I went to a marine supply store to buy a short piece of exhaust hose. The website indicated they had it in stock. Or at least, that’s what I thought I understood.
The salesperson told me, “Let’s see if we have that 50mm one. What the website meant was that it’s available in the supplier’s warehouse in the Netherlands!”
What?! The supplier’s warehouse in the Netherlands? With this logic, it probably means that the hose doesn’t even exist!
- The Dutch supplier says: “No, that didn’t mean our warehouse, it meant the manufacturer’s, in China.”
- The Chinese manufacturer responds: “Our inventory number means how much raw material we have, which we get from a raw material importer.”
- The raw material importer then says: “We have this much from on producer’s warehouse…”
- … Finally the producer in Congo replies: “Well, the rubber is still on the trees here…”
Luckily, I found a suitable piece of hose right there in the local marine supply store’s warehouse. Just as the website said. 🙂
-Jussi
