[MR] ordering foreign books

[Betty Eyer]

I actually have done a good bit of this and can give
you some hard earned advice. 

In general, I have gotten poor or no response from
emails, even when the company lists an email contact. 
Phone calls sometimes work initially, but then break
down when I try to spell my name or read out my VISA
card number in English or pitiful French.
I have gotten good results from French booksellers
(hotels, merchants, etc.) by sending them a fax of a
letter in clear and simple English.  Most computers
that have msword and a modem have some sort of fax
software and you can set the fax as your printer. 
That way, if they have only one college kid on night
shift who can read english, they can put aside your
fax for a reply from that guy.  

I have also found that if you are a little more formal
or businesslike than you would be with other
Americans, you get a better response.  Thank them for
making the extra effort to use English, for instance,
and tell them the best way to respond to you (fax,
email, phone, etc.).  For some reason, they think
Americans are arrogant. 8^)

Remember that they are on another time zone and you
may not get an immediate response.  I usually send
correspondance before work, so I have an answer when I
get home.  




  
--- Becky McEllistrem <bmcellis at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I have found some books from France that I want to
> order but the listed booksellers for these books are
> not returning my messages and they might not have
> English speakers.
> 
> Is there a bookseller's web site that you use that
> sells books from all over the world?  I searched
> amazon.fr but these books are not listed there.  A
> list of links would be greatly appreciated.  These
> are
> pretty unusual French books.
> 
> Rebecca
> 
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"Don't be afraid to take a big step.  You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps." David Lloyd George

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