Raw Deal: How Toddy’s new bike was delayed by Adolf Hitler!

ANYONE who knows Graham Todd, of Kirriemuir, would agree that “Toddy” enjoys a laugh.

So when the delivery of his new bike was delayed by Adolf Hitler, Toddy saw the funny side – but he was also surprised at the lack of communication surrounding the saga.

Toddy saw a TV advert for the latest electric bike, from Gtech, on TV. It looked great, if you agreed to buy by a certain date they’d throw in a helmet and lights, mudguards and stand all fitted free.

He ordered the bike on April 18. He was quickly emailed with the news that he could expect delivery a couple of days later, on the Friday, with the very precise time of 11.44am.

This seemed to be very efficient, Toddy was impressed.

Except that the bike didn’t arrive.

Toddy got an email the evening previous, from carrier Arrow XL, who advised the bike hadn’t arrived at their warehouse but might be in Kirrie at some point over the weekend.

There had been an emergency at the depot, throwing all their plans into confusion.

Toddy sympathised with this, but when the bike hadn’t arrived by the Monday, he made further inquiries as to what was happening.

This was, after all, a £995 bike, with the promise of speedy delivery being one of the selling points.

Toddy is 66, but still works part-time in the oil industry. It took quite a bit of organising to arrange a time to be in to take acceptance of the bike

The email response from Arrow was quite an eye-opener. It said: “Our Birmingham Depot was evacuated due to the discovery of an unexploded World War 2 bomb.

“As a result, we are currently unable to dispatch orders until further notice and your order may be delayed by up to four working days.

“Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay.”

Having great sympathy for anyone whose working day has been disrupted by the Luftwaffe, Toddy gave Arrow XL a week’s grace.

But after seven days, with no further news, he phoned again asking where his bike was.

He was assured a manager would phone him back within two hours. But the call never came.

He waited another few days, before sending another email. This time he was assured his order was definitely going to receive personal attention and that the bike would be delivered within a couple of days.

When there was – again – no sign of it by lunchtime, he phoned and was told he’d be phoned directly back. No call came.

He phoned again at 4.30 and was told again that someone would call back.

Yet again, no call.

Toddy reckoned he’d been very patient and had made enough allowances for unexploded ordinance underneath his bike – that appeared to have closed the depot for one day. But no one would give clear information on what was happening.

He contacted Raw Deal.

We made inquiries on Toddy’s behalf and there was soon a V for victory sign.

Toddy has now put the troubles of World War Two behind him and has happily got on his bike.

He said: “Thanks for all your help with this issue, it is much appreciated.”