Close but no cigar....

The sample finally arrives, and it is perfect... Except...

The color is all wrong, really grateful to be burned on a $2.00 sample rather than that nameless company with the no hassle return policy:

You buy it... it's wrong? Ha! Sorry about your luck!

I call Abi, I explain the situation, apologetically I explain the color barrier. Formulating a plan I now have a piece of the construction, and with proper images I will be able to get an accurate quotation on a custom from our mill.

I am also putting a call into the competition, downtown to see what they come up with.

Once again she visits the boutique. Pillow in hand.

Perhaps I am somewhat co-dependant, I really want to help her though. She is so grateful. We look at the pillow, and the trimming. Which still doesn't match. There is silence.

Her eyes look up at me and she says, "So what do we do now?" Abi seems totally facinated by the fact that the trimming is the wrong color. She comments on how strange it is that it is exactly the same, but the wrong color.

Things I know at this point:

The trim is the wrong color.

I have found the manufacturer.

I tell her to call me in a few days... and we will see.

Sucess is short lived

Abi calls me back and tells me that the number tells her to go online, she has no online. I am taking this into my hands... Here we go.

Day one... I email the company.

Day three... nothing

Day four... nothing; I search the item number, find another source. I email them

Day five... nothing

Weekend...

Day eight... I opt to call the company.

I listen to the message, if you stay on the line you will get through to someone. Note to self, always wait through the message, even when it tells you not to. A woman gets on the phone. She tells me that they don't send samples, no one carries the product except one place in the mid-west. She gives me their number. They want me to open an account. Will fax paper work.

I call the other source. To keep costs down I have to email them. I email them. They call me. I ask about samples. They don't do samples, to keep costs down. I have to buy the bolt. I ask about the return policy. They refer me to the website. They don't take returns.

I write a letter to the manufacturer about their customer service. I write to the distributor as well... summary of letter Boo on your customer service!

Still no form from Mid-west source.

Day nine... Fax comes through

Fax back info to Mid-west. They told me I would need to pay for trim. Purposely omitted bank and credit card info. I am paying for the sample, do they really need the SS#? I submit tax ID# instead. Waiting...

Day ten... nothing

Day eleven. Request comes through for SS#.

I search for a new source. Found it. Send email. and wait.

Day twelve. My phone rings.

It's the new supplier, she has merchandise, and will send sample. I give her my credit card, and she says it will be here next week. Finally some good customer service.

I call Abi and update her. We now wait.

The beginning of road with Abi

Looking at the caller I.D. I have no idea what to expect. Abi identifies herself when I answer. I know it's her from the caller I.D. she doesn't need to know that. "It's very expensive isn't it?", she asks me. I'm thinking to myself it's all relative, but I say, "yes." She asks me what I think she should do next, and I tell her to give me a couple days to dig and see what I find. It's now a project.

In looking on the net I know she had told me the trim started with a co... and it's French. I don't remember the name of the company and probably really don't care. When crawling around on top of the web, it is important to remember what your immediate tools are. One searches root words and another is an index search engine. The new one I don't really know about, it's new and I am not a fan yet.

Starting a simple strand search... French trim, French Gimp, Gimp with Ribbon. Galloon, Ribbon Trim.... there it is. I think. I look for other sites with the same trimming. None of the pictures are very good. The price however is amazing.

Hmm. Excitedly I call Abi. I give her the 800 number explaining my findings. I advise Abi to call and request a sample to match the color, that way if there is a charge for the sample I will not have to go through the process of getting a card number. Abi is very grateful. If she has a problem getting a sample she is to call me. It was pretty simple really. Success!

Abi

Entry two...

I am suprised when I answer the phone and she's calling back. Despite my resolution not to make decisions for people, in my own mind I had scared her off. "So, that's a lot of money.", she says over the phone. I am in agreement. It is a lot of money for what she wants. She asks me what I think... I think it's the end of the road, yet, I don't say that out loud.

She is coming in at noon so that I may take a better picture of the item, in hopes of finding it somewhere.

Abi

First entry:

The first time I met her was about a week ago. A very petite woman holding a big plastic bag made her way into the boutique. Her name is Abi. Abi is a frail looking woman, I describe her as frail because she had a hard time with the heavy front door when entering the shop. As she starts talking to me she lights up, there is a spunky fire in her eyes and a nice smile. Encased in the bag she carried a pillow almost as big as her. She is looking to match the trimming on the pillow. Of course it's not ours, and we don't carry it.

To me, Abi is reminiscent of the moms that I grew up around. Not my mom mind you. The Jewish moms at my school, the ones that had a community and hung out. The moms who went shopping together and had the holiday parties; my friend's moms. My mom worked in the film industry and was much different than the other "moms" from our school. I digress.

Abi loves her pillow, the problem is that a very small section of the trimming has been damaged. She has been traipsing all over town trying to find a duvet that she can cut the trimming off of or the source of the trim itself. I offer to take a picture and price out a custom on the trim:

The response is less than ideal for her situation. The price comes back a little over $50 a yard which is a great price for a custom trim. The minimum is ten yards, also good for a custom trim, however, not so good for Abi. I leave her a message to tell her the news, I have learned not to make decisions for other people about their money or, how they want to spend it. Now I wait.

Starting point

As I sit here and watch them put up the Cardboard cut out Christmas trees that will line the roof top of the flower shop across the street, I am trying to figure out where to begin. So, let me tell you a little bit about me.

I am a Los Angeles native, which means I am probably a little skewed to begin with. My family is very literate and I was taught to use a dictionary at a very young age. If you don't understand it look it up. I can spend hours following strands in a dictionary or encyclopedia. Looking up one thing leads me to another and another and before I know it hours have passed.

The Internet takes this into a whole new dimension for me. I have spent many evenings with friends on Internet searches looking for something and ending up in completely different place following strands of information. This type of research if you will has taken me on all kinds of adventures. I used to dig in dark places looking for back doors and loop holes, I wound up with a lot of viruses that way. Dirty formatting.

Today my searches are mostly for real life issues, and not so much time spent crawling around under the net. I enjoy looking for things, like legal histories to see what set precedence for laws. Helping people find things that they are at a loss about. Figuring out how to balance nutrients for good health. How to use electronics with no manual. Write contracts, find people, places... and just satisfy my own curiosity about the world around us. The list goes on and on.

I have a smart phone giving me access instant information all the time and I love it!