1. Dig a big ditch, then 2. Build a wall and on the inside of this 3. Plant firethorn - this grows phenomenally quickly and is really nasty stuff as the thorns break off in the skin. Keep your kids away from it!

You've also probably been paying VAT on his clothes too. The real problem we've found is when they get to size 12+ you can't find reasonably priced shoes at all!!

Unfortunately in my experience it is difficult to stop this sort of menace without tying your phone up for a little while. You know, the occasionally saying uh huh and then after 10 minutes saying "sorry, I got distracted there, could you possibly recap from the start" and then doing the same again ten minutes later. Eventually they will get the message that you are just wasting their time and give up, marking their database do not contact. Or you could always try something like this: Telemarketer Crime Scene - Prank Calls, Funny Audio Clips, Celebrity Prank Calls, Crank Calls

I Think It's A Matter Of Personal Choice - MY CAPS WORK!!!!!!

Methinks you misunderstand. To me and I imagine most people "tracking" something would mean that is watched at least at several points along it's journey. As you rightly say the only "tracking" for recorded delivery is when it is handed to Royal Mail and when Royal Mail deliver it. A loose interpretation of the term imo. My point is that this is not a very good/secure way of sending valuable items given the millions of items in the mail system at any time. The compensation available for recorded items is, in fact, exactly the same as for unrecorded items, proof of posting or not. Obv if you have a proof then it's easier. The scanning and "recording" of recorded delivery items was introduced only last summer. The reason for it was partly to create a timestamped receipt for the customer to deter spurious claims, but also to check delivery addresses and postcodes on receipt into the system as this is how many "lost" items go astray. The information collected doesn't go anywhere to my knowledge. For example I cannot pull up a list of recorded items I have taken in the way I can with specials, nor can you look on RM's system to see when it was posted. Don't forget that the Post Office and Royal Mail are separate entities, our systems are NOT linked. RM have no access to posting times even for Special Delivery Items other than the hardcopy sheet which accompanies them from the mailing office. I regret to say that the Royal Mail website is misleading regarding Recorded Delivery - you just cannot believe what you read on the web!! If you follow the Track and Trace link on the page you quote: http://track.royalmail.com/portal/rm/jump2?catId=400145&mediaId=15400383 it shows recorded separate from the true tracked services, saying "The following services can be tracked: for items sent within the UK:" blah blah and then: "We also offer the Recorded Signed For service for items that are being sent by first or second class." (my emphasis) I can see how people get confused by this and will log a complaint with them. Nothing will happen, of course. Hope your father is enjoying retirement.

It's an Imedia 2423. Not a bad piece of kit tbh, but needed an extra 2GB of RAM to run Vista properly. Does't seem as well built when you look inside as an HP I bought for business which is still going strong after 6 years, but to be fair it gets a lot more high end use, and up until now seemed to suit his needs fine. I accept that with electronics things will go wrong - I'm a little surprised it has taken a year for it to fail as I'd have thought it would have gone within the first month really. It's the incompetence/indifference of the support staff that gets to me!! I have tried to explain this to him, but he just doesn't believe me!!!!!! Apparently that was "the olden days" and things just aren't like that anymore.

Chav, The Laptop isn't a laptop - it's a PC!! I have never bought a laptop from PC World and every time I've spoken to them they've always correctly identified the system as a Packard Bell PC, which is the only system I've ever bought from them. Why on earth they're trying to pick a laptop up is beyond me! And as you say, why wait so long? I must admit I was a little surprised that they were going to come out and fix it in the first place - I expected to have to take it back to the shop. With regard to a refund I'm only quoting what they told me - again a surprise to me and an interesting concept on an item which was always going to be out of date within 36 months anyway. I accept your point regarding use but tbh I just need the damned thing fixed and we are now 18 days down the line and no progress has been made. Any reduction will have to be offset against my charges for stress and inconvenience:p. By "died" I mean that with the exception of a slight hum from the power brick and a light on the on button there is no function/output. I accept their diagnosis of motherboard failure. Obviously after a year it is just possible that the original motherboard is now obsolete, but as it was a recently introduced quadcore machine I'd have thought a replacement board would be easy to source and fairly cheap. Further thoughts?

