Stubborn? Moi?

Last September I discovered that some of the bright trim round the car windows had gone spotty: polish didn't touch it, since the spots were under the top clear coat, film or whatever.  Expecting the parts to be replaced under warranty, I trotted along to the garage the get the car serviced, and to get them to look at the fault.  I was not impressed with their response that the damage was owing to an 'external influence', that it wasn't worth even asking SEAT to authorise a warranty fix, but that they'd ask SEAT to consider it as a customer care matter.  That didn't seem to me to hold water, since any 'external influence' would have affected the whole car.

Months went by, with promises to chase SEAT, and ultimately a bounced email to the by now departed service desk chap.  After I'd written to the Head of SEAT's UK branch, we were back at square one, so the car went back in on Monday to be inspected once again.  This led to a 'goodwill' offer to meet 70% of parts and labour costs, leaving me to meet the balance of some £150.  'Not good enough', said I, whereupon there was more dialogue between the dealership and SEAT.  The latter stuck to the 70% line, and told me that I could go to the Motor Ombudsman if I didn't like it.  On Wednesday I dashed off a draft letter to the Ombudsman, saved it and slept on it.  I fired it off late yesterday to the Chief Exec of the dealership and the head of SEAT's UK operation, giving them 21 days to sort it out, or else I'd raise it to the ombudsman.  By breakfast time today I had polite acknowledgements from the dealership at national and local levels, and moments later an agreement to pay the full cost of repairs.  This has taken seven months.  So, gentle reader, it sometimes pays to dig the heels in and keep them dug in.  Some time ago, my friends, when asked during a session of the Therapy board game to rate my stubbornness on a scale of one to ten, scored me fifteen.

Though today sees a return to cool temperatures and rain, we have lately had some very fine and warm days, allowing us to eat outside a few times - not bad for April, eh?.  We've also done a bit of gardening, since the weeds too have been appreciating the fine weather.  The spuds are planted out in their growing bags, the raised bed is stocked with new herb plants, and we have some colour in the flower beds.  A couple of garden gift vouchers from Margaret and John covered much of the outlay.  We sowed a packet of rudbeckia seeds some weeks ago, and the plantlets are now pricked out and growing on, with the best results from those that I could fit in the heated propagator.  More in hope than in anger, I sowed some dwarf french beans that have been knocking about for years in the seed box, and eleven out of twelve have germinated, and within a few days of sowing, what's more.  They are now planted out, and we'll hope for the best.  Finally, there are a few tiny plants from seed I harvested last year from indoor cyclamens.  Unlike the beans, however, they are no sprinters, and it's a moot point whether they'll flower in my lifetime.