Well Saturday we got back from our holidays to discover while we’ve been away National Grid have been replacing all the pipes and gas meters on our close, nice of them to let us know in good time before we went on holiday, because if they had we might have been able to arrange for someone to have a set of keys for our house.

Instead we get back to find a letter and a “We called but you we’re’nt in” type postcard on the doormat and then find out that we no longer have a gas supply, because the stupid twats have cut the pipe off the wall in order to put a new plastic one, thing is they did’nt put a new plastic one there, they just put nothing there.

I did’nt ring National Grid on Saturday because I thought they would’nt be able to do anything till Monday, but after speaking to a friend who works for British Gas, was informed that there would be someone answering the phone over the weekend.

So the conversation on Sunday involved informing them we had no gas supply, could we have it reconnected please, they informed me they’d get right on it and low and behold within the hour someone turned up to reconnect us, however after surveying the site for about 15 minutes the guy who turned up informed me that they could’nt do anything because the people who had originally cut our pipe/supply off had back-filled in the hole and they had’nt the equipment to dig it back out . . .  cue me not being very happy and them promising that they would arrange to get the hole re-dug out first thing in the morning and arrange for someone to reconnect us in the afternoon, we just had to ensure that someone one at home from 2pm.

I explained that we both worked and that we could possibly be back at 3pm, they said yeah that would be fine.

Today at 5:30pm get a call at work from Mel letting me know that they’ve still not turned up, so i get on the phone to National Grid/British Gas to ask why and they said ” We’ve got it on our notes that there coming today, can we just check and ring you back”

20 mins later and i’ve left work and got home and still not had a call back, now if that’s not bad, wait till you hear the best bit . . .  you know how earlier I mentioned the bit about them saying “Oh we’ll get someone round first thing to re-dig the hole out” . .  well guess what I found when I got home, they’d not actually re-dug the hole out. . .  instead they’d concreted over it and tarmaced the rest.

Cue another call from me to National Grid asking them what the fuck was going on and when would I be getting my gas supply back, cue a few more minutes of them rereading my notes, me having to explain it all again and then them saying “Oh they’ll send someone round now to resolve it.

Ok I thought I’ll go walk the dog and wait for a call back . . .

Cue a pleasant walk with Blue and me calming down a bit thinking ” At last they’ve got the message and we can have heating back tonight”

Oh woe is me to actually think it was all over . .  got back from the dog walk to find 2 x National Grid guys looking a little bit perplexed and informing me that they were the guys who’d arranged on Sunday to come today and because the holes had been filled in and they did’nt have the drawings to show them if there might be other amenities beneath all that freshly laid concrete/tarmac they could’nt dig it up or in-fact reconnect us.

As you can guess I’m getting well annoyed with National Grid/British Gas by now and have spent another 15-20mins on the phone to them explaining the latest comedy of errors that they’ve performed . . . and again listened to their excuses/apologies and how they’ve now arranged for someone to be here tomorrow after 2pm, which now means one of us will again have to leave work early to be here so they can access our house . .

In the meantime we’ve got no hot water, no heating, no means by which to cook for the 3rd day in a row . .  so its either a microwave meal, a cold salad or a take away . .  either way National Grid owe me and I will be contacting them as soon as the works finally completed requesting, nay demanding payment for the inconvenience they’ve put me and Mel through . .