Furniture Construction Trip >>> Day 5 (Monday, 15 May 2006): More buying, more construction …
Monday was another day or buying, or should I say “procuring”, and construction. After a relatively reasonable night’s sleep, I got up at a normal hour (8:30 AM or so) and got started. I headed back to the stores to buy some more household items and to pick up some smaller things I missed on Saturday (like a coaxial cable for the TV). Floor fan, iron, ironing board, medicine-chest-like cabinets for the bathroom (which needs storage space), mattress covers, pillows, and other various and sundry household items.
I must comment on the level of service at both TRONY (electronics and appliances) and BRICO (hardware, tools, lighting, household goods, and outdoor furnishings). I would say the Italians put us to shame with the level of service at these stores.
After one trip to the TRONY store, every time I went back the people in each department greeted me, and told me they remembered me and what I had purchased (they were 100% correct). Maybe it was the fact that I was an American, speaking Italian, furnishing an apartment in their town that made me memorable, but it sure seemed like they gave this same attention to the Italians who were in the store.
BRICO was the same way, except I needed more help and got it. What anchors do I need to mount a TV on the (stone) wall? What drill bit can I use to drill through tile? Where do I find surround or framing material for the bathroom mirror which is “embedded” (like the tile surrounding it so that it’s flush with the wall)? Where do I get a tank for the gas BBQ grill, since you’re out of stock? Where do I get it filled? Where do I get copies of keys for the front door that require a special machine to be made? The customer service team at BRICO in Fano was superb! I got all my answers, they were patient with my Italian and lack of Italian hardware vocabulary, and they’ll have my business forever.
Once home, I got to watch the end of one stage of the Giro D’Italia, which was pretty neat. I’ve always been a cycling fan, but watching a broadcast in the home country of the race was a new experience. Listening to and watching the way the Italian announcers and producers put the programming together was interesting. Just like we take NFL Monday Night Football to a new level, so goes coverage of events like the Giro.
Construction-wise, it was a slow day. I did put together the coffee table for the living room, but that’s about it.
I must comment on the level of service at both TRONY (electronics and appliances) and BRICO (hardware, tools, lighting, household goods, and outdoor furnishings). I would say the Italians put us to shame with the level of service at these stores.
After one trip to the TRONY store, every time I went back the people in each department greeted me, and told me they remembered me and what I had purchased (they were 100% correct). Maybe it was the fact that I was an American, speaking Italian, furnishing an apartment in their town that made me memorable, but it sure seemed like they gave this same attention to the Italians who were in the store.
BRICO was the same way, except I needed more help and got it. What anchors do I need to mount a TV on the (stone) wall? What drill bit can I use to drill through tile? Where do I find surround or framing material for the bathroom mirror which is “embedded” (like the tile surrounding it so that it’s flush with the wall)? Where do I get a tank for the gas BBQ grill, since you’re out of stock? Where do I get it filled? Where do I get copies of keys for the front door that require a special machine to be made? The customer service team at BRICO in Fano was superb! I got all my answers, they were patient with my Italian and lack of Italian hardware vocabulary, and they’ll have my business forever.
Once home, I got to watch the end of one stage of the Giro D’Italia, which was pretty neat. I’ve always been a cycling fan, but watching a broadcast in the home country of the race was a new experience. Listening to and watching the way the Italian announcers and producers put the programming together was interesting. Just like we take NFL Monday Night Football to a new level, so goes coverage of events like the Giro.
Construction-wise, it was a slow day. I did put together the coffee table for the living room, but that’s about it.
posted by Mark Pukita | 7:42 AM
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