Hello, it's me Simon.
I'm looking for a book, I wonder if you can get it for me? It's by a guy called John Healy and it's called The Grass Arena. It's the autobiography of this guy who was a boxer who turned to drink and then the booze took over his life and he ended up on the street for 15 years. During one of his prison spells he was introduced to chess, and it changed his life. It seems he was an absolute genius at it and it kind of turned his life around.
About 8 years ago a fine fellow called Andy Walker (who I've unfortunately lost touch with), suggested I read it. It was out of print then, but apparently it's now available through a publisher called Kingpin. Here's the ISBN 9780955551208.
I'd really like to read the book (and stock it in the shop) as I understand it's a bit of a gem. Is it distributed by anyone out there?
Thanks
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Big Green Wood Green
Simon;
loyal readers will remember fondly this blast from the past!
Yes, that's right. The competition we had to name the bookshop. 500 entries, amusing evening in pub deciding winner, choosing The Big Green Bookshop a name.
Well, it seems that Haringey (the borough in which Wood Green sits) is opening a new secondary school in 2010, and look what they're doing.
We're going to push hard for The Big Green Secondary School. I think it's got a nice ring to it. And before anyone asks, it won't just admit environmentally aware children.
I've also entered a competition to name a park here in Wood Green. Guess what my suggestion was?
The Big Green Space.
It's all about brand awareness isn't it.
The solicitor's still waiting for the fax. Tim chased it up this morning. Here are some of todays claims.
'It was posted on Friday'
3 minutes later
'It was posted on Monday'
Tim; 'but you said you would be faxing it'
'ooh yes, so we did. I'll make sure we do that'
*sighs*
Todays favourite lyric from my neverending playlist
ART BRUT from the song Pump Up the Volume
I know i shouldn't, but is it so wrong,
to break from a kiss, to turn up a pop song
this, from the band that brought you
I was your boyfriend when we were 15, it's the happiest i've ever been,
even though we didn't understand how to do much more than just hold hands
lovely bittersweet spiky pop/punk. Lovely lovely Art Brut.
loyal readers will remember fondly this blast from the past!
Yes, that's right. The competition we had to name the bookshop. 500 entries, amusing evening in pub deciding winner, choosing The Big Green Bookshop a name.
Well, it seems that Haringey (the borough in which Wood Green sits) is opening a new secondary school in 2010, and look what they're doing.
We're going to push hard for The Big Green Secondary School. I think it's got a nice ring to it. And before anyone asks, it won't just admit environmentally aware children.
I've also entered a competition to name a park here in Wood Green. Guess what my suggestion was?
The Big Green Space.
It's all about brand awareness isn't it.
The solicitor's still waiting for the fax. Tim chased it up this morning. Here are some of todays claims.
'It was posted on Friday'
3 minutes later
'It was posted on Monday'
Tim; 'but you said you would be faxing it'
'ooh yes, so we did. I'll make sure we do that'
*sighs*
Todays favourite lyric from my neverending playlist
ART BRUT from the song Pump Up the Volume
I know i shouldn't, but is it so wrong,
to break from a kiss, to turn up a pop song
this, from the band that brought you
I was your boyfriend when we were 15, it's the happiest i've ever been,
even though we didn't understand how to do much more than just hold hands
lovely bittersweet spiky pop/punk. Lovely lovely Art Brut.
Monday, February 04, 2008
The Big Green Bookshop (sort of) open for business
Simon;
in the absence of a shop made of bricks, The Big Green Bookshop ebay site is up and running. And look at these precious exclusive things that you can buy!!
WOW, i hear you say. But wait, that's not all. You'll get a signed official TBGB certificate of authentication with your badge, so in years to come, when The Big Green Bookshop is bigger than Wall-mart (but still lovely of course), you'll be able to sell it on ebay again for a fortune!
alternatively you could wear it.
Lovely Jubbly.
in the absence of a shop made of bricks, The Big Green Bookshop ebay site is up and running. And look at these precious exclusive things that you can buy!!
WOW, i hear you say. But wait, that's not all. You'll get a signed official TBGB certificate of authentication with your badge, so in years to come, when The Big Green Bookshop is bigger than Wall-mart (but still lovely of course), you'll be able to sell it on ebay again for a fortune!
alternatively you could wear it.
Lovely Jubbly.
Monday Already?
Simon;
Here we go again then. I've just tried to get through to Tim (sometimes, there's no getting through to him), and he's obviously on the phone to our solicitor.
