Chapter 4: "Sylvie who?"

Determined to pursue the quest for my lost luggage until the bitter end, I called the delivery company yet again (the fact that the full rate-costs for the telephone calls to Paris were at my own expense does not need any further clarifying). Just as I expected, the lady I had the pleasure to talk with before repeated her absolute refusal to inform me about the delivery schedule. Any further discussion seemed in vain and I decided to abstain myself from arguing, since I was not willing to raise my telephone bill even higher with obviously futile conversations with the delivery firm.

Upon another call at AirFrance I outlined the situation to an employee and demanded to speak with a superior. I was informed that said gentleman was in a meeting for the moment, but the employee I was talking to this time assured me to inform her boss about the situation as soon as possible and recommended me to call back in half an hour asking for "Sylvie", so she could inform me personally about the outcomes of this conversation. When calling back thirty minutes later, the first and very assuring answer was, that there was no Sylvie at the AirFrance customer service. The employee I had the pleasure with this time proposed the same approach as the mysterious Sylvie and also asked me to call back in half an hour, which I let pass before tempting my luck another time.

The employee stammered some obscure excuses and pretended that her boss hat not succeeded in calling the delivery company. I took the liberty of doubting this claim, since I had - by now - called this company quite a few times and had never experienced any problems (at least in establishing phone contact) whatsoever. She promised me that her superior would call me back within an hour. Which he didn't. One and a half hours later, just one hour before my first business presentation was scheduled, I called again. Astonishingly enough, the said responsible for customer service still had not succeeded in calling the delivery company, a partner firm of his own employer. She promised me that he would call back - this time for sure - within an hour.

Which he didn't.