I hate waiting in

Even if I have nothing particular to do that day, I hate having to wait for something or someone to arrive.

Increasingly online retailers use couriers rather than the postal system to send goods. That is both good and bad. The good part is the tracking system that most couriers use which means you know which day your parcel will arrive. The bad side is that you don’t know exactly what time it will arrive. We have had couriers at our door as early as 10am and one who claimed to try and deliver a parcel at 9pm. As it happened, we had given up hope on him and gone out. I couldn't tell you which companies are better or worse we’ve had most of them deliver to us here in Bigastro: Suer, DHL, UPS, Global Express and MRW and they all seem to vary.

Today, I am not waiting for a package but rather for a technician. By law*, central heating boilers in Spain must be serviced every year. Our Saunier Duval Supermicra 23 E GB wasn’t serviced for the first four years but then two years ago we had Rocca around to service it. He cleaned out all the radiators and re-filled the system but I don’t recall seeing him touch the boiler. So, I decided to contact Saunier Duval direct and try them.

When we first moved in, we were given a letter from a company called Sauniersat Alacant, about their service and an application form for a contract. However it was all in Spanish and at that time we only knew how to order a coffee and a beer so we put it to one side. This year I dug it out and with a little more Spanish under my belt, read it through. It seems that if we had taken out a contract then it would have cost 63.80 Euros for an annual service. We also had information about a company called CaminSAT Alicante who service Saunier Duval boilers.

When the lady from Saunier Duval phoned yesterday she explained that, since our boiler is now six years old, we can only opt for an annual service at a cost of 78 Euros. That is better than nothing and at least we will be legal.

UPDATE: I have just had a phone call to say that the technician can't find our house. It seems he has arrived at the estate but gone to the wrong road (one with a similar sounding name). Hopefully he will arrive here sometime soon!

UPDATE 2: Finally the man arrived and told me that he could not get to the boiler without removing the top of the cabinet which he wasn't prepared to do at that time. Obviously, getting lost had put his time schedule out. So, we will need a further visit which the lady will phone me to arrange. What a bummer!!

* Real Decreto 1751/1999, del Julio, publicado en el B.O.E. con fecha 5 de Agosto de 1998.