Merry Christmas and Thank-you ARGOS very f***ing much!

Christmas Day was going well. First thing in the morning (read this as about 6.00am, so we had a bit of a lie in!) The boys came in with their stockings to open the presents that Santa brought. Then, downstairs to open a few of the other presents from relatives, breakfast and so forth. So far everything is going fine – Even up to the point where the boys were just starting to get agitated about opening the rest of their presents, when lo and behold Grandma and Grandad arrive. Next it’s Christmas Dinner, and Mrs Jayster had done a wonderful job. The beef and vegetables were perfect, and even though, being a vegetarian, she wasn’t able to sample it herself, it was all done to perfection – Then we could all go and open the rest of the presents – adults and children alike.

Now, at this point I have to back track in time a little – Mrs Jayster wanted a new wedding ring for Christmas. Not an expensive ring, nothing grand, just a simple band to replace the original one which unfortunately had some sort of chemical reaction to her finger which swelled and hurt - so she couldn’t wear it much. The ring she wanted was in Argos, she had seen it, been in, tried it on and had the size written down. All Jayster has to do, is go in, tell them what he wants, pay for it and pick it up. Simple! Everything went OK – OH, except that the store I drove to didn’t have the right size in stock, and wouldn’t have one until after Christmas. However, help was at hand, the store in the town centre did have one, and they would put it on reserve for me. I ran out of time that lunchtime though, so would have to get on the bus the next lunchtime to pick it up – No problem. Next day was a bit of a rush, and I only had enough time to dash down to the store, grab the ring, and get back on the last bus to work – PHEW, now that’s a relief. The main present is sorted.

Now, I reisted the urge to look at the ring. I thought it would be a nice surprise for me on Christmas day to see it fresh out of the box. Perhaps, in retrospect, that was not such a bright notion. I carefully wrapped it in a plastic bag from a different shop, hid it inside an oven glove to disguise it, then wrapped it in pretty Christmas paper. Of course Mrs Jayster knew what it was straight away and left it till last. Then opened it to find………Nothing! - - that’s right, nothing. Nothing but an empty ring box. Of course she was quite understandably very, very upset. Almost in tears. I was also pretty damned upset.. I was sure I hadn’t taken it out. But then maybe I had, and put it somewhere else –I couldn’t think where though, and certainly didn’t remember actually seeing the ring in the flesh as it were. Now I’m in a bit of a flat spin, I thought that Mummy and oldest son were playing a trick on me, having hidden the ring, but no, it really was not there. OK – I can’t do anything about it now, and the rest of Christmas day was a little shall we say chillier than the morning! As was Boxing Day. – You see the problem is this. How do you take back something you haven’t actually got? – Fine, Argos have a very consumer friendly policy with regards to returns. If it’s faulty, unsuitable, broken, scratched etc. they will change it, no questions asked – BUT, can that really stretch to taking back an empty box? – Especially since I couldn’t find the receipt either – (that eventually turned up).

Day after Boxing Day, I phoned the store, to see if by some miraculous turn of events the ring I had bought was still on the shelf – it was a long shot, but it was all I could think of. They would look into it for me, and get back to me the next day. I heard nothing for a couple of days, and thought the worst. Mrs Jayster was still upset, but would not let me just buy another ring. Then we got the call – GOOD NEWS, they were very sorry, but it was a mistake – I had indeed been given the wrong box, and if I would just go into the store I could collect the ring. I was very happy with this result, and collected the ring yesterday…. However, it does still annoy me a little that I wasn’t offered anything by way of compensation for what ultimately put a big downer on this years Christmas!