See something you want? Well, why not sell those items that are cluttering up your garage and let someone who wants those items give you the money to buy what you want?
Come on, live a little and start bidding!
29 April 2008
Local Auction
If you're in South Africa, register at Bid or Buy for amazing offers and bids starting as low as R1.00 Just click on the banner below, register, and keep watching the site for items that tickle your fancy. It's fun, too. There are categories for just about anything you can think of, and a few besides!
See something you want? Well, why not sell those items that are cluttering up your garage and let someone who wants those items give you the money to buy what you want?
Come on, live a little and start bidding!
See something you want? Well, why not sell those items that are cluttering up your garage and let someone who wants those items give you the money to buy what you want?
Come on, live a little and start bidding!
24 April 2008
THIS is Service Delivery
We have so many examples of lousy, and even non-existant, service delivery in this country, that I was pleasantly surprised by an organization called Outsurance.
As I mentioned in a recent blog, I purchased a motor cycle in recent weeks. When I fetched the bike, obviously the question of insurance came up. The sales person gave me the name of a 'contact' in the insurance industry, who would see me right. I phoned straight away and, because the person wasn't at her desk, left a message (with a human, not a machine) to say that I wanted insurance, and that I was referred by so-and-so. I'm still waiting for that person to get back to me.
Meanwhile, as a consequence of all their television advertising, I phoned Outsurance for a quote. The guy I spoke to was impressive. Not pushy, but he told me about the product that he, very obviously, believed in, with genuine enthusiasm. He covered every detail of their policy. I told him quite bluntly that I wanted to phone around. He didn't push - just asked me politely if I'd mind if he checked in with me later in the day.
He made it very easy for me. He kept in touch over the next couple of days, but was never pushy. He handled every query pleasantly and clearly. His enthusiam for his product, his Compamny and his customer, was infectious and was probably what sold me eventually. But once I decided to go ahead with them, the backup was there immediately - confirmation calls from their customer call desk, e-mailed policy, calls to see if I was happy or had any questions ....
When I told him that I was impressed by their service, he just chuckled good-naturedly and said to me: "Get used to it - this is the service you get from us!"
As I mentioned in a recent blog, I purchased a motor cycle in recent weeks. When I fetched the bike, obviously the question of insurance came up. The sales person gave me the name of a 'contact' in the insurance industry, who would see me right. I phoned straight away and, because the person wasn't at her desk, left a message (with a human, not a machine) to say that I wanted insurance, and that I was referred by so-and-so. I'm still waiting for that person to get back to me.
Meanwhile, as a consequence of all their television advertising, I phoned Outsurance for a quote. The guy I spoke to was impressive. Not pushy, but he told me about the product that he, very obviously, believed in, with genuine enthusiasm. He covered every detail of their policy. I told him quite bluntly that I wanted to phone around. He didn't push - just asked me politely if I'd mind if he checked in with me later in the day.
He made it very easy for me. He kept in touch over the next couple of days, but was never pushy. He handled every query pleasantly and clearly. His enthusiam for his product, his Compamny and his customer, was infectious and was probably what sold me eventually. But once I decided to go ahead with them, the backup was there immediately - confirmation calls from their customer call desk, e-mailed policy, calls to see if I was happy or had any questions ....
When I told him that I was impressed by their service, he just chuckled good-naturedly and said to me: "Get used to it - this is the service you get from us!"
23 April 2008
Man Arrested for Robbing Sperm Bank
Okay, this may have nothing to do with online shopping, but here's a salesman you can't ignore!
The following article appeared in our Mail and Guardian of 22nd April, 2008:
Man arrested for robbing sperm bank
New Delhi, India
Police in India have arrested a man for stealing more than 100 sperm samples from a laboratory in the western state of Maharashtra, a news report said on Tuesday.
Police told the Times of India daily that Anil Punjaba Mohite had stolen 101 sperm samples from Cryobank, a sperm bank in central Aurangabad city, last week and offered to sell them for 25 000 rupees (about $625).
Mohite, a relative of a worker in the laboratory, was arrested on Monday following a tip-off from some doctors in Mumbai who had received the samples.
