Since e-Seek was launched back in the hazy days of 2002, we've been able to help people from all around the world in a variety of different ways. Here are just a few of their more interesting stories in brief...
For more, why not take a look at the book John is writing? He says its quite funny.
The Case Dickens left unsolved (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)
Certainly one of our biggest cases and one that shows the versatility of e-Seek's service. The South-American client was looking to buy a classic Porsche 911 in England. With a long list if his requirements, including leather interior, left hand drive and silver paint, we took three days to locate two suitable cars and arranged an inspection on his behalf. A week after contacting us, we passed on the details as he was flying over the Atlantic from Buenos Aires...
Fee: £100
What the client said... " Such an excellent and prompt service, I'll definitely have a use for them again"
In early 2004 we were contacted by a family in Ireland looking to invest and relocate to property in Croatia and asking for our help. Through our contacts in the British and American embassies in Zagreb we were able to connect our clients with a wide range of investment property in Eastern Europe (the fastest growing market in the world). The next day we faxed over a list of properties and real estate contacts and let our Irish friends sort out the rest for themselves.
Fee:£150
What the client said... " Thanks fellas, You've made an otherwise complex situation go extremely smoothly, well done! "
In September 2003 a client from Ontario, Canada, approached e-Seek to find a rare American postage stamp. It was actually the famous "Inverted Jenny" featuring an inverted misprint of a bi-plane from 1918. (You may have seen it on "Brewster's Millions") We found the stamp in mint condition for sale at a dealership in Paris, France. Once we had sent a picture of the stamp to the client for his approval, we set out to get the stamp for the best price possible.
After negotiation with the French dealer (en Francais!), the price was brought down to by $300. The client was very happy with the price and with our help the item was delivered via UPS to his door within the week.
Fee:£50
What the client said... " Getting hold of this was well worth the fee. Brilliant! "
In certainly one of the strangest cases we've worked on so far, a client from London, UK approached us is January 2004 to ask if we could find a full sized stuffed lion. Not being taxidermists ourselves, we enlisted some expert help from a natural history museum. The laws concerning the trade in stuffed animals is very strict in the UK, with animals having to have full documentation concerning their age and country of origin. Fortunately we were able to secure an "ex-display" lion for our client which they were overjoyed with.
Fee:£80
What the client said... " I didn't hold much hope that you could help when I got in touch, but you're really suprised me - thank you! "
Our favorite case so far is also the shortest, taking just 5 minutes to complete! A future bride from Birmingham in the UK came to our door in July 2003 looking "desperately" for two TY bride & groom dolls - the finishing touches to her wedding day preparations. We sourced the bears through a website at a fraction of her estimated cost and she was so pleased she gave us one of our best testimonials of all time!
Fee:£20
What the client said... " We are so impressed with you. You are a star who has made my dearest wish come true for my wedding "
The Dickens Case was very interesting indeed. We were asked by a lady in London, England to find a gift for her father's birthday. She said his was a long time collector of Charles Dickens and had read somewhere that sometime after Dickens' death, attempts had been made by other authors to complete his last, unfinished, novel "The Mystery of Edwin Drood". She wanted us to find those books. Through our sources we found out there have been 5 attempts to complete the murder mystery, one most interestingly co-written by a group of real-life detectives after considering the evidence Dicken's presented in the unfinished portion.
Anyway, after sending the details back to our client, she opted for two of the most recent versions and thanked us for our troubles.
Fee:£30
What the client said... " That's amazing... I've been searching for quite a few years - and you manage it in under an hour! "
*Case details have been altered slightly in order to protect the privacy of our clients.
