Cold Calling, Cold Comfort

A month or more back a representative from Safestyle, Sussex House, Lower Stone Street, Maidstone, ME15 6YT called at my door, reassuring me that he was not selling me anything and offered me a free quote on double glazing with a special offer. Against my better judgement - I would not be able to afford this - I said yes to the quote.


I pondered what kind of quote could be given without measuring up. But, still, he said he'd post the quote later.


Later I get a phone call, seeing if they could come round to measure up. That touched the buttons, and I said I thought they'd be wasting their time.

Flashforward to this afternoon, and the phone is ringing just after I arrive home - Safestyle, Sussex House, Lower Stone Street, Maidstone, ME15 6YT are ringing to see if I got my quote. I ask if they are selling anything and they assure me they are not. But if they give me a quote, sure they want me to buy something? I point out I cancelled it, and rather pompously point out that I am registered with the Telephone Preference Service and they should remove me from their database.

Seven minutes later, the phone rings again and it is Safestyle, Sussex House, Lower Stone Street, Maidstone, ME15 6YT. I ask him if he is mad. Apparently not. I point out that this is the second call in seven minutes, and I want to speak to his supervisor. Sadly he is not available. In retrospect, I should have said I was prepared to wait.


I hung up.

But I suspect I may well fill in a few junk mail forms with their address. And maybe mail some cat litter their way.

Maidstone

For reasons which escape me - I suspect to do with looking for horror DVDs - I went to Maidstone again. I'm not sure whether I was here earlier this year or last year (March this year, if photos are to be trusted), and I think the weather was rather mixed last time.

The expotition didn't start well - the trains looked to be delayed - and the new £13 excess on the NSE Travelcard meant the ticket was probably £5 more expensive. On the other hand, I got to travel before ten and I got there half an hour earlier than anticipated. There was a certain amount of drizzle, and I hoped it wouldn't get worse.

I quickly got my bearings and headed onto the main shopping drag, and quickly found CEX, where browsing turned up cheap copies of UFO, Blazing Saddles, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Carrie, The Lookout, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Ils, The Evil Dead, Cabin Fever and AI: Artificial Intelligence. I was lucky in that I walked straight up to the till, but it was rather odd that the cashier waited until after I'd paid to tell me that I'd have to pay for a plastic bag for Children in Need. Fortunately I had a spare ten pence.

After that, the plan was charity shops and a Caffe Nerd - so I turned down a side street where there were four of them, and saw that the ironmonger shop Fork Handles and Os 4 Candles and Hose has closed down. Shame. Nothing exciting in any of the charity shops, so I cut down a side street and found Caffe Nerd without really trying. However, as this was opposite the shopping mall, Chequers, I thoguth I'd go in there and find something to eat. T.J. Hughes had a cafe and a deal on Beef and Ale Pie, and that sounded perfect - except they'd run out by 1215. Grr.

More charity shops - a local hospice, a Cancer Research, a Barnardos and an Oxfam Bookshop - but nothing I really needed, although I picked up a copy of Coriolanus. And then to the coffee shop, to sit down with a paper. I'd planned to read a book - but I never got that done.

I had a spare forty-five minutes before I planned to leave, so I found the other Oxfam and wandred through Fremlin's Walk, a typically soulless anytown mall. I puttered around HMV, pondering whether to but a ouple of boxsets or not, but deciding in the end they worked out cheaper online, or I could buy them back at home.

I got back to the station in good time for the train - in fact I caught an earlier one. At Ashford the sunset was glorious, though hard ti capture on camera. And back in town, some cheese from the deli and 5-seed bread. Home in time for The News Quiz. If I do go back again, I really must check out the art gallery.


A quiet night in, as tomorrow will be hectic, and I need to decide which of three films to tape Don't Look Now, which I've seen, Patrick, a seventies horror, and The Chidlren's Hour, a lesbian movie from the 1960s. Decisions, decisions.