Furnishing a new home, Part 2

(Part 1 was published separately and covered my tribulations in Salvador)
When I got back to my soon-to-be home town I asked around and was told that Seabra, some 70kms distant, was the local place for furniture, so I headed out full of enthusiasm! There were 2 or 3 larger furniture stores so I chose one and entered, and yes they did deliver to my town!! Great start, so I wandered round again making my selections, but from a much smaller range. Again when I finished a lot were unavailable, but eventually I managed to find enough to cover my needs. They started processing it and came to a total price, so I produced my Visa card (as there was a sign on the door) and they was an awkward silence - "Er, the machine is down, and has been for a month"! As there is a limit to daily withdrawals it would have taken me a week to get the cash to make the purchase, so I again had to look elsewhere!
The next shop I went in: "Do you deliver to Lençois?", "Yes", "Do you accept card payments?", "Yes" - fabulous, let's go! This time the man (who turned out to be one of the owner's sons) came with me - nothing had prices on, but he seemed to know them all by heart (or was charging what he felt I could afford, which was more likely!), and he could also let me know then and there if they were available. Again it took far longer than it should as we kept having to look for alternatives, and often they didn't have quite what I wanted so I had to make compromises - finding a matching wardrobe and chest of drawers was a real challenge, especially if I wanted it to also match the bed! Much of the available furniture was melamine coated, so I knew it would be delivered flat-packed as well.
Eventually we were done so went to the order point and he put it all on the system to produce the invoice - which I had to take to a cashier to pay! Because most people here pay on terms I did get a small discount for paying in full, and also because I was paying with a debit, not a credit, card. Right, now we came to discuss delivery - "How about this Saturday?", he asked - I almost fell off my chair as it was now Thursday afternoon! "Yes, that is fine", "OK, we will be there before 13.00" Handshakes all round and I leave much happier.
On arriving back in Lençois I contact the real estate agent - as the paperwork is still processing I don't officially own the property yet so need to find out if it is OK to have everything delivered there, which she confirms and gives me the keys (having checked with the vendor's daughter who is in town with his power of attorney). I also need to vacate my short-term rental apartment in about a week as they have another tenant booked in, and she also confirms that it is OK for me to move in to the house - on Christmas Eve - even though the conveyancing isn't complete.
Saturday morning I get to the house at 07.00am and do a little cleaning - it has been maintained, though empty, so doesn't need much but I clean the area I want the furniture leaving - expecting a load of flat packs to assemble! The hours pass and no sign of anything, so eventually at 11.30 I give them a call (they told me the truck would leave around 06.00am and it takes about an hour from Seabra) - "Ah, sorry, we had a problem with the truck this morning, but it will be leaving soon", so I wait some more. Knowing that the shop shuts at 13.00 I call again just before then, "Oh, I am afraid they won't be coming today - more truck problems - so how about Tuesday?" Now Tuesday I have to drive to Salvador, I am using a hire car and need to return that, and collect my car which I bought last time I was there - so I ask what time, and they assure me that I will be first delivery, and they leave at 06.00.
Tuesday morning I am back at the house ... waiting. 07.30 I give them a call, "They have just left, and will be with you in an hour" - so much for them leaving at 06.00! Eventually at 09.00 they arrive and start bringing everything in, and the boxes start piling up on the floor. When the last one is brought in one of them produces a couple of screwdrivers and is about to open the boxes - they are going to build the furniture! I didn't know that this was how things are done here - it arrives flat-packed but they assemble them for you. I had to get on the road so told them not to bother and I would do it on my return, and they asked who was going to do the work, and seemed flabbergasted when I said that I would do it myself! They obviously never heard of MFI or IKEA!
Upon my return I started assembling everything, but when I came to one box containing a wardrobe I noticed that one of the corners was damaged, and could see that one of the side panels was damaged inside. Before opening I took a series of photos, and of the damaged panel and called them, saying I was going to be in Seabra the following day and would bring the photos with me - the box itself was too big to fit in or on my car, and I also didn't want them to say I damaged it trying to transport it! They were very apologetic and agreed to send a replacement three days later when they were delivering to another customer in my town. 
I was expecting their truck to arrive but it was just two men - not carrying anything! They said they needed to check which side it was - despite me explaining which it was - and told me they had left the truck up on the main road as they didn't like the look of the road down to my house! So they took the damaged panel and returned with an intact one, and then assembled the wardrobe for me!
So finally I had my house partially furnished, and learned a lot about furniture shopping in Brazil!

Furnishing a new home, part 1

While I was waiting for the paperwork to be processed on my house here in Brazil I decided that I would go ahead and start buying furnishings and other things I would need. However these aren't available in the town I live in, and at the time I didn't know what availability was like locally so I decided to look in Salvador, some 400 kms away, while I was there trying to buy a car. I had quite a lot of belongings in storage in the UK (including a washing machine and tumble drier, but until I could get permanent residence I couldn't ship them to Brazil), so I decided to buy cheap household items like pots and pans and cutlery etc. 
Salvador is a major city of some 3 million inhabitants, as well as being the state capital of Bahia, so is well supplied with shops. I did some research online to compare prices as well as checking for stores that had good national coverage, so were likely to have a good distribution network.
The first store I went into, armed with an extensive list (including items like a fridge and cooker, and even a kitchen as houses here do not have fitted kitchens!), I was instantly approached by a member of staff offering assistance. "Hi, do you deliver to the Chapada Diamantina?", "Yes, of course", so I told them I would wander round, make my selections and then find them to place the order (they get commission for helping). I took down product codes and prices, and was making my way through the list when another member of staff approached. I was about to explain that I was already being helped, when they asked if I had nearly finished as they were about to shut! It was Saturday and this particular store closed at lunchtime - most are open all day Saturday as well as all day Sunday, but I had picked one that closed! They directed me to another, much larger store nearby that remained open.
I asked the same question about delivery, and they asked someone else who confirmed that they did deliver to my area, so I set off again. I had a slight problem choosing mattresses as they have a number rating system - based on the weight the mattress is rated to support - so needed help selecting the appropriate one, and wasn't too insulted when they pointed out the heaviest rating for mine! 
I finally found all I wanted and went to the order desk where they started checking things on the system. Half of the things I had chosen, based on what was on display, were unavailable, and they had no idea when next delivery would be - so I then went again and selected alternatives, which they checked as I went round and finally I had a complete list which they started processing. However when I gave the delivery address as Chapada Diamantina they told me they didn't deliver that far!! I pointed out, rather angrily, that before I started I had asked and it had been confirmed that they did - so they went looking for a supervisor who confirmed that they did not deliver here. By then I had spend around 5 hours in total in their stores so called it a day.
The following day, Sunday, the stores open later so at 11.00am I arrived at a different store - same question about delivery and same confirmation that they did to my area, but an hour into my selecting items they found me and told me apologetically that they didn't deliver that far, even if I offered to pay for it, though they did suggest they could find me a local transport company who could help! I declined and gave up the idea of finding my furnishings in Salvador, though I did manage to buy all the smaller items, including bedding and pillowcases. That also was not without incident as I filled a shopping cart with goods, as well as a couple of additional bags - and they wouldn't let me take the cart to the carpark as it was "against store policy for the carts to leave the store"! A security guard watched over my things as I had to make two trips to my car!
(This will be continued in Part 2)