Yesterday, at 4:30 pm, when the Costco store opened, where Tom purchased his hearing aids in July 2024, Tom explained his dilemma regarding the failure of his Phillips hearing aid charger to work. The only solution they suggested is that we order a new charger for US $199 from their store, and once we return to the US in May, they will refund the cost.
Of course, they won’t cover the cost of shipping it internationally, and thus, we had no choice but to have it sent to our mailing service in Nevada, which will send it to us here in Barcelona as soon as it arrives from Costco on September 29. No doubt, the cost to send this small package overnight will be hundreds of dollars.
There are Costco stores in Spain, but they don’t carry Phillips hearing aids or accessories. Nor could we find anywhere in this country where we could order it and have it shipped to us. The Costco order is the only viable option.
In the meantime, Tom can’t hear anything I say unless I talk so loudly that I end up with a sore throat. Most likely, we won’t have the device until at least two weeks from now. If Tom is facing me, he can read my lips if I speak loudly enough. It will be a long few weeks.
Also, yesterday, the toilet clogged, not due to anything we had done. That’s been quite a challenge, along with the fact that we still have no hot water, and the clothes dryer doesn’t work. Good grief. There is a clothes drying rack, but washing and drying the stiff sheets will be a hassle.
There’s only one set of sheets, and neither is a fitted sheet that’s too small to tuck in on the sides. As a result, every night we get tangled in the sheets, and making the bed is awful. Oh, good grief, listen to me whining. Since we’re ordering most of our meals from Uber Eats, I now wish we had stayed in a hotel without all these issues. We are not apartment people and will most likely never rent an apartment again, if possible.
Over and over again, we’ve reminded ourselves to choose single-family holiday homes. We’ve had very few issues with these, and in most situations, the owner or property manager lives nearby and responds quickly. In this case, it’s a property management company, and they seem to have little to no interest in resolving these issues for us.
This will be one of those rare occasions where our review will be candid about our negative experiences.
Fortunately, the WiFi works well enough that we can stream shows in the evenings, and Tom can listen to his favorite podcasts and watch football games while I am busy online. I enjoy watching the Minnesota Vikings football games with him. There’s no HDMI access on the smart TV, but it appears we can cast shows to the TV from our phones from other streaming services we use.
That’s all I have to say today, dear readers.
Be well.
Photo from ten years ago today, September 21, 2015:
