Many might know that the Seychelles have been populated since the end of the 18th century. And craftsmen built some beautiful furniture in those days. Not much of it is around anymore (and the few items that are, are firmly in the hands of the families who originally commissioned them), so I was really excited to see an ad on Seybay boldly entitled "Antique Furniture". Fingers trembling with excitement, I clicked on the advertisement.
Some excerpts from the rather long ad (emphasis is mine):
"The entire set which dates back to the year 1980 is a classic example of the kind of contemporary furniture that our new breed of Seychellois carpenters can produce. It demonstrates the artisanal craftsmanship of modern Seychellois carpentry which has retained some charming features of the traditional creole furniture like is evident in the carved ‘twist turned’ legs of the easy chairs and the sofa."
(In other words, the usual ugly and uncomfortable stuff that is on the market these days.)
"The prospective buyer will certainly be the lucky owner of a valuable and precious set of almost fin de siècle and 21st century creole furniture that has already known over a decade of history."
Hmm... I was born in 1962. Am I fin de siècle or would I be considered antediluvian?
October 24, 2008
A Seychellois Definition of Antique
September 3, 2008
August 27, 2008
August 26, 2008
Back With a Vengeance
Well, I'm finally online again.
I visited Intelvision a couple of days before I moved and they assured me that I would be online within a week. I was pleasantly surprised, as things don't usually move that quickly over here. I paid in advance for both the reallocation and the monthly internet fee.
Then I went about my moving and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Finally, I phoned up Customer Service. The not so charming young woman at the end of the phone line informed me brusquely that Intelvision was currently doing a promotion and that I wasn't even scheduled for the reallocation. She told me that I would have to wait over two months.
I called again and got another Customer Service Rep (I asked for her by name as I had had a good experience with her previously.). Upon explaining that I didn't quite understand why an existing customer wouldn't be on the list for installation and asking (politely) why they didn't hire extra technicians to cope with their promotion, she very charmingly promised to "do something" and promised to call me back.
I waited again.
After four days, I phoned again and asked to speak to the second Rep. Strangely, she had no recollection of our phone conversation, but once again promised to do her best. She also promised to call me back the same day.
I waited again.
Five days later, my patience running a little thin, I called and demanded (still politely) to speak to the Head of Customer Service. The operator gave me the direct line of the second woman I had spoken to. I asked if she was the Head and was told "no, but she can help you". Not believing this any more, I became rather strident. Whereupon I was told that the Head of Customer Service was unavailable and not due to return to the office that day. I became even more strident and threatened to come down to the office to make a scene.
Amazingly, it turned out that Mr. Reza was in the office after all and dripping treacle in his efforts to placate me. He promised to phone back within 5 minutes.
And, hey presto, he actually did. And I was online within three days.
Moral of the story: Never pfaff about with underlings. And a little bit of intimidation will take you further that being nice and polite.
