4 cases of great local service

[orchidfan]

1. I just had a major water pipe repair done by a local bloke.

2 men , 2 days and major digging and finding 2 broken pipes.

Repaired them both plus a leaking roof in 35 degrees temp.

Total cost B10,000. (Including parts)

In my country they wouldn't even come and take a look for that!

2. Computer software playing up. 

Took it back (a year later) and fixed in 20 minutes.....free.

3. Buy bottled motorcycle gas from an older guy on the nearby corner. He always, like today,  walk out, stops all the traffic so that I can u turn and go home.

4 Aircon not cold. Guys around the next morning. Replaced valve parts, re~gassed it and high pressure cleaned the unit. 

B2000 total !

Great service with a smile. 

Edited May 15, 2021 by orchidfan
Spelling

[CharlieH]

2 men 2 days for 10k seems very high to me. However I didnt see the job or what was involved. If you are happy then thats all that matters.

[NancyL]

Bedroom aircon was dripping water all night.  It's over the bed (don't get me started on how it ended up being installed there, that wasn't in the original plan) and sadly, the drip just missed falling on Hubby.  So, when he woke, the bedding on his side and his mattress (we have a split king) were soaked, but somehow the wetness hadn't approached his body enough to wake him.

 

After turning off the aircon and turning on the one in the second bedroom to confirm that it drained, we visited the condo brain trust downstairs (by then it was 11 am) and asked if she could call in aircon repair people.  We figured we'd be sleeping on the living room furniture for the night.  The second bedroom is used for storage of highly important junk, not a bed.  

 

But, within 15 minutes, the brain trust lady knocked on our door to say the aircon guys would come that afternoon and behold, they arrived at 1:30 pm, four of them, who toiled for two hours.  It wasn't a simple plug like we'd experienced in another condo.  The entire bedroom unit was disassembled, with them working very carefully not to get anything wet or dirty.  

 

They left the place spotless, including the bathroom where they hosed the aircon parts in the shower stall.  The only time a repair person cleaned up after themselves in the U.S. was when Sears sent us a female repair repair person.

 

Total charge 800 baht.  We gave each of the four workers a 100 baht tip and they seemed very grateful.  The brain trust lady received a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies from our condo mini-mart.  Both she and the mini-mart owner who sold us the cookies seemed happy.

 

 

[orchidfan]

41 minutes ago, NancyL said:

Bedroom aircon was dripping water all night.  It's over the bed (don't get me started on how it ended up being installed there, that wasn't in the original plan) and sadly, the drip just missed falling on Hubby.  So, when he woke, the bedding on his side and his mattress (we have a split king) were soaked, but somehow the wetness hadn't approached his body enough to wake him.

 

After turning off the aircon and turning on the one in the second bedroom to confirm that it drained, we visited the condo brain trust downstairs (by then it was 11 am) and asked if she could call in aircon repair people.  We figured we'd be sleeping on the living room furniture for the night.  The second bedroom is used for storage of highly important junk, not a bed.  

 

But, within 15 minutes, the brain trust lady knocked on our door to say the aircon guys would come that afternoon and behold, they arrived at 1:30 pm, four of them, who toiled for two hours.  It wasn't a simple plug like we'd experienced in another condo.  The entire bedroom unit was disassembled, with them working very carefully not to get anything wet or dirty.  

 

They left the place spotless, including the bathroom where they hosed the aircon parts in the shower stall.  The only time a repair person cleaned up after themselves in the U.S. was when Sears sent us a female repair repair person.

 

Total charge 800 baht.  We gave each of the four workers a 100 baht tip and they seemed very grateful.  The brain trust lady received a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies from our condo mini-mart.  Both she and the mini-mart owner who sold us the cookies seemed happy.

 

 

Good service again.

Normally the guys who came here (I have on LINE,from previous visits),charge B500 to clean a unit  but this time a leaking valve on the outdoors compressor needed repairs, plus new refrigerant being pumped in, plus a thorough cleaning of the inside unit.

They also covered everything, floor, bed etc, and totally cleaned up after they had finished. 

So B2000 was reasonable I think.

I also tipped them extra so I KNOW they'll come back quickly again next time (we have 6 aircons in the house, but really only the master bedroom one gets used a lot.)

[HAPPYNUFF]

So true,   Im always amazed at   service  you can receive from Thais,  Sometimes perfection, sometimes absolute chaos, but done with a smile. You really have to love them,,,,,,,sometimes.

[1FinickyOne]

On 5/15/2021 at 6:38 PM, orchidfan said:

Total cost B10,000. (Including parts)

In my country they wouldn't even come and take a look for that!

Sure, the airfare alone for them to get there would be too much, then food and hotels... 

 

Just kidding but yes, if you are out in the countryside, examples of good service are common.. many Thai pride themselves in good service and do not expect extra for it... thanks for the positive post... 

