As mentioned, Iain did an amazing job getting all of the essentials for my house before I arrived. The only large item that we purchased on our second trip to town was a washing machine. The misadventures of that purchase I'm sure will be familiar to any of you who have lived or worked abroad.
Setting: large new superstore with lots of imported items, shiny floors, picture Target somewhere in Alaska where there is no other superstore for several hundred miles.
Goal: a new washing machine.
We were attracted first by the 40% off paper pasted on the front on the cheapest washing machine. This discount brought it into a reasonable range for a brand new appliance like this. After careful consideration, consultation with several other missionaries, etc. we decided to purchase. Only to find out that there were no more of these particular machines left. Never fear, we could have the display machine. We searched the machine for any dents or scratches that would allow us to negotiate an even lower price. It seemed to be in pristine condition.
It, of course, could not be that easy, or I wouldn't be writing about it. The display machine was found to be lacking the hoses necessary to both fill and empty the machine of its water. Given that there were over a dozen other washing machines in the display area, including several that were a very similar model, the solution seemed obvious: we could take one of the boxes with the hoses from another machine be on our way. No, no, we were told. The saleswoman was not authorized to give us the hoses from another machine. The cameras would see her doing this and she would get in trouble with her boss. Fair enough. The boss was at lunch, and backup boss responded to her request with what seemed a strange answer. We could take the outlet hose from another machine but could not take the intake hoses. We could, however, purchase the intake hoses from $3. At this point, the principle of getting what was supposed to be included prevailed. We were offered the option of ordering the same machine for the same price from the store in another city which would take 7-10 days to arrive and require another trip to town to pick up. Ugh. Iain's gift of gab combined with his 8+ years of experience in Honduras thus far came in handy. He threatened that we were not only going to walk away from the purchase of this washing machine if the situation could not be remedied, but that we also were going to leave without buying any of the multiple items in our overflowing cart. (No! Don't make me go to 2 or 3 other stores to find a spatula and wastebaskets!) A few minutes later, an anonymous 'jefe' had given permission for the saleswoman to get the hoses from another machine for us to take.
I thought we were done when the machine was loaded onto a dolley to transport out to the car. We began ringing up the other purchases while they shrink wrapped the washing machine for protection in the car. For purposes of the warranty, the serial number had to be found on the machine, then confirmed by 2 employees. Then, I had to apply for a points card at the booth at the other end of the store, because the clerk could not imagine that I would want 640 points to go uncollected! When I returned with points card in hand, the machine had already been taken out to the car with Iain. As we wheeled the cart full of the other items out to the parking lot, we were stopped at the front door by the security guards to check our receipt against the cart. Everything was present and accounted for....except the washing machine. We tried to explain that it had just been taken out to the car, when lo and behold, the machine came trundling back in the front door. Apparently, the guys had begun to load it into a waiting pickup truck when Iain walked by and realized that was our machine going into the wrong vehicle! The owner of the pickup truck had purchased the same machine, but was supposed to get the last boxed one. When he caught the mistake, they brought my machine back to the store, where its serial number was correctly matched with the warranty I was given on the receipt. It made it onto the correct pickup bed and home to Balfate without any further incidents. May have it have long and successful career getting the red dirt and sweat out of my clothing!
Setting: large new superstore with lots of imported items, shiny floors, picture Target somewhere in Alaska where there is no other superstore for several hundred miles.
Goal: a new washing machine.
We were attracted first by the 40% off paper pasted on the front on the cheapest washing machine. This discount brought it into a reasonable range for a brand new appliance like this. After careful consideration, consultation with several other missionaries, etc. we decided to purchase. Only to find out that there were no more of these particular machines left. Never fear, we could have the display machine. We searched the machine for any dents or scratches that would allow us to negotiate an even lower price. It seemed to be in pristine condition.
It, of course, could not be that easy, or I wouldn't be writing about it. The display machine was found to be lacking the hoses necessary to both fill and empty the machine of its water. Given that there were over a dozen other washing machines in the display area, including several that were a very similar model, the solution seemed obvious: we could take one of the boxes with the hoses from another machine be on our way. No, no, we were told. The saleswoman was not authorized to give us the hoses from another machine. The cameras would see her doing this and she would get in trouble with her boss. Fair enough. The boss was at lunch, and backup boss responded to her request with what seemed a strange answer. We could take the outlet hose from another machine but could not take the intake hoses. We could, however, purchase the intake hoses from $3. At this point, the principle of getting what was supposed to be included prevailed. We were offered the option of ordering the same machine for the same price from the store in another city which would take 7-10 days to arrive and require another trip to town to pick up. Ugh. Iain's gift of gab combined with his 8+ years of experience in Honduras thus far came in handy. He threatened that we were not only going to walk away from the purchase of this washing machine if the situation could not be remedied, but that we also were going to leave without buying any of the multiple items in our overflowing cart. (No! Don't make me go to 2 or 3 other stores to find a spatula and wastebaskets!) A few minutes later, an anonymous 'jefe' had given permission for the saleswoman to get the hoses from another machine for us to take.
I thought we were done when the machine was loaded onto a dolley to transport out to the car. We began ringing up the other purchases while they shrink wrapped the washing machine for protection in the car. For purposes of the warranty, the serial number had to be found on the machine, then confirmed by 2 employees. Then, I had to apply for a points card at the booth at the other end of the store, because the clerk could not imagine that I would want 640 points to go uncollected! When I returned with points card in hand, the machine had already been taken out to the car with Iain. As we wheeled the cart full of the other items out to the parking lot, we were stopped at the front door by the security guards to check our receipt against the cart. Everything was present and accounted for....except the washing machine. We tried to explain that it had just been taken out to the car, when lo and behold, the machine came trundling back in the front door. Apparently, the guys had begun to load it into a waiting pickup truck when Iain walked by and realized that was our machine going into the wrong vehicle! The owner of the pickup truck had purchased the same machine, but was supposed to get the last boxed one. When he caught the mistake, they brought my machine back to the store, where its serial number was correctly matched with the warranty I was given on the receipt. It made it onto the correct pickup bed and home to Balfate without any further incidents. May have it have long and successful career getting the red dirt and sweat out of my clothing!
