Chas C.

BEWARE! This company does not comply with British retail law.

The above order was delivered by 'EVRI' - late! (Temu gave a £4 'late' refund). (EVRI used to be called Hermes - which if you read their review history on here you will discover has one of the worst review histories ever.)

Temu refused the refund for the two missing items - saying that the goods left their establishment intact. However I know they were missing. They do not show any evidence of 'inclusion' but they have my photographic evidence that they are not on the tray that I unpacked them on. So it's their word against mine.

They were very quick to deny my claim.

On further examining the package it is clear that it was ripped - then 'repaired' with clear tape (see photo). So if Temu have 100% integrity - and I can assure you that I do too - then it must have been 'nicked' by the courier. When EVRI were Hermes one of their couriers went through an elaborate procedure to 'deliver' an expensive leather jacket. His false completion of 'sorry you weren't in' card and false pictures of it on our doorstep - then walking away with the 'Joe Brown's' leather jacket box without ringing the bell, were all captured on CCTV - only to be accosted by my partner - in bare feet - to wrest the package off a very sheepish thief 100 yds down the road. He performed his 'trick' directly under the purview of the CCTV front door camera!

The courier who delivered the Temu package was very camera shy - he wore a black close-fitting hoodie - with just a tiny part of his face showing - and carefully placed the package in the 'parcel chute' - ripped-side down - in the 'proof of delivery' photo. Whilst his identity would be easy to ascertain if Temu took it further - he probably felt more confident that it would be difficult to retrieve the delivery information and who and when had tampered with the package en route.

Temu have refused to claim from the courier company and will not engage in insurance-claim processes.

They have refused to engage in any discussion about the sender being liable if non-delivery occurs in the British retail law processes.

We take online platforms and payment systems for granted in the UK. In the rare event of non-delivery occurring with eBay, they are very good at rectifying the problem - as are PayPal - who I believe were very closely aligned with eBay. Amazon too are very good at refunding for missing items (even when they too were hit with 'interception' fraud in my district.)

But Temu? Be wary.

So what do I do about Temu? I can assure you - with as much photographic proof as I can - that the items were not delivered - which if Temu's response is to be believed - must have been removed in transit. I would be willing to sign an affidavit to state the items were not present.

The courier who delivered the package was very keen to hide his identity from my CCTV cameras - and placed the package in the delivery chute so you couldn't see the 'tear'. He wore a hoody masking most of his face.

Stupidly I have another Temu order in the pipeline - but it is my last. And hopefully it will all arrive in an intact package - presumably by 'EVRI/Hermes' (Who are due for a name change soon - not long now until they reach their 'poor review' threshold!)

With the Temu App now uninstalled - it's Adieu from me.

Adieu

"Space d Ou t Aro n Finc h Embroider y!"

Or bad spacing on a simple label order.

If you order any embroidery labels - or any text-based embroidery, then watch out as regards the spacing.

A recent 'name' badge was ordered but the last letter was 'adrift' from the other four letters.

The label was returned for a refund - with the comment that it did not meet the named-person's expectations.

Unfortunately the company didn't agree and has hinted that they will not refund the order. So no 100% satisfaction guarantee then.

Aron Finch Embroidery pointed out that the last letter was 2.2mm from its neighbour! Which it probably was - but in 'font' spacing it requires flexible spacing as regards the combination of letters - and is called 'kerning'. It's amazing that Aron Finch Embroidery are ignorant of this - in the business they are in!

But the label still looked terrible!

If the resulting name label - for which a refund is still outstanding - is translated to this organisation it would read: 'Aro n Finc h Embroider y'.

To anyone knowledgeable about calligraphy there is a difference between spacing and kerning:

"The important difference between kerning and character spacing is the fact that letter spacing is agnostic to the text it spaces, while kerning is used in certain situations between certain pairs of characters as defined in the font."

The response of Aron Finch Embroidery is: "we accept returns as per policy, however we have the right to appeal afterward if the return is invalid, in this case it appears so."

But the label still looked terrible!

When the definition of kerning over spacing is brought to their attention they respond:

"Our response still stands Charli e.
We will continue with further action."

But the label still looks terrible!

The label has been returned and acknowledged by the listing platform. The refund is contingent on it arriving - and being acknowledged by Aron Finch Embroidery.

Now I wonder if the return will arrive? - if you're thinking what I am thinking?

If the refund materialises - or any further problems arise - this review will be updated. What odds do you give!

Preferably avoid this company - the label still looked terrible!

'Watc h Thi s Spac e'!

