Sore Fingers and Thumbs and a bad consumer experience

I have sore fingers and thumbs. They are bruised, battered and feel like scraggy leather. This is because over the weekend I have taught myself how to string tennis rackets using a collection of videos from You Tube and a few tips from Master Jacob who is qualified as a stringer but was more interested in his Xbox and therefore suffering from acute memory loss. Most of it I had to work out using my powers of deduction and elimination.

Thus it took me two whole days to string two rackets. That probably doesn't say much for my powers of the deduction. Let's just hope there isn't a serial killer in the village. Half of the population would be dead before I even raised the alarm.

So just four more rackets to go before the backlog is gone. Twenty Two years of diligent housework hasn't prepared me for this onslaught on my fingers. I think they may end up ripped and bleeding. I might even bleed to death. I think that would make a novel headline"Woman bleeds to death stringing sons' tennis rackets." It has a nice ring to it.

Still, it could be a while before I get round to stringing Master Ben's rackets whose specialist tennis strings haven't arrived from Sports Direct yet. I ordered them on the 2nd January and so far all I've received is two tubes of tennis balls valued at £149.00 each. Yes, someone at Sports Direct is either grossly negligent or committing fraud but numerous emails later (from me) to Sports Direct, two sworn police affidavits, more emails and photographs of the offending tennis balls to Paypal who are disputing the transaction and I still don't have the £104.00 tennis strings I ordered. I would order them elsewhere but Sports Direct are part of the group that own Dunlop and I'm not prepared to spend another penny with them until they can be bothered to get off their backsides and sort it out. Hmm. I think I said that in an email to them when I was particularly cross and my bad manners got the better of me. Oh yes, I did. Only I said "arses." Whoops.

Hmm.I think my consumer experiences with British Telecom have been my worst experience for gross incompetency so far but Sports Direct are coming a very, very, close second at the moment. I'm rating them about 9.9 on the Turley incompetency scale. I particularly like their technique of not having a phone line unless you go through a premium phone line service and not answering any emails. At present, I'm actually thinking of dumping all our Dunlop rackets and accessories in the back garden and lighting a big fire.

I think that would make a good instructional video on You Tube don't you?

12 year Master Ben county no 1 and two times county champion  is thinking about burning his Dunlop rackets. I will provide the paraffin.

You know, there can be a great deal of satisfaction in art. I'm still pleased with my British Telecom artwork I posted a while back. Just in case you missed it. Here's a refresher.

Let's face it, Readers, how could anyone dispute my genuine artistic talents. If you want to commission me please send me an email. I'm cheap.

10.30 am update: I have this morning received notification from Paypal that I will receive a full refund. If you purchase goods on-line regularly then I can recommend use of Paypal who have resolved this matter in a professional and timely manner. As for the Sports Direct/ Dunlop Group I am reluctant to use their products again as they lack the professionalism that as a former retail manager I expect. Having worked on the other side of the counter I know that mistakes and fraud do happen - but when it does in order to maintain customer relations the best action to take is to apologise, be honest and always keep your customer informed. Bizarrely, customers that have sometimes had the worst experiences can often end up being your best customers if they are treated with courtesy and respect. Sadly, that hasn't happened with Sports Direct. Unlike British Telecom who after about two months of ineptitude actually made me cry with frustration Sports Direct have only made me angry.

I will probably restring Master Ben's rackets with Wilson Sensation strings and not Dunlop Silk strings.