Thursday, January 31, 2008

2 tales of how a business operates



ok, so you have 2 companies: Cable Company USA and Cable Company DR and this is how they vary in their business practices:

let's take the scenario that the cable customer has channels that are scrambled and not coming in properly. here's how it goes for that person:

Step 1. Set Up Appointment
Cable Company USA - customer calls the 1-800-number and speaks to a customer service rep who schedules an appointment for the cable guy to come to house to diagnose and fix on the spot the problem.

Cable Company DR - customer has to physically go to the cable company to tell them the problem because the cable company never picks up the phone. No date is set, nothing, just told that they will come when they can. Good thing we work from home and can have one of us at the house AT ALL TIMES in case the cable guy decides to select our trouble slip as the one to make his house call on that day.

Step 2. Arrival of Repairman at House
Cable Company USA - shows up at the house on the scheduled day within the timeframe that they specify. Note, if customer is not at the house, the cable company leaves a note that they came and to call the service number again to reschedule.

Cable Company DR - cable repair man nevers shows up FOR 7 DAYS. no notes, no calls from service reps, nothing. still no TV and no idea how to motivate the cable company to want to solve our cable problem.

Step 3. - Solving the Problem
Cable Company USA - during the scheduled visit, cable repair man determines that the cable box is broken. he handily goes out to his well stocked van and grabs a new box. he plugs in the box and christens it by either calling in to activate it or doing something remotely from some sort of handheld device. Off he goes on to his next scheduled appointment and we can now know that we will be able to watch the debates, the Superbowl, ESPN, and whatever else our hearts desire.

Cable Company DR - we can't fix the problem yet until the cable man finally makes his appearance at our house.

Step 4. Beg the DR Cable Company to Send a Repairman Over to the House
Cable Company USA - N/A

Cable Company DR - drive over to the cable company to see if they are open. (It's 8:25am). Have no idea when they open because the sign on the door is missing the first number for the opening hour but does have the closing hour as 7pm. impressive closing hour, considering how non-customer service oriented they are. luckily the office gal shows up just then - don't know whether she is early for the 8:30am opening or late for the 8:00am opening. we tell her that the repairman has still not shown up and it's now been a week since we logged the complaint. she calls him on the phone (yes, there is just one repairman) and says he'll be at our house within half an hour. we leave the office, drive the 100 feet down the road to the entrance to our complex, and see him coming in behind us to the complex. up we go into the house together. he does his fiddling with the cable box and remote, then brings in another cable box from his tiny (and i mean tiny) van to test something out, and determines that it is the cable box that is broken. ok, i'm thinking, excellent, he has actually figured out the problem, which is NOT always the case. (in our last apartment, they never figured out why cable did not work in one of the rooms and just never ever came back to the apartment to try to fix it. nice, huh?) i'm also erroneously thinking that he will just leave us with the box that is working. NO, HOW COULD I BE SO FOOLISH? he can't give us that box and has to take our box to get repaired. don't be so smart either in thinking the office has extra boxes. NO, NOT EXTRA BOXES AT THE OFFICE. HUH? now how long do you think it will take to get that box repaired AND get the repairman to bring it to our apartment when we are actually home because remember there are no set appointments and arrival window timeframes. well, who knows because when we ask how long it will take to get the box repaired, he says the famous MANANA! SHIT!

Step 5. It is Now Manana - Go to Cable Office to See if Box is (Miraculously) Fixed
Cable Company USA - N/A because Cable Company USA would have had EXTRA BOXES. (can you imagine having a cable company and having an inventory of ZERO extra cable boxes? what happens when a new customer wants to sign up? sorry, no boxes, please wait......until manana....???!!!!)

Cable Company DR - go to office at 8:40am. cable office gal is in. she is either early for 9am or late for 8:30am opening. who knows. we ask if our cable box has been fixed and can she call the (only) repairman. just at that moment she sees the cable guy in his tiny (and i mean tiny) van pulling up into the office parking lot. up he comes up the stairs, sees us, sighs and puts his head down, and enters office barely looking at us. v asks if the box has been fixed. he mumbles something in spanish and calls over to wherever the box is getting repaired. after hanging up, he says today in an hour possiblemente. POSSIBLEMENTE? possiblemente. off we go home where i have to write this blog entry about the experience to get out my frustration on the whole thing!

Step 6. - Wait for Box to be Fixed and Be Brought to Our Apt (or More Likely Picked Up by Us at the Office)
Cable Company USA - N/A

Cable Company DR - in process

Step 7. (Anticipating a Problem that the Box will Actually Not Be Really Fixed and We Will Have to Repeat Steps 5 & 6)
Cable Company USA - N/A

Cable Company DR - we'll see if this step is needed. i may just have to give up TV if we do!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

all this for under a $1


off to market we went today, including a trip to the famous arugula guy to see if he had arugula. we've heard so much about him from our friend Jenny and then yesterday Haudy reminded us of him too. he's a farmer located close to kite beach on the street to la cienaga , which is basically a barrio that floods everytime it rains because it is built right on top of the lagoon. the arugula guy isn't near the lagoon though. he has a small patch of land on which he grows arugula, lettuce, basil, and a few other extraneous things. by small, i mean the lettuce/arugula area is probably 150 feet by 100 feet. maybe he has more land in the back where he's growing something off trees but that was unclear as our goal was strictly arugula. there's no sign out front or anything denoting it as a farm. it certainly does not look like a farm stand either. next time we go, we'll have to take a picture of him and his land.

so he asks us how much arugula we want. we say, "i don't know, i guess a pound." he starts plucking away and away at the arugula. we're both thinking that's a lot of arugula so he can just stop with what he has in his hand. we ask for a head of lettuce too, and he uses his machete to cut one out of the lettuce patch. back over to his little house we go where his wife is inside watching TV. some guy pokes his head out from a corner within the house and hands him a scale, which the farmer proceeds to hang up from the ceiling of the little covered outside area we are standing under. he says "tres cuartos de una libra" (3/4 of a pound). we say "cuanto es" (how much?) he says treinte pesos (about 90 cents). full of guilt at this unbelievably low price, i pull some coins from my pocket and hand them to him. off we go - both feeling like we just robbed the guy because we think that the produce is worth WAY more than that. i wouldn't have been surprised if he had said 100 pesos. in boston, i think we'd have paid something like $6 for that all.

some things are cheap here, especially when you get away from the tourist areas. still though, how much time does he have to spend tending to that arugula? i feel a bit guilty....!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

showing off the DR


we had lots of guests over Christmas, New Year's and into January - my mom, Veronica's parents, and Vica with her husband, Alexei, mother-in-law, and 18 month old daughter Sasha. i wanted to post a few pictures as there is just too much to say about what we did while they were all here. i will say though that we spent 5 great days in Las Terrenas with our parents, including a trip out to Playa Rincon, which was spectactularly beautiful as always.

here's a couple of shots of the Janssens clan on Playa Bonita:




mother and daughter out on the balcony for Christmas eve:


mother and daughter admiring the turquoise waters and scenery of Playa Rincon:


Rolf selecting our fish to be grilled for lunch at Rincon:


a shot of the view from our balcony in Las Terrenas:


Vica and Alexei enjoying an evening at our place:


Vica and Sasha having fun in the ocean:


next up in terms of visitors are kim and emily. they arrive next weekend. i am sure we will have a blast with them!