Live in the Philippines

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The Right Guy for the Job

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We were cutting the grasses; I know my plural is incorrect but that is the fault of my language, we teach people learning English that adding an “S” will make it plural, and then we forget to tell them the multitude of exceptions to that rule. My wife cuts the grasses and I’ll be damned if I’ll correct her, and if she wants to feed me shrimps I’ll damn sure eat it, and when we buy something I’ll smile as I fill out the paperworks. Plus I’ll add it to the dictionary if spell check tries to tell me I’m wrong

When I was learning Spanish in Puerto Rico, I welcomed the corrections offered to me as I messed up their language a lot, but the grammar rules were fairly firm, whereas English is always dealing with those pesky exceptions to the rules.

One day a few months back I grabbed the little used Black & Decker Electric Powered Weed Whacker to aid my wife and sister-in-law in the “Cutting of the grasses” in our small grassy areas in the front and back yard. Scissors and garden shears or clippers, are the normal and preferred tools for this job, as no one but me likes to use that automatic tool I purchased .Oh and only your finest meat clever may be used to trim branches on shrubs.

As I started trimming with gusto it failed, which caused smiles from the two ladies who held up their shears and started making clipper motions towards me. Okay that was one advantage they had over me. And the guy with the sharpener attached to the bicycle did come around every few weeks and kept them extra sharp.

I purchased this wonderful work saving device at the Ace hardware in San Fernando for the modest price of PNP 3,500.00, but the warrantee of course had already expired. Have no fear, a “GUY” was recommended to me by a “Friend”. Not knowing the man myself I took the recommendation and placed my treasured “Electric Weed Whacker” into his care. Three weeks passed and no word on the machines progress. Mayang called and the owner said he was swamped and would get to it as soon as he could.

This was understandable as there was no rush anyway, and the price quoted was very low. (About PNP 400.00 plus parts) A young man appeared at the gate a week later and said the boss sent him, and that he needed PNP 400.00 plus transportation to go to a place non-specified but far, far away to retrieve said part.

A couple of weeks later having the machine at the very back of my mind I was driving through Olongapo when I spied the repair shop and pulled in. The “Boss” said that no one had worked on it yet and he was most apologetic about that. Whoa Nellie, then who was the young man at my gate asking for parts money?

Yes there was a head scratch involved in this part of the conversation, I noticed the Parts Guy skulking towards the rear door, when I pointed him out to the “Boss”, well it seems that the young employee had asked the Boss for a salary advance and the Boss had turned him down. Using his cagy brain he figured a way to get one himself.

The Boss was going to fire him when I stepped in and forgave the kid, as I thought that was some quick thinking on his part and it made me laugh. I asked the “Boss” to forgive him and I had no complaint. (I was young and slick once) The kid looked at me in awe and thanked me. And promised he would fix my machine and have it back to me lickety- split. (My words not his)

A week goes by and still no response, by now Mayang is miffed as hell and phones but can’t raise the “Boss” A few days later she got him and explained that she was on her way to city hall with his Barangay Kaptian to talk with the city attorney. “NO!” Please Mrs. Thompson; there is no need to do that. Your machine will be working and ready for pickup Friday morning. He sounded inspired.

Friday morning at the shop for the pick-up: We had to put it on the floor of the back seat as the trunk held a repaired Air/Con, but that is another story unto it’s self.

He (The Boss) learned a valuable lesson one that I had learned more than 20 years ago; Mayang has a “Popeye Factor” And when she says; “That’s alls I can stands and I won’t stands no more” It’s Katy bar the door time, as both feet are tapping. Normally when it reached that point I’d be trying to get out of Dodge (Olongapo).

The machine was returned in fine working order, the Boss asked if I ever had anything else with an electrical problem to please give him a call, Oh yeah, that’s gonna’ happen!.
This was a good lesson for me, the next time my friend recommends his “Guy” to me I’ll smile and thank him, and then go off on my own to find the right “Guy”.

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Comments

  1. Paul,
    That was nice of you to give the guy the benefit of the doubt and forgive him. But when he didn’t follow through with his promise after that… I hate to see what Anne’s response would have been after that lol. I would have had no pity on them anymore.

    • Randy AKA PapaDuck;
      I was a young slick kid once upon a time, I figured to keep karma balanced it was my duty to forgive him. The fact he didn’t live up to his promise, is his cross to bear for the rest of his life. For without honor he has nothing.

