Two years ago I visited Amsterdam and found the most perfect canisters for my kitchen in this little store called
Lifestyle Amsterdam. It's on the P.C. Hooftstraat - amazing street for shopping designer goods! I bought three, packaged them with the only packing supplies I could find and shipped them home. Well, sadly, only one survived the trip and I've been obsessed with finding them ever since with no luck.
During my most recent trip, I popped in to see if they still had the canisters and to my surprise, they did! After much discussion about the goods in their store, I find out that they are designed & manufactured for the stores and are not sold anywhere else. No wonder I couldn't find them anywhere on the internet! And, they only have stores in the Netherlands and Brussels. So, I managed to warm up the clerk (not easy) and talk her into shipping another set to me - in their original packaging! I left her with all of my contact information, FedEX number and anything I could think she might possibly need to complete the transaction.
One month after my return home, I finally got an email with the details of the transaction. The price for all the canisters is great, but shipping is ridiculous - 30 euro more than the cost of the merchandise - Ugh! I've been pondering if it's all really worth it, and it's probably not... but after two years of thinking about a stupid ceramic canister, I'd kick myself if I didn't give this a try. I could spend all this money and they could all arrive in bits and pieces just like last time... keep your fingers crossed for me.
The one hitch in the plan is how to get the money to the retailer. Serious lack of customer service!! They will ONLY accept a wire transfer - which is another ridiculous amount on top of the mountain of money I'm already putting out. I asked about PayPal or ACH transfer or credit card? No go. What I don't understand is the no credit card thing. If this transaction were to happen here, say at a store on Michigan Ave in Chicago. I'd tell the clerk what merch I want, where I want it shipped, pay for merch and shipping and be on my merry little way. If I were to have bought the merch while I was there, in the store, I could have paid via credit card, but now that I've had to make the arrangements via email, it's not acceptable form of payment... huh?
So, as a last ditch effort, I've tapped E to help me. I sent her money via PayPal so she can go into the store and pay cash or with her PIN card in person. I really hope this works. If not, I will have to give up. I'm just not willing to pay for the wire transfer - it's almost as much as the merch!
Why does everything have to be so difficult?
