1. The GIO office in Queensland where I first lodged the claim. They are very busy with all the claims from fires and floods etc and the first time I was on hold for 30 minutes and the second time for 45 minutes. I do wish they would change their 'music' as there is some very loud whistling which does rather get on the wick. Perhaps they hope it will annoy people enough that they will hang up.
2. We have had calls from a gentleman in India who said he was our claim manager. Very polite and asked the same questions I'd been asked the previous day by the people in Queensland. We then heard from him again on Tuesday when we had to go through the same list of questions but the outcome was good.
3. On Monday I had a call from a place in Sydney telling me they were handling the claim and would be contacting our repairman here in Perth. It was also possible they would ask for a second quote and hopefully we would reach a conclusion within 10 workdays.
Each time you speak to someone they need verification of who you are. I know there are lots of scoundrels out there but if they are ringing our home landline you would think they would know it was us they were talking to.
On Tuesday the gentleman from India rang again. Phil answered the phone as the same time that I picked up the phone here in my workroom. I let Phil do the talking but when I realised he was not understanding what was being said I chipped in and said I'd take the call.
The outcome of this call was to tell us that out claim had been accepted but not as straight out fusion but as though the damage was caused by storm/lightning and they would repay the $100 excess I'd paid a couple of weeks back. I didn't even try to find out why this was but apparently by doing it this way we also receive a little more than the original quote.
This aircon we have has caused nothing but trouble since it was installed in 2006 and the repair that is needed would necessitate using a gas which is soon to be phased out. On his invoice our repairman wrote he felt the repair was not a good idea but he could install a new unit with a 5-year warranty. We accepted the payment which is to be paid direct into my bank account (Phil had to give his approval for this to happen) and we felt if we decided on the unit being repaired it was quite likely within 6 months another part would break down and we could be up for another heavy repair bill.
Derek has been good to us over the years and kept the Airwell unit running for us so we contacted his firm and ordered a new Mitsubishi unit which hopefully will be installed on 14 March. We will receive nearly $3,000 and by paying exactly the same amount again we will have a new reliable unit with this 5-year guarantee. Seemed the only and sensible way to go. If *Derek had thought it worthwhile repairing the old unit he would have told us so as he is as honest as the day s long.Guess we'll have to try and stay here for 5 years now to take advantage of this decision.
Incidentally I asked the Indian gentleman who I'd been talking to the previous day to his call and he said that was the technical department. Strangely enough they'd not contacted our repairman etc so am still trying work out what that is all about.
To add some beauty to the story I added some of my frangipani.
1. A close up of the common white which blooms every year and is in flower now.
2. George Brown which flowered prolifically last year and actually has some buds again this year. It is a frangipani that all growers really love partly because of its change of colour as it ages.
3. Bowen yellow which flowered for the first time this eyar but is not nearly finished.
4. Cotton Candy which flowered last year and has some new buds so should have some blooms soon.
5. Pink Cheeks which has been flowering for weeks now and is such a dainty colour.
*Derek has, as I said, been good to us. Years ago Phil tiled our front verandah but eventually the rain had loosened the cement and the front rows of tile began to come off. We decided to remove all the tiles and perhaps redo it. Unfortunately the cement had set too hard (it had been a very hot day when Phil did the tiling) and it resisted all attempts to remove the remaining tiles. Derek had noticed this and on his next visit when he knew it would take some time to fix the aircon (gas I think) he brought a grinder with him and removed the remaining tiles and as much of the cement as he could. When I thanked him for his kindness (no charge) he said I reminded him of his mum and it was a pleasure to do it for us. Trouble is we've no idea what to do with the cement verandah now so it still sits there with the remaining cement looking grotty. If we can afford it perhaps one day we'll get an expert to do something about it. Perhaps.....one day.
