Don Bosco Furniture - Tanzania

I took an old Chinese plant table there, to be refinished, after it was damaged in the 2011 flood in Dar. The varnish had been damaged. I asked for sanding with a linseed oil finish. I asked for the drawer sides to be sanded, but for the drawer front to be left as is. I made sure the guy in the front office understood that part, going as far as asking him to write it down. He didn't. I also called the guy in charge of new jobs to tell him about the drawer. I visited the job twice in the next 3 weeks, and everything was fine. When I picked it up after 4 weeks, the drawer front had been machine sanded to look new. Now I have a bright new pine drawer in a beautifully old cabinet. The drawer isn't even finish-shaded -- the machine's marks are still there. I won't go back.