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Hi Ike, All,
I have been meaning to add some detail to Mike Barrett's acquisition of the little red diary, but I met a funny old LOBSTER on the way to the forum which distracted me for a while.
Anyway...
Firstly, here again is a description of the Victorian diary Mike Barrett asked Martin Earl to order and send him, between 19th and 26th March 1992:
A small 1891 De La Rue's Indelible Diary and Memorandum Book, 2.25" by 4", dated 1891 throughout – three or four dates to a page. Nearly all of the pages are blank and at the end of the diary are two Memoranda pages. On one of the two pages someone has written in blue biro 'EATON PLACE' and on the other 'ETON RISE'. Then there are four blank pages and on the last one is written in blue biro '19 W at 3 = 57 19 W at 4 = 76'.
Martin Earl's standard business practice was as follows:
Adverts in the Bookdealer were charged per line, so Martin always tried to keep any listings to one line each to keep the costs down. Barrett's advert stipulated 20 blank pages, so that was a specific requirement. There would be no reason for Martin to add that in otherwise. He would have acted on the customer's instructions so the date range [1880-1890] and number of blank pages [at least 20] would have defined the search and therefore what appeared in the advert. Martin doesn't think there was a lot of choice in what he was offered in Mr Barrett's case, so the 1891 diary might well have been the only one Martin was offered by a bookseller.
Martin would have ordered the item from his supplier, who would in many cases have sent it directly to the customer to avoid a second postage cost. Martin can't remember whether the 1891 diary went direct or not. Normally he would have asked for payment with the order, so it is likely that Mr Barrett specifically asked to see it before sending payment. Given the time taken before the cheque was sent [by Anne] it is highly likely Martin had to chase it, probably by phone. From memory, he says normal settlement time was the standard 30 days so he would have chased it up after that period. Customers could always return items if they were not as described.
Before ordering an item, Martin always contacted the customer to talk through the supplier's written description and get their agreement to purchase it on their behalf. Suppliers provided full descriptions and if needed Martin would go back to them for any additional information the customer needed or asked for. In the case of the Victorian diary sent to Mr Barrett, Martin would have contacted him before going ahead and ordering it, to give him a full description and the price. Martin says it is not possible that Mr Barrett was unaware that he was being sent a diary for the year 1891.
When a customer made a request, all searches were carried out on a no obligation basis and no up front charge because Martin wouldn't know if a search would be successful, or the price of the item. The supplier would not send an item, either direct to the customer or to Martin to send out, without first receiving payment from Martin. The customer would be billed directly for the agreed amount charged by Martin to the customer. Normally Martin asked for payment with the order once the customer had agreed to purchase what was offered, but in Mr Barrett's case, given the delay in receiving payment, that was clearly not the case. For books not paid for when ordered, there would have been an invoice sent, giving the standard 30 days for settlement. Martin says a phone call or two to chase up Mr Barrett's late payment would have been more likely than a formal second invoice. In short, Martin would have had to pay his supplier up front, so there would need to have been an agreement in place with his customer before Martin would order and pay for any book located.
And there you have it. I doubt anyone would stay in business very long if they paid their supplier out of their own pocket for an item the customer hadn't asked for, and then sent it to them without even discussing what they had located and how much it would cost. And yet RJ Palmer doubted there was ever a follow-up conversation between Martin Earl and Mike Barrett, before the 1891 diary was ordered and paid for up front by Martin, and sent to Mike on 26th March 1992 with an invoice for £25. RJ would like Martin to have made this transaction a one-off exception for the charming Scouser who had made the initial enquiry, but that later conversation had to happen, in order for Mike to be given the option of deferring payment until he had seen what he was getting for his wife's money.
"Now look here, buster, the missus wanted a teal bath towel and you've just sent me a grey face cloth with a bill for £10. What the hell's going on?"
"But it is a quality face cloth, sir, and I'm sure your wife will agree that it's worth every penny."
"Except that I didn't order it and she doesn't use a face cloth. I already have my own in every hue, coming out of my ears. Pardon?"
"Well this is going to cost me, isn't it? But very well, if you insist, I suggest you return it in its original packaging and we'll say no more about it."
"You want it, sunshine, you come and collect it. And don't give me that old flannel."
"I can assure you, sir, all our flannels are new and unused... [phone goes dead]
...Was it something I said?"
