Postie rang the doorbell and tried to deliver some flowers and chocolates. The address and post code were ours but the recipient should have been someone else.
Thinking quickly, I deduced that if I declined the delivery someone's Valentine Day surprise was not going to happen. If I accepted the delivery there was a more than fair chance that the gift would get through one way or another, so I accepted delivery.
I phoned the company that sent the flowers but the woman couldn't give me details of the person who ordered the gift because of the data protection act. She put me on hold while she spoke to her supervisor. When she came back she reported that she didn't know what could be done other than get postie to collect the parcel. I explained that this would mean that the flowers would go back to the sorting office and someone's romantic weekend would be ruined.
I told her that the order number and account number was on the address label and she should be able to tell who the sender was and his address, assuming it was a he. She agreed that she could do that but it wouldn't help. I explained that it would help if I gave her my telephone number so that she could pass it on the the guy who ordered the flowers and he could contact me to arrange collection. Sound of pre decimal coin falling.
Ten minutes later a very grateful chap turns up and thanks me profusely for saving his bacon and presumably other bits.
Customer services --- you gotta love 'em.
