About five six months back this friend of mine buys a 55 inch flat screen TV, It was a sort of milestone in his life in that he really went the length to have that flat screen ‘toy’ in his house as his better half and two children having put quite a pressure on him never stopped from urging him to do so. What they didn’t know he borrowed more than half of the sixty-odd thousand birr.
He jokes; “there might come a time when I’ll personally go on the social media and gather support for my loans to be cancelled!” Wow! Wouldn’t that be nice? I mean imagine if you were able to borrow thousands from individuals, friends or no friends, and then gather some social media mob asking your lenders to write off every cent they gave you! There is this local pun which says, “Don’t be afraid to borrow money. Either the lender or borrower would die.” And many of us seem to have taken it at heart.
Anyways I was telling you this flat screen TV owner. An English Premiere League fan at least his family was seeing more of him as he has stopped going out to one bar or hotel to watch the weekend matches until a couple of months late the TV started going practically berserk! At first they were minor tracking and things like that; but lately things worsened so quickly they had to revert to their old 21 inch TV.
Since the shop where he bought the set from had given him the one year warranty card he returned with the sixty-plus thousand piece of ‘toy’ in tow. He wasn’t happy at the initial reception as the fellows tried to reason maybe someone in the house had damaged it and excuses like that. Later as he practically flew off the handle and things were trying into some spectacle they promised to fix it and he is still waiting for delivery of the set.
From experience and all the things we’ve been witnessing over the years those one-year warranty cards are no more than some sugar-coating to convince you to buy the products. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not about the exceptions and the rules. But with you bleeding tens of thousands of birr there can’t be ‘little exceptions.’
“Look, we’re sorry, that this happened. We will do our best to put it back in its original form. “Wouldn’t that be just great? I mean there is no price the merchants would have to pay for saying “We’re sorry.”
And while this isn’t an everyday happening there are actions of very effective salesmanship. A year and a few months back a friend’s flat screen developed colors which haven’t been given any name and they’ve probably not been yet discovered. (Ha!). The problem is his warranty card has expired a couple of months back. Still he takes the TV to the company for repair.
He was told the warranty had expired. He said he knew that and he was willing to pay for the repairs. With that he returns home and the next day he gets a call from the company. Being impressed at the speed with which they did the repairs he heads to the place. Arriving there he was told to go to the manager’s office. The manager receives him with cordiality he never expected.
“We.re sorry this happened,” the manager says. The friend of mine mumbles things like “Oh, it’s alright;” “Such things happen,” and the like. It was then the news that would have knocked him out cold in normal circumstances came. The manager says, “The Company has decided to give you a new fifty-five inch TV.” What! Certain good gestures are so unexpected that you wouldn’t know how to react. That was what happened to my friend. Later, he says he thanked them for several minutes until the manager rose from his chair walked around and hugged him. By the way his original set was a fifty inch set.
Now carpet-bombing the names and reputations of all businesspeople for the mistakes and greed of some percentages of that particular crowd isn’t only unacceptable but also flies in the face of genuine no-strings-attached comments or complaints.
Look, I don’t usually dine out. But the few times I do aren’t always good experiences. I remember someone inviting me lunch (of course, shuro!) and I didn’t go more than a few bites before an unexpected virtual volcano comes rushing up and I rushed the rest room with Usain Bolt’s legs! This is sure to draw a few chuckles. The fact is that my favorite local dish is not raw meat, not kitfo, not any other dish but shuro! Yes, I mean the same good, old shuro.
If you think preparing this particular dish is easy stuff then you probably haven’t yet taste shuro. (Do you think the shuro bet craze in the city is for nothing? No it isn’t.) Anyway talking about dining out maybe, just maybe it might be a good idea if owner of hotels and restaurants put up notices like, “In case the food you ordered isn’t well prepared, don’t worry. You’re insured. You’ll be compensated with five free lunches!” Ha!
While we’re at it, this happened some time back. A group of guys go to a kitfo house for lunch and while they were in the process of eating, the waitress poured so much butter that they were surprised. How can the lady owner profit giving away so much butter? Well the real news came later. After emptying their dishes they go to the washing room. However, despite using more than the usual amount of soap the ‘butter’ that stuck on their fingers refused to wash off. So one of them asks for a candle. The owner asked why. The guy says, “So that we will melt away the butter from our fingers.” That does it; the owner was so furious she chased them into the street wielding a broom. What a scene that would have been for a sitcom!
So, what I was trying to say is that the one-year warranty card they give you could many times be nothing but only a piece of paper. A simple, “We’re sorry this happened,” could go a long way in soothing the nerves of those with complaints of broken down machines or other items with defects.
The Ethiopian Herald October 29/2023