we thought. At the moment it doesn't seem to have worked so we do not have the pictures of the house before the work was finished. We are going to have another try at retrieving them from my mobile phone....

I really have to make more of an effort at taking my phone places. We had that lovely walk on the beach on Boxing day and yesterday when we took my niece down to the field I could have taken some great photos, too!

I don't make resolutions; I think you set yourself up for failure and disappointment in yourself as soon as you have a minor slip.I prefer to set myself what I consider to be achieveable goals and IF you should have to slightly move the goal posts to reach your goal that's ok!

I love the beginning of a new year; such promise, possibilities and positivity.

I really look forward to seeing what we all get up to in the next few months.

With New Year Love, Louise. xx

Crimbo Limbo!

Hello!

This is my usual post at this time of the year where you just feel a bit strange.

All the madness of preparing for the main event is done, however ours was very relaxed this year due to there only being the four of us. Presents, breakfast, listening to music whilst the kids played, TV not on till much later, a few drinks, I think you get the idea. It was just lovely.

On Boxing day we took Jake for a run on the beach but he didn't get nearly as wet as my youngest when he was playing chicken with the waves! We picked up some fab pieces of drift wood which are currently drying out in the cellar - sorry haven't the energy to put photos up just now - but planning to use it for some projects around the house including the base for a set of coat hooks at the front door.

I don't know about you, but I'm done with the food thing. We had a fab piece of ham from Morrisions for £14 which we roasted for dinner on December 19 and it had done us proud! We froze the second part of it and had it cold on Boxing Day. I've finished making pea and ham soup this morning with the last ever bit. However, my niece is coming tomorrow to stay for four days so you just can't have soup and bread every day, which would suit me just fine! I'm sitting at the kitchen table just now trying to plan some plain, but tasty, food and have got as far as beef stew and dumplings in the slow cooker for New Year's Eve. I do still have my yummy pork pie in the freezer and that is for New Year's Day.

I sorted out my papercrafting things from the cellar onto the shelves in the office yesterday. I used to have box upon box of things but gave away a lot before we moved. I kept lovely pieces of paper, some stamps and embellishments I have collected but that is about it. I was pleased that I found some Kraft card blanks and then I covered my diary that I bought a little while ago. I like to buy a plain, one page a day type and make it look pretty - picture later!

I also have had my calendar since about October and that is sitting with dentist appointments, dates for school and a couple of other things already on it ready to go up. 

I made a decoration a couple of years ago which I hang in the kitchen from January 1 for a couple of weeks just to remind me of how I love the possibilities and positivity that comes with the New Year, yes, picture later.

Well I hope there is some relaxation going on in blogland and I'll maybe catch up before New Year.

xxx



 

1 sleep to go 'till the Big Ho Ho!

Ok I think this will be my last post before Christmas Day.  I am just catching up whilst finishing the cranberry sauce and baking the stuffing cake which is in the oven and should be done in time for a photo.

We have bingo and Elf scheduled for this afternoon following a simple lunch of baked potatoes before it all gets a bit over the top.

I always want to do last minute decorations so have switched things around a bit in the kitchen on the dresser, oh my cake is decorated. Didn't have any icing and didn't want to buy the only big pack I could find so improvised as you see!

Oh and I'm really quite chuffed with my new hadnmade sign for the front door. Passing motorists must have thought me quite strange taking photos of my front door!

 

And here is the suffing cake, nom nom!

Once again, best festive wishes to everybody for a wonderful day tomorrow with family and friends.

Louise.xx 

Oh so grateful!

First of all I'd like to say thank you for all the lovely things everyone has said since the house properly became ours. Very grateful for the support during the stressful times and kind words now all is well.

I should have posted this yesterday but there was a bit of celebrating to be done. Hubs brought me two lovely bunches of flowers.

My celebrations began with a sneaky Irish Cream and a mince pie....

then in the evening we made the most of the Christmas drinks sideboard, particularly keen on this part of the house decorations especially the cocktail feature from Pretty Nostalgic I have used as a decoration.

We finally broke open the bubbly to celebrate the house being ours - I am going to stop going on about it now, promise. 

Probably will be a couple more posts but just in case not may I wish all my Welsh blogging friends Nadolig Llawen and Merry Christmas to everybody. 

Lou.xx

Why we did it.

Hi.

Now I am able to write from our new home I thought I would tell you a little bit about why we have found ourselves in wonderful Wales. We began looking at moving from our previous home in Greater Manchester about 18 months ago I think. Our boys were still young enough to take on the challenge of changing schools and making new friends, be it all in a very different location and with a different language but we hadn't always intended to move to Wales. 

Our aim was to find what we were looking for wherever it happened to be. It was not about the location itself but what the location would afford us, what it would allow us to do and what we would gain from it. Some of you may not know that we took a very long and arduous trip to Lewis in the Western Islands of Scotland last year because we saw something which might have been what we were looking for. It wasn't, but there are some things you just have to do when you are on a mission.

We found our new home on the internet initially, as most people do, and were so eager to view it that we cancelled an already arranged viewing to see it. I can honestly say that with one foot in the doorway and one look to the left at the gorgeous, blue Rayburn in the kitchen I fell in love with the house and it had to be ours, whatever.  As you probably know we had to deal with numerous problems and issues before finally making the house ours, but that is thankfully all behind us now. 

As I write this I'm looking out of the kitchen window and can see the Church and Community Centre, the school bus stop my boys will soon feel very grown up using on their own and through the top kitchen window I can just see the far hills dotted with sheep. I hate to sound smug and describe it as so idylic but for us it is perfect.

We have plans for the future, a business, growing our own, having our own chickens and the boys still being able to have a childhood surrounded by such opportunities. I would never say we are wrapping them in cotton wool or shielding them from life elsewhere but I have a postcard which is a poster from the second world war and it reads: 

Children are safer in the country.... leave them there.

(With recent events around the world we have been thinking about a summer holiday and for the first time we have really had to consider locations. I would be more than happy to stay here and enjoy the Welsh summer but I think this year will have some time away and then next year we will hopefully have lots going on that will keep us at home!)

We think at the age they are, and for the time we have whilst they are young, we are very happy for them to be in this environment. I should say at this point they have been learning Welsh since the beginning of September and they are doing amazingly well and we are immensely proud of their efforts and hard work.

I hope to share some photographs soon of our home and the surrounding area. xx

Welcome To Our New Beginnings.

Oh my goodness, Mrs H has a new home!

Finally, and I mean FINALLY, I am able to write my first post whilst feeling we are here in our own house!

Thankfully all the pain, frustration and anxiety is over -  and now we are able to begin making it our own home!

I am so looking forward to sharing our new home and new life with some new online friends I have recently made, as well as some old ones. I have been around the house and taken lots of before photographs so I can look back and see how things have changed in the past months.

We have lots of exciting plans which means sometimes I can hardly breath when I think of what we will do first or how fun it will be when we have the chickens and can really see what we can do with the garden etc. 

One last thing. Here is a post I would like to share with you. I wrote it on January 16th 2014 and it makes me feel all fuzzy inside to think about the things I wrote, where we are now and where we are going along this journey with our boys. 

(Apologies about the banner photo but a tad excited to change it just now! xx)