Vodafone sucks

Ok so this blog is a journal of events around possibly the world's slowest renovation, but hey, it's also a place for me to vent. And as I've been updating recent posts with the torture that is dealing with Vodafone I thought I'd better update with the very good news that I now have a working HTC One S phone.

This is unfortunately not the phone I was originally issued with (refer earlier post on an unsuccessful SIM removal for the full story). And it was far from easy to sort: after the 'repair' the phone was sent without a back and Vodafone couldn't source a replacement. After a couple of weeks they told me to find my own and send proof of purchase so they could credit my account. It took me all of 1 minute to find the part online and order it. It arrived a few days later. I took it into Vodafone in Westfield (where unsurprisingly the store manager recognised me) and I got my nano-SIM fitted about 15 minutes after arriving.

At this point, I should have been happy to finally have a phone that worked after five long weeks but no, I'm a sucker for punishment and asked that they 'red box' the contents of my old HTC onto the new one. I thought that apps, contacts, messages and photos would be transferred in about 30 minutes.

Long story short: they don't move apps... (wish they'd told me that before starting the red box treatment) and four hours and fifteen minutes later (with numerous visits to Vodafone to see how they were getting on....) the chap handed me a phone with 2,200 contacts. No wonder it was taking so long: these people are clearly idiots.

I had to pay for the carpark (grrr) and take my two fractious children home where I did a factory reset on the phone.

It took me FIFTEEN MINUTES to sync my contacts book with Google. And was very easy once logged into the Play store to re-download all the apps I'd had before under the useful tab heading 'My Apps'. This is why Android is such a great platform - it's easy to transfer between phones. This whole ordeal has strained my relationship with Vodafone. I don't think I'd respect myself if I stuck with them when my contract's up for renewal. Any recommendations for alternative companies are welcome!

Cushioning the impact

Maybe it's advancing age, or maybe it's because our sofa is getting on, but I've found the need for cushions has outweighed my previous need for minimalism.  One tucked behind makes an evening spent glued to back-to-back episodes of Breaking Bad fly by.

So I thought it was a good idea to buy new ones to replace the sad flat boring black ones that came with the sofa. I found these three beauties which appealed to my kitsch sensibility, yeah I thought it had long been suppressed too. The best bit? £4 EACH from Primark! Rob nearly had a coronary muttering  'Why are we buying home furnishings from Primark?' Sure, like he'd have been thrilled if I'd bought three cushions for £40 each from a reputable department store. 

Anyway, cushions aren't a lifetime commitment. By the time these need replacing I'll have upgraded my need for kitsch, though maybe not my need for a total bargain...