Argos. Never, ever, shop with them. I ordered a cheap desk, to arrive on Saturday. I had to pay an extra £3 for it to arrive on Saturday, any time between 7am and 7pm... Inevitably, yesterday was spent close to home, just in case they arrived. They didn't. And customer service closes at 5pm on a Saturday. I rang this morning on their 0845 number (premium for mobiles as I don't have a landline). I spent 40 minutes on hold. I eventually hung up and tried a different department. Spent another ten minutes trying to get them to pass me through to the other team, they refused. I was finally allowed to speak to a senior manager who said she would call me when the queue was short enough. She called me back at 2.30 this afternoon to say there were only 11 people in the queue. I rang and spent an hour on hold exactly, before my phone cut out. If I rang again I'd be at tieback of the queue. This entire debacle has cost me more than £20 in phone bills. And still no resolution.
I ordered a new larder fridge for home delivery on Thursday last week (30th) and was told I would receive a telephone call BEFORE 2nd Sept! Sunday 2nd came and went, Monday 3rd whizzed by, on Tues 4th I checked online and sent an email, I was told if I heard nothing within 12 hours to ring this 0845 number, By the time 12 hours had passed it was out of hours for the phone help line. I phoned 0800hrs Wed morning, hung on for ages until the line automatically cut off! I decided to call into the store on Thursday morning, but Wed evening I received a call from them in response to my email, asking if Monday morning was ok to deliver, between 0700 - 1200hrs! I'll let you know tomorrow afternoon whether or not it arrived!
For a rant, having just come back from a holiday in Majorca, I would ban babies on aeroplanes. All they do is scream (it isn't their fault and God knows what it is doing to their hearing at that age) and they wouldn't be there but for selfish parents. When I was that age my parents could not afford foreign holidays and we were happy with a bucket and spade at the seaside (in England of course).
I once asked an Air Hostess if they could install a sound proof box at the back of the plane for small children. She just laughed unfortunately. Kids do not belong on planes. Like you said, I was also happy holidaying in England as a child and I am only 26 so it wasn't that long ago.
Do you remember when you could redeem 'Premier Points' at Argos ? I had a full card (£5) and handed it over as part payment. When they went to pick my order their stock records were incorrect and they didn't have it. I asked for an alternative and they duly obliged, however my points had been wiped from my card ! They were adamant that my card must have been empty even though they had previously accepted it as part payment. Despite my protestations, I never got my 5 quid back and I've never shopped there since. Bloody thieving motherfcukers !!!
That's mad, your phone call has almost doubled the price! Mind you, I think it's a case of "shopping around" with Argos, a few years ago I bought a Shimano bait runner fishing reel from them, £60 on offer, lovely bit of kit, caught my biggest pike and carp with it, totally reliable... I'd complain if I was you, the least that they could do is reimburse you the cost of your phonecalls!
Rob, you probably know this but you pay for what you get especially in terms of customer service. I things go great it's all good as you get your product for a low price. If they go wrong then it's spin the wheel time! Hope for your sanity it turns up soon