Tim's just phoned me. He was on the phone to our solicitor.
Today is going to be one of those waiting days. This fax will either arrive with the solicitor today or tomorrow (or never, obviously), and then it's up to our bank to release the money.
So in the meantime...
I've done another article for an online magazine called transitiontradition, about the bookshop.
I'm loving this book at the moment.
It's aimed at children, but so what. It starts in 1589, and our hero has just found out his Mum's a witch and she has a talking cat that can help him travel through time. As he does so, he discovers sinister goings on, and begins to try and unravel who's behind them. It's written in short chapters, so it would be brilliant to read to kids before bed, the characters are realistic and the story goes along at a fantastic pace. Great fun.
Tomorrow I shall be discussing Tolstoi's prevarication for contemplating the three stages of man in his literature, but let's stick to rollicking kid's books for the time being.
Me and Tim are finalising the design for our uniform today, as this will obviously help us in recommending backlist to our customers. Any thoughts?
Here we go again then. I've just tried to get through to Tim (sometimes, there's no getting through to him), and he's obviously on the phone to our solicitor.
Tim's just phoned me. He was on the phone to our solicitor.
Today is going to be one of those waiting days. This fax will either arrive with the solicitor today or tomorrow (or never, obviously), and then it's up to our bank to release the money.
So in the meantime...
I've done another article for an online magazine called transitiontradition, about the bookshop.
I'm loving this book at the moment.
It's aimed at children, but so what. It starts in 1589, and our hero has just found out his Mum's a witch and she has a talking cat that can help him travel through time. As he does so, he discovers sinister goings on, and begins to try and unravel who's behind them. It's written in short chapters, so it would be brilliant to read to kids before bed, the characters are realistic and the story goes along at a fantastic pace. Great fun.
Tomorrow I shall be discussing Tolstoi's prevarication for contemplating the three stages of man in his literature, but let's stick to rollicking kid's books for the time being.
Me and Tim are finalising the design for our uniform today, as this will obviously help us in recommending backlist to our customers. Any thoughts?
Friday, February 01, 2008
The Perfect Example
Simon;
This opening a bookshop thing seems to be taking forever. You may be wondering what the heckin flip we're doing. Well today pretty much sums up the kind of thing we've been trying to deal with since the beginning.
Cast your minds back (or scroll down) to just yesterday, when I said that there's a fax that'll be sent to our solicitors in the next 48 hours. OK, we were given that information on Wednesday, but I was hedging my bets. The whole story is that on Monday our solicitor faxed this document to these people for approval. They also asked for £100 as an admin charge (don't ask), which he sent at the same time. When Tim phoned them up on Wednesday he was told that the cheque had arrived and that 'the approval would be faxed back within 48 hours'.
OK, it's Friday now, and so 48 hours has passed. Tim called our solicitor (who was ill), and his secretary told him no fax had arrived. So Tim calls these people to find out where it is.
'Oh, we haven't sent it yet,
'why, pray tell' asked Tim
'well we haven't had the £100 yet. You see you have to pay an adm..'
'I WAS TOLD ON WEDNESDAY THAT YOU HAD IT'
'I don't know why you were told that,
so after speaking to supervisors etc, Tim then had to call our solicitor again to find out if there was any reference for the cheque. Two messages and 2 hours later he finally managed to get the cheque number.
He is now on the phone to these people again, trying to find out what's going on.
Before you ask, Tim did take someone's name on Wednesday, but they aren't there, of course.
Have a look at this wall
Now imagine two hairy, tired and frustrated people in North london banging their heads against it.
It's no real surprise. It's by no means the first time this has happened, but I just thought you'd like a small taster of the kind of things we're having to deal with.
Oh yeah, this approval was originally requested over 50 days ago.
It's Friday though and the sun is shining. So what the hey....
Tim;
In my youth I was fond of a bit of a head-bang..... Not so much now.... I am on hold to a large ex-building Society as I type. I have spent most of today on hold. They have possibly the worst music-on-hold that I have ever heard. I know Simon has given you the outline of the phone conversations, but I thought you might like a little less detail.
(for the purposes of this piece, I shall refer to each phone call as a Head Bang)
Head Bang 1 Wednesday. On hold for 17mins 35secs. Cheque there? Yes. Documents released? No. Please release them. OK. Total phone 35mins
Head Bang 2 Friday Am. On hold 14mins 59secs. Documents released? No. Why not? Not paid for. Paid for on Wednesday!!! Not according to records, cheque number please. Total phone 45mins 8secs
Head Bang 3 Friday Am. (to solicitors' secretary) No hold time. Cheque No please. I will call you back. Total phone 5 mins plus change.
