Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Ripped Off By A Clip Joint

My thanks to all those people who have responded to my cri de coeur regarding the small clip which anchors the wire leading from my cochlear implant processor to my MP3 player and mobile phone. Regular readers will know that my son Alexander (a.k.a. Pest) picked the clip up and moved it to somewhere inappropriate. As yet we have been unable to determine which inappropriate place he has moved it to.
Within hours of my appeal the first clips began to arrive and they still continue to materialise. The time has come to report back on some of the more enterprising suggestions. Clip No. 1 (above) came from an unidentified source and is quite functional, if a little on the large size. The problem with it is that it has a set of fairly fearsome alligator-style teeth. Most of the time these anchor the clip to my shirt collar but every so often they slip off and bite into the flesh of my neck.
Clip No 3 is a chunky plastic affair which was provided by who else that Cousin Dave. I did try it out by attaching the wire to the underside of the contraption and attaching the spring-loaded clip to my shirt collar. Unfortunately it was so heavy it ripped the top button off my shirt and has had to be abandoned on health and safety grounds.
Clip No. 2 was sent by my friend Edwin and I eventually took delivery of it today. Edwin posted it over a week ago but nothing happened until this morning when a postcard arrived saying that it had been seized by the Post Office for insufficient postage. According to the newly profitable Post Office it was 8p short on its postage (it was sent with a First Class Stamp and was well within the limits for first class post) so I was charged the 8p plus a £1 "handling fee". Being ripped off by the Post Office aside, it seems a very useful little clip and is under road tests as I write this.
One of the most exciting suggestions arrived this morning by post from my good friend Salim at the Yorkshire Cochlear Implant Service. He had found details of a Bluetooth connector which operated via a ear hook and the "T" setting. If this works it will mean that I no longer have a need for wires and therefore no need for clips. I send off my order this morning and I am waiting for delivery. At a little over £50 let's hope it is not another rip-off.

5 comments:

  1. One feels one should be able to sue the Post Office under the Human Rights acts - causing me raised blood pressure and you loss of facility..... let alone a straight lie on their part - it fitted all the criteria of normal first class post!!

    Still, glad it seems to be handy until you go wireless.

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  2. Indeed it is handy both until the Bluetooth arrives and indeed after as there are many circumstances where the Bluetooth won't work very well because of its reliance on the T setting.

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  3. Anonymous8:25 PM

    Thank the lord clip number 3 wasn't sent by post or your cruise might have had to be re planned financially ie minus panama canal.

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  4. Er... is that Alexander as in "son of"?

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  5. No it is Alexander as in father of (he has been using my computer and it is still logged in under his name)

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