Monday, April 2, 2012

How many Indians does it take to change a lightbulb?


I am quite sure that in India it takes longer to get things repaired and things break down more frequently than they do back home. Here is a list of things that have broken and needed repair in just the last three months. Oh and by the way, if anything in the apartment you are renting breaks or stops working for any reason it is your responsibility to pay for repairs, not the landlords (message to Indian's reading this, this is not the case in Australia)
  • Hot water heater sprung a leak- not repaired…too hot to use hot water anyway.
  • Intercom/buzzer- 3 months (this one is when we found out we had to pay for repairs not the landlord)
  • Power point in lounge room stopped working- called electrician, would not repair?
  • Power point in kitchen stopped working- same story
  • Power point in Hunter's room stopped working- partially repaired after a few weeks, now one switch operates two power-points?
  • Fuse blown half the power in the house went out- 18 hours
  • Multiple handles in the kitchen snapped off in my hand on opening cupboards- not repaired- same thing in two of the bedrooms
  • Flat tyre- 24 hours
  • No water coming out of the taps- apparently due to an air bubble? 24hours
  • Aquagurad water filter service- 1 week and four phone calls service man came and washed filters, now not working like it used to, called again no one showed up.
  • Internet connection being temperamental- multiple phone calls… about a month
  • Refrigerator not cold- Spent all day Saturday calling the service number. Out of the 15 calls I made 14 were busy, one time I got a recorded message that said press '2' for english, so I did and then everything was in hindi, so I thought I will hang up and try again pressing another number, but for the rest of the day the number was busy…grr.
  • Multiple tube lights- have not even bothered
  • Blocked waste drain in the bathroom- tried Draino, need to call a plumber, couldn't be bothered.
  • Ceiling fan in the bathroom- Electrician came, said it was broken and then left???
  • Hot water system had sparks between the pipes- Electrician came, shoved a piece of plastic between the two pipes and charged me $1.
  • Hot water tap gives electric shocks- Electrician came, repaired, no change.
  • Toilet would not stop flushing- repaired four times in four weeks... I think the last time it was fixed properly... at least the plumber is prompt.

Now I am sure if there was not the language barrier and the cultural differences and perhaps if I was a little more motivated things could be sorted a lot quicker and better, but frankly it's easier to just go with the flow.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

And I thought it was bad in the Uk having to deal with all our crap plumbers !!! Often see TV shows about Indian landlords here who don't maintain their properties, now I know it's just like home for them. Maybe I'll tell our tenants in our apartment, we are renting it to them Indian style from now on -Karen A

Prince raj said...

E-Cigarettes are not harmful to the human body like traditional cigarettes. It is a myth that E-Cigarettes contains cancer causing chemicals. Buy E-liquid for Vape pen