My laptops always seem to cause me problems. Though the untold benefit of having access to a computer while travelling is, well, untold.. they always seem to develop faults and those faults seem to be compounded by when they happen and how easy they are to get sorted.

Earlier this year I think I blogged about problems with the keyboard and the fact it took two weeks to send away and repair. Ha! The good old days. I noticed the minute the laptop came back from repair that every so often the power would fluctuate, in short if I didn't have the battery in or the power lead at JUST the right angle then it might spontaneously turn itself off. Though this only happened every so often, the battery needed to be in all the time, just in case - hence the battery wore down quicker. During August the power problem had increased to such a degree I had to put it in for repair AGAIN. I was told it would take about two weeks again. C'est la vie. Except... when I call to find out the status this week (around three weeks after taking it in) I'm told there's been a few problems and they're waiting for a specific part, but otherwise all is fine. Call back on Thursday! I do. Only this time I'm met with confusion. The laptop, which has to be physically repaired by a third party was apparently NEVER picked up from the PC World store because PC World didn't confirm details. In short, despite the assurances, it's been a shelf ornament for nearly a month and still is. So, I've been let down by them AND lied to about its status. Never mind says another representative, we apologise and we'll get someone to phone you back by the end of business Thursday or very leatest Fri morning to sort out how quickly we can get those repairs done and back to you!

You're way ahead of me if you're guessing no-one called, but you're also right. Another hour on the phone this morning and no-one was confirming the actual ststus of the laptop or that I should have even received that promised call. In fact, I'm once again calling three or four different numbers and being passed from pillar to post with a 'sounds awful, but you need to speak to someone else...'

FINALLY, spoke to someone on the other end of the phone at Head Office who agrees that the service has been inexcusable, tells me that the laptop actually CAN'T be repaired, so.... I can have a new laptop (hopefully all old e-mails not lost - they were the only things I couldn't quickly transfer before it left). Just not sure when I can get it. There's vouchers and timing and details to sort before that happens. They were going to call back within two hours. Of course... that was one hour and fifty five minutes ago and... nothing.

Utterly hopeless service on almost every level until the last hour and fingers crossed that I actually will have something to show for my time and trouble. However, the last few months have shown me that with the lessons my mother has taught me (she's the Jedi-Master of justifiably effective complaining) I definitely know WHEN to complain, HOW to complain and make sure I come out of it with something to show for the trouble.

So. New laptop. Hopefully. Whooo - with a cautious side-helping of Hoooo. Maybe.