I had a post ready to go today, but at the last second I decided to hold off on that one because I just got back from the El Rey supermarket in Villa Lucre and my head is about to explode. I try to put a comical twist on the everyday frustrations here in this great country, so I don't come across as negative, but man...sometimes that's hard to do. I love my wife (she's Panamanaian) and I love this country. Panama has a lot going for it, but there's something that drives me nuts here.
Panamanians don't bend the rules. They don't even try to understand the situation. In some ways, Panamanian workers are like robots, with little emotion or sympathy for their fellow Panamanians or for anyone else. Let me explain.
Today, I went to pick up money from Western Union. On a piece of paper I had the name of the person sending it, the control number, and the amount written down. That way I could just hand the paper to the attendant instead of trying to explain in my broken Spanish. I went to Farmacia Metro first. Their Western Union wouldn't be open until 4 p.m. for some reason, so I went next door to the El Rey supermarket. At the counter I explained that I needed to use their Western Union service, and I handed the lady the sheet of paper with all the information. She asked for ID. I gave her my immigration ID (which should be enough considering it's supposed to take the place of the passport).
She said, "No, passaporte."
I was prepared, having gone through a ton of issues with not having my passport handy, so I pulled my passport out of my pocket and handed it over. Then she starts examining my passport, checking it to the computer system, and then starts explaining something in Spanish that I couldn't really understand. Finally, I figured out that she was not going to give me the money. My passport reads "Christopher Michael Powers." The sender put my name as Christopher M. Powers. I explained to her that it's the same thing. In the U.S. we don't even really use our middle names. The letter M. stands for Michael. She refused, handing the paper and the passport back to me. I asked for the manager, and the manager was as rude as the attendant, rolling her eyes and saying that it has to match.
Ok, so some may say that it's my fault for not making sure the sender put my middle name instead of only the initial. This isn't the only time I've dealt with this though. Even the simplest things here, if they're beyond the usual, completely confuse Panamanian workers.
This is the El Rey where I nearly lost it
I was in KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) here one day. I don't usually order a chicken sandwich, but when I do eat one, I like to have a slice of cheese on it. The chicken sandwich doesn't come with cheese though. In the States, if you ask for cheese, they'll charge you a little extra for a slice of cheese. I'm very willing to pay the 50 cents or whatever it costs for a slice of cheese. Here, they just told me that it doesn't come with cheese. I asked if they can put cheese on it, and it was like I was asking for something out of this world. They refused to put cheese on my sandwich.
At my bank, Banco General, I went into one of the branches after having problems with their ATMs. Their system was down or something so my debit card wouldn't work at my daughter's eye doctor. I needed cash, but none of the ATMs were working. So I went into this branch to get $30 out of my account. I approached the counter, handed over my passport, and the withdrawal slip, and waited as the guy started comparing my passport to what they had in the system. Then he tells me I have to go to some woman's office. I go there and she starts telling me that my signature on the withdrawal slip doesn't match the signature in the system.
So I pulled out my passport again and showed her the signature on my passport. She explained that the signature on my passport doesn't match the signature in the system either. I had no idea what they were talking about. I just wanted $30 from my own account to pay the eye doctor. I asked to speak with a manager, who turned out to speak English very well, as if she were from the States. I explained the situation to her, and she was as rude as everyone else.
Finally, I realized that the signature they had in the system was from my original passport, which I'd used when I opened my account. I opened my account only about a year ago, but I used the passport I had at the time, which had been issued nearly 10 years earlier. I was 20 years old when I got that first passport. I'm 33 now. My signature has changed a lot. I told the lady I was a kid back when I wrote my name that way. So how were we going to fix this problem? I need to be able to get money out of my own account. She told me I'd have to go to the branch where I originally opened my account, and apply for a signature change, or something like that. I lost it at that point and started telling this manager how horrible their service is and whatever else I could think of to say at the time.
When I was finished venting she said, "I never said I wasn't going to give you the money?"
I was so pissed. Why would she put me through all that nonsense and then make a comment like that. Anyways, I got my 30 dollars.
The point I'm trying to make here...is...if you're planning to move to Panama, be prepared to deal with these kinds of things. Do they happen in the States? Of course they do, but I honestly think if the Western Union thing had happened there, the attendant would have had enough analytical skills to think, "Hmm, this guy has provided me with the sender's name, the amount, the control number, and his passport. His middle name is Michael, but we have M. here in the system. Yeah, I'm pretty sure this is the right guy."
