In which a mix-up means I get higher-quality Stuff

We get these little booklets irregularly with little postcards bound together, each from some company offering something or other—from cars over lingerie to credit offers.

A while back, we got two booklets in close succession (from different companies), each of which had a postcard from a coin seller: one offered a set of Cypriot euro coins for 5 euros and the other a set of Maltese euro coins, also for 5 euros.

So I thought that instead of sending off both postcards (and potentially paying for S&H twice), I thought I'd call them instead and try to order them over the phone.

The lady on the phone asked me for one of the two discount codes (she could only enter one per order) and the item numbers and said I'd only have to pay S&H once. She did say I might have to wait several weeks as there was quite a long waiting list.

Fast forward about five weeks: coins arrive, together with an invoice. Oops, I don't have any money left in my account as something unexpected had come up a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, the invoice isn't due for another couple of weeks so I decide to wait until a bit closer to "payday".

Then the other day, while putting a book away, I take out the thing I'd used as a bookmark, and it was the original postcards—and find that I was supposed to pay 5 euros for each set, yet they billed me 11 euros for each set! (I hadn't remembered the original price when I opened the invoice. But 12.95 sounds like something I'd have taken advantage of more readily than 24.94.)

So I called them this morning (Stella said the phone call shouldn't take too long, or the cost of the phone call would eat up my savings), and the lady on the phone looked up the order by my customer number and said that because there are so many people currently after Maltese and Cypriot euro coins, they had made a mistake taking or filling my order, and had mistakenly sent me better-quality coins than I had ordered. (The ones I got are in a little cardboard booklet with each coin in an individual plastic capsule) and are in "Stempelglanz" quality, which Wikipedia tells me is "Brilliant uncirculated" in English; the ones I ordered were apparently simply coins out of a regular roll.)

At any rate, she offered to settle the issue like this: just take 10 euros off the final total and send them 14.94. That's two euros more than I "should" have to pay, but I end up with higher-quality merchandise and neither they nor I have to go through the hassle of returning them. Sounds like a fair deal.

Plane or train, part the next

Stella said that during the day, she can imagine flying, but at night when it gets dark, she gets second thoughts.

We talked about travelling this evening, and she recounted some of the things which could go wrong—for example, what if Amy gets upset when the plane is in motion and refuses to be calmed down?

My gut feeling is that things will be all right in the end and that even if some things go wrong, we'll survive it. (That I won't get a meltdown myself from being around a screaming Amy, for example.)

Stella asked whether we really need to decide this now; I said I'd prefer to book the flight as soon as possible due to the volatility of the prices; they might not sell all the seats for an August flight in February, but there's no telling when the cheap seats will be gone.

At the end, Stella said she'd decide whether we'd fly or not by March.

Her preference, FWIW, is still to take the night train. She did say tonight, though, that if Amy and I end up flying, she thinks she should join us so that if something goes wrong she can console Amy. (And it's true that if Amy is upset, she all but ignores me and goes to her Mummy instead.)

So, we shall see.