Agony of a Writer.
Posted on January 31st, 2013
Kithsiri De Silva.
Writing is one of my favourite pass times.
I live and work abroad and have been writing to newspapers and periodicals in the region often.
Many of them got published here.
Recently, I was thinking of putting some of my selected works in a Book form.
I contacted a few know Publishing Houses in Sri Lanka and some have shown interest in my works.
But the purpose of this is not to discuss about that issue.
Three of the very well and established Publishing houses were unable to contact as their given contact mail is undeliverable, either due toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in correctnessƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of the given addresses or due to some technical issues.
All of them have the facility to buy booksƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ on-lineƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ as well and I was wondering, if any makes a purchase using the given facility, whether he/she would ever be able to see the product boughtƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ on-lineƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ or the money paid for that, given the level of their competency.
I travel a lot and buy passages and hotel bookings on line almost on all occasions.
Recently I made a hotel booking and at the end of the process of payment, I was warned that the Hotel voucher would be sent to my given e-mail within 30 minutes.
Not even a minute later, it was delivered in to my account.
Compare to those levels of service, most of our establishments are thousand years behind.
Therefore, this is just a friendly warning to be careful when making on line purchases from the web sites of many of the well known and established book publishing houses in Sri Lanka.
February 1st, 2013 at 7:20 am
Kithsiri,
It is not only Lanka book publishing houses, but also some big businesses abroad that default in business practices. A friend of mine ordered a household item from a dept. store in the west on Jan 1, 2013, and still has received the item or his money back.
Anyone sending money in as a net payment ought to first look at what to do re non receipt of goods.
———-
Good business practices will enhance the entire Country. It is an act of Patriotism. It will enhance Goodwill of the business – an item that can never be bought. It will definitely bring in the customers and profits along with them : a win-win situation.
February 1st, 2013 at 7:21 am
sorry, typo : still has NOT received the item or his money back.
February 1st, 2013 at 9:30 am
Do we even have a Consumer Protection Agency in Sri Lanka ? GoSL ought to have one, partly tied to the Divineguma program to educate the rural folk too. We do not yet even label ingredients properly in ready made Foods. No one knows if they are consuming butter (good in moderate amounts) or margarine (trans fat) in some delicious tit bit.
Ever since I (as a younger person) was duped into buying papaw seeds as pepper seeds at a ‘pola’ in Colombo, I am wary of small businesses almost anywhere. Economists say ‘let the buyer beware’. But in a Democracy, we the People must see to it that we get a fair deal for the money we spend here. People themselves can form Consumer Associations and report to the media as Kithsiri has done here, as an individual.
Kithsiri, it may well be that there are not enough competent computer technicians to do a good program for some of the publishing companies in Sri Lanka. The will to do modern business is there, but not the manpower ?
February 1st, 2013 at 11:11 am
Fran Diaz,
re. “Anyone sending money in as a net payment ought to first look at what to do re non receipt of goods.”
Credit card payments are protected for non-delivery of the service paid for in European countries. Similarly there is redress if the payment is made using Pay Pal.
In Sri Lanka there is nothing at all at the moment. To my knowledge in Sri Lanka there is no Product Description law that demands that the product meets the description, so when a product does not meet its description buyer is in difficulty.
There is good scope in the direction of consumer protection laws, because of starting from nil. I hope the current large exposure to foreign consumers might help to open the eyes of the powers that be.
These are certainly problems that need remedies for the betterment of the country and the business environment as a whole rather than trying to fix phantom ones like trying to tinker with the national anthem.
February 1st, 2013 at 11:16 am
They are nothing but complacency and lackadaisical attitude.
This morning I was in contact with another very famous Mall and I was surprised the promptness and the attention they gave in to my request.
I am still waiting for an acknowledgement even from the Tea board for my inquiry sent them and also from one of the publishing houses made through their on-line facility.
I was not talking about a few million Rupees worth of business but a few thousands, yet they were more than ready to see that the customer goes satisfied.
In the past, I have tried to make hotels bookings in places like Kataragama, Bandarawela etc but I did not get even a decent acknowledgement from any of them,
The only time I got a reply and that too was very prompt I must add here from a small hotel run by a Tamil lady in upcountry.
February 1st, 2013 at 2:09 pm
SenaD,
Thank you for response.
Re return or recovery of goods & money on the internet – yes, my friend has found out that his credit card co. will make investigations and return of money will probably be done, in another two months or so. Meantime, he has had to buy his goods elsewhere.
“In Sri Lanka there is nothing at all at the moment. To my knowledge in Sri Lanka there is no Product Description law that demands that the product meets the description, so when a product does not meet its description buyer is in difficulty”.
This is terrible for business. Who will buy such goods ?
We agree that tinkering with the National Anthem is a waste of time. That is exactly what forces inimical to Sri Lanka is trying to do – waste our time so that things that need to be done do not get done.
February 1st, 2013 at 6:42 pm
Something I have seen often that we are ready to pin the blame on other external entities of our own failures.
This is so much in this Forum too.
Read the tinkering part of the National Anthem.
February 4th, 2013 at 9:11 pm
Fran Diaz Says:
February 1st, 2013 at 9:30 am
Do we even have a Consumer Protection Agency in Sri Lanka ? GoSL ought to have one, partly tied to the Divineguma program to educate the rural folk too. We do not yet even label ingredients properly in ready made Foods. No one knows if they are consuming butter (good in moderate amounts) or margarine (trans fat) in some delicious tit bit.
1. No Consumer protection Agency in Sri Lanka
2. No Citizen protection Agency in Sri Lanka. The police does not protect the citizens, Only the politicians, their henchmen, and the religious fanatics. i.e. Buddhists
3. No paces of Worship Protection Agency for Christian Churches, Mosques and Hindu Kovils. The police does not protect the places of Worship, except Buddhist Temples, Only the politicians, their henchmen, and the religious fanatics. i.e Buddhists
4. No Security for life and property if you are not a Buddhist or will criticize the State.
5. No law and order protection Agency.
6. Everything else is of minor importance.
February 9th, 2013 at 10:15 am
I wonder what religion got to do in this topic.
Anyhow, this is their Payback time for the previous atrocities committed against other religions.
No, I do not condone such senseless violent.
But as the Gautama Buddha once told that it will not be possible to avoid the “Karma Vipaka”, whether such sacrilegious acts done even ” in the name of whatever ” as claimed by some fools.