Toytown blues
It’s started already. That endless stream of mums and dads, often with the very tinies in tow, serious ankle-biters. One after another, they’re pacing the store, looking for one Top Ten Toy or another, this year’s must-have, or the kids will never forgive them. No substitutes will do, no cheap-and-cheerful not-quite-the-real-thing, never mind how bright and colourful the packaging. They want what they want. And as of this morning, I’m pretty much out of everything. Not what you need in the weeks before Christmas and to be frank, I’ve been tearing my hair out and shouting a lot. Hardly full of the joys of the coming season.
I’ve been waiting for my order from our supplier for two weeks now and I only just found out this morning, it’s come in from China, but it’s apparently been stuck in Customs because somebody, somewhere, messed up the paperwork. I want to do unmentionable things to that somebody – they’re costing me money! Anyhow, when my supplier hinted at his problem I dug a little and learned the truth. If only he’d said something before now. I said, I know a guy who works for this outfit in West London called Customs Clearance Limited. Clearing stuff through customs is what they do, day in, day out. They wouldn’t have messed up the paperwork, for sure! I said, get on to them, fast. They’ll pick up the problem and have it sorted in no time.
My supplier twitched a bit at first – nobody likes being told what to do, do they? But I guess he must have made the call as he rang me back a couple of hours later and told me I could expect my Top Ten Toys first-thing tomorrow. And, trust me, that’s not a moment too soon.
15th Nov 2009
