‘… frankly, we don’t complain enough, especially with the type of service we get from public servants.’
IS it just me or are Filipino consumers/customers becoming a complaining lot?
So much so that a young first-termer in Congress has lamented how “reklamador” we are.
Of late, I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints about my favorite local airline, Asia’s First, the Heart of the Filipino. At heart is its growing (or regrowing?) reputation for tardiness, for flights that depart and arrive way past the scheduled time, usually blamed on “air traffic congestion” in Manila. Which, for the most parts, is true.
But I’ve also been on flights that arrive delayed and are immediately attended to by the ground crew — the men and women who install the blocks on the plane tires, who put up the cones all around the aircraft, who attach the airway bridge and who bring around the buses when landing is at a remote location. You’d think that a delayed flight would mean having folks on standby, ready to immediately pounce on the new arrival to make disembarkation — and a turnaround — as quick as possible. But no; apparently there are not enough ground crew to cover all arrivals when the delayed flights arrive in rapid succession.
So, more delays waiting for the stairs or the bus. Bringing out the reklamador within us.
Yesterday, I was at the Globe service center at BGC Central Square. I arrived at around 4:30 p.m. and noticed a number of patrons milling around or sitting, obviously waiting to be served. At the counter, there were three staffers attending to three people. The guard asked me to register and told me I was number 9 on the list. When I inquired about senior citizens (!!!) voila! I was number one. My issue was simple — I needed help installing my SIM card into my new phone.
But I had to wait. And wait. And wait. Impatient and reklamador me stood up and walked to the cashier to ask if there was a senior citizen lane. My issue was simple, I said. I was told I was number one on the list and just had to wait. And so I did. But someone else (who to be fair was there ahead of me) was called to the counter. I guess senior citizen wasn’t number one!
Until a staffer looked for me, took my phone, took my SIM card and with a sleight of hand — tada!!! He had it property inserted. That simple. No need for queueing. If only they ask what the customer’s issue is…
Reklamador? Perhaps. But frankly, we don’t complain enough, especially with the type of service we get from public servants.
Meek as a lamb, we are often led to our slaughter while biting our tongues because we don’t want to be called “reklamador.”
