I began making online purchases when I started buying books through Amazon, but these days, I don't buy so many because I now have an e-book reader, which means that books and documents, whether paid or free, are downloaded automatically, without the worry about delivery waiting times. I've never been tempted to see what e-Bay offers for this reason - I don't like that waiting time. And I don't believe that I really need to add to my family's material possessions so desperately - we could all do with less clutter.
But spare parts for my husband's taxi is quite a different story. We definitely need those. Sellers of spare car parts in Hania charge 2-3 times the price for a part, compared to the price the same article is sold on e-Bay. That's how I started making purchases on e-Bay. For my husband's taxi. Using e-bay.de. I'm using a German site for this, naturlich, given that Germany is the car king of Europe. The last time I used the German language was when I was travelling in Germany (20 years ago). Knowing nothing about e-Bay or cars, I decided to make my new experience an educational one: I could brush up on my German skills.
During a recent storm, the left rear-view mirror of the taxi was broken. We found a suitable translation for this: SKODA SUPERB links spiegelglas. Up came a few items on e-Bay, some of which mentioned the word beheizbar. "Is that mirror heated?" I asked my husband, which shows how little I know about cars. I do own a (Korean) car, and have had it for over a decade, but it pays to be ignorant on some matters, in order to free yourself from having too many responsibilities. "Yes, it is", my husband confirmed. After ascertaining the exact car model, it was with great trepidation that we hit the Kaufen button, because we'd never done this before, the website was all in a foreign language, and we really didn't know if we were signing our life away. Although online translation tools do help, it still feels like an "It's all Greek to me" moment.
Imagine my surprise when I found the item in my mailbox the next morning.
I still had a chance to write another message, albeit hurriedly, on a happier note:
The company replied with a quick email, thanking me for the information. I suppose they must be pleased that I am now one of their satisfied customers, and they wouldn't be hearing any more Greek nonsense from me.
But spare parts for my husband's taxi is quite a different story. We definitely need those. Sellers of spare car parts in Hania charge 2-3 times the price for a part, compared to the price the same article is sold on e-Bay. That's how I started making purchases on e-Bay. For my husband's taxi. Using e-bay.de. I'm using a German site for this, naturlich, given that Germany is the car king of Europe. The last time I used the German language was when I was travelling in Germany (20 years ago). Knowing nothing about e-Bay or cars, I decided to make my new experience an educational one: I could brush up on my German skills.
During a recent storm, the left rear-view mirror of the taxi was broken. We found a suitable translation for this: SKODA SUPERB links spiegelglas. Up came a few items on e-Bay, some of which mentioned the word beheizbar. "Is that mirror heated?" I asked my husband, which shows how little I know about cars. I do own a (Korean) car, and have had it for over a decade, but it pays to be ignorant on some matters, in order to free yourself from having too many responsibilities. "Yes, it is", my husband confirmed. After ascertaining the exact car model, it was with great trepidation that we hit the Kaufen button, because we'd never done this before, the website was all in a foreign language, and we really didn't know if we were signing our life away. Although online translation tools do help, it still feels like an "It's all Greek to me" moment.
Hans off? Probably not! Vielleicht Hans wartet fur die Sonderangebote. Deutschland ist der europäische König des Autos, nicht der Sommer-Ferien.
After quadruple-checking the German with a translator tool, we placed the order and got this message:
Sie müssen nur noch bezahlen.
Τα λαμπάκια μου ανάψανε. Did they know we were Greek? "Yes, I promise, I will really truly pay," I mumbled automatically. My husband said other things, similar to what Papoulias was saying recently. Naturlich, we obliged, as we have done on all counts just lately.
I waited a couple of days to see if I would get a reply about when the item would be shipped. No email was sent, so I wrote one myself asking about this:
Hello von Kreta
Konnen Sie mir sagen wenn das Spiegelglas gesendet wird.
Vielen Dank
I got an email quite quickly:
Der Artikel wurde schon gestern geschickt.
It was sent the day after we placed the order. So we waited patiently for the item to arrive. But it seemed to take ages: over 10 days had passed and still no item. They sure know how to keep us waiting, I thought. But I was also thinking about something else: maybe the parcel wouldn't come at all.
So I wrote another message:
So I wrote another message:
Hallo von Kreta
Ich habe das Spiegelglas noch nicht erhalten.
Ich habe das Spiegelglas noch nicht erhalten.
Es ist jetzt 10 Werktage, da ich für den Artikel bezahlt habe.
Können Sie mir bitte sagen, was ich als nächstes tun müssen?
Können Sie mir bitte sagen, was ich als nächstes tun müssen?
Imagine my surprise when I found the item in my mailbox the next morning.
 |
| Das Spiegelglas - sold by a German company, delivered from Poland to Greece. |
hallo noch einmal von kreta
alles OK mit spiegelglas
es ist heute gekommen
alles OK mit spiegelglas
es ist heute gekommen
jetzt can wir uns zuruck sehen
vielen dank von sonnig chania
vielen dank von sonnig chania
If Europe without Greece is like a child without a birth certificate, then Greece without Europe must be like a homeless person or an orphan searching for its roots.
The company replied with a quick email, thanking me for the information. I suppose they must be pleased that I am now one of their satisfied customers, and they wouldn't be hearing any more Greek nonsense from me.
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This car part is the story of Greece. Others, the Polish, work hard to produce them and we the clever ones make our living by overcharging one another and occasionally an unfortunate passing-by tourist. If it took Poland 20yrs to get out of their crisis it will take us 100 with this kind of mentality.
ReplyDeleteWell done Maria, I'm impressed by your German. I can see a home based business ordering spare parts for taxi drivers.
we just ordered another spare part last night: it cost 20.50 to buy from germany, 3and 9.90 to send by courier, but my husband bought this the last time he needed it for 130 euro here - when he told the company that it cost half the price on ebay with special delivery they told him he was ignorant of the spare parts business and he has no idea what he's talking about (as long as greek taxi drivers remain ignorant, they will continue to need the overchargers - it suits them both never to change their mentality)
ReplyDeleteIf you need any help with translations in German, you could contact me. I`d love to be of assistance because of the pleasure you gave me when reading you interesting post
ReplyDeletethanks eva - i know i could use help from time to time!
ReplyDelete