Teh Baltic Correspondent

Web shopping is a rather convenient way to purchase items for a foreigner. First of all, the Google Translator is there to aid you, and sometimes the shops even have the menus in English. Not to mention, that in Lithuania it is often easy to make a simple mistake in the shops: No, there really are no customers servants in about any Lithuanian shops - they are all shop detectives hired to see whether you are pick-pocketing!

Web shops are in a way better: you can really see all the inventory without any "How may I bother you"s or "Could you please leave, we need to spend some quality time speaking to each other here"s. However, that still does not mean the service would not matter. And service may easily be the weakest link for  webshops too, and all too often the answer to any question is silence. For example, I was interested earlier in buying an AIO computer. I sent a few simple questions to 13 shops. Got one answer, and - perhaps this part surprises no one - bought it from there.

The web shops, as any shops vary a lot in quality, but here are a few places that are more recommendable than the others - with a few commentaries.

Domestic:
Fotofabrikas.lt - a webshop for anything related to photography (except the nude models, which of course was what we expected to find there :P ). They have price level which is quite much on par with German and French shops (especially when counting the delivery costs in). Inventory is rather good, and they even hold the descriptions of older models there for reference. I even found a Lithuanian instructions for my Panasonic LX-2 there - which is in my case better than the Italian ones I had.
Gerakaina.lt - here, the selection perhaps in not that amazing, but they did have in inventory that old adapter for my ancient HP laptop. The bad side is that this original part lasted for a few months only (which I cannot really hold against the reseller, but the JV of HP and our rabbits).
Intymipagunda.lt - If you are not looking for plugs or memory cards, then this is the shop for you. A bit spice to the bedroom in the form of Polish branded underwear. Prices are cheaper than at the high street retailers, plus you will avoid all the blushing and "I'm not looking this for myself, but for my wife" -situations.
Onnet.lt - one of the many web shops for computers and accessories, with one exception - they answer your questions. Already that makes them worth the purchase - and then they are not really that badly priced either. Unfortunately, you can pay for the items only by Swedbank web bank, or bank transfer.
Pigu.lt - a bizarre shop, which sells a bit of everything. I guess you could actually buy anything from there! Shower cabins, fashion clothing, computers, cameras... you name it. The selection is very limited, but then again, the prices are often rather fine.
Skytech.lt - a nicely priced web shop for IT-related equipment has also affordable prices, even though it is not among the cheapest ones. The selection seems good (perhaps a direct listing from the GNT reseller platform?), however they are not that strong in communication.


From abroad:
Pixmania.lt- the Lithuanian Pixmania site. It is not such a marvel it used to be some years ago, but still they have a fine price level, and the delivery costs are usually only 34 LTL (but it takes a week).
ebay.co.uk - the British eBay page is in the end the place to buy, if you want anything exotic or spares. When I paid more than 100 ltl for the HP charger when buying from Lithuania, now I got a spare with 20 ltl from China - including the delivery!

And yes, you most certainly can use most of these web shops even if you are a tourist. Just agree the delivery to hotel, and give your phone number. Most of the time, it will work out just fine - and some companies most likely allow you to pick up the items with web shop prices from the local dealerships (Fotofabrikas at least used to have an office in Molas in Kaunas,).

Labas,
Just returned from Finland, and have again a lot to tell. Surely, plenty has happened, from the death of a murderer who became modern Joan D'Arc to a less restrictive law on double nationality being planned.

However, I thought today to write a bit on service, that is, I will nag.
Yesterday, a nice day that is was with a temperature close to +15, I went for a walk with my wife, and we ended up to the idea of having a simple piquenique. Well, not to make it anyhow too complicated, it was supposed to mean some oh so greasy KFC hamburger meals. Thus, we walk all the way to the closest restaurant, and give our order.
The whole day had been quite funny, as in nothing works the way it is supposed to, and the same trend continued. When I am offering my credit card, the cashier apologized that she in fact did just hit the cash payment button. First of all, it took quite a long time to get what she wanted to tell me, and finally when i got it, she was asking if I would have any cash. I checked, and found 3 litas, total we has 23 - and the order was for 30. I ask whether the order could then be changed, and she says, no it is not possible, and tells that the closest ATM is downstairs ( the restaurant is on 3rd floor of a mall). Well, that unfortunately was not my ATM, and I ask once more (hmmm... or did I? I guess I did) that whether it would be possible to anyhow pay by the card. No it was not, so the whole situation turns to the point that we cancel the order.
Wait a second. Cancelling the order was possible! And if cancelling the order is possible, then how could it be impossible to cancel the order and the remake it? Ahh... sometimes things just do not work out the way you expect they would.
Thus, we did what every respectable Finn would do in the situation: we headed to Hesburger for Garlic Burgers and to R-Kiosk for some Pepsi.
The whole day ended nicely when while walking home, we encountered some street players. "Would you like to support musicians?" the boy with a cannabis-figured scarf asked? "No", I answered. Later, I regretted. I should have said "Yes", and continue walking. That should have caused some confusion.