1. Do not give up - there is an important principle at stake here. 2. Write directly to the Chairman of Dixons at their head office (details should be on their corporate website), quoting this site. This sort of thing just shouldn't happen, but frequently does and if those at the top don't get to hear of it it continues. I am sure that the problem is not that Dixons do not wish to honour the offer, just that the minions you have spoken to haven't been trained properly and can't be bothered. You should get an acknowledgement by return and a proper answer within a week-10 days if my past experience with another firm is anything to go by.

Recorded delivery is tracked only insofar as you have a receipt with a tracking number to prove you posted it (you can get this free for any item you hand in at a post office counter anyway) and a signature on delivery. The tracking number is ONLY used to confirm/prove delivery. Recorded delivery items are treated exactly as ordinary first or second class items other than this signature (i.e. same speed, same chances of getting delayed/lost). Recorded Delivery is NOT tracked through the postal system. This is why recorded delivery is not secure and is unsuitable for items of value. Only Special Delivery is tracked through the postal system and handled separately, and scanned/signed for at each stage of the process. If you do not believe this watch carefully how your item is treated next time you send something recorded. The clerk will put it in a bag with other mail of the same class (first or second). Obviously if it's in a sack with lots of other non-tracked items it ain't getting tracked either! When items are collected from my Post Office the Collecting Officer has to sign for Special Delivery items, but not for recorded, so for recorded the tracking stops there! With regards to whether you have a contract or not I think you will find that paying for a service grants you certain contractual rights.

Hi, I am a subpostmaster and have seen this sort of thing before. Firstly the above post is absolutely correct. I am surprised that RM have discussed this with you at all as they (correctly) view the contract as being with the person who paid them. It is that person who has to make a claim. With regards to Recorded/Special Delivery the earlier post is also correct. There is a general misconception that by sending something by Recorded Delivery it is more secure/faster. IT IS NOT!!! The only difference between sending something recorded and just sticking a stamp on it is that IF it gets delivered the person receiving it has to sign - so they can't say they haven't had it. Other than that it gets exactly the same treatment. Anyone sending items of intrinsic value such as banknotes, tickets, vouchers (I see a lot of people sending Tesco vouchers off for airmiles for example) etc then should use Special Delivery which is signed for at every step of the way, guaranteed next day, and insured for up to £500 at the base level. On the whole this is a very reliable and comparatively cheap service.

I will never use PC World again due to their shoddy customer service. My 15 year old son bought a PC from them on 18 January last year with money he had saved over 18 months from his newsround. They didn't have the advertised one which he wanted (sound familiar?) so he bought a more expensive one. On 5 January 2009 the thing died. I called their service line and we ran some diagnostics, the upshot of which was that they decided that the motherboard was dead and needed to be replaced. Fair enough - I have since had it looked at by an independent expert who concurs with the diagnosis. Warranty problems are handled by "The Tech Guys" who may or may not be part of PC World, I'm not sure. Anyway the guy told me that the part was not in stock but that he put it on order and they would call me to arrange an engineer visit when they had it. By the 13th I hadn't heard from them and so called back. Again I was told that the part was not available. I said that this was not acceptable and they gave me a number for PC World customer support. Called them and they put me on hold whilst they sorted it out. Came back and told me that they had sourced the part and an engineer appointment was made for the 22 January. I was not overjoyed by a further 9 day delay, but accepted it. We had a knock on the door at 8.30 yesterday morning from a courier who had been sent by them to PICK UP a laptop I have spent some time on the phone as you can imagine (my son needs the PC for his GCSEs). Upshot is that they say the repair was incorrectly logged TWICE out of TWO attempts. If I had not chased it I would never have heard from them again, and the're having an internal investigation into what went wrong. All well and good but my son is still without his PC and coursework at a crucial time and will be for some time to come. Incidentally the warranty has a 28 day limit on repairs and as it takes them a week to get the part and 9 days to book an appointment it looks unlikely that they're going to meet the deadline. In which case they admit we're entitled to a refund - watch this space!!