Head Bang 4 Friday Am, 20mins later. (to solicitors' secretary) No hold time. Cheque No please. She will call you back. Total phone 2 mins plus change.
Head Bang 5 Friday Am, 20mins later. (to solicitors' secretary) No hold time. Cheque No please. She's got your file now and will call you back. Total phone 3 mins plus change.
Head Bang 6 Friday Am, 5mins later. (from solicitors' secretary) No hold time (although I was tempted to humm a few bars to her) Cheque No. Thank you. Total phone who cares not my bill.
Head Bang 7 Friday Am, 1 min later. On hold 14mins 25secs. Hello, can you hear me?. Can't hear you, will terminate call. No! No! No! Dear god. What the.... Total call 14mins 55secs.
Head Bang 7 Friday Pm. On hold 12mins 15secs. Have cheque no, please release documents. Cheque no no good, sort code please. Are you taking the.... Total phone 30mins 45secs
Brief respite from head banging to receive advice and solace from Simon. Cheque no no good, unbelievable. need sort code. Have sort code. Really. Yes.
Head Bang 8 Friday Pm. On hold 25mins 9secs. Cheque no, sort code AND account no Cheque Cleared. Release documents? Yes. How long? five working days. FIVE WORKING DAYS!?!
Soon I will discuss in detail the meaning of Customer Service. Not now as I am beating myself over the head with the keyboard. hy76 g;GHQEg
This opening a bookshop thing seems to be taking forever. You may be wondering what the heckin flip we're doing. Well today pretty much sums up the kind of thing we've been trying to deal with since the beginning.
Cast your minds back (or scroll down) to just yesterday, when I said that there's a fax that'll be sent to our solicitors in the next 48 hours. OK, we were given that information on Wednesday, but I was hedging my bets. The whole story is that on Monday our solicitor faxed this document to these people for approval. They also asked for £100 as an admin charge (don't ask), which he sent at the same time. When Tim phoned them up on Wednesday he was told that the cheque had arrived and that 'the approval would be faxed back within 48 hours'.
OK, it's Friday now, and so 48 hours has passed. Tim called our solicitor (who was ill), and his secretary told him no fax had arrived. So Tim calls these people to find out where it is.
'Oh, we haven't sent it yet,
'why, pray tell' asked Tim
'well we haven't had the £100 yet. You see you have to pay an adm..'
'I WAS TOLD ON WEDNESDAY THAT YOU HAD IT'
'I don't know why you were told that,
so after speaking to supervisors etc, Tim then had to call our solicitor again to find out if there was any reference for the cheque. Two messages and 2 hours later he finally managed to get the cheque number.
He is now on the phone to these people again, trying to find out what's going on.
Before you ask, Tim did take someone's name on Wednesday, but they aren't there, of course.
Have a look at this wall
Now imagine two hairy, tired and frustrated people in North london banging their heads against it.
It's no real surprise. It's by no means the first time this has happened, but I just thought you'd like a small taster of the kind of things we're having to deal with.
Oh yeah, this approval was originally requested over 50 days ago.
It's Friday though and the sun is shining. So what the hey....
Tim;
In my youth I was fond of a bit of a head-bang..... Not so much now.... I am on hold to a large ex-building Society as I type. I have spent most of today on hold. They have possibly the worst music-on-hold that I have ever heard. I know Simon has given you the outline of the phone conversations, but I thought you might like a little less detail.
(for the purposes of this piece, I shall refer to each phone call as a Head Bang)
Head Bang 1 Wednesday. On hold for 17mins 35secs. Cheque there? Yes. Documents released? No. Please release them. OK. Total phone 35mins
Head Bang 2 Friday Am. On hold 14mins 59secs. Documents released? No. Why not? Not paid for. Paid for on Wednesday!!! Not according to records, cheque number please. Total phone 45mins 8secs
Head Bang 3 Friday Am. (to solicitors' secretary) No hold time. Cheque No please. I will call you back. Total phone 5 mins plus change.
Head Bang 4 Friday Am, 20mins later. (to solicitors' secretary) No hold time. Cheque No please. She will call you back. Total phone 2 mins plus change.
Head Bang 5 Friday Am, 20mins later. (to solicitors' secretary) No hold time. Cheque No please. She's got your file now and will call you back. Total phone 3 mins plus change.
