Earlier this week I had the unenviable task of unblocking a drain, luckily I had a set of drainage rods so off I went, into the breach, and without going into too much detail the task was more difficult than I had thought. My set of rods reached just over 9 metres but, living in the sticks and being on 'private drainage' the offending drainage run was considerably longer than anticipated.
I needed more rods, not tomorrow, not next week but today so, as a regular customer of Screwfix I made contact but the only set they had available were in Eastbourne, too far to go in the time available I decided, so I started searching elsewhere including Toolstation and more local builders merchants but, to no avail.
I wanted to buy rods which were compatible with the ones I had which combined, would give me the reach I needed, rather than buy a whole new set which I would be unlikely to use again for some time.
I kept on coming up with 'out of stock' or 'available on line within 48 hours' but nothing was available now. Then I had a light bulb moment... what about hiring some? I got straight onto Rye Hire, explained what I wanted and the young man I spoke to said "yes, we have at least 50, 1 metre lengths in stock now, how many would you like". Bingo I thought and reserved 15 lengths which I collected 20 minutes later. I then unblocked the drain, cleaned the rods then delivered them back to Rye Hire about two hours later. The cost, a very reasonable £11.80 for 24 hours hire which, compared to the cost of buying a whole new set of rods was very good value.
It's ironic that with the might and spread of the internet and with all the fantastic offers found online, when I needed something the same day, the only place I could find it, in the time I had available was in Rye, virtually on my doorstep. This is a service second to none, the young chap who served me initially couldn't have been more helpful and when I returned the rods later that day Andy Polley (pictured above) served me and concluded the transaction, what a gentleman and what a great business.
It will be a tragedy to lose Rye Hire from their existing location, but we can all do our bit and support them by signing the petition to help them stay. They provide a necessary service, they are a very professional and knowledgeable operation and we are so lucky to have them in town. They will bend over backwards to help if they can, they care and they matter, let's not let them down.
