Some things are just not the same. I place a computer order via the internet in Singapore and the machine arrives in days. I place an order here and the website gives no real indication of delivery, only that shipping would be 3 to 5 days so I naively thought it was like in Singapore. To my astonishment, I checked couple of days later and the estimated delivery date was a month away. I thought this can't be, maybe there is a mistake. So patiently waited a couple more days and this time, the delivery date was even later. Two weeks later and some internet chats and phone calls with what is obviously a call center in India, all I got was so sorry but we cannot build the computer because there is a shortage of parts and there is nothing we can do for you. To cut a long story short, I finally cancelled the order in frustration. We immediately went to Office Depot nearby and carried a good deal home, and in the process also got a multi-function printer, paper, ink, etc. And the costs all came to couple of hundred dollars less than what my online order amounted to just for the PC.
Getting a plasma TV stand also turned out to be fairly complicated and I had to make several calls to various parties to finally get things sorted out. Of course, this is all for security reasons and I have learned a valuable lesson about making sure ccard information and order information all tie. Identity thefts have made life a little more challenging for the ordinary folks.
Cultural shocks work both ways and even for someone who visited US of A as often as I did and spent 5 months here on an assignment a few short years ago. It is often the little things that catches you.
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