  2. Good story, I was amazed when I bought appliances for the house when they opened all the boxes and tested everything to show me it was working. I was speechless ( and that doesn’t happen very often)

    • Carl;
      First it is tested at the store, then again as they set it up at your house, it was also a shock to me also the first time I saw it. But the west could learn a lot about customer service from them.

        • John Powers;
          I.ve had some great customer service here even some at a government office. I’m sorry if that is not the same for you, but as the article explained, even for me it’s not 100% of the time (LOL) .

          • Paul, well that’s good to hear, but just look at all the expat websites, and you will see that customer service is THE biggest gripe here. My god, I could forward you some of my complaining letters to Sky cable, Meralco, etc. Try taking back some rotten vegetables to the supermarket that you JUST bought them from! And as I’m in a complaining mood, there is no “s” on the end of my name!!! LOL!

            • I agree Paul, like you said, It’s not 100% all the time EITHER way. Good or bad. I must say that when I was getting(don’t want to use the word “processing”!) my 13a recently, although it was time consuming, and often frustrating, most of the BI staff were more than helpful, in the circumstances. One thing I DO like here, you go to a car repair shop, expecting them to say, “OK, bring it in next week and we will look at it”, but in 30 seconds it’s up on the jack being fixed! (for next to nothing!)

              • John Power;
                So you were joking about the customer service? (LOL) The BI is confusing as you said and there are a lot of stations you must go to, but you are right about the helpful employees. I plan on a nice lunch when I go and a tour of the area.

            • John Power;
              I added the “S” as I thought there were two of you. (LOL) Sorry I won’t do it again. I find there is no customer service if you try to solve a problem on the phone, but at the office it’s there for sure. It is difficult to ignore someone standing in front of you bit easy on the phone

    • Brian;
      The list of hard working dependable “Guy’s” will be your most treasured procession while living here in the Philippines. You can move mountains with a simple text or phone call, there is a trust and respect built up over the years between you and the “Guy’s”.

  4. I don’t know, Paul. Usually when something cheap like a weed whacker dies on me, it means it’s time to replace it or not even bother.

    What the heck does “katy bar” mean anyway? I’ve heard the phrase (usually from Vietnam vets) but I’ve never understood it.

  5. Paul, I was shocked my self a few months back. I had a Samsung big screen TV that was way over the warranty age and it quit working. There is a Samsung repair shop in Dipolog City, I think he made the sign himself but forgiving that fact I took my TV to this shop. Can you fix it I asked? Sure he said. How long I asked? 3 days he said, so I left it in his hands with my cell number. Now this is the good part. I did not make it home that day before my phone rang. I was shopping at our new mall. He says sir your TV is fixed. I thought he had made a wrong cell call. He says come and get it. So I went to his shop and sure enough there it was on the table just purring away. I was very grateful and I said “how much”. Now this is the shocking part………Oh no charge sir…….It was just this little capacitor……I said, being a fair man, I got to pay you something…..He says again…..Oh no sir no charge……There are still good people in this world………I dropped P500 on the floor as I walked out. Had to pay him something….ha ha ha………….Pastor Bud

    • Pastor Bud;
      I’ve had similar things happen to me in the 20 plus years I’ve been here, to date the good things far out number the bad. Buying the man lunch is how I repay an act of kindness.

  6. HI Paul,

    Your instinct to get your weed wacker fixed is truly the Filipino way. Unlike in the States, where spare parts are either non-existant or way overpriced, we’re forced to junk an item instead of getting it repaired. The right repair guy can fix anything if given the chance here.

    You’re right that good mechanics and other repair people are “golden” if you find them, and a “friend of a friend” will probably only serve those two friends. Often a referral here can get a person a small tip from the repair person.

    Maybe as you say sometimes “Danger Will Robinson!” could also be heard when Mayang was about to explode!

    Speaking of repairs of another kind, a traveling shoe repair guy fixed two of my husband’s “talking” shoes last week with a big needle and thread when super glue did not work. Success!

    Queenie

    • Victor. We can only speak about our own experiences, but I’v been here 5 yrs now, and been visiting regularly for 26 yrs, and this is honestly the first time that I’v heard Philippine customer service praised!

