The Sofa
12 May 2002 -Singapore
"The Sofa" - To many, Asia is known as a shopping Mecca. And it is... However, over the years
we have experienced many occasions where shop owners make buying harder than is necessary. The issue I have often pondered is the need for shop owners to give a receipt in triplicate for a $1.00 item and the receipt says NON-REFUNDABLE/NON-RETURNABLE... If I can't bring the item back, what do I need a receipt for? But I digress...
Those of you who have been to our home in Las Vegas and/or Singapore might recall that we had a fairly large L-shaped, black leather sofa. We bought this a few years back in Las Vegas, hauled it over to Singapore where we paid an outrageous amount of money to have it recovered with a finer leather. It served its purpose when the kids were living at home but now it is too big and the recliners on each end don't go back as far we'd like... Bottom-line it was time for something new.
I took a picture and posted it at the American Club's "Items for Sale" board along with a few other items. We were pleasantly surprised how quickly we got responses. The potential buyers arrived at the house on Tuesday and minutes later the sale was consummated. Arrangements were to be made later in the week for movers to pick up the set and deliver it to it's new home.
"The Sofa" - To many, Asia is known as a shopping Mecca. And it is... However, over the years
we have experienced many occasions where shop owners make buying harder than is necessary. The issue I have often pondered is the need for shop owners to give a receipt in triplicate for a $1.00 item and the receipt says NON-REFUNDABLE/NON-RETURNABLE... If I can't bring the item back, what do I need a receipt for? But I digress...
Those of you who have been to our home in Las Vegas and/or Singapore might recall that we had a fairly large L-shaped, black leather sofa. We bought this a few years back in Las Vegas, hauled it over to Singapore where we paid an outrageous amount of money to have it recovered with a finer leather. It served its purpose when the kids were living at home but now it is too big and the recliners on each end don't go back as far we'd like... Bottom-line it was time for something new.
I took a picture and posted it at the American Club's "Items for Sale" board along with a few other items. We were pleasantly surprised how quickly we got responses. The potential buyers arrived at the house on Tuesday and minutes later the sale was consummated. Arrangements were to be made later in the week for movers to pick up the set and deliver it to it's new home.
I was interested in La-Z-Boy recliners and set out to find them in the local phone book. Nothing to be found under La-Z-Boy (or Lazyboy). The good news is that La-Z-Boy does have a website with a special section for finding dealers, however, that function was not working so an email was sent requesting information about a Singapore distributor. Wednesday morning we awoke to a reply telling us the distributor in Singapore was Melandas Casa Mobili Pte. Ltd. (we should have guessed, the name is a giveaway???!!!) The headquarters/showroom was only a few minutes drive from home. The buyers of our sofa called and said that the movers were coming Thursday so I told Gerri we'd better start looking for a new living room set and suggested we start out at the La-Z-Boy showroom Wednesday evening. Another thing I forgot to mention about shopping in Asia is that it is typical to have a salesperson glued to your hip when you walk into a store. They are often more of a hindrance than a help... For example: You walk in and say you are looking for a red tie and they proceed to show you blue, green, black... you reiterate that you are only interested in RED, they acknowledge what you just said and then show you something in yellow. But I digress...
The showroom was huge and the receptionist pointed us to the section where La-Z-Boys were on display. To our amazement, we were left "unattended" to hop from chair to sofa, recliner to medical assist chair for over 50 minutes. No salesperson in sight! There were a couple dozen different types of chairs/recliners, a handful of sofas and tons of catalogues/fabric samples to peruse through. We selected a few models and colours we were interested in and I went looking for a salesperson. A very nice gentlemen was sent over by the receptionist and we told him we were interested in a recliner and 3-seater sofa set. We said we wanted fabric rather than leather and pointed to the models in the catalogue that were the make and colour we wanted.
He immediately walked us over to a red sofa set that we had already determined was uncomfortable and was not a colour that we liked. We walked him over to a greenish/beige leather sofa/recliner set and said we were more interested in this model but with fabric instead of leather. He looked perplexed. (I should point out here that he spoke excellent English so language was not a barrier...) He took us back over to the red sofa and said "we have this". I explained again that we did not like the style, the colour and that model was not very comfortable.
The showroom was huge and the receptionist pointed us to the section where La-Z-Boys were on display. To our amazement, we were left "unattended" to hop from chair to sofa, recliner to medical assist chair for over 50 minutes. No salesperson in sight! There were a couple dozen different types of chairs/recliners, a handful of sofas and tons of catalogues/fabric samples to peruse through. We selected a few models and colours we were interested in and I went looking for a salesperson. A very nice gentlemen was sent over by the receptionist and we told him we were interested in a recliner and 3-seater sofa set. We said we wanted fabric rather than leather and pointed to the models in the catalogue that were the make and colour we wanted.
He immediately walked us over to a red sofa set that we had already determined was uncomfortable and was not a colour that we liked. We walked him over to a greenish/beige leather sofa/recliner set and said we were more interested in this model but with fabric instead of leather. He looked perplexed. (I should point out here that he spoke excellent English so language was not a barrier...) He took us back over to the red sofa and said "we have this". I explained again that we did not like the style, the colour and that model was not very comfortable.
The salesperson then walked over to an empty section of the showroom and pointed to the open floor space and said "the set we would have liked used to be right here but it was sold and not there anymore". I asked if we could order what we wanted from the catalogue. He then walked over to another empty section of the showroom and pointed to another open space and said "there used to be a sofa set here we would have liked... but it had been sold and delivered two days ago". I revisited my question about ordering from the catalogue and was told "it might be possible but it would take 6-8 months as everything comes by ship from the USA".
