[BigRonW]

Before any Francophone readers get upset, let me first point out that I not only LOVE France, but plan to retire there. It's the differences between france and England that I love... and which make me doubt that Europe will achieve any kind of common political establishment to rival our economic alliance. Europeans just don't agree about too many things. We don't even agree about what "The Law" is. The English (and the Germans) pass laws in the expectation of enforcing them. To the French, passing a law is kind of like "declaring solidarity with a concept": making it official that you approve of the idea. Political corruption is vastly more acceptable to the French than to the English - you can do things openly in Paris that would get you locked up in London. We don't agree about what's important. What's that got to do with "MP4 players?" Surprisingly... rather a lot. If you think Europeans are a diverse bunch (and I've lived long enough in both France and Germany to have a familiarity with their cultures) Europeans and Asians are even more different from each other. If their behaviour looks strange to us... ours doubtless look at least as strange to them. In Japan for example, giving a direct refusal is unspeakably rude. Kind of like the way we in England wouldn't tell a shop keeper that we thought their goods were ridiculously overpriced and we were therefore going to buy from their cheaper rivals down the road... but would leave with the feeble comment that "we would think about it") I have the impression that in Chinese culture making statements about your product that aren't necessarily factual isn't merely "no big deal", but it's expected. We work ourselves into a froth over the {expletive deleted} dishonesty of the HK vendors... because we demand that they conform to OUR standards. Insist that they should be punished for NOT doing so.

Let's wind back a little. Maybe they're as ignorant of OUR ways as we are of theirs? I find it perplexing that CoolStuff are now selling players that the auction headline claims are "4 Gig!" but the body text admits are really 2 gig. And they sell at prices hardly higher than UExcell ask for a 2 gig player that looks pretty much the same. having a "Good Reputation" is BIG here in the West - it generates trust and increases business. We don't expect to be tricked, and we don't LIKE being tricked. We seem to be dealing with people from a culture where the opposite is true. Where trickery is standard procedure - and thus no big deal, because it IS expected. If that's the case, then what we REALLY need is some form of dialogue that explains to vendors that they'd sell more in OUR market if they behaved in ways that we find acceptable, rather than what's OK in China.