[ChrisKC]

To shout outs to Lovely Thai people, both involving my biking and way from home

 

I met two French people at Khun Than, after I had biked there from Lampang about 40kms. These two people happened to be physiotherapists and were going to stay with me for a couple of days. About 10kms from home we stopped at a favourite coffee place and talked for nearly an hour before attempting to do the last part of the journey.

 

But, I couldn't even get on my bike as I had serious cramp in both my legs. It wouldn't go away. Went a few doors down to a shop but nobody there, went inside and lay on a table while "physio" was administered. After a few minutes, a crowd (Thais) started to gather as three farangs were something of a curiosity. They called the man who owned the shop and he appeared soon after. He immediately went down the road on his motorcycle and bought two great big bags of ice. I started to feel better but couldn't continue.

I called my wife but she was in a lecture 30 kms away. So the man from the shop called a friend. Ten minutes later, me and my bike were in the back of a truck.

 

There was a complication:

My two friends were on a tandem and relied on me to direct them to my house. This meant the truck had to be slow enough to allow the tandem to keep up.

In the meantime, my wife was on a rendezvous with the truck, being in constant phone contact. So now we had a convoy. My wife in front, the truck with me and my bike and the following French on their tandem.

 

Yes, a happy ending:

 

We all arrived at home. Plenty of thanking and bowing and waiing but they wouldn't accept anything for their trouble. The next morning some some serious therapy and all was well with me and the world cramp-wise!

 

Next: I had a puncture and went into a small garage hoping to get it fixed. I was about 7kms from home. They didn't have the tools to do the job. The Boss had to move two cars out of the garage so he could get his own out and insisted on taking me home. Wouldn't accept any reward for his help.

[orchidfan]

1 hour ago, ChrisKC said:

To shout outs to Lovely Thai people, both involving my biking and way from home

 

I met two French people at Khun Than, after I had biked there from Lampang about 40kms. These two people happened to be physiotherapists and were going to stay with me for a couple of days. About 10kms from home we stopped at a favourite coffee place and talked for nearly an hour before attempting to do the last part of the journey.

 

But, I couldn't even get on my bike as I had serious cramp in both my legs. It wouldn't go away. Went a few doors down to a shop but nobody there, went inside and lay on a table while "physio" was administered. After a few minutes, a crowd (Thais) started to gather as three farangs were something of a curiosity. They called the man who owned the shop and he appeared soon after. He immediately went down the road on his motorcycle and bought two great big bags of ice. I started to feel better but couldn't continue.

I called my wife but she was in a lecture 30 kms away. So the man from the shop called a friend. Ten minutes later, me and my bike were in the back of a truck.

 

There was a complication:

My two friends were on a tandem and relied on me to direct them to my house. This meant the truck had to be slow enough to allow the tandem to keep up.

In the meantime, my wife was on a rendezvous with the truck, being in constant phone contact. So now we had a convoy. My wife in front, the truck with me and my bike and the following French on their tandem.

 

Yes, a happy ending:

 

We all arrived at home. Plenty of thanking and bowing and waiing but they wouldn't accept anything for their trouble. The next morning some some serious therapy and all was well with me and the world cramp-wise!

 

Next: I had a puncture and went into a small garage hoping to get it fixed. I was about 7kms from home. They didn't have the tools to do the job. The Boss had to move two cars out of the garage so he could get his own out and insisted on taking me home. Wouldn't accept any reward for his help.

Great help, just when you needed it.

Well done to those nice folks.

[unblocktheplanet]

We're so lucky to live here! It's well worth the rest of the BS.

 

Make sure workers stay masked & tip well!

[Liverpool Lou]

On 5/16/2021 at 3:02 PM, NancyL said:

Bedroom aircon was dripping water all night ...  we visited the condo brain trust downstairs ... within 15 minutes, the brain trust lady knocked on our door to say the aircon guys would come that afternoon and ... They left the place spotless ...The brain trust lady received a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies from our condo mini-mart.

 

 

Maybe time for you to stop repeatedly ridiculing the "brain trust [sic] lady" who organised it all for you, then.   

[NancyL]

11 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Maybe time for you to stop repeatedly ridiculing the "brain trust [sic] lady" who organised it all for you, then.   

No, we mean it as a compliment.  She knows we call her that.  

[robblok]

On 5/15/2021 at 6:52 PM, CharlieH said:

2 men 2 days for 10k seems very high to me. However I didnt see the job or what was involved. If you are happy then thats all that matters.

Im not so sure its expensive. They bring tools do the work pay for some parts. Seems reasonable that they get some money for hard work. Sure if you think that every Thai should just make 500bt a day then yes its expensive. 

 

If you look at it from an other way that they might have set up a company to do this invest in tools in advertisements ect. I rather have someone who knows what he is doing with the right tools do a job and pay a decent amount then a 500 bt farm laborer that says he is a plumber and do a quick fix. 

