Profil von JezC

Very excellently odd items of dim sum. Great service, very friendly. Suffered my daughters stumbling Mandarin in good humour.

I had a completely different experience. The used car we bought had a non-obvious defect in the power steering, which we discovered after a few days. They gave us a loaner car while they investigated and attempted a repair - one days replacement, with the defective car being collected and the loaner vehicle being driven to my home. The purchased car came with a single key - they arranged for the local Fiat dealership to get an additional coded key. When we got the car back, after about a hundred miles the defect re-appeared. Same process - they collected the car, delivered a loaner and did all the same in reverse when the problem was fixed - which I understood involved replacing a chunk of the steering assembly.

The long period loaner car had an immobiliser problem - same deal; they drove out a replacement and picked up the defective vehicle.

The MOT and tax were exactly as the sales person had described. We had no missing documentation.

I was completely satisfied. The car was exactly what I wanted for a teen learning to drive, at a good price. The service we had wasn’t perfect - I’d have liked a completely defect free vehicle at handover, but then again I suspect the previous owner could have divulged more about the problem. Given that the vehicle had a problem, the attempts at rectification were all that I could reasonably ask for. Fixing intermittent problems isn’t easy.

Material Disclosure: I should make it clear that I know the Perrys Chairman (that’s visible on LinkedIn). I didn’t make a song and dance of this during the purchase, or when we had a problem. I didn’t feel that we had special treatment. We didn’t have people asking to make sure they were mentioned for good service, for example.

Moderately large bookstore, modern economic style of exposed air conditioning ducts, well lighted, airy with a cafe in the back in the modern style of bookshops. Good sized and welcoming childrens area next to the cafe. Piped music: I guess some people like music in a bookstore, and it is less intimidating than a silent store, but music is a very personal thing. I cringed at many of the tune selections when I visited. It may be a shopping psychology thing - helping to make browsers decide to buy or get out?

The usual mix of books you’d expect at a store of this size. Nothing sprang out as being a particularly unusual book choice, or store layout. It’s a standard well designed format that works.

I still cringe a little inside, thinking about how bookstores of thirty or more years ago would often reflect the owners preoccupations, and often would have a secondhand section of strange out-of-print books (“The Immortal Tooth”, anyone?). The modern high street bookstore is pretty bland and the book choices rarely strange, eclectic or radical. They are a revenue optimisation exercise, which is why they have replaced the less profitable eccentrics. It’d be really great if some aspects of eccentricity could be brought back into the formula, though.

Family run free-range and barn chicken, quail and duck eggs, and a mix of vegetables from the farm - potatoes, broccoli, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and so on. Also carries chicken feed and some produce from other local producers, such as honey and ice cream from Angela’s dairy outside North Crawley.

Good accessibility, unless the door is closed. They really are open 7-7, 7 days a week - there’s always someone around because of the animal care needs.

Farm shop overlooks the egg washing and grading area - quite interesting for children when they’re packing eggs.

Nothing special about the food, but friendly staff and a willingness to do their best. A couple of miles north of Bedford, so they cover the villages out to Sharnbrook and Pavenham. £10 minimum order for home delivery, or drive into Clapham.