Thursday, April 12, 2007

There seems to be a problem

Ok, I seem to be having a little problem. To paraphrase a line from the old Paul Newman movie Cool Hand Luke, "What we have here is a failure to communicate." I bought a beautiful cabinet from a wonderful store here. It is made of rosewood, has glass shelves in it and has glass doors on it. I bought it to hold all the pretty things - mostly delicate ones - that Basil is buying for me on his trips. The only trouble is it has a design flaw. The base sets squarely and solidly on the floor - no problem. The problem is the rest of the cabinet moves side to side when you even just barely touch it. Polishing the wood on the sides or the glass in the front makes the whole thing do the shimmey! So, I call and tell them about it. No problem, they say, we bring you another one on Thursday. They do. It does the same thing. It's definitely a flaw in the design. I call again. I tell them the problem. They say no problem, we bring you another one. No I tell them, it will be the same, you can bring 100, but it will be the same - it's a design flaw. But, they tell me, it's very pretty wood, very good. Yes, but it moves. No problem, they say, put it against the wall. No that won't solve the problem either, I'd like my money back. Cannot, they say. No refunds . But it moves, I say. Yes, very pretty cabinet. Yes, very pretty wood. I don't want a cabinet that moves, take it back, I'd like my money back. Cannot. No refunds. But it doesn't work, won't hold my delicate pretties, it moves. So sorry. Cannot. No refunds. Very pretty wood. Very pretty cabinet. We bring another one. Circles - we are just going in circles. This seems to be the land of no returns, not for any reason, at any place, even when the piece is broken. And favorite words here are "cannot". Must be a communication problem - more than likely on my part. Actually at this point, I'm ready to push the damn thing over the balcony from the 24th floor. Trouble is - no one would probably notice!! Very frustrating!

We'll see what tomorrow brings. Maybe we'll bridge the communication gap. I think "cannot".
I think a rum and coke is the next order of business - can!!!

Is it warming up any over there yet?