Call me prejudiced. I don't care. Just find me ONE Filipino worker that doesn't lie. One. Just one. They will lie right to your face. They are NOT discriminate.
I'm so sick of Rev's crap right now my insides are boiling. Boiling!
He had an ultrasound appointment on Saturday - but he was supposed to call me to let me know when he and his guys were coming back to finish the work here. No call. [Big surprise, there!] I didn't even bother to call him on Saturday because I knew he was just going to give me a line of crap. If he opens his mouth - he's lying - just like a Democrat, I tell you!
I called Rev all day on Sunday - from our house phone and from DH's cell phone. No answer. Three rings - straight to voice mail. He knew it was me calling and he didn't want to have to deal with me. Whatever. Yesterday I was just too sick and tired of dealing with him to even bother. Just couldn't "stomach" it.
Following a commenter's advice [thanks L_Oman!] I called him this morning from a friend's cell phone. Ha! He answered on the second ring. Asshole. [And that's the nicest name I'm calling him right now.] I'm not totally heartless, the conversation went something like this:
Me: Hey, Rev. How are you feeling?
Rev: I have an appointment tomorrow.
Me: When are you going to finish the work, here?
Rev: I will bring another guy today.
Me: When?
Rev: I will call you. I have two phones. [And this has to do with the price of tea in China, how, exactly?]
Me: No, Rev. I need to know when you are coming.
Rev: Maybe today.
Me: What time?!?
Rev: Maybe three-thirty, something like that. [This means he has no intention whatsoever of showing up today.] We will do the work tomorrow.
Me: No. You just said you were coming today.
Rev: Yes. I will bring another guy. He can work tomorrow. [Yeah. Right. And pigs will fly, too...]
Me: So today you are coming - this afternoon - and you will tell "the guy" what needs done. And, tomorrow you will finish the closet and prepare the wall for painting.
Rev: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Me: Why didn't the pool guy come yesterday.
Rev: He did not come on Saturday. Another guy "come."
Me: Yes. I know. But no one came yesterday. I need to give Kolrit [pool guy] a new key.
Rev: Yeah. He told me he come and there is a new lock. [Liar!]
Me: No. Kolrit did not come yesterday. I was home all day and the houseboy was here, too. He didn't ring the doorbell and when he can't get in, he comes to the door.
Rev: Yeah, yeah, yeah. He could not get in.
Me: No. I'm telling you he did not come yesterday. Is he coming today?
Rev: I will call you back.
He calls me back - on my house phone, and not on the cell phone I was using, so I'm pretty sure he figured that because he didn't return the call on the cell phone that he wouldn't have to deal with me [sorry, Jack, but if you ever need Rev, he's not going to be answering your phone, either!].
Rev: Kolrit say he was there by nine o'clock yesterday.
Me: No. He was not. I was home all day.
Rev: Yeah, yeah, yeah. He could not get in because the new lock.
Me: No. He could have come to the door like he always does when he can't get in and I would have let him in.
Rev: He was there at nine o'clock.
Me: No. The pool did not get cleaned yesterday. Is Kolrit coming today?
Rev: He will schedule to be there at nine o'clock tomorrow because he was there...
Me: Rev, I'm telling you he was not here and I was home all day and my houseboy was here, too.
Rev: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
End of conversation. I've got to find a new guy. A new guy to do our maintenance work and to clean the pool. I am just sick and tired of dealing with someone that thinks he can just bullshit his way out of everything and do nothing.
Rev's standard answer to everything is, "yeah, yeah, yeah." That just isn't cutting it anymore.
Rev asked me sometime ago if he could build a little shed at the end of our driveway to store his tools. I said that it was fine by me. Fat fucking chance now, Rev. You can store your tools up your ass. I just want the work you started finished. And now, I'll need to find a new pool guy so that I can have someone I can depend on. Rev and his guys are NOT cutting it anymore.
Perhaps one might think I am being too hasty in calling all Filipinos liars, but they are. It is common knowledge and general consensus, here. Our third houseboy - who we sponsored - who I treated far too well - stole pillowcases and books from us - and then lied about it. Well, if it wasn't him, then who was he letting into the house to steal from us, then??? The houseboy - who was a Filipino - tried to tell me I misplaced the pillowcases - two pillowcases each from TWO DIFFERENT SETS OF SHEETS?!? I don't think so. Pillowcases are a bit different than losing socks in the laundry. And I can see losing ONE pillowcase, but NOT FOUR! This happened over a course of time... I'd notice spots in my bookcases where books should have been - at least be smart enough to space the books so there isn't an opening - or if you really want to borrow one, just ask - but he wasn't smart enough to do that. Shortly after I discovered that TWO sets of pillowcases - FOUR PILLOWCASES in all - were missing, some jewelry went missing. That was the last straw. My tennis bracelet and a pair of earrings. It was when I found them in a baggie in the bathroom closet next to the plunger that the guy was fired two days before he was scheduled to stay with the Kids while we went on vacation. If I couldn't trust him with books, pillowcases and my jewelry, how was I going to trust him with my Kids! I'm pretty sure he thought he could get away with close to murder and that I wouldn't do a thing about it. He was wrong. He did other stuff, too - like try to charge me for overtime when he was a salaried "houseboy," and he when we had some wood delivered - he double charged me for a sheet of plywood - told me a price - and I gave him the money - then when he gave me the receipt a couple days later - I discovered he'd charged me twice! Asshole.
