We Don’t Want Your Business

I’ve touched on this subject before, but it’s front and center in my mind again. This falls under the “adjustments” that I’ll be trying to make once I retire in the Philippines. I expect this will be one of those “adjustments” that I’ll be struggling with for awhile.

The need for services in the Philippines for myself and/or friends has come up a few times lately. The results haven’t been inspiring, to say the least.

You see, where I come from if you have a business, you want customers. In fact with the way the economy has been, it’s amazing what some business are doing to try to attract and keep customers. It’s actually refreshing to see customer service return to the fore front, because it had been sorely lacking in the recent years before the recession. Even prior to the recession, the goal was always to get more business. It doesn’t seem to be the case in many situations there in the Philippines. There are exceptions, of course. Even here.

Three instances come to mind that have all happened within the past few weeks. Three instances that make me scratch my head and wonder as to why is it like this.

The first situation was the attempt by my friend to have an aircon serviced. This particular company had serviced it last time, and they have signs all around the area promoting their service. They even have a phone number to contact them! So, an appointment was set up, and the day of the appointment they called to cancel, saying only that they weren’t working that day. No reason why. Attempts to reschedule resulted in no return phone calls or text messages. No communication. I suppose something could have happened to them, or their equipment. I wouldn’t bet on that, though.

The second occurrence had to do with another friend trying to find insurance for their home. A number of companies were called, and to be fair a couple responded. The others either didn’t answer numerous phone calls to their published phone number, or just didn’t reply to the request for a quote. This is more puzzling than the aircon cleaners, as these are supposedly established companies, as opposed to self employed entrepreneurs.

The third instance has to do with an event that I am trying to plan. I’ve been attempting, with help, to contact locations that advertise that they handle these kinds of functions, but again the response has been poor so far. I’ve received one incomplete response, have not been able to reach a second (evidently they don’t have email, which is probably just as well as it probably wouldn’t be answered), and a third referred us back to their website where the information that is supposed to be available is not attached as stated.

I’m sure anyone that lives there can give plenty of examples. I can even give you some here, but from my experience this seems to be much more prevalent there. I haven’t grasped yet how things get accomplished there. Is it a matter of continuing to try until you find someone that will do what you need, and then jump on it regardless, because there may be no one else that will do it?

I suppose, just like any place, after living there long enough I’ll have encountered enough people that I can count on, and have built a network of others that can direct me to those that can help with the various tasks that need to be accomplished. I also suppose that I’ll “adapt”, at least partially, and as others do, just say this is the way it is.

I’m pretty good at adapting, but some things are going to be more difficult than others to embrace.

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