02-NOV - Sat - Doing business in Bali…

… requires a lot of patience and a different mind-set, from what these two veterans from the customer service industry are used to. Our bungalow is now fully furnished, art work purchased and all nick-knacks too. But the road to it has been a testing one and adding another chapter to our “book of memories”. When visiting department stores (hardware and others) there is no lack of staff, actually there is an abundance of staff. Here you find aisles of similar products and employees attending each aisle, but they only service a particular brand and despite them standing in front of the product you need, if it is not their brand, you are out of luck, as a smile is all the answers you will get. Finding someone that has the answers can be a challenge, we found it is better to take a crash-course in product identification codes and find your own. Leaving phone numbers for the manufacturers to call you back is always a fun experience too, with delivery deadlines somewhat flexible. On one occasion we were advised Wednesday that delivery would be that Friday, confirmed! On Thursday we received a phone call advising us regrettably delivery would be Monday, which was absolutely fine with us. It was agreed we would arrive Monday to collect and pay for the goods. Surprisingly we received a phone call on Friday morning, advising us it was all ready for collection! Ok… guess deadlines are flexible! We had a similar experience with the furniture manufacturer, who was making it all based on a picture we took of a bed we saw somewhere else, therefore having us a bit on edge as to whether it would actually look as we would like it to look. Hence we made sure to “remind” the manufacturer to call us when we could come and see a piece or two, to make sure it is progressing in the expected direction. When we hadn’t heard for a couple of days, we made sure to “pop-in” on Tuesday, seeing if the product would be as expected and ready by Friday? Well, we were advised production had not yet started, making us only more nervous! We left it till Thursday morning, sending an email to ask if it would be ok to come past and see the furniture. We did not get an answer till late that evening, having close to no finger nails left, advising us to come past Friday to view the pieces. Hurray! We arranged a few other shop visits that Friday morning, and finally made our way to the factory Friday afternoon. On our arrival, eager to see our furniture, we were told: “Oh, delivered to hotel 2 hours ago!”… WHAAATTT!? The Swiss lad nearly lost it, being a control freak and wanting to be at the hotel to receive and supervise the transport into the upstairs, FRESHLY PAINTED, bungalow… We zoomed back to find our furniture all carefully delivered, not a scratch in sight! Ordering curtains, inclusive of installation, via translation by the food stall seller positioned in front of the shop, was a fun experience too. We managed to arrange a visit at the bungalow to take all the measurements, and indeed, it all happened as planned. A couple of days later, the food stall seller called us, advising it was all ready for installation. We waited at said time and indeed, the curtain man and the food stall seller arrived. Cutting a long story short, a cringing Swiss lad having to stand back as the holes were being drilled to what looked like drilling for gold, and screw’s tightening technique being somewhat unusual, the curtains are up and look fantastic! The lesson learnt is things may not happen the way we are used to, they might not arrive when we expect them, they may not be installed the way we would, but the end result is right! There are many roads to Rome, who are we to dictate it has to be one over another?