Postscript: The vendor deducted 70p postage from the original payment - as he promised to do... But as the item was defective the listing website agreed that the full payment should be refunded. So ** Don't Buy Direct ** from Aron Finch Embroidery because he (presumably 'he' - would not have been obliged to refund AnyThing! (Btw if you do happen to peruse the website it's full of bad spacing and other errors - have a look at the 'FIRST. AIDER' badge. This vendor does not have an eye for anything!) Avoi d Lik e Th e Plagu e!

There's a small cafe attached to the foyer of this theatre - and having spent time setting up cameras as a helper to my partner, both giving up our time (pro bono) to record the theatre event - she decided to 'reward' me with a cup of tea.

If you are a real tea drinker - and a loose-tea afficiaonado at that - plonking a tea bag in semi-hot water hardly does it.

They charge £2.50 for this service. However if you ask for a 'strong tea' and suggest another tea bag - it's "I'll have to charge you another £2.50 for that" - and before the you can overcome the rush of indignation - and concomitant involuntary inhalation of incapacitating air compression filling your lungs - he's hit the till buttons and it's £5! Unbelievable.

And to boot - the tea had a funny taste - really odd. I concluded that due to being served in a paper cup, it - the paper cup - must have been the source of the contamination. The second conclusion I came to was that this was the worst cup of tea I've ever experienced In My Life. Absolutely True. The worst - glue 'an all.

George Orwell - aka Arthur Blair - wrote one of the most influential statements of the British 'way of tea' in his Evening Standard essay of 1946 - 'A Nice Cup of Tea' - an 11 point 'instruction'.

He would be turning in his grave at what's happened to the 'National Drink' and would blench at £2.50 a small paper cup's worth let alone £5.

Whilst it's not expected that the 'server' of this beverage would know - but my 'treat' was paid for by an amateur-photographer registered nurse on a Band 5 nurse's salary (£27K per annum).

However this is unforgivable profiteering on the heels of the cost-of-living crisis.

I have worked out that the energy to boil eight fluid ounces of water at.011p (45 seconds in a 2.8kw kettle (or urn) at 29p per kwh); plus the cost of a Twining's Breakfast tea bag of 6p (retail (not wholesale) of £6 per 100 at Asda) plus the contaminating hot-drink-paper cup at 7p (Nisbets the catering wholesaler at £70.99 per 1000 cups - including lids which weren't offered at the theatre!) Plus 3p for 1.5 fluid ounces of milk (72.6p per 35 fluid ounces at Lidl) - A total of 16.011p - or just 16p for the whole shebang.

This represents (understates) a mark-up on the actual wholesale costs of 1,056% at £2:50 per cup of tea and 2,112% (less the percentage cost of an extra 6p tea bag!) at £5 per cup.

Of course 'mark-up' doesn't equate to profit - but margins are roughly even across an establishment's product range. 2,112% mark up gives a great profit margin - nice if you can get it. A theatre must make a commercial profit to be able to survive. But at this rate? And on an almost 'captive audience' - being once considered the National Drink?

Over many many years of asking for 'strong tea', very few establishments have even asked extra for the extra tea-bag let alone doubling the price of a cup for the second tea bag. They just chuck it in - "You're welcome Sir!". Just the extra cost of another tea-bag would have been almost reasonable - 6p for another Twining's Breakfast Tea bag.

But during the cost-of-living crisis you can see by the range of online-shopping prices that some establishments put prices up inordinately "because they can" - because the public have become insensitive to price rises and just suck it up. This cost-of-living crisis has corrupted some of us.

Hit a man when he's down, Marylebone Theatre!

So no more visits to this theatre - and no more pro bono work for anyone from me. (I spent four hours plus petrol costs to avoid a parking fine, driving back and forth to this theatre to avoid Westminster's parking charges limited to four hours (they'll even try to charge you for the air you breathe would Westminster council.) - to facilitate my partner's pro bone 'largesse'. I will try and persuade her to cease too. She can't afford £5 for a cup of tea on her salary.

For the want of a nail...for shoes, horses & battles.

QED.

There is a postscript to all this. I returned to the counter and insisted on a paper cup filled with hot water - which was discharged into the Men's loos basin (the cup in the paper towel waste) because I am that petty, having been so traumatised. But not before tasting the hot water to see if it was the cup itself that contaminated this beverage. It Was. Without A Doubt.

Eric Arthur Blair would have been equally traumatised - more so - having to consider what's become of the British 'way if tea'.

Why would a Rattigan plant lorry leave a trail of white paint along Beulah Hill at 15:27 on 28 April 2022? Then would you believe it - a transit and trailer leave another line of white paint at 12:48 on 29 April 2022 in the same place?

Rattigan's are a 'plant hire' company - but vehicles are in a poor state if the lorry that left the first trail is anything to go by.

Any chance of clearing it up, Ratts?