Ekeo or Bust

Back in September I blogged about Ekeo, the water purifying company which seemed to have gone bust. This week, I had a guy call me from a different company asking to come and see my installation.

When he came round, he asked me how I knew they'd gone bust so I replied that their website was down and no one was answering the phone. Ergo - trouble. He was surprised that I knew. Seemed obvious to me.

Anyway, he told me that the company had run into trouble with the financial partners. They had wanted the company to diversify, and it was in the process of doing this, with all the bits under the one name, Ekeo. French administration is very long, and before the statutes to change the names of the different bits came into force, the financial partners pulled the plug and all the bits with the same name went down the hole. An unfortunate situation, and a lesson to us all: Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

Naturally, this guy had come to sell me something. He certainly wasn't coming round out of the goodness of his heart. They had recruited several of the Ekeo former employees who came, customers files in hand. That's how they got in touch with all the Ekeo clients to tell them that their system was crap, maladapted to the local water, and that, for a mere couple thousand Euros extra, they could have the NEW system all shiny and bright.

Predictable? You bet. Apparently, one of the problems with the system is that one of the filter pots splits and breaks. Mine hasn't... yet. I said that if it does, I'll just throw out the system and reconnect the water supply to the original water pipes. I've had it with water softeners. The whole thing stinks of arnaque (con).

The guy left saying I had a charming voice on the phone and even more charming face to face, and he wished me a happy Christmas and later rang to tell me how I could improve my drinking water filter system. If he rings again, I'll get worried!

Happy Christmas, everyone. I won't be blogging for a week, so enjoy the silence.

Fekeo-ffed

Psst! 'ere guv, you wanna osmos-whatsit fing wot does yer limescale in roight? Yeh? I give ya special price, like guv. All you 'ave to do is 'and over the nicker and I'll get ya sorted. It's a sweet deal, you can trust me...

Except, of course, you can't, especially when the company goes bust which is what I have a nasty feeling has happened to Ekeo. I've had my osmoseur for 18 months, and the water heater has just gone up in a cloud of limescale dust to the happy knackers yard in the sky where heating elements gleam and joints are all squashy rubber.

Which is not how it should be. There shouldn't be a speck of limescale that can't be washed away osmosed to smithereens, according to the booklet delivered with the machine by the accused. But can I get any sense out of them when I call? I cannot, dear reader, no. Their phone is on voicemail and the box is full. Go to their website and it's a white page 'under construction'.

Looks suspicious, n'est-ce pas?

I'm not too worried about the water heater. It was probably full of crap from the start, and as I rent, it's not my problem beyond enduring a couple of days of bracing showers whilst waiting for the plumber to replace it. No, I'm more concerned about my own appliances.

Has the osmoseur stopped working? Should I now be stuffing Calgon into every orifice? How do I get the damned thing maintained?

I've never had anyone go bust on me before. This is definitely a new experience. There was a couple once who pulled out of a house sale at the very last minute which caused no end of trouble, but that's been about it really. I suppose I should count myself lucky, especially during la crise.

Still, I'm none the wiser about what to do with my osmoseur which I haven't even finished paying for yet.

I wonder if they've done a runner to Brazil with la caisse.

I rang up the Mairie of the head office and asked them if they knew what had happened, it being a small commune an' all. The woman who answered said I wasn't the first to call but that she had no information, so I suggested she might do well to get some as I was surely not the last person to call if the company had indeed gone bankrupt. You'd think that local gov would know if they were suddenly down some taxe professionelle. Or gossip would have reached them via Jacques in Account's cousine Emilie who was talking to her daughter who told her that poor Josephine down the road was worried cos her husband Jean-Philou had lost his job cos his employer, Ekeo, had gone bust.

You know what small places are like.

Wonder who the manufacturer is...

Water's Off

I've got a guy in to install a water purifying system except that he's gone off to buy some bits and left the water off... Things are getting a tad uncomfortable, especially since drinking my lovely strong cuppa.

He's promised to finish the installation today, but I don't see it myself unless he's prepared to work into the evening, and I'm not sure I want him around that long, for obvious comfort reasons...

Naturally I haven't been able to do the things I wanted to do this afternoon, as he needed me to be on hand to advise. I had been intending renewing our subscription at the library and getting out some books for the boys. Some hope. I also had to do a hurried clean-up so he wouldn't think we were right messy buggers scrabbling about amongst dropped crisps, and general mess.

