Shawbury_Shortcake

I got Tom's number from the forum & he helped me out with a bathroom light that wasn't working. He & his colleague were very quick and professional, got the problem sorted in under an hour & for a very reasonable price. Recommended!

Another recommendation for Paul and his team, who cleared my cellar and some spider-ridden garden waste within 24 hours of my asking for a quote. Very reasonable price too.

Carl fixed a rotting fence post in my garden, and saved me money by pointing out that the fence panels could be re-used rather than replaced. He was quick to reply to messages, arrived proptly, and his rate was really reasonable, especially considering that the job ended up taking much longer than expected as the old post had been thoroughly cemented in. Carl even kindly helped my next door neighbour with a few things in her garden while he was fixing our shared fence. Highly recommended.

Hi, just wanted to confirm that Tony came back and fixed the leak at no extra charge.

Sorry to say I've had a less positive experience with Tony. After these great reviews I contacted him to fix a small leak under my bathroom sink - a drip really, but I was concerned it would get worse. He came quickly this Monday, appeared to sort the problem, and to fix some dripping taps, sent me an invoice and I paid the same day. That night I noticed a substantial leak under the sink and texted asking Tony to return and mend it. It's now Friday and Tony has said he's coming to fix the leak several times, but not turned up. I've texted and called, and had no reply, and the leak is now bad enough that the sink is unusable. I honestly wish I'd never called him.

oh I'm so sorry, that's awful. Hope you're feeling okay, it's such a shock when it happens.

Hoping the two ladies who helped me this morning might read this - my dog was attacked (he's fine, thankfully) by a big tan female dog that was tied up outside the Co-op at about 8.30 this morning. The big dog was on an extendable lead and, even though we stepped into the road to avoid it, it was able to run into the road dragging shopping trolleys behind it. Luckily my dog is small enough that I could lift him up by his lead & get him out of the way. The two ladies were brilliant - helped untangle the dog's lead from round my legs, went into the Co-op to find the owner, checked my dog & I were okay, and then let the dog owner know exactly what they thought. I was so keen to get my dog away from the situation that I don't think I properly said thank you. THANK YOU for stepping in, brilliant ladies, I was so grateful to you both.

Oh, and before someone says, 'why didn't you just leave a note on the windscreen' - I did go back once I'd written down the details, but the car had gone.

If your car was parked by the bus stop opposite the Co-op on Forest Hill Road this eve, about 6.45, I saw the van that hit it & drove off. It was a blue Nissan Transporter van, reg no DX60 WUP (feel like there should be one less letter & one more number in that, but was trying to remember it while driving!). Was concentrating so hard on the van that I failed to notice anything about the car it hit, other than it was dark. I reported to the police on 101 as the driver was all over the road. If you want the police reference number, please send me a private message.

As it says in my first post, they came in through an upstairs window at the front of the house. Then they came through the upstairs flat and into the communal hallway where they kicked in the door to my flat. I hope that's clear.

Well, ElmGrove, it was pretty obvious how the burglars got in and the police forensics team confirmed it. I really only put this post up to warn people to be careful, I'm not after judgements on my home security, thanks.

The burglars got out through the front door of the house which didn't have a double-lock, though it does now! There weren't any ladders around in my garden or neighbouring gardens, so I don't know how they got up there to get in. I was pretty surprised that they'd chance going through a front window on a busy road, but I guess they thought it worth the risk. The police were brilliant (three visits in less than 24 hours), and hopefully insurance will cover everything. Windows will stay firmly closed from now on.

I was burgled last night and the police tell me there were similar burglaries on Friern Road and Forest Hill Road too - almost certainly the same people. They came in through an open window at the front of the upstairs flat (I'm downstairs), and then kicked my door in. They didn't take much, they didn't make a huge mess, and all is okay (except for the poor, freaked out puppy who was home alone), but just wanted to warn people not to leave a window open even if it's on the second or third floor.