Head Bang 6 Friday Am, 5mins later. (from solicitors' secretary) No hold time (although I was tempted to humm a few bars to her) Cheque No. Thank you. Total phone who cares not my bill.
Head Bang 7 Friday Am, 1 min later. On hold 14mins 25secs. Hello, can you hear me?. Can't hear you, will terminate call. No! No! No! Dear god. What the.... Total call 14mins 55secs.
Head Bang 7 Friday Pm. On hold 12mins 15secs. Have cheque no, please release documents. Cheque no no good, sort code please. Are you taking the.... Total phone 30mins 45secs
Brief respite from head banging to receive advice and solace from Simon. Cheque no no good, unbelievable. need sort code. Have sort code. Really. Yes.
Head Bang 8 Friday Pm. On hold 25mins 9secs. Cheque no, sort code AND account no Cheque Cleared. Release documents? Yes. How long? five working days. FIVE WORKING DAYS!?!
Soon I will discuss in detail the meaning of Customer Service. Not now as I am beating myself over the head with the keyboard. hy76 g;GHQEg
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Trees, Faxes, and Diamond Geezers
Simon;
OK, the solicitor's back in today. Tim spoke to him this morning, and he's on the case. There's a fax that'll be sent to him 'in the next 48 hours' which he then needs to pass onto the bank (by fax). Once that's done, I really really think that it's just a matter of sorting out a date to exchange.
In completely unrelated news, I'm part of Noel Park (it's in Wood Green) residents association. Firstly because I live there, secondly, rather than just moaning about stuff all the time, I think that sometimes actually doing something is probably more constructive, and thirdly because I love Wood Green.
Anyway, the Residents Association applied for a grant to improve the area, and it was approved by the lovely council. So there was a few thousand pounds for improving one of the local parks, and there was some money to plant some trees down some of the roads in the area. Our road is treeless and I asked if we could have some planted near our flat. And a couple of days ago I was interrupted by the sound of drilling and banging outside. But it was good drilling and banging, because look!!
Yes, it's a tree. One of three in our part of the road. It may look small now, but Katie I been entrusted to look after it, and we will. And you know what they say, 'Great Oaks, from little Acorns grow' or in this case Great Silver Birches.
I imagine it like this in ...years time
I suppose you could say me and Tim are acorns....
It's raining here in Wood Green....a lot. I'm out of coffee. My shoes have holes in them. What a dilemma.
They've just had the first confirmed act for Glastonbury this year
I wonder if the audience will be any different
OK, the solicitor's back in today. Tim spoke to him this morning, and he's on the case. There's a fax that'll be sent to him 'in the next 48 hours' which he then needs to pass onto the bank (by fax). Once that's done, I really really think that it's just a matter of sorting out a date to exchange.
In completely unrelated news, I'm part of Noel Park (it's in Wood Green) residents association. Firstly because I live there, secondly, rather than just moaning about stuff all the time, I think that sometimes actually doing something is probably more constructive, and thirdly because I love Wood Green.
Anyway, the Residents Association applied for a grant to improve the area, and it was approved by the lovely council. So there was a few thousand pounds for improving one of the local parks, and there was some money to plant some trees down some of the roads in the area. Our road is treeless and I asked if we could have some planted near our flat. And a couple of days ago I was interrupted by the sound of drilling and banging outside. But it was good drilling and banging, because look!!
Yes, it's a tree. One of three in our part of the road. It may look small now, but Katie I been entrusted to look after it, and we will. And you know what they say, 'Great Oaks, from little Acorns grow' or in this case Great Silver Birches.
I imagine it like this in ...years time
I suppose you could say me and Tim are acorns....
It's raining here in Wood Green....a lot. I'm out of coffee. My shoes have holes in them. What a dilemma.
They've just had the first confirmed act for Glastonbury this year
I wonder if the audience will be any different
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
just so you know.
Simon;
The business advisor is wating for our solicitor to reply to her phone messages. Our solicitor has taken a day off (he's probably queuing to get tickets for High School Musical 'live', or something completely unrelated to that), so we have to wait another day for progress reports. This final stage is painfully slow, but everyone seems to be pulling in generally the same direction now. I think when our solicitor told us a couple of weeks ago that we'd have the keys by the end of January, he forgot he was talking to the 'what could possibly go wrong' twins.
I can't even afford a new pair of shoes
The Monkees first appeared on TV 40 years ago today, hence the music....40 years.
