Six weeks is a long time without a TV set, especially when, if you’re anything like me you enjoy your daily fix of as many American TV series I can fit in to my schedule. But finally, we have the cash, (there are extremely limited credit facilities in Mindelo) we have chosen the shop to buy our Samsung 32 inch LCD TV, this is based on a twelve month warranty (other shops only offered six months), the right price, they had a bracket to fix it to the wall with and they provided the assistants to fix it to the wall!
Three of us go to the shop, Tim and I have been assigned with the task of negotiating the price down. George and I are both uncomfortable doing this but Tim loves it! It’s the inner salesman in him, bursting to get out. George takes the shop people through the list of items and the prices we have been given already and concludes with, “so is there any chance of a deal here?” Oh dear, I think, having done a little sales work myself, that didn’t sound very strong. Tim takes over, there is initial resistance from the shop people but after much discussion the end result is a 5000$ Cape Verde Escudos saving on a TV and wall bracket with an original price of 81,000$. Both George and I would have paid the original price, cowards that we are. Tim then starts negotiating for a piece of kit that ensures that electrical surges would not damage electrical goods but George is happy and ready to go.
Now this is the great part of the story, G asks when the TV can be fitted, now, it seems is as good a time as any. Two of the shop chaps, gather tools and pop them in a carrier bag, box the TV and the bracket and carry it all outside. George says “shall we get a taxi?” One of the young men goes off to hail one from the busier main street, Rua de Lisboa, brings it back within moments, then they load the boot and we all pile in for the short journey to our home. The shop assistants expertly fix the bracket to the wall and hang our new TV on it. They then plug in the set top box and make sure all is in working order for us. Brilliant service!
Where would you get this service in the UK? I am so impressed!
