Back in the middle of the year we were considering adding Chatfield bronzeware to the range of products we offer to our customers. So I emailed Chatfield Engineering in NZ to ask them for a catalogue.

Chatfield didn't reply. Instead, I got an email from a company calling themselves Southern Seas Marine here in Oz, saying that they were Chatfield's Australian distributor, and offering to send me a catalogue and price list.

I accepted the offer. No catalogue. I prompted them again. Still no catalogue.

So I wrote to Chatfield once more saying that if we were to do business with them it would have to be direct (and implying that I didn't think their local distributor was representing their interests very well.)

Still no answer from Chatfield, but another reply from this SS Marine, with the same offer as the first time. The reply was from the same person there, and he'd clearly forgotten entirely about my earlier request.

So again I accepted his offer. And again I've heard nothing further from him.

Now, as we know, we Forumites collectively represent the largest single concentration of users of marine bronze products anywhere in the world. So my question to you -- not entirely rhetorical -- is, if the non-existent service I've outlined here is typical, how have Chatfield and its local distributor managed to stay in business into the 21st Century??