  10. Paul, thanks for your wells writtens words-words. Verys trueses.

    Seems I’ve been a bit luckier than you on small appliance repairs. I used to buy all such at a major appliance outlet with their own service dept and guarantee. Bring it in with receipt and pick it up a month later. Sometimes they even repaired items for me out-of-warranty and told me “no charge”.

    Sadly, they’re no longer a jeepnie-ride away. Now it’s an overnight trip to drop something off and the same to pick it up (or even to just check if it’s ready). Can’t just drop in on the way to buy groceries like we used to. Aside from the time, that’s several thousand for transportation, hotel, et al *per*trip*, so if it’s a 1k peso appliance it just typically gets replaced. If rice cookers, bug zappers, computer routers, components, and motherboards can’t be fixed at home, it’s usually time to replace them.

    Occasionally such can be repaired locally; they usually tell me within a few minutes whether they can (or who perhaps realistically can), or if it’s a “no available parts” situation, no charge to look at it, see you next time. After a couple of years in the new community, I pretty well know what and where, or what’s not.

    • ED’s
      I moved out of Olongapo City as I wanted a more rustic life, but I stayed close enough that within 15 minutes I could get to town and get what I need. I see that you have chosen a more Davey Crocket kind of rustic then I’d want to live.
      But without a doubt you have me beat in the hardship department. I will never complain again about San Fernando Pampanga being to far away.
      If you live that far away from anything that an overnight trip is required, where is your internet provider located?

      • Paul’s,

        PLDT has a local POP (as do others). My DSL subscription is dialed up to 1.2Mbps, which is more than adequate for my work though I could get more with a phone call throwing money at it for no good purpose. In case you wonder, no fiber here yet though PLDT says it’s coming.

        I don’t really consider our situation here “hardship”. No matter where one is, one realizes what’s available, reasonable, and what requires more than the threshold reasonably expendable. Sure I could go to Davao twice a week but I have neither the budget or inclination to waste my life doing so. Once a year when BI insists I show my face is plenty thanks. The rest of the year, hey, no cheese (“quickmelt isn’t cheese!) and lots more that just doesn’t exist; I wish! Lucky me – *orange*juice* became available this last year).

        True that I can cut work short and leave home at 3am, be in Davao for a few hours and accomplish nothing worth the trip (other than BI and a stop at SM for a few small bags of stuff only available there) and I can be home by midnight totally exhausted, work all night again with no rest, and then likely sick for the next month as my last 3 tries of that proved. I’m getting too old for such abuse. Honestly my daily “nap” (some people call that sleep, whatever, that’s all there is) is more important. That’s why I consider such a major trek a minimum overnight trip, extra days if any intention to actually accomplish a list of things, which I haven’t yet tried to do).

        • ED;
          There you beat me again, paying the yearly BI head tax is a party, a group of us muster at the office file in do the deed and pay the money and then go to a friends bar and party. That’s how we’ve done it for 20 years, we can’t even remember the guy who came up with the idea.

          • Paul, that sounds like a wonderful idea. Anyone up for a Davao BI party come January?
            That would make trip actually enjoyable and I’d have an excuse to stay overnight instead of stressing out.

            • ED;
              Well there you go, a Olongapo idea that will work in Davao. Last year there were 25 of us, I’ve seen more when the ship’s were stationed here.
              You’ve got a coupe of months get it started.

  11. All of those repair shops you mention and some that I have seen myself on my visits bring back memories of how things used to be here. For many small appliances, tv, etc. there is no profit in it any more considering the cost of labor and the general cost of running a business here in the USA. Many times the cost of replacing something with a new one is less than the cost of labor to even look at a broken one. OSHA and EPA and similar agencies also add to the cost of repairs here in the USA.

    It’s nice to see that somewhere in the world repairs of small appliances etc. and the shops that do them still exist.

  12. Hahaha they will test everything but there is a reason why. There is no return policy here so if it works when they give it to you and quits 1 day later guess what? Good luck.. hahahah

  13. Hi Paul

    I love that the cost of repair in the Philippines is cheap. An electric fan 150php, a computer 800php, shoes 10php to 20php, clothing and fabrics 10php to 20php and the list goes on.

    How much did the guy get out of you for parts? Lol.

    How will you not get caught if you do that. Lol x 2.

    • Hi Brenton,

      You must be living in repair heaven. Here in the middle of nowhere superficial or significant (doesn’t matter) shoe repairs set me back 80 pesos. Still way cheaper than replacing them and then looking for shoe-repair (and vulcanizing) a few months down the road again.