 

It really depends a bit if these guys had the tools and really knew what they were doing or if they were just unschooled guys without tools doing more damage then needed. 

 

I paid more for the kind that knew what they were doing and got a job done well, times that i had the other type i paid less but was not as happy about the work. So it depends a bit. Plus if it was a set rate they took the risk of it taking longer ect. 

 

Anyway just my thoughts on this as a non technical guy who is happy there are people who can do this kind of stuff for me. 

Edited May 18, 2021 by robblok

[CharlieH]

14 minutes ago, robblok said:

Im not so sure its expensive. They bring tools do the work pay for some parts. Seems reasonable that they get some money for hard work. Sure if you think that every Thai should just make 500bt a day then yes its expensive. 

 

If you look at it from an other way that they might have set up a company to do this invest in tools in advertisements ect. I rather have someone who knows what he is doing with the right tools do a job and pay a decent amount then a 500 bt farm laborer that says he is a plumber and do a quick fix. 

 

It really depends a bit if these guys had the tools and really knew what they were doing or if they were just unschooled guys without tools doing more damage then needed. 

 

I paid more for the kind that knew what they were doing and got a job done well, times that i had the other type i paid less but was not as happy about the work. So it depends a bit. Plus if it was a set rate they took the risk of it taking longer ect. 

 

Anyway just my thoughts on this as a a technical guy who is happy there are people who can do this kind of stuff for me. 

Hence the comment "However I didnt see the job or what was involved" 

For all I know they may have used track driven excavators and had to dig a trench !, then sure a whole different range of figures comes in to play.

Which why I then went on to say, and is the important thing,

"If you are happy then thats all that matters".

 

[orchidfan]

8 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Hence the comment "However I didnt see the job or what was involved" 

For all I know they may have used track driven excavators and had to dig a trench !, then sure a whole different range of figures comes in to play.

Which why I then went on to say, and is the important thing,

"If you are happy then thats all that matters".

 

Yes, they had the tools and know how.  Not just handymen. 

They had to dig deep trenches....one through the steel reinforced house foundation around half a metre deep...another outside. This included new PVC piping and one new check valve.

They were able to locate the 2 breakages and repair them.

They also rebuilt the bathroom floor including new, large ceramic tiles, back to "as new" condition. 

Note that they gave me their quotation before commencing work, so I knew what I was up for and agreed. 

Same with the aircon repair guys....electronic and pressure instruments.. not bozo handymen. 

In the end, everything was cleaned up. Rubble and rubbish removed.

Happy to have these guys come and fix an (for me) impossible situation. 

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, NancyL said:

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Maybe time for you to stop repeatedly ridiculing the "brain trust [sic] lady" who organised it all for you, then.   

No, we mean it as a compliment.  She knows we call her that.  

Referring to someone as the "brains trust" sure is an odd way of complimenting them, that expression generally implies denigration and sarcasm.

[NancyL]

4 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Referring to someone as the "brains trust" sure is an odd way of complimenting them, that expression generally implies denigration and sarcasm.

I guess we have a cultural difference here.  I looked up the meaning of the phrase "brain trust" on the internet and see that Americans use it to denote a group of smart people advising a leader or a political figure.  But, the urban dictionary says it can also be used sardonically. 

 

Hubby and I refer to her as the "head of the brain trust" referring to our condo staff and there is the "assistant brain trust" who does a reasonably good job with routine questions.  And then there is the building mechanic, whom they call the building engineer, but since Hubby and I both have advanced degrees in engineering, we don't want to include him in that fraternity.  No, he can do many more clever things than we can.  Our building staff is brilliant.  Oh, and don't get me started singing the praises of the cleaning staff.  If you want to know anything about anyone, just ask the head cleaner.  You can't enter or leave without being asked "pai nai?"  They've saved some of the elderly, foreign residents from real medical emergencies by noticing they aren't doing their usual routine. 

[Liverpool Lou]

14 hours ago, NancyL said:

14 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Referring to someone as the "brains trust" sure is an odd way of complimenting them, that expression generally implies denigration and sarcasm.

I guess we have a cultural difference here.  I looked up the meaning of the phrase "brain trust" on the internet and see that Americans use it to denote a group of smart people advising a leader or a political figure.

Exactly, and when it is not used in that sense it is just a mocking sneer, regardless of how "advanced" your engineering degree is.  

[Rampant Rabbit]

Where's  the bad  service thread and how  many pages is  that.

[Rampant Rabbit]

15 hours ago, orchidfan said:

Yes, they had the tools and know how.  Not just handymen. 

They had to dig deep trenches....one through the steel reinforced house foundation around half a metre deep...another outside. This included new PVC piping and one new check valve.

Begs the question why it had broken in the first  place as my experience is there are   many bodges  in  installations on  first construction, if they can hide it  in concrete they will.

[ShugNorris]

True that!