He then took us back to the leather set and said "this was available". I took him to a fabric covered recliner and said "we want two recliners of the same colour like this one". He went away for a few minutes and came back saying "we don't have two recliners of the same colour". He took us back to the red sofa set and said he could give us a special price... I then asked "what other stores in Singapore carry La-Z-Boy furniture". Again the perplexed look. I said, "you are the distributor for La-Z-Boy in Singapore right?" He replied "yes". I then asked, "so to what stores do you distribute to?" he said "our own stores". I then asked where their other stores were located. As it turned out there was only one other store and ironically it was located just a few steps from our front door. I asked the salesman to call over there and find out what models/colours they had... He disappeared again and came back and said "they only have the red one".
I asked why there was such a small selection. He said "since September 11, people have stopped buying as many La-Z-Boys that is why the selection is so small...". He then took us back to the leather set, pointed and said "25% discount from the sticker price".
He then took us back to the leather set and said "this was available". I took him to a fabric covered recliner and said "we want two recliners of the same colour like this one". He went away for a few minutes and came back saying "we don't have two recliners of the same colour". He took us back to the red sofa set and said he could give us a special price... I then asked "what other stores in Singapore carry La-Z-Boy furniture". Again the perplexed look. I said, "you are the distributor for La-Z-Boy in Singapore right?" He replied "yes". I then asked, "so to what stores do you distribute to?" he said "our own stores". I then asked where their other stores were located. As it turned out there was only one other store and ironically it was located just a few steps from our front door. I asked the salesman to call over there and find out what models/colours they had... He disappeared again and came back and said "they only have the red one".
I asked why there was such a small selection. He said "since September 11, people have stopped buying as many La-Z-Boys that is why the selection is so small...". He then took us back to the leather set, pointed and said "25% discount from the sticker price".
Personally, I liked the leather. Gerri said she didn't want leather because the cat would scratch it and besides, it was green. I insisted is wasn't green, we have had leather for years and the cat didn't scratch it. I said it only looked green because there were pea greenpillows on it and the carpet, lamp, candles on the coffee table were all green... I said it was beige coloured. Gerri looked sceptical. I started running around picking up different coloured pillows and throwing them on the sofa to prove my point. I asked the salesman if he had any other colour leather... he walked over to an empty area and pointed to the floor and started to explain "there used to be a set right here...." I told him to go find some brighter light bulbs for the lamps so Gerri could accurately see the colour of the leather... It was obvious she needed to be convinced.
I then realised I had a choice to make, I could either be the dutiful husband and take Gerri from store to store in search of the elusive fabric-covered sofa and continue to deal with lots of other inept salespeople or I could take control and "strong arm Gerri" to make "the right choice". The prospect of watching TV while sitting on the hard/cold marble floor for the next several weeks/months while we shopped helped me with my choice... Steady, relentless pressure was in order!
I told Gerri to test the sofa's recliners while I talked to the salesperson. I started the negotiation... 25% discount, child's play! Humph! I got it up to 35% with free delivery and a free leather care kit. I then went back to Gerri and said "it was too good an offer to pass up! The only other furniture they sell in Singapore is Italian... Low to the ground, uncomfortable and we could be shopping for months. If we didn't take this set it would probably be gone tomorrow and we would have nothing." She started to waver... I went for the kill, "if the colour does not work we can get new drapes to match the sofa"... Bingo! I got a very cautious "OK let's buy it", which is all I needed!
I told Gerri to test the sofa's recliners while I talked to the salesperson. I started the negotiation... 25% discount, child's play! Humph! I got it up to 35% with free delivery and a free leather care kit. I then went back to Gerri and said "it was too good an offer to pass up! The only other furniture they sell in Singapore is Italian... Low to the ground, uncomfortable and we could be shopping for months. If we didn't take this set it would probably be gone tomorrow and we would have nothing." She started to waver... I went for the kill, "if the colour does not work we can get new drapes to match the sofa"... Bingo! I got a very cautious "OK let's buy it", which is all I needed!
Mind you, this was Wednesday and although I had negotiated free delivery, the question of when free delivery would be made was still open. The salesman said they could deliver in a week. I said "I needed it by Saturday!". He gave in too quickly, so I knew I had him so I upped it to Friday. "I have to have it delivered Friday morning or no deal!". He wavered, done deal!
As they were wrapping it for transport our new sofa Thursday at 5pm the movers showed up to pick up the old people called and said there was a problem and they would not be able to deliver on Friday... I was just about to start yelling when I was told the problem was the sofa was on the truck, in the area already and they wanted to deliver it immediately. I was shocked and amazed! When all was said and done we were without sofa for exactly 35 minutes. I couldn't have planned it any better if I had tried.
And for those of you feeling sorry for Gerri getting the bum's rush... Once in place she came around to the colour not being green and really seems to like it! Of course, I love it... MY CHAIR has programmable massage/heat/lumbar action with remote control... What's not to like!
For the "true lounge experience" click on the pictures below...
And for those of you feeling sorry for Gerri getting the bum's rush... Once in place she came around to the colour not being green and really seems to like it! Of course, I love it... MY CHAIR has programmable massage/heat/lumbar action with remote control... What's not to like!
For the "true lounge experience" click on the pictures below...
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