HAVE you noticed that it's getting harder to get reliable workmen for home repairs? Have you encountered delays even though you had messaged or called the repairman days earlier? Welcome to the club! Especially if you're in the Klang Valley.
Many years ago, I was told that plumbers and electricians were hard to come by in matured economies or industrialised countries. And they cost a bomb, too. I wouldn't dare say that Malaysia has reached that stage of development but getting house repairs done is not a simple matter these days.
Repairmen then were just a phone call away. When my wife, Amy, passed away seven years ago, the responsibility of contacting repairmen rested on my shoulders.
Some two years back, the water tank above the ceiling decided to leak. I was referred to a plumber by a friend. The 40-something year-old Ah Hoi was said to be a fusspot with his time. He came by to inspect but nonchalantly said he would work only after the Covid-19-related Movement Control Order (MCO) was lifted.
He saw no urgency in my problem. I found out why: he lived in an upmarket gated community of three-storey semi-detached homes nearby!
But, he didn't appear even after the MCO was relaxed for quite some time. I only found out much later that Covid-19 had got the better of him. I eventually found a saviour in an Indonesian migrant worker who had "morphed into a local" by marrying a Malaysian lass.
Climate change reared its ugly head early last year when more rain poured on a single day. The roof and ceiling in another part of the house leaked. It so happened that an old plumber in his 70s from a plumbing company that had always attended to my late wife then came by to distribute calendars that also doubled as Chinese almanacs.
After taking 45 minutes to take videos and pictures of my leaky problem (and I thought he was very thorough!), he said it could be done.
Old Uncle then came with a Bangladeshi migrant worker. I could hear him giving instructions all day long. I reckoned the work was mostly done by his younger partner. In the end, the job was done. Yes, no leaks, but whenever it rained, the roof sounded like Ringo Starr going all out on his drums because the wrong material was used.
That was my problem for being too trusting. At the risk of upsetting my neighbours on rainy days, I again turned to Ilham, the Indonesian migrant worker-turned entrepreneur, for help.
There's a quote on plumbers that I found amusing: People say they are always waiting for God to appear, but have you ever tried to find a plumber on a Sunday? Thus, finding one is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Lately, the piping in my kitchen sink acted up. I tried my resident association's suggested plumber, who is reputed to be reliable. I texted him but got no reply even after a week. (He must be pretty busy). Loud-booming voiced Ilham, Mr Fix-It from Indonesia, may again be my saviour.
With such erratic responses from repairmen, I dare say that companies that advertise repairs online seem to be more reliable following my experiences with their air-conditioner and fridge servicing personnel.
These aggregating companies operate by having a pool of repairers for a wide range of services. Once you agree to use their services, they would breathe down the necks of the repairers who may even have companies of their own. It may cost a little more but at least the job gets done quickly.
My latest problem was fixed under four hours. The so-called friendly neighbourhood electrician or plumber may soon be a thing of the past. Perhaps, it's the sign of the times, under new-fangled terms like supply chain management or what have you.
Seriously, customers don't expect repairers to be perfect but they do expect things to be fixed when they go wrong. Blind activist, Helen Keller, once said this about good service: "The world is moved not only by the mighty shoves of the heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."
The writer is a former Bernama chief executive officer and editor-in-chief