Love,
Caz
X
I have been meaning to add some detail to Mike Barrett's acquisition of the little red diary, but I met a funny old LOBSTER on the way to the forum which distracted me for a while.
Anyway...
Firstly, here again is a description of the Victorian diary Mike Barrett asked Martin Earl to order and send him, between 19th and 26th March 1992:
A small 1891 De La Rue's Indelible Diary and Memorandum Book, 2.25" by 4", dated 1891 throughout – three or four dates to a page. Nearly all of the pages are blank and at the end of the diary are two Memoranda pages. On one of the two pages someone has written in blue biro 'EATON PLACE' and on the other 'ETON RISE'. Then there are four blank pages and on the last one is written in blue biro '19 W at 3 = 57 19 W at 4 = 76'.
Martin Earl's standard business practice was as follows:
Adverts in the Bookdealer were charged per line, so Martin always tried to keep any listings to one line each to keep the costs down. Barrett's advert stipulated 20 blank pages, so that was a specific requirement. There would be no reason for Martin to add that in otherwise. He would have acted on the customer's instructions so the date range [1880-1890] and number of blank pages [at least 20] would have defined the search and therefore what appeared in the advert. Martin doesn't think there was a lot of choice in what he was offered in Mr Barrett's case, so the 1891 diary might well have been the only one Martin was offered by a bookseller.
Martin would have ordered the item from his supplier, who would in many cases have sent it directly to the customer to avoid a second postage cost. Martin can't remember whether the 1891 diary went direct or not. Normally he would have asked for payment with the order, so it is likely that Mr Barrett specifically asked to see it before sending payment. Given the time taken before the cheque was sent [by Anne] it is highly likely Martin had to chase it, probably by phone. From memory, he says normal settlement time was the standard 30 days so he would have chased it up after that period. Customers could always return items if they were not as described.
Before ordering an item, Martin always contacted the customer to talk through the supplier's written description and get their agreement to purchase it on their behalf. Suppliers provided full descriptions and if needed Martin would go back to them for any additional information the customer needed or asked for. In the case of the Victorian diary sent to Mr Barrett, Martin would have contacted him before going ahead and ordering it, to give him a full description and the price. Martin says it is not possible that Mr Barrett was unaware that he was being sent a diary for the year 1891.
When a customer made a request, all searches were carried out on a no obligation basis and no up front charge because Martin wouldn't know if a search would be successful, or the price of the item. The supplier would not send an item, either direct to the customer or to Martin to send out, without first receiving payment from Martin. The customer would be billed directly for the agreed amount charged by Martin to the customer. Normally Martin asked for payment with the order once the customer had agreed to purchase what was offered, but in Mr Barrett's case, given the delay in receiving payment, that was clearly not the case. For books not paid for when ordered, there would have been an invoice sent, giving the standard 30 days for settlement. Martin says a phone call or two to chase up Mr Barrett's late payment would have been more likely than a formal second invoice. In short, Martin would have had to pay his supplier up front, so there would need to have been an agreement in place with his customer before Martin would order and pay for any book located.
And there you have it. I doubt anyone would stay in business very long if they paid their supplier out of their own pocket for an item the customer hadn't asked for, and then sent it to them without even discussing what they had located and how much it would cost. And yet RJ Palmer doubted there was ever a follow-up conversation between Martin Earl and Mike Barrett, before the 1891 diary was ordered and paid for up front by Martin, and sent to Mike on 26th March 1992 with an invoice for £25. RJ would like Martin to have made this transaction a one-off exception for the charming Scouser who had made the initial enquiry, but that later conversation had to happen, in order for Mike to be given the option of deferring payment until he had seen what he was getting for his wife's money.
"Now look here, buster, the missus wanted a teal bath towel and you've just sent me a grey face cloth with a bill for £10. What the hell's going on?"
"But it is a quality face cloth, sir, and I'm sure your wife will agree that it's worth every penny."
"Except that I didn't order it and she doesn't use a face cloth. I already have my own in every hue, coming out of my ears. Pardon?"
"Well this is going to cost me, isn't it? But very well, if you insist, I suggest you return it in its original packaging and we'll say no more about it."
"You want it, sunshine, you come and collect it. And don't give me that old flannel."
"I can assure you, sir, all our flannels are new and unused... [phone goes dead]
...Was it something I said?"
Love,
Caz
X
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