posted on September 15, 2007 04:25:30 PM
I'm so ashamed. A year ago, I shopped for a trumpet for my 11 year-old. The public school no longer had them for rent. I could buy a used one locally for $400, a new one for a bit more. I could rent-to-own for $300/year. I found a new one on eBay (Asian-made, with case, for $140, which included Express Shipping. I went that route.
This week my son jammed the slide while oiling it. Tail under my legs, I went to the neighborhood music store to see if they could repair it. The 3rd-generation owner was at the door to greet me. The clerk was a musician, experienced with brass instruments, who was able to unjam it, cleaned it, diagnosed the problem (we had used the wrong lubricant), lubed it and told me there was no charge. I walked out with a bottle of the new lubricant, $5 lighter.
There is nothing wrong with the Asian trumpet. The clerk told me it was perfectly appropriate for a young student. (I lied and told him it was a cousin hand-me-down).
My guilt lies in the fact that this store, in what is now prime retail space with educated, experienced employees, is not able to sell the low-cost Asian imports competitively with eBay. Will it be there for the 4th generation? If not, it will be the neighborhood's loss. I've learned my lesson on this one. When it's time to move up, I'll try to have enough saved to buy locally.
[ edited by pixiamom on Sep 15, 2007 04:29 PM ]
posted on September 15, 2007 05:08:21 PM
How interesting; good for you, Pixi. I suppose one way you could help that shop would be to write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, telling readers what good service you received from a local shop.
_____________________
There is more to life than increasing its speed. --Mahatma Gandhi
posted on September 15, 2007 05:29:06 PM
--This is part of what is wrong with our society/country. Buying cheap and out of the USA JMOP------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm so ashamed. A year ago, I shopped for a trumpet for my 11 year-old. The public school no longer had them for rent. I could buy a used one locally for $400, a new one for a bit more. I could rent-to-own for $300/year. I found a new one on eBay (Asian-made, with case, for $140, which included Express Shipping. I went that route.
This week my son jammed the slide while oiling it. Tail under my legs, I went to the neighborhood music store to see if they could repair it. The 3rd-generation owner was at the door to greet me. The clerk was a musician, experienced with brass instruments, who was able to unjam it, cleaned it, diagnosed the problem (we had used the wrong lubricant), lubed it and told me there was no charge. I walked out with a bottle of the new lubricant, $5 lighter.
There is nothing wrong with the Asian trumpet. The clerk told me it was perfectly appropriate for a young student. (I lied and told him it was a cousin hand-me-down).
My guilt lies in the fact that this store, in what is now prime retail space with educated, experienced employees, is not able to sell the low-cost Asian imports competitively with eBay. Will it be there for the 4th generation? If not, it will be the neighborhood's loss. I've learned my lesson on this one. When it's time to move up, I'll try to have enough saved to buy locally.
[ edited by pixiamom on Sep 15, 2007 04:29 PM ]
posted on September 15, 2007 05:54:39 PM
Ken and I live in the inner city and we see firsthand how hard it is for the local shops to keep going. We go out of our way to buy from people in our area. If we go out to eat, we try to go to the small family restaurants that are all over our neighborhood. Believe me, we've had some awful meals doing this. It's hard to watch some of these shops go under after having been family owned for years. It isn't only people who buy cheaply from overseas, it's the WalMarts and KMarts and other cheap stores popping up everywhere. It's a shame, really. Some of the best customer service I've experienced has been from the small mom and pop stores.
posted on September 15, 2007 07:34:00 PM
A woman whose uncle is a senator in Arkansas used to sell candies to newspaper stands,local grocery stores in small towns of LA.
She has a van and will go to the factory and buy candies wholesale and then replenish the candy supply in those stores and at the end of the month,verbally tell them how much they owe her.
She managed to etch out a living.
Then comes Walmart and gradually her customers went under and she lost her livelihood.
She wrote a letter to Sam and asked him to explain himself.
She received a free one year membership card from Sam's club urging her to buy her candy there!
The price at SAM is much higher than what she has been paying at the factory and besides what is the use,her customers are long gone ,gone under !
She is a bright and hardworking single woman and hind sight is always 20/20 ,she should have gone to work for Walmart and made a bundle from stock options and employee stock purchase,back then it is still possible to retire with a few hundred thousand dollars extra if you cash in your WMT stock!
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Lets all stop whining !
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posted on September 15, 2007 07:51:03 PM
An ex neighbor of mine works for Home Depot.
He was in the plumbing supply business for many years,the company went under ,his pension was with the Teamsters but he was too young to collect from the pension or the SS.
He went to work for Home Depot and they love people with his experience and put him in the plumbing dept and always urged him to work more hours (he was working part time at first).
He is older than most of his peers,he come to work on time and he knows how to deal with customers ,he was later promoted to marketing,they taught him how to stand by the entrance and mark the customers ,he was to gauge from their appearance how much they will be spending at the store.
Later he was sent to LOWE when LOWE went retail and compete with HD,while HD faltered with empty shelves,poor customer service and sloppy hard to navigate aisles,Lowe seems to be doing everything right.
HE went to LOWE and checked out the appearance of the store,pull their shelves and examine their goods and everything seems to be in good order.
He said Home Depot loves older experienced workers ,some times they will hire defunct hardware store owners/managers,it is like coming home,they love the store and mentor the younger workers from A to Z,nuts to bolts.
They may have lost their old stores,but they found a bigger and better one!
BTW,THIS IS A PAID COMMERCIAL FROM XXX!
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Lets all stop whining !
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[ edited by hwahwa on Sep 15, 2007 07:51 PM ]
posted on September 16, 2007 06:39:55 AM
Budget airline crash-
Plane Crashes in Thailand, Kills 66
Associated Press
September 16, 2007 9:32 a.m.
BANGKOK, Thailand -- A passenger plane filled with foreign tourists crashed Sunday as it tried to land in heavy rain on the island of Phuket, splitting in two as it was engulfed in flames, officials said. At least 66 people were killed.
The budget One-Two-Go Airlines was carrying 123 passengers and five crew members on a domestic flight from the Thai capital of Bangkok to Phuket, one of the country's major tourist destinations, according to the Thai television station TITV.
Survivors described their escape from the airplane's windows as fires and smoke consumed the plane. "I saw passengers engulfed in fire as I stepped over them on way out of the plane," Parinwit Chusaeng, a survivor who suffered minor burns, told the Nation television channel. "I was afraid that the airplane was going to explode so I ran away."
Phuket's Deputy Governor Worapot Ratthaseema told the Associated Press that at least 66 bodies were laid out in the airport building. "At least 66 people have been confirmed and 42 have been hospitalized," Mr. Worapot said, adding the remaining passengers are missing.
Mr. Worapot could not say how many of the dead were foreigners but he said among the dead were Irish, Israeli, Australian and British passengers. He said as many as 27 of the injured were foreigners.
An Irish survivor, identified as Sean, told of being badly burned on his arms, legs and back as he escaped the flames. Speaking to TITV from a local hospital, he said he knew something was wrong even before the flight landed. "You could tell when it was landing it was in trouble," he said. "It was making a noise, this bang."
Chaisak Angsuwan, director general of the Air Transport Authority of Thailand, said weather played a part in the crash. "The visibility was poor as the pilot attempted to land. He decided to make a go-around but the plane lost balance and crashed," he said. "It was torn into two parts."
One-Two-Go is owned by Orient Thai Airways.
The crash is the country's deadliest aviation accident since Dec. 11, 1998, when 101 people were killed after a Thai Airways crashed while trying to land in heavy rain at Surat Thani, 330 miles south of Bangkok. Forty-five people survived.
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