Okay. I'm done ranting for the moment...
Is Rev going to show up with his worker at "maybe three-thirty, something like that" today? Fat chance!
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I don't know how long you've been away from the states, & I hate to burst any bubbles, but it's no better here. I have so many things that I need done but it is impossible to find anyone that wants to work (however, with the economy in a tailspin that might be changing). I've had so many people tell me they were coming, I've wasted so much time waiting on them and when I've made the horrible mistake of chasing them down and bugging them until they finally showed up........... well, let's just say I've lived to regret it. I am wishing you luck, if anyone out there is in a country where people actually work for a living please let me know, I'd consider moving there.....
ReplyDeletePoint well taken, Wondering Woman. We built a house in North Carolina in 1998. Getting the guys to show up was close to impossible - from the framers to the sheet rockers to the electrician. They would much rather have been fishing. I had a run-in with the framers and DH wouldn't even let me talk to them after that - so I understand when you say you've lived to regret it. Which is exactly why I've kept my mouth shut as much as I possibly can with Rev. And, by the way, he did NOT show up this afternoon - I knew he wouldn't - but shockingly he called! He will be here tomorrow morning "around eight." Yeah. Right. Let's see what we can do to find a country where people actually work for a living. I too would consider moving there...
ReplyDeleteif he continues not to show up why not get someone else? If you check some of the local paint shops they will know painters. You can usually find guys on Raka street or even downtown khobar who will do work. Just a word of advice.. one talk price upfront and don't budge over. two don't leave them alone. Grab a cup of tea and sit near by watching.. like a hawk :) I've used guys off of rakah some are quite good.
ReplyDeleteI had a good houseboy but he left back home. If he found a riyal he would return it. Mr. Man offered him a better paying job working for him at the office.. so I lost my houseboy. I simply don't have the time to train another and watch them scrub a toilet.
Quick question, what exactly does a houseboy do? What other staff do you have in the house?
ReplyDeleteGill from Canada
Like your blog by the way, other than the "f" words...LOL
Nzingha, DH said the same thing. "We'll find someone else, then." Of course, the "we'll' translates to me. And, painting isn't the biggest problem, right now. What I need is a carpenter to FINISH the work that was started.
ReplyDeleteGill, please try to ignore the f-words. I'll try to ignore using them...
ReplyDeleteThe houseboy does the cleaning that I don't want to do - floors, bathrooms, windows, etc., keeps the patio furniture clean. I don't have anyone else in the house that works for us - we have a gardener who comes every day, six days a week, for two hours or so, and a pool guy who comes three days a week to clean and vacuum the pool and maintain the chemicals.
Sabra. You know what I'm going to say. Ok. I'll say it. I feel your pain.
ReplyDeleteYou know what, take N's advice and try to get someone else. Easier said than done when your hub's pulling an 18-holer, eh? Watch them like a hawk too.
And you know what, refuse to pay a deposit. IF you do, pay them an amount that's real menial.
It's a trend over here for these workers to pull a fast one on ya. Be one step ahead of them!
I find it's always helpful when the hub plays the 'authoritarian' role with our housekeepers - they know they had better not 'play'. Learned that one the hard way.
One thing I will say, and I don't mean to sound racist or anything, but filipino's are known to hold grudges over here. I'm sure they've been mistreated and when they get a good paying customer like you, you still look the same as the other jacka** that they dealt with before. It's a pain. The stupidest thing can set them off and they will somehow get back at you. I'm the most undiplomatic person when someone screws with me, but slowly (and painfully) I've learnt to play their game. In my mind, I'm like, 'whatever buddy. you're history. moving on now...'
Fire Rev! You don't need him as much as ya think, honey. And if he does come, his work might be crap.
L_Oman - You don't know HOW MUCH I wanted to fire Rev, yesterday. You have absolutely NO IDEA... See my new post, today, though. When my little "while you were out" project which should have taken a week and has now dragged on for almost an entire month is finally completed I'll find someone else to paint the study.
ReplyDeleteMy experience with outsourced Pinoy customer service reps is that they cannot tell the truth and are totally unreliable. To call them weasels is a compliment. I've come to the conclusion that you hire and train twice as many as you need as they have a 50% absenteeism rate. The average Philipino makes $3300 per year so we raised the pay for at home customer service to $5000 per year to get college grads and all we got were superior excuses and technically better lies. I've always wanted to go there. No more.
ReplyDeleteI work with a filipina and all I can say is that the words "manipulative, vengeful and liar" fits her to a T. I am usually an easy going, trustful person and she knows that and uses it to her advantage. She can be doing something wrong and if I rat on her she turns it around and makes me look like the bad guy. I tell you they are sly those filipinos.
ReplyDelete