Search Q&A
Belgian Service
I want to buy some new Hi-Fi speakers so I mailed three shops to ask for their recommendation according to my specifications (in the local language). The first two didn't answer and the third said they were a distributor only but said they would send me local supplier details if I gave them my postcode. I did and they didn't.
I wanted to buy a new bath and found the exact model I needed. I managed to contact the retailer (who wouldn't sell directly to me) and they gave me weblinks to their (only two) distributors. On the websites all the distributors had were pictures of "dream bathrooms" looking all nice and expensive and dreamy. I never got to a page with the actual products on them. In the end I bought a different bath from a local shop.
At the bathroom place next to IKEA in Zaventem they wouldn't even talk to me unless I "registered" first. And that was in person, in the shop. I DON"T WANT TO REGISTER JUST TO ASK A QUESTION BEFORE I BUY SOMETHING. I'LL ASK QUESTIONS AND DEPENDING UPON YOUR ANSWER YOU MIGHT BE LUCKY ENOUGH FOR ME TO SPEND SOME MONEY WITH YOU.
Whenever I want to buy something in Belgium the people are rude or unhelpful or both. It's impossible to spend your money. Prices and contact details are always hidden on websites and you need to register to log in to half of the websites just to get to look. If you ask a direct question to sales people they get offended. And these are commercial institutions. State ones are even worse. I honestly don't know how anything ever gets done in Belgium.
This isn't really a question, just a rant.
"At the bathroom place next to IKEA in Zaventem they wouldn't even talk to me unless I "registered" first."
I bet you went on a Saturday? They wanted to to "register" for an appointment. When a sales person is then free, you get called. Or you book an appointment over the phone.
They don't have time for random drop-ins - they're too busy.
.
And they do stick to appointment times, and the service is excellent.
.
"I want to buy some new Hi-Fi speakers so I mailed three"
Again, wrong approch. Find a shop, go in, and talk. Direct communication is so much more efficient than email. And speakers, particularly if you don't know what you want (you are "asking for their recommendation") need quite a lot of work to determine exactly what you need, and you also need to judge with your ears.
.
"On the websites all the distributors had were pictures of "dream bathrooms" looking all nice and expensive and dreamy."
These are not e-commerce websites. They are just shop windows. They are there to get you to go into the shop.
.
.
Oh - but please blame Belgium. You couldn't possibly be the one at fault here.