The incident surprised police as well as doctors who said it was not easy to "rob" samples from a sperm bank.
"We are caught in a very difficult situation, as we do not know how many samples have been smuggled out of the laboratory," Cryobank official Suryakant Hayatnagarkar told the daily.
"The incident does not make sense to me. Why would any infertility specialist or gynaecologist buy a sample that has limited shelf life and without proper records?" Aniruddha Malpani was quoted by the Times as saying.
"Why would someone [steal] a commodity that is so hard to sell?" he asked. -- Sapa-dpa
What was that old riddle? "Bothers and sisters have I none, but that man's father is my father's son. Who is that man?" Well, it may not be as easy to answer as it used to be!
The following article appeared in our Mail and Guardian of 22nd April, 2008:
Man arrested for robbing sperm bank
New Delhi, India
Police in India have arrested a man for stealing more than 100 sperm samples from a laboratory in the western state of Maharashtra, a news report said on Tuesday.
Police told the Times of India daily that Anil Punjaba Mohite had stolen 101 sperm samples from Cryobank, a sperm bank in central Aurangabad city, last week and offered to sell them for 25 000 rupees (about $625).
Mohite, a relative of a worker in the laboratory, was arrested on Monday following a tip-off from some doctors in Mumbai who had received the samples.
The incident surprised police as well as doctors who said it was not easy to "rob" samples from a sperm bank.
"We are caught in a very difficult situation, as we do not know how many samples have been smuggled out of the laboratory," Cryobank official Suryakant Hayatnagarkar told the daily.
"The incident does not make sense to me. Why would any infertility specialist or gynaecologist buy a sample that has limited shelf life and without proper records?" Aniruddha Malpani was quoted by the Times as saying.
"Why would someone [steal] a commodity that is so hard to sell?" he asked. -- Sapa-dpa
What was that old riddle? "Bothers and sisters have I none, but that man's father is my father's son. Who is that man?" Well, it may not be as easy to answer as it used to be!
14 April 2008
Hindi 4 U
I love the net! The most unexpected things pop up when you're browsing. One of my comments to the motorcycle blog referred to the motorized tricycles used in Asia. That image was still clear in my mind, when what should pop up? India translation services!
IAFL Translation and Interpration Services render a translating, interpretation, dubbing / subtitle service, and they claim to respond to 95% of all emails within one hour!
They do translations to and from the Indian languages,as well as Arabic and Farsi. (And others in that sub-continent.) They also provide iterpretation services for seminars, conferences, trade shows, meetings, etc.
Not only that, but they do dubbing, sub-titles, etc., for television productions, documentaries and so on.
I find this relevant, because I live in a coutry where we have eleven "official" languages, apart from the languages spoken by huge communities such as Indian, Portuguese, Greek, Italian and so on. Hindi has a large following here, with television time slots dedicated to the Hindu culture and language.
Furthermore, we are doing more and more business with India and the other Asian countries.
So ... if you have business dealing with any of the Indian language groups, here's a site that enables you to communicate with them, and to promote your products and services, in their languages.
Now, use you new-found Hindi expertise and get us some motorized tricycles to hold up the Minibus taxis!
IAFL Translation and Interpration Services render a translating, interpretation, dubbing / subtitle service, and they claim to respond to 95% of all emails within one hour!
They do translations to and from the Indian languages,as well as Arabic and Farsi. (And others in that sub-continent.) They also provide iterpretation services for seminars, conferences, trade shows, meetings, etc.
Not only that, but they do dubbing, sub-titles, etc., for television productions, documentaries and so on.
I find this relevant, because I live in a coutry where we have eleven "official" languages, apart from the languages spoken by huge communities such as Indian, Portuguese, Greek, Italian and so on. Hindi has a large following here, with television time slots dedicated to the Hindu culture and language.
Furthermore, we are doing more and more business with India and the other Asian countries.
So ... if you have business dealing with any of the Indian language groups, here's a site that enables you to communicate with them, and to promote your products and services, in their languages.
Now, use you new-found Hindi expertise and get us some motorized tricycles to hold up the Minibus taxis!
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