Mondays (like today) is when we get our purified water delivered. Potable water (brand: Agua Pura) at C$ 25 ($1.30) per 5 gallons delivered to your doorstep is not bad (I think it's around $1.00 in the Phils). We use about 3 x 5 gallons on average a week, for drinking (for everyone in the household: between 8-9 people in 24 hours), cooking and ice. Just like other services in the country (garbage pick-up and delivery of utility bills), water delivery is not consistent and we may go for 2 weeks without any water delivered to our home, which is not really a problem as we can just go to the super market (2 minutes drive) or the nearest 'Stop-and-Go' to to tide us over - C$ 27 ($1.40).
As important as water is, its erratic delivery doesn't bother me, but our utility bills, yes. Last week, I got my internet subscription - $50 monthly for DSL (Cablenet) subscription suspended for non-payment. In our close to 2 years here, this was the 7th time it happened. How does one pay for a bill one hasn't received. The same day they cut off my connection, I received a phone call from the 'empresa' asking for my billing address...again for the nth time. I gave it to them. Our address reads like this: 'From 'name of supposedly known shopping center', turn right and 600 meters turn left and then left again, at the very end, white house with wooden garage'. No kidding, that's our official mailing address, only it's in spanish and not everyone knows the shopping center - not even the big 'empresas' who has been in operation for dog knows how long and has had that address from before only under a different customer name (2 of T's predecessors have lived here and subscribed to the same company). We've been their customer for almost 2 years now!!! Their technicians have been here 4 times to change modem, add cable, etc.
They needed the address again because they have a new delivery guy and each time they have a new one, they always need directions, again, from us. I don't know if these people have heard about 'database' and if they have, I wonder what they have in it.
So, every now and then we get our water, electricity, cable, internet cut off for non-payment when you can't pay without your bill. I have had to pay interest twice on our 'empleados' insurance because, you guessed it, the bill came after the payment cut-off date. You tell them that and they shrug it off as unfortunate. I would better understand if they will at least own up to their inadequacy but the audacity to charge me extra and / or inconvenience me by cutting off service (which by the way, takes at least week after payment to reinstate) only because they cannot keep their employees happy enough to stay, is beyond me.
This happens very often here. I know some people who meet-up in gas stations with the pizza delivery guys only because they cannot find the houses to deliver to. This is obviously not just about the addresses down here. You'd think that they have this system of addresses (no street names, burned down or non-existent landmarks) because they know how to use it. I don't know if this is unique to Nicaragua or is prevalent in Central America, all I know is we, ourselves have not been lost in Costa Rica and Panama as much as we get lost here. When I say lost, I mean together with my Nica driver with more than 7 years experience as a driver (including driving an ambulance).
As important as water is, its erratic delivery doesn't bother me, but our utility bills, yes. Last week, I got my internet subscription - $50 monthly for DSL (Cablenet) subscription suspended for non-payment. In our close to 2 years here, this was the 7th time it happened. How does one pay for a bill one hasn't received. The same day they cut off my connection, I received a phone call from the 'empresa' asking for my billing address...again for the nth time. I gave it to them. Our address reads like this: 'From 'name of supposedly known shopping center', turn right and 600 meters turn left and then left again, at the very end, white house with wooden garage'. No kidding, that's our official mailing address, only it's in spanish and not everyone knows the shopping center - not even the big 'empresas' who has been in operation for dog knows how long and has had that address from before only under a different customer name (2 of T's predecessors have lived here and subscribed to the same company). We've been their customer for almost 2 years now!!! Their technicians have been here 4 times to change modem, add cable, etc.
They needed the address again because they have a new delivery guy and each time they have a new one, they always need directions, again, from us. I don't know if these people have heard about 'database' and if they have, I wonder what they have in it.
So, every now and then we get our water, electricity, cable, internet cut off for non-payment when you can't pay without your bill. I have had to pay interest twice on our 'empleados' insurance because, you guessed it, the bill came after the payment cut-off date. You tell them that and they shrug it off as unfortunate. I would better understand if they will at least own up to their inadequacy but the audacity to charge me extra and / or inconvenience me by cutting off service (which by the way, takes at least week after payment to reinstate) only because they cannot keep their employees happy enough to stay, is beyond me.
This happens very often here. I know some people who meet-up in gas stations with the pizza delivery guys only because they cannot find the houses to deliver to. This is obviously not just about the addresses down here. You'd think that they have this system of addresses (no street names, burned down or non-existent landmarks) because they know how to use it. I don't know if this is unique to Nicaragua or is prevalent in Central America, all I know is we, ourselves have not been lost in Costa Rica and Panama as much as we get lost here. When I say lost, I mean together with my Nica driver with more than 7 years experience as a driver (including driving an ambulance).
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