Ditched Helicopter Award for Lousy service to Thames Water

With only two of us now in the house we thought it would be a good idea to install a water meter - in fact it would save us some hundreds of pounds a year (for the benefit of overseas readers in the UK we have traditionally paid a fixed annual amount for our water services based solely upon house size. However now you can opt to move to metered payment if you chose)
We went online and sent the massage that we wished to have a meter.
Four weeks or more later there was a knock at the door "to do a survey". This guy - who told us he was merely a contractor to Thames Water said that he thought it would be possible to fit a meter but that we would need to do some work first to expose the pipe and he would now submit his report.
Last week we had a message "from Thames Water" that they now wished to install the meter and for us to ring back. I did only to discover, firstly that it was another contractor and when I asked why they said they were Thames Water when they weren't the response was that they were "told to".
I advised them that as there had been such a long period since our request, and that we had to do work first, we would now like to have it done after the summer.
"You can't" I was told "It has to be done in 90 days"
"From when" I asked
"From the date of you first enquiry" they said.

I pointed out that that was already past - due to their delays.

"Yes" they said so we would therefore have to have it done very quickly!

I spoke to the supervisor who confirmed this total nonsense and that if we wished to delay the installation we would have to start the whole process again!!

They clearly can't even spell the word 'customer' so a Ditched Helicopter goes to Thames Water

Ditched Helicopter Award for lousy service to E Buyer

I purchased a Bluetooth Targus remote control for my slides from EBuyer only to find on delivery that whilst it said it was Mac compatible the instructions did not cover for a Mac.
I therefore spoke to the technical people at Targus who told me I had been sols an obsolete remote that was no longer supported and that I should return to the seller and seek a refund.
This I did only for the women at EBuyer to tell me that "We are perfectly entitled to advertise sell obsolete products and not tell people that they are". She also demanded to know why I had spoken to Targus as EBuyer had their own technical people.
All quite staggeringly appalling.

A well earned Ditched Helicopter therefore goes to EBuyer.com

Golden Helicopter Award to North Oxford Mini

We have just bought a new Mini for my wife and, unusually for such an activity, it was a delightful experience from beginning to end!
We dealt throughout with the Sales Manager at North Oxford Mini (North Oxford Garage) Nathan King who could not do enough for us. No matter what, everything was possible for him.
Even when we had done the deal and agreed the price with our trade in he still said that he would pass on any further special deals that came through from the manufacturers - amazing!

I am very happy there for to give Nathan King and North Oxford Garage a Golden Helicopter Award

Golden Helicopter Award to The Dome, Edinburgh

The Dome in George Street, Edinburgh is a restaurant, bar and cafe of the very highest quality and outstanding service - it's somewhere you just don't want to leave!
THE DOME was originally the old Physicians hall (1775), built and designed by JAMES CRAIG the celebrated planner of Edinburgh's New Town. Unfortunately for the College of Physicians the original estimate of £2,725 rose to £4,800 by completion, leaving the College approximately £1,000 in debt. Unsurprisingly after a short time the College looked for a purchaser and eventually THE COMMERCIAL BANK OF SCOTLAND made an offer for the site and premise for £20,000 in 1843 - some seventy years later.
In 1993 The Royal Bank of Scotland decided that the building was no longer viable and transferred all business to the St. Andrew Square office and 14 George Street was put up for sale. A local company called Caledonian Heritable Ltd bought the building and converted the bank to how you see it today.
It has been very carefully restored and decorated and is now just outstanding
A well earned Golden Helicopter Award goes to The Dome.

Golden Helicopter Award to Leica Cameras

My wife is in the final year of an honours degree in photography and recently purchased (to add to her stable of cameras!) the latest, magnificent Leica X1 model.
So many technical helps desks I find talk in another language and are less than helpful whereas Leica UK were simply fantastic and so helpful to my wife.

So a Golden Helicopter Award goes to Leica Cameras