The business advisor is wating for our solicitor to reply to her phone messages. Our solicitor has taken a day off (he's probably queuing to get tickets for High School Musical 'live', or something completely unrelated to that), so we have to wait another day for progress reports. This final stage is painfully slow, but everyone seems to be pulling in generally the same direction now. I think when our solicitor told us a couple of weeks ago that we'd have the keys by the end of January, he forgot he was talking to the 'what could possibly go wrong' twins.
I can't even afford a new pair of shoes
The Monkees first appeared on TV 40 years ago today, hence the music....40 years.
It's a Media Circus!
Simon;
I don't mean Jeremy Paxman in tights, flying through the air, or George Alagiah throwing custard pies at Moira Stewart as she gets fired out of a cannon (although i'd pay good money to see it), I mean we're in The Guardian. And, i'd say with some understatement, that i'm fairly pleased about this.
So, hello newcomers to this blog, and thanks for visiting us.
As regular visitors will know, the routine de jour is that Tim is now trying to get hold of our business advisor to find out what progress is being made (a bit). I'll be giving our solicitor a ring after midday, to ascertain a similar thing (can you leave a message). We'll be keeping you posted, as the day progresses.
It's Getting Pretty Close Now.
'yeah, yeah, sure it is!'
Who Said That?
I don't mean Jeremy Paxman in tights, flying through the air, or George Alagiah throwing custard pies at Moira Stewart as she gets fired out of a cannon (although i'd pay good money to see it), I mean we're in The Guardian. And, i'd say with some understatement, that i'm fairly pleased about this.
So, hello newcomers to this blog, and thanks for visiting us.
As regular visitors will know, the routine de jour is that Tim is now trying to get hold of our business advisor to find out what progress is being made (a bit). I'll be giving our solicitor a ring after midday, to ascertain a similar thing (can you leave a message). We'll be keeping you posted, as the day progresses.
It's Getting Pretty Close Now.
'yeah, yeah, sure it is!'
Who Said That?
Monday, January 28, 2008
Catching Up
Simon;
as there's been stuff happening recently, I haven't told you of a few things that have been going on in Big Green Bookshop world.
I went to a book launch a couple of weeks ago. The lovely and clearly very talented Alis Hawkins was celebrating her new (first) book Testament. Katie and I had a great time, and Alis made Katie and I feel extremely welcome. As we'd only spoken through the wonders of the internet that made it even more special. I wish i'd worn another hat though. I always seem to be photographed in this one, and I have some other one's that are much less tatty.
We also met Akasha Savage, another of our bloggy friends, whose latest short story on her blog is rather teasing....
Anyway, it was a great night and I hope the book does really well. Katie has just started reading it so I expect i'll get my hands on it soon!
Last week I went to a Catnip Publishing presentation in the glamorous setting of Wood Green library. They were highlighting the new releases and I had the pleasure to meet some of their authors.
Sarah Matthias, who's new book Tom Fletcher and the Angel of Death is out next month(?), was lovely and we spent ages chatting about the book/ bookshops / north london / kids. I have a copy of The Riddle of the Poisoned Monk, which I got in the goodie bag, which looks like my kind of book. It's aimed at 10+ year olds and I fit into that range.
Graham Marks, another local boy, was also extremely supportive, and offered to do all he could to help us!I happen to have one of his books too! What a lot of reading i've got to do.
I also have a copy of the marvellous Scaredy Squirrel makes a friend, which I read when I got home.
This is beginning to get long, so although there's a few more things to mention, i'll do it at a later date.
But.....
1. I'm now a reviewer with the second most popular music magazine in London, and by far the best
2. If anyone likes Fairport Convention, I have a great treat for you. If you don't know of them or need reminding, press the play button thing on the tv picture thing below here. Hasn't that female singer got an incredible voice.....
3. I mentioned a few weeks ago about a book that isn't out yet that I recently read and I think is an absolute masterpiece. Well, it's out in 3 weeks time, although i'm bursting to review it, I'm going to wait a little longer. But if you like a bit of horror, you're going to have to get this book.
I'm off now. Cheerio
as there's been stuff happening recently, I haven't told you of a few things that have been going on in Big Green Bookshop world.
I went to a book launch a couple of weeks ago. The lovely and clearly very talented Alis Hawkins was celebrating her new (first) book Testament. Katie and I had a great time, and Alis made Katie and I feel extremely welcome. As we'd only spoken through the wonders of the internet that made it even more special. I wish i'd worn another hat though. I always seem to be photographed in this one, and I have some other one's that are much less tatty.
