Scandal or misunderstanding?

[scruffmcgruff]

Hey all, I just wanted to get your opinions on something. I recently received this email from Mr. Rajah Banerjee (of the Makaibari estate):

Dear Brent of Tea Nerd,
Surprised to read of your blog reprt on Makaibari Silver Tips/2007.
No Silver Tips were supplied to Lochan or Ankit from Makaibari after March. Its a virtual impossibility for you to have sampled the Makaibari Silver Tips. Please revert per return with full invoice details, date of receipt and Makaibari's bill to Lochan.
This is deliberate misleading.
Rajah Banerjee// Owner// Makaibari. T.E//Darjeeling

Hmm... I'm not sure if the bit about Ankit misleading me is true, or if this is somehow a misunderstanding on Mr. Banerjee's part. I'm guessing by "silver tips" he means second flush, since the second flush would have been harvested after March.

Any thoughts? Oh, also, what is "revert per return with..." supposed to mean?

[Space Samurai]

Hmm, that's interesting. I'm not sure. I like both of them, and would "trust" both Rajah and Ankit. Perhaps try writing back to Mr. Banerjee and ask for more information. Perhaps Lochan bought if from a third party? I guess you could just aske them.

[Wesli]

Weird, it sounds like he's asking *you* for the transaction information between him and Lochan. Perhaps to check for forgery?

[Mary R]

I agree with Fatal. It sounds like he's asking you for the Makaibari/Lochan transaction documents. At any rate, it probably wouldn't hurt to dash off a "Huh? Please clarify" email to him. I'd probably do that before asking the Lochans what's going on.

I'm sure it all is just a misunderstanding. We know Ankit's grasp on English is passable, but less-than-perfect, and by the syntax of his message, I'd say Mr. Banerjee's at a similar level of fluency. Something's probably lost in mental translation.

[ABx]

Geez, that is strange. It almost makes me wonder if he thinks you're affiliated with Lochan or something. To tell the truth, I find this letter a bit unprofessional - you don't badger customers about business stuff. I suppose I could understand saying something like "Lochan shouldn't have sent you a sample for comparison against his own teas, could you please omit your review of our tea until we can provide you with a sample that we can guarantee to be of sufficient quality" or something of the like, but this is a bit out there.

I'd definitely write him back telling him what the deal was, and ask for clarification. If will be interesting to see if he writes me

[scruffmcgruff]

Continuation (it gets weirder):

Dear Brent,
Thanks for your quick response.
IF LOCHAN'S CAN PASS OFF SOME OTHER
TEA AS MAKAIBARI- ARE THEY HONOURABLE?

Best rajah banerjee
url: www.makaibari.com
ps will courier you a sample of silvertips imperial for your sampling and assesment-hows that to compare which is the real Macoy

Err... what? I think I'll contact ankit about this situation now. It's not like fraud is the only possibility here.

[Space Samurai]

Weird. ABX is right, it is unproffesional. I would think if there were a problem, they'd take it up with Lochan.

Please keep us posted. I'm curious how this turns out.

[Salsero]

Wow, the plot continually thickens! And they keep sending Brent more samples. He may suffer tea poisoning or worse ... fluorosis.

[scruffmcgruff]

Heh, it wouldn't be rude of me to say "thanks but no thanks," would it? I can already feel my teeth fluoros-ing.

[Mary R]

Damn! That's a very unprofessional e-mail! (And a good case of secondary English idiom comprehension..."the real McCoy.") I wonder what the Lochans' side is?

[Chip]

Perhaps I am not getting something. Is he saying that Lochan is misrepresenting a tea from Makaibari that does not exist? And he is from Makaibari estate?

Hmmm, since your blog is public and he feels that Lochan may have supplied a tea baring Makaibari's name, I would want to know if there is a cause for concern regarding its authenticity...especially given the reputation and the organic status of that garden.

It is possible that Lochan is misrepresenting a tea as a Makaibari organic tea. There is so much shady shananagans going on in the tea business that I would want to know if there is a possibility of "tea fraud."

But perhaps I am missing something...let me know, ok?

Makaibari has a right to challenge the authenticity of a tea that is allegedly from its own garden if it suspects foul play.

I would try to get as much information as possible and give Lochan the opportunity to respond to the accusations.

[scruffmcgruff]

Some emails from Ankit:

hi brent,

ha ha - intresting mail. i am glad that you asked for a clarification.

mr. bannerjee has a shop in siliguri via which we buy teas at times which i guess are not in his knowledge.

secondly we buy teas from a lot of brokers also - makaibari muscatel was brought from a broker.

the reason from buying via a broker is obtaining a better price.

i have asked my accountant to give me bills of makaibari teas - will e-mail them soon to you.

i shall have to speak to rajah myself too ... - i got to know what he is upto.

have a nice day!

regards
ankit

and...

hi brent,

i am quite close to rajah - below is a mail that shows our correspondance.

i am a bit confused at rajah's comments - we have been working on tea together for quite some time now.

i fail to understand what happened - anyways i am trying to contact him - will revert after i am able to speak to him.

have a nice day!


sincere regards,
ankit

So, I guess he is looking into it. That correspondence he was talking about seemed quite friendly, which adds to my confusion. More to come...

[Chip]

Heheh...well, very interesting. I sense there is more to this than we may ever be previledged to see or know.

[Salsero]

Once again, still more "reverting." I'm beginning to think that term may refer to an eating disorder.

Things seem to be coming together nicely and you (we) get to see the process. There may be a little of the prima donna in both of these guys, but it is interesting to see how jealously Bannerjee guards his brand name and how seriously Lochan treats the issue. It looks to me like fraud and deception are big issues in their world, just as the India Tea Board claims.

They also seem to be used to a fairly confrontational social style quite different from our mild mannered civility in the US. Maybe it's just the Himalayan thin atmosphere in Darjeeling.

[scruffmcgruff]

Salsero, I think it does have something to do with the atmosphere in Darjeeling (not the thin air, mind you ). You probably already know this, but the amount of tea sold as "Darjeeling" is staggering compared to the actual amount produced-- I think something like 4x as much-- and as Chip said I'm sure there is probably a lot of shady business going on with counterfeit brand-name Darjeeling. I'd guess its a knee-jerk reaction by the estate managers nowadays. Still unprofessional, though.