jul 21 2004

a new arrival

about 2-3 months ago ed and i ordered a huge lounge suite (pic to be added soon in the gallery) to be made to our specifications. the price tag was alot less then buying the same thing at a discount furniture store. the service these guys offered though has been terrible (even for cape town standards)...

so last week, no wait the week before that, they call and say "hey, your lounge suite is done, we'll deliver on friday". so friday comes and by 10am there's been no feedback from them whatsoever. ed's been trying to get a hold of them since 8am. finally at about 11am some-one answers the phone. he is then informed that the lounge suite is actually not ready because the lady on the phone has been away for 3 days and the power has been off for 3 days too! well, thanks for letting us know. ed's organised his day so he could be there when they deliver. that means he hasn't done any on-site work, collected client's orders or done any quotes. total estimate of money lost: R1000.00.

alright, we'll leave it for now...

then on friday (last week) i get a call. the lounge suite is ready now. really? really. so i go and view it. i confirm that it'll be delivered by 11am the next day (saturday). i also ask to speak to the manager. i'm told she's not there and she might only be in on monday. ok so get her to call me when she's in, be it tomorrow or monday morning... i want to discuss maybe getting a discount for the inconvenience they caused the week before.

saturday morning i rush to the bank to get the remaining cash for the lounge suite, we put 50% down as a deposit. they don't take cheques (only if they're bank guarenteed). i get back to the house at around 9.30 and start making room for the new lounge suite. old futons are removed, taken apart and ed's sleeper couch is taken out onto the porch. this was all done a little before 11am, deadline for the arrival of the new lounge suite.

11am comes and goes. by 12 i phone them to find out what's happening. oh the driver hasn't arrived yet and they don't know when he'll be in. ah hello, why didn't you call me and let me know? why do i have to constantly chase you to get answers / info? now i am mad and want to speak to the manager. give me her cellphone number. no we don't do that. well get a hold of her and get her to give me a call. ok. they do that apparently and they call me to let me know. later they call to say the driver is there and that they are loading the lounge suite. that's at around 1pm. i expect them to be at my spot at around 2pm. 3pm they arrive.

in the meantime i have decided to deduct 10% and delivery off of the final payment. then my mom arrives and reckons i shouldn't pay them at all and says "you never give delivery guys cash". okay cool. but when they arrive i crumble... i'm going to go to hell for this i think. you can't not give them their money? naughty naughty. after abit of a panic my mom writes them a cheque for half the outstanding balance (hubby had the cheque book) and we give it to them in an envelope and send them on their way.

monday afternoon, not first thing in the morning, i get a call from some-one at the company, couldn't hear their name (abit of a mumble). so i call back a little later and speak to the same person i've spoken to throughout this. she mentions nothing about the cheque or the outstanding amount, i ask to speak to the manager. surprise, she's not there. she'll be in the office at 2pm. i call back after 2 and am told she's still not in the office, but a message is taken this time and she'll call me when she gets in.

it's wednesday, late afternoon, and i have yet to hear from anyone at the company. what do i do now?

Posted by sarah | personal