"RJH" wrote in message
...
| Coincidentally, I wanted a DVD - King of
| the Hill (anyone?!) - and could
| only find it at a canadian site
| for £18.30. I asked them to mark
| the parcel under £18 and they replied:
|
| ---------
|
| To make the label for the items
| we have everything pretty much
| computerized.
|
| For the weights we have to put it
| on machine and it stores the # in
| the computer.
|
| There is no way that we can change the weights.
|
| Sorry!
|
| -----------------
|
| Quite what all this has to do
| with weight I'm not sure - fact
| remains they wouldn't.

I like a good giggle first thing in the morning.

If you're going to deal with other countries, you have to learn the
lingo.

Mistake No. 1:
You typed the good old British pound sign '£'. This uses a code
which, on North American systems, means '#' (hash), and is displayed
and
printed thus. So you asked them to say 'under #18'.

Mistake No. 2:
In North America, the # (hash) symbol means pounds weight. We write
18 lbs,
they write 18#. So you asked them to say 'under 18 lbs'.

Moral:
You have to write 'UK Pounds', or 'UKP'.

Homework exercise:
Try the same request when writing to:
a. A Japanese Supplier
b. An Australian Supplier

c. (Double marks bonus question) A Kinawe tribe Supplier (Fu Islands)

HTH

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