We also met Akasha Savage, another of our bloggy friends, whose latest short story on her blog is rather teasing....
Anyway, it was a great night and I hope the book does really well. Katie has just started reading it so I expect i'll get my hands on it soon!
Last week I went to a Catnip Publishing presentation in the glamorous setting of Wood Green library. They were highlighting the new releases and I had the pleasure to meet some of their authors.
Sarah Matthias, who's new book Tom Fletcher and the Angel of Death is out next month(?), was lovely and we spent ages chatting about the book/ bookshops / north london / kids. I have a copy of The Riddle of the Poisoned Monk, which I got in the goodie bag, which looks like my kind of book. It's aimed at 10+ year olds and I fit into that range.
Graham Marks, another local boy, was also extremely supportive, and offered to do all he could to help us!I happen to have one of his books too! What a lot of reading i've got to do.
I also have a copy of the marvellous Scaredy Squirrel makes a friend, which I read when I got home.
This is beginning to get long, so although there's a few more things to mention, i'll do it at a later date.
But.....
1. I'm now a reviewer with the second most popular music magazine in London, and by far the best
2. If anyone likes Fairport Convention, I have a great treat for you. If you don't know of them or need reminding, press the play button thing on the tv picture thing below here. Hasn't that female singer got an incredible voice.....
3. I mentioned a few weeks ago about a book that isn't out yet that I recently read and I think is an absolute masterpiece. Well, it's out in 3 weeks time, although i'm bursting to review it, I'm going to wait a little longer. But if you like a bit of horror, you're going to have to get this book.
I'm off now. Cheerio
Well, that's one more thing sorted out then.
Simon,
Every time someone pays for something with a card in a shop or a bar for example, and uses one of those machines where you have to tap in your pin number, that shop or bar has to pay a certain amount of that to the company that provides them with the machine. That's why some shops have signs up saying 'no cards accepted less than £10' or summat like that.
Anyway, a nice man came round to Simon and Katie Mansions this morning to try and persuade us to use their machines for the Big Green Bookshop. He looked like Father Ted. He seemed very confident, I suspect even more so when he saw a scruffy unshaved git with no shoes on answer the door. So with the kettle on and pleasantries out of the way, we got round to talking turkey.
'Have you had any other quotes from anywhere else?' he enquired.
'One or two' I replied.
'Oh, I don't think they'll be anywhere near as competitive as ours...can I have a look', he continued
'by all means', I smiled, and gave him the quote that we'd got from our friends at Leading Edge.
His smile slowly fell from his face as he saw the figures on the page in front of him. He eventually pulled himself together enough to murmur phrases with the words 'hidden charges', 'monthly charges going up' and most tellingly 'with us, what you see is what you get'. The thing is what I saw was somebody who realised there was no way he could match the offer we'd already been given.
I dutifully wrote down all the things he said about the dangers of going for anyone other than him, and told him i'd make sure that I wouldn't fall into any of these traps.
He finished his coffee and headed off back to Craggy Island, I presume.
Well done me.
Every time someone pays for something with a card in a shop or a bar for example, and uses one of those machines where you have to tap in your pin number, that shop or bar has to pay a certain amount of that to the company that provides them with the machine. That's why some shops have signs up saying 'no cards accepted less than £10' or summat like that.
Anyway, a nice man came round to Simon and Katie Mansions this morning to try and persuade us to use their machines for the Big Green Bookshop. He looked like Father Ted. He seemed very confident, I suspect even more so when he saw a scruffy unshaved git with no shoes on answer the door. So with the kettle on and pleasantries out of the way, we got round to talking turkey.
'Have you had any other quotes from anywhere else?' he enquired.
'One or two' I replied.
'Oh, I don't think they'll be anywhere near as competitive as ours...can I have a look', he continued
'by all means', I smiled, and gave him the quote that we'd got from our friends at Leading Edge.
His smile slowly fell from his face as he saw the figures on the page in front of him. He eventually pulled himself together enough to murmur phrases with the words 'hidden charges', 'monthly charges going up' and most tellingly 'with us, what you see is what you get'. The thing is what I saw was somebody who realised there was no way he could match the offer we'd already been given.
I dutifully wrote down all the things he said about the dangers of going for anyone other than him, and told him i'd make sure that I wouldn't fall into any of these traps.
He finished his coffee and headed off back to Craggy Island, I presume.
Well done me.
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