Is this normal in England now?

So the wider context is, after almost two decades, I am back in England and trying to set up a new home.

First up, internet. I booked a week in advance with John Lewis Broadband. Fine, that’s the way it is — I’ll sit in an empty house and read a book till they come to install it. They made me choose three different installation slots. I chose Friday AM, PM and Monday.

And maybe I might wait in a little more comfort. I bought a sofa from an antique shop on Ebay. I did the deal and sent the money… on the basis that they could also send it the same Friday.

In the meantime, I needed a car. I booked a test drive for the day after I finished quarantine.

Long story shortened. I arrived at the car dealers and the car was already sold and no one would admit to having any record of my visit (despite emailing me). The broadband (despite me paying in advance and agreeing an installation date) was put back a further two weeks by John Lewis.

And now the sofa won’t be delivered until a week later.

Is this a new thing? There is no deal? No agreement is binding? The seller can always back out if it’s no longer convenient for them?

This feels new.

Generally, there is a lot of calling phone centres and waiting. There is a lot of giving out your phone number and email to make things work. Then, there is a lot of being spammed. The sales calls that plague my mum and dad have begun.

You could argue that this is just consumerist Britain — but I can’t actually see how the consumer wins.