A "little" Adventure in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

The microwave died in the guest house last week.  The current tenant only uses it to heat her coffee in the morning, but I realize it would be an aggravation to have to pour it in a pan to heat up..........so off I went
to look for a new microwave on Monday.  At La Comer, they were big and expensive.  Check.

You see in Mexico, unlike the USA, there is not a place on every corner or strip malls or Target.  Here we go to the grocery store to see what appliances might be available. 

Since La Comer (previously called Mega) did not have what was needed, the next day I went off to Bodega Aurrerea which is the low end of Walmart.

This is what greeted me.  A "wall" of shopping carts protecting the newly striped area of the parking lot.  There was a tiny place close to the tree to pass through.  It made me smile to myself because it was an
effective way to keep people from driving on the stripes without orange cones.  The ingenuity of the people of Mexico always delights me.


Inside the store I found a Daewoo that was the right size and right price of microwave. Making sure to get a box that had not been open and then finding someone to get it into the cart was the beginning of the adventure.  Mission accomplished.  Microwave checked out and paid for.  Now to get the thing loaded
in the car.

The only person I saw who could possibly assist me in this transaction was a man sweeping the parking lot.
I asked if he could help me and he came over to do so.  The only change I had for a tip was 20 pesos which
is about one US dollar and I gave it to him.  The broad smile and look of disbelief on his face stayed with me
all the way home.

Then of course, getting the thing up a flight of stairs and into the guest house was the next hurdle.  Luckily, Javier the gardener was here.  He lifted and transported the box into the guest house and I hooked the thing up to make sure it worked.  Well, I thought it did............

A couple of days later I found out that, in fact, it did not work.  The door would not stay closed and it would not turn on.  Oy vey!  The box had not been saved........a BIG deal in Mexico!  In the past when I have needed to return anything, if the original packaging was not brought, it was a "No Deal" as to a return, even with the receipt of purchase.

No words can describe how I dreaded taking the microwave back to the store yesterday.  I was braced for disappointment and frustration.  I fully expected to have to buy a whole other microwave for just a little less
then $100USD!

In I went to the Service Desk.  Of course no one speaks English which always makes me nervous that my Spanish will not stand up to the test.  In fact, usually I practice in my mind what I'm going to say before I get
there and what they are possibly going to say in return.  I was ready. 

The girl behind the counter understood my Spanish, thankfully, and called for someone to come to help me get the microwave out of the back of my car.......without a box, of course.  Out came the man who I had seen a few days prior.  When he saw me, again, he grinned and greeted me with a big smile.  Turns out he spoke some English!

The saga continues with a young man from the Electronics Dept coming to stand and look at the microwave and leaving.  No, he did not plug it in to prove that it didn't work.  He just left.  Then I asked if there was a
manager.  Ahhh,  a "jefe" to help.  And, voila, eventually, the manager of the store, Bruno, appeared and could speak some English.  He listened intently, as we spoke in English and Spanish.  He called the young man who had disappeared previously to come.  He told him to get a new microwave in a box and to check it in the store before I took it home.  (All of this was in Spanish, but, amazingly, I understood it all). 

This happened!  It was brought, checked, and loaded in my car without anything else needing to be done.
Amazing!

Driving home, after this little adventure, I was relieved, happy and realized that Customer Service has finally come to Mexico!

Another "little" adventure has been successfully completed.