What An Ordeal!

[Bruce]

Started off simple enough...... Local people and kids use a small raft made of plastic 5 gal containers and split bamboo to get across the river to leave their housing area to get to school or town / stores. Even in calm weather, it is not the most stable of crafts for the kids going / returning from school. So I decided on my next trip to build a permanent raft 'Kano style' out of plywood and fiberglass cloth and resin. While I can get plywood and frame wood in Catbalogan fiberglass was not only unavailable, but also unheard of. Being the resourceful Kano I is, I went on line and tried Tacloban. Again not sold here.... So I tried Manila and could not find a supplier. But I found the Yacht Club! I sent them an email asking for some help. They replied with the supplier their workmen use and they had a website. Went to their website and saw what they had to offer, but no pricing. Sent them an email with a list and asked for a quote and shipping details out to Catbalogan. I got a reply back from a person named Arleen (man or woman??) with a price breakdown but no totals and yes they can ship, but again, no information as to the cost. And so the ORDEAL begins. In the next 4 emails back and forth, I get the SAME information reworded in the new email and NO ANSWER as to an exact total or shipping costs..... I know I am dealing with a business and the person writing back to me has excellent english skills..... But not any concept or ability to answer what I think are SIMPLE questions! How can I pay the bill if you refuse to give me a total? What is the shipping cost! After several days of getting nowhere with Arleen as to a total and shipping, I contacted a friend in Manila and asked for some help. They went to a local branch of that company and got different answers as to the actual size of the fiberglass cloth and no, they do not ship. And to further complicate things, they do not sell the fiberglass cloth 'off the big roll' like the rest of the world.... noooooo, they sell by the kilo! Arleen said the cloth was 1.7 meters wide, so I thought (silly me) that I could simply buy 25' of the cloth which would get the job done. But now I am being told that the cloth is just 1 meter wide and NO I can't buy 25 feet. I have to buy 1 kilo (1m x 1.6m) or 1m x 8 m which is 5 kilos and too much at 1.7m wide, but not enough at 1m wide for the raft I had planned.. So I had to refigure my plans to use a combination of the woven cloth and the chopped mat to get the combination of sizes that I needed for the job. And since they don't ship, a trip to the bus station was made and the bus won't ship a liquid unless it is in a wood box, so now a wood box needs to be made. And until it is all packed and weighed in the final shipping condition, I can't get a shipping quote...... The ordeal continues in a few hours as Manila wakes up and the store opens again.... I just have trouble understanding how such a simple thing as buying some fiberglass and resin can turn into 7 days of emails and a trip to the store and STILL have no firm price on the final deal..... Below are the latest pics of the boarding house construction.

Edited August 2, 2011 by Bruce

[sjp52]

Hey man Slow down. Your going to rock the boat and wake everyone up. What country did you think you ended up in. Are we having fun yet. lololol. I feel for you Bruce, I had the same kind of problems when fixing up my wife's house. Your not alone.

[FlyAway]

Great! Every time I have a business idea, the supply and logistics of it always get in the way! Just a few days ago I was looking for a supplier of gel coat, resin and cloth. Figured I would wait for my next trip there to scope out the business possibilities. I was thinking of using a chopper gun to do a bulk of the glass work.

[scott h]

You know, when we move there, we are going to tear down the wife's ole homestead and build a new house. I fully anticipate nothing but delays, material shortages, attempted pilfering of supplies, cost overruns, miscommunication with the architect (even if he is my wife's second cousin) and all types of other challenges. And you know what? I am looking forward to it, to me it is all part of the filippino culture that i hope to immerse myself in. Grin and bear it and move on.

[Bruce]

Great! Every time I have a business idea, the supply and logistics of it always get in the way! Just a few days ago I was looking for a supplier of gel coat, resin and cloth. Figured I would wait for my next trip there to scope out the business possibilities. I was thinking of using a chopper gun to do a bulk of the glass work.

Well, you can use www.polymerprod.com which is in Manila and has locations there and Cebu and other areas if you look for their location list. Assuming you fly into manila before going to your home area, plan for at least 1 day there to buy what you need and ship via the bus lines or other local shipper out to your place. I have never been to their store (or this ORDEAL would not have happened) but they seem to have the basic glass and resin things.

[Call me bubba]

Hey man Slow down. Your going to rock the boat and wake everyone up. What country did you think you ended up in. Are we having fun yet. lololol. I feel for you Bruce, I had the same kind of problems when fixing up my wife's house. Your not alone.

could this be another reason why a few of the "expats" here in the RP get soo upset,angry on something that should be soooo easy to do? yes this is "another"country ,most of us are "visitors"and we need to understand that things will be slightly different but,to me this is ridiculous.what can we do when something like this happens to us?just "grin &bear it"? smile like they do? complaining will not always solve an issue like this?any feedback from the more long term residents(forum members) :th_thholysheep: (hint Art2Ro ,Jake )

[sjp52]

Hey man Slow down. Your going to rock the boat and wake everyone up. What country did you think you ended up in. Are we having fun yet. lololol. I feel for you Bruce, I had the same kind of problems when fixing up my wife's house. Your not alone.

could this be another reason why a few of the "expats" here in the RP get soo upset,angry on something that should be soooo easy to do? yes this is "another"country ,most of us are "visitors"and we need to understand that things will be slightly different but,to me this is ridiculous.what can we do when something like this happens to us?just "grin &bear it"? smile like they do? complaining will not always solve an issue like this?any feedback from the more long term residents(forum members) :wave: (hint Art2Ro ,Jake )