The boys are very excited not because of the improvement we'll have in water quality, or reduced water consumption, but because we get a soda machine plus Coca syrup thrown in. It's the free gift that makes all the difference...

Upgrade

I'm feeling cold from the inside out. This has a lot to do with standing on a footie pitch watching my youngest play/not play for two hours while the temperature fell. I've got dinner on the go though so should be toasting from the inside out soon enough. If that fails, I'll take to my duvet which is looking increasingly inviting as it is.

After the emotional excitement of the day, I'm pooped! I not only watched my hero save ball upon ball in the goal of an unknown pitch, but I spent a ton of money on my new table, chairs and tv stand. Not that I have any of it yet however. As I was NOT in Ikea, I did not break my back carrying heavy boxes, did not stand in a line of 30 grumpy people with wailing small children/arguing bigger children and did not feel compelled to purchase 20 useful items as I traipsed through in search of the tills.

No, I sat at the table I was ordering, on one of chairs I was ordering, signed the order form, paid 30% by credit card and sauntered out. It'll be delivered and assembled which will save me hours of bad temper and enable me to spend more quality time with my lovely children...

By the end of April, my sitting room will be transformed and I will welcome pals to my not so humble abode without the need for poxy excuses about the cheap 'n' cheerful crap that makes my home look like a bad advert for Emmaus ('Let us take away your crap and make it sparky and new for a family in need...').

Overcome with the upgrading in the future general comfort levels of the family, I also got talked into getting a water purification system with Ekeo. We drink tap water which is potable, but full of unfortunate bits and bobs including nitrates, rust, bugs, limescale to name but a few. I spend a fortune on Calgon and stuff to keep my machines going, but of course as the water heater fills with deposits, so it takes more energy to heat and so my heating bill goes up. When we moved in two years ago, I was paying 80Eur per month. I now pay 97Eur.

So Ekeo will install a filter to take out the limescale and an inverse osmoser to purify what's left, then they'll put water saver bits on the taps and shower head and we'll be all set to save the planet and our health - less water use, lower electricity consumption and better quality water to drink. Bingo!

I wonder if it'll reduce wrinkles too...

Wot, no Evian?

You find me perplexed. I have a modest collection which takes up little time or money. I even collect for my mother.

What is it I collect? Annual Evian bottles. A few years ago they came in the shape of a water droplet and provided a festive addition to Christmas and New Year tables. Then, Evian engineers came up with the stylish 'mountain' topped with different coloured 'snow' according to year. They retailed at slightly more than a classic bottle of Evian; normal since they were made of glass and had required some research into design and style.

I would venture into Intermarche, or Carrefour in December/January and pick up my two bottles. When my mother visited, I would give her one, or take it over if she had Ryanair weight issues. It was all easy, stress-free, fun and cheap.

Not so this year.

Evian has gone all 'exclusive'. The 20,000 available bottles are numbered, come with a gold-coloured snow cap and are only available from one shop in Outer Mongolia which is open from 2-3pm on Wednesdays and Fridays.

They are not available in Intermarche. Nor in Carrefour. I have not been following the marketing of this year's bottle so was not aware until today that there was anything untoward. I went onto the Evian site and came across the news that this year things are being done differently. And it's already Jan 22. Bugger.

I thought it might be interesting to browse Ebay.fr and see who was selling what there. Lo and behold, there I saw the 2007 Evian bottles. One auction was just about to end, the bottle selling at 41€. This was daft! Further down the list, someone had a 'Buy it Now' at 50€. The bottles retail from 4€. On Ebay.co.uk, some canny person had bought 10 in Harrod's (from the Philippines - the total allocated there) and was selling them at nearly £20 each. Complete with Harrod's card.

Having lured us into a happy state of collecting the bottles, Evian now has us by the short and curlies (they think). They have whipped up a frenzy of collecting and people are prepared to pay anything (almost) to keep their collections current.

I will not pay anything, however, or go running all over town in search of an elusive bottle of water. I may just venture into town, to Monoprix and see if there are any still on the shelves. If not, I'll admit defeat and that'll be that.

Is this the end of the annual Evian limited edition? How could they possibly follow this year's coup?

Edited to add that I did look in Monoprix, and there were none, natch.