      I have a bunch of shirts I’d love to have fixed. 20 pesos per? Where ?Q? I’d happily pay 80 per for a good job.

      Electric Fan – I don’t complain about 3 – 400 pesos, depending on work and parts required.
      Computers, normal minimum service charge hereabouts is 300. Parts extra, and usually there are are no parts available ‘today’ (or if ever). I can usually tell you that in short order for free.

  14. That’s not quite true, that is no return policy. I bought a computer screen from CDR King and not very long after it failed so I brought it back and they tested and saw that is was not working, can’t remember how long time but it was not very long. They changed it, even though their policy was that I would have to wait almost a month, because they had to send it to their headquarters, but as I was a foreigner and I was not going to be in the Philippines a long time I got it at once. And they also always ask for your receipt otherwise there will be no change or repair.

    • I’ve purchased many items at CDR King over the years, going back to when it was just one small stall in Greenhills. As they’ve opened new outlets, the managers quickly get to know me, and if there’s a rare problem they don’t argue with me about a day or two extra before I can get it back to them. They just replace it and then I buy yet more stuff from them. Works for them, works for me.

  16. Agreed Paul, the exceptions to the rules of English are too big of a battle to be worth the trouble. Marlyn has lived and worked among native English speakers for so long now that it is as much of an amusement and confusement to her as to me. She has a handle on most of it, but the plurals are still handled by simply adding S to the word.

    So far, we have a car “guy” and a shoe repair “guy” who can be relied on. More to come as the need arises.

    Take care,
    Pete

  17. Pete;
    When I lived in Puerto Rico most American and Canadian tourists were convinced that they were speaking Spanish by adding an “O” to the end of an English word, and raising their voice. The funny part was the word for car, really is caro in Puerto Rico.
    So adding an “S” as plural seems like no big deal to me. (LOL)

    Keep building that list of “GUYS”!!!

    • A few months ago, when asked, the clerks at Gaisano clearly stated that their guarantee on electric shavers and other appliances is NONE. I declined to buy and made it know to various people _why_ I wouldn’t buy something they refuse to stand behind for at least a short reasonable time.
      Now they have a sign clearly stating their guarantee policy, and surprise, they now _do_ have one.

    • Bob;
      True that, they are improving their return policy every year, as they claw their way into the New Millennium, 14 years late.

  19. I do remember buying 2 cans of tomatoes in Davao, about 10 years ago, when we used them next day , both cans were rotten, store refused to change them or give a refund! I think it is better today though.

    • Malcolm, if the contents were rotten, the cans must have been bulging with botulism, not exactly something I’d buy in the first place. We do have some obligation to check to reasonably ensure what we buy is likely in good condition. For example, I passed by a can of something I do want at the grocery today – it was the only can they had, but oozing glop onto the shelf and that’s exactly where I left it. Last week I handed several rat-gnawed off-the-shelf items to customer service at another store, and suggested that they have a problem.

      As for store staff, the front-line kids have less than zero authority, so the first thing is to ask for their immediate supervisor and keep asking every 2 minutes until that face shows. Thereafter it’s reasonable to insist on going several levels up their chain-of-command to someone in real authority. More often than not the immediate supervisor suddenly discovers he/she does have the authority to make good and prefers to do so rather than have their boss’s boss disconnect their paycheck. Typically management and owners in large stores really don’t like to be bothered by (gasp!) paying customers insisting that the store makes good, and employees know that once you’re making the extra effort to take it that far up the chain, someone there will be out of a job very fast. Thus the problem gets properly fixed and fast.

      When enough consumers do what’s necessary, stores will update their policies so that management doesn’t spend every working minute dealing with irate abused customers. It’s up to us to clearly make that point, especially where owners don’t even know what’s going on in their establishments.

  20. There are some places that will agree and write a hand written 90-day return guarantee if not working – if that is made a condition of purchase or not purchase. I have had two people do this and it worked both times.

  21. Paul,

    I echo the sentiments of the others. It was nice of you to give that kid a chance. Especially going to bat for him after what he did. Also, thanks for teaching me what katy bar means. I was scratching my head over it. Now I have a bald spot. haha

    Bill

    • Bill;
      I was surprised how many didn’t catch that, I heard it all the time growing up in Boston, especially if a bar fight (Donnybrook) was going to start. Head scratching is a way of life for me now.