A green bribe

Danger - part of this post will include a rant :-)

I'm going through a change in electric & gas supplier at the moment, away from the so-called British Gas (they're actually owned by Germans I believe). A decent amount of time ago, BG were producing adverts that translate to "we're really green and eco-friendly, we give people energy saving lightbulbs. For free"

It's a fine sentiment, for a bribe ... Did it work to keep me with them as a customer ? Nah. Someone young and pretty came knocking at the door saying another company could provide the goods cheaper and I'm a sucker for a pretty face. It did help though that BG had been steadily raising the rate they'd been charging.

Customer service is everything - and BG really blew any chance they have of getting my business in the future with the phone call I got telling me that I was stupid for going to the company I'm now with. If there's one thing I hate, it's someone attempting to bully me.

Oh - back to the lightbulbs. Energy saving bulbs is something I'd like to move towards and I thought the bribe might be the perfect opportunity ...

Just one problem.

The bulbs BG tried to bribe me with won't fit - and I can't get a suitable light fitting (flush ceiling fittings use screw, not bayonet) at places like Argos ! Ah well - time for plan B, which is to keep getting old type lightbulbs to replace the ones wot go PoP. At least old type non-energy saving bulbs don't contaminate your living room with Mercury if the seal breaks on them.

Anyway - British Gas. Fine company, masquerading under one country's name when they're really owned by people in another. Amazing customer service, as in they will amaze you with their poor conduct when you dare to leave them. I've been with them twice, will never go near them again.

Other news - I might be closer to a laptop change - Firefox ended up having a fight with Windows last night, leading to a few Weird Problems. Hopefully it's fixed, although it needed a couple of System Restores to sort things out. I still have a functioning Start Menu at least, which was one of those Weird Problems. With the various hardware problems this laptop has, it's one straw away from being replaced - it's just not worth the hassle of a full system rebuild.

Oh - I ended up being in the position of being in the same place at the same time as last week's encounter with Cute Artist Girl - she wasn't there this week though. Time to go back to hoping for a glimpse of Miss L, a chat with Miss A and a shared Big Grin with The Blonde With No Name.