Monday 23 March 2015

September 2014 - A Shock to the Sytem



September was to be our chosen month for our drive back home to Spain. Most of the traumas with the Audi were finished and we planned to leave in time to get us back for our U3A Groups Fair at the end of the month.

One last thing to do on the car was replace the front tyres as they had been mentioned in the August MOT. I ordered them via Asda Tyres and called at the fitters in Clitheroe to have them fitted. The owner reported that two of my wheels were damaged and needed to be replaced.

Rather than replace just two I decided to get four done, so as to have matched alloys, and ordered them from a wheel specialist in Chadderton. When I came back for the car after fitting they told me that FOUR of the wheels were damaged and it would appear that a previous owner had had the wheels drilled out due to losing the locking wheel nut socket.

 I FIND IT INCREDIBLE TO BELIEVE THAT THE VENDOR, LANCASHIRE TRADE VEHICLES HAD NOT SPOTTED THIS WHEN PREPARING THE VEHICLE FOR SALE. When approached LTV said that they had not known about this but because I had not advised them of the problem before buying new wheels, they would not pay for the replacements. After various conversations and a mention of Trading Standards they coughed up more than half of the cost. My opinion of this vendor cannot be put into print in order to avoid litigation.

On the same day that my new wheels were fitted I had what I assumed would be my final visit to the doctor. Kathie was at home packing her car ready for it to be transported to Spain.

I was given the news that my heart beat was irregular, Atrial Fibrilation, and that I would have to cancel my journey to Spain until a cure or course of treatment had been decided upon.

Arrangements were made to cancel our journey home, cancel the hotels, cancel the short break we had arranged in the South of France, cancel the arrangement for transporting Kathie's car, and postpone the Channel Tunnel crossing. Luckily none of this cost us anything.

So now we just had to wait for the NHS.

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