You either become like one of them ( grin and bear it ) or it will eat you alive. You can plan around some of it if you are prepared and no what to expect. That is why this site is so valuable to us. Learn from other peoples mistakes when you can because it gets too frustrating to always learn from your own mistakes

[Bruce]

Actually, I try to lead by setting an example! I assume that there are really at least 2 different Philippines. The one where Pinoys have educated jobs and can follow a schedule and accomplish something (the small 'have' part of society) and then the 85%+- marginal people that have marginal jobs that any worker bee can fill. There are real doctors and lawyers and other professional people that travel to the US and other countries and hold jobs and compete with the other professionals in those countries for those jobs. So I KNOW that there are smart Pinoy / Pinays and it really is not fair to throw them into the same lot as the clowns working for the above company. There is an old saying in English that 'if you show the dog enough times.... sooner or later... the dog gets it". So I urge readers not to 'grin and bear it', but instead, talk in a calm voice and ask simple questions and show them how to do it a 'better way'....... and hopefully, they will learn to do their marginal jobs better for the next customer. Don't yell or make a fool of yourself.... but if you do it right, they will realise that they are looking stupid.... and they don't want to look stupid, so they try better. In my boarding house efforts, I went to a local construction site in Florida and took some pics of the block work and emailed them to the local person I deal with who printed them and showed the 'skilled' workers how things are done in the US. They were not called stupid or any such names, just shown some pictures and they in turn then had a goal in mind and their work did improve. They are not lazy. Just taught minimal standards and nothing more. Now they have seen what US block work looks like and they try to copy that. In this job and in future jobs....... Had I just 'grinned and bear it', they would never improve! If you 'grin and bear it' thinkers never provide any education or help, or gently push for better results, the locals never improve in the tasks they are trying to accomplish. Of course... it does make one feel better to give them nick names...... Hey! Gump! come here... I just want to tell you that a hammer was for putting in nails and not screws......

[Call me bubba]

Hey man Slow down. Your going to rock the boat and wake everyone up. What country did you think you ended up in. Are we having fun yet. lololol. I feel for you Bruce, I had the same kind of problems when fixing up my wife's house. Your not alone.

could this be another reason why a few of the "expats" here in the RP get soo upset,angry on something that should be soooo easy to do? yes this is "another"country ,most of us are "visitors" and we need to understand that things will be slightly different but, to me this is ridiculous. what can we do when something like this happens to us? just "grin &bear it"? smile like they do? complaining will not always solve an issue like this? any feedback from the more long term residents(forum members) :wave: (hint Art2Ro ,Jake )

.i didnt post it last night but i will now,when a "business" fails to perform up to "reasonable expectations " & i have made a purchase with my USA Credit card, I USE THE CREDIT CARD TRANSACTION DISPUTE FORM that USA credit cards provide,as a credit card holder you have certain "rights" when dissatisfied with your credit card purchases. let me say this, it works, once at SM after i had tried to "resolve" an issue, i disputed the item, it was resolved in my favor, 2 months later, a "store manager" "blue shirt" the 1 i had approached before came to me, asking if i had any "problems" anymore,I said NO its been resolved, then he said that the charge/sale was "reversed" and would i be able to settle the "bill"I explained to him " that the issue was discussed with YOU before " and you stated couldnt do anything" , Under my credit card "rules" I disputed the sale,regarding the problem i had, and they, the US credit card(master card) are the ones who "reversed " the sale not me. contact them. AS I said with the "FAMOUS FILIPINO SMILE" :7_4_17[1]:boy i never felt so good, so yes " YOU CAN DO IT TO THEM AS THEY DO IT TO YOU" :wave: * let me note i even provided him with a copy of the "Transaction dispute form" , this man was "shocked" that this was permitted. :89:

[Jake]

Hey man Slow down. Your going to rock the boat and wake everyone up. What country did you think you ended up in. Are we having fun yet. lololol. I feel for you Bruce, I had the same kind of problems when fixing up my wife's house. Your not alone.

could this be another reason why a few of the "expats" here in the RP get soo upset,angry on something that should be soooo easy to do? yes this is "another"country ,most of us are "visitors"and we need to understand that things will be slightly different but,to me this is ridiculous.what can we do when something like this happens to us?just "grin &bear it"? smile like they do? complaining will not always solve an issue like this?any feedback from the more long term residents(forum members) :wave: (hint Art2Ro ,Jake )

To be honest with you, a long time ago when I was younger and more foolish-stubborn,I did not hesitate to vent my arrogant anger to my fellow Filipinos. After more years offrustration, I escape back to USA without my wife and imminent danger of losing her forgood. It's all good now thank god and I'm willing to go back with more patience. Basically,chilling out in my golden years. I cannot stress enough that today's society the world over is full of more desperation,and the widening division between the rich and the poor. That stark reality is much more evident in any 3rd world society, especially the Philippines. I need to think twiceabout blazing into an altercation (physical or verbal). Making them "lose face" in spiteof my motives being righteous, will only get me "salvaged" eventually. Or worst yet,my family may be targeted. In many cases, it takes more courage to bite the bullet and allow karma find its way tovindicate you eventually. It would be a silent victory as I open another San Magoo while watching the tropical sunset as well as the sunrise. Chillin' -- Jake