Chris
One thing I was told is to practice my signature and sign things the exact same way every time. Not an easy task! Now I am just trying to learn patience. When I am in a rush, I think to myself "in Panama, this task might take 4 times the amount of time it is taking right now!" Or longer! Of course, I hope not to be in a rush when I am retired!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for commenting. Yes, practice your signature. It's strange, but every time I'm forced to sign my signature, I goof it up. I feel like I'm forging my own signature. And Panama is a difficult place to live if you don't have patience. Everyone just moves slower here. However, that's one of the reasons we expats love it here...the relaxed, chill attitude and environment. It's a great place to retire. Just make sure you give yourself extra time. For example, one guy wrote me, who was planning to get his driver's license the next time he was in town. He was giving himself one day. It's nearly impossible to finish that process in one day (I'll write about the process in one of my future posts...soon). I told him he'd be better off giving himself two days. One day to finish all the little steps you need to complete prior to visiting the driver's license office, then a separate day to actually go get your license. He did give himself two days and it ran smoothly. You just need to know that most things take awhile here. If you know that in advance, you won't be upset when you realize how slow the process is here...for most everything. When all else fails, bring a flask of whiskey with you to the government offices and drown your anxiety. :)
ReplyDeleteNow we are thinking "rent for a month or a little bit longer in the city" so we can just get all the paperwork for license, bank, visa, visits to lawyer, etc done. But not for a month when there are lots of holidays like November! (Our original thought has always been "rent within sixty or ninety mins from the city" so we can be close enough to drive in and get that paperwork and all the business done). But as we all know, original thoughts are always subject to change. Ray and I have read tons on how long things take, and how it isn't just done in one building and the buildings aren't close to each other and finding the buildings is a huge challenge in itself. I think I will start the drinking first! Ray can drive :)
ReplyDeleteHere's a website that I like to use here in Panama. It's got the most listings as far as rentals and sales go. http://www.compreoalquile.com/
ReplyDeleteJust type the area you're interested in into the search field at the top. For example...Costa del Este. FYI...alquiler means "rent" and venta "sale."
http://www.encuentra24.com/panama-en/classifieds is another site I like. This one has English available and can be used to find anything (cars, electronics, homes, etc.).
Craigslist is kind of a last resort. You can sometimes find good deals on there, like a couple I met in Las Tablas who found a rental right on the beach, full furnished, for $600 per month, but most of the time the prices on Craigslist have been raised substantially because everyone knows we gringos like to look on Craigslist.
If you let me know what area you're considering, or the environment you desire (beach, mountains, city living, suburbs) I can fill you in a little on some areas (if you don't already know where you want to go). You can find some nice places within sixty or ninety minutes of the city.
Oh, and one thing you might want to consider is hiring a driver for the day when you need to take care of some of the tasks you've mentioned. Like you said, none of these places is close to the other, and finding them (and finding parking) can be a hassle. I wish I could tell you I know a reliable driver, but I don't. If you have any friends already here in Panama, they may know someone. It's worth asking. It may be cheaper in the long run. Man...I just might need to blog about this.
Hey Christopher, I just found your blog, and couldn't agree more with the things you're writing. Let me give you some perspective: I'm actually a born and raised Panamanian. I moved to the States when I was about 15 years old, so I've lived outside Panama for about 12 years now. I just came back from a two-week trip to Panama City, and I have to say, I was constantly appalled by the terrible customer service and bad attitude from all sorts of service people.
ReplyDeleteI mean, I'm not expecting people to sprinkle fairy dust when I walk in their store, but some cashiers at El Rey or Felix could not be bothered to say 'Buenas' or 'Gracias', or even say a single word to me. I went to Felix once, and granted it was Christmas Eve, but I waited in a long line to buy something. Then, even though I didn't want those things wrapped (because that was another long line) the cashier wouldn't just hand me the items. She still made me wait in the wrapping line, because apparently that was the only lady that could take off the security sensors, even though they were all standing behind the same counter. And my Spanish is perfect, so I tried reasoning with her (why can't you just take a step to your right, remove the four sensors — a task that would take 30 seconds, if that — and give me my things?) but common sense would not prevail. Sometimes I'm saddened that these cashiers are either so unimaginative to be devoid of common sense, or find some bizarre satisfaction in being unhelpful.
I feel for you because sometimes as a foreigner you're expected to put up with these idiosyncrasies of the culture or be branded insensitive or as you say, negative, but I'm telling you right now, you have every right to want to punch these people in the face. I sure as hell wanted to, and these are my own people.
Anyways, I just needed to vent! And I can assure you, a lot of people (Panamanians or not) have noticed this awful lack of common sense. My own family who is from Panama and still live there, are always complaining of bad experiences with customer service. I don't know if it's something so ingrained in the culture that no one ever tries to do anything about it, but I can tell you I would have a very hard time moving back to Panama and putting up with this crap on a daily basis.
Hey Patricia,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing. Yeah, it's a sad truth here. I had an experience yesterday morning, at about 5:30am at an On the Run gas station. The little pay station in the parking lot was closed so I went inside to pay. Inside was a line of no less than 8 people waiting to buy their snacks, order their coffees and breakfast sandwiches, and pay for gas. So I slowly shuffled my way up to the front of the line. When I got there, I told the lady I wanted 91 Octane gas. All she said was, "We only have 95." No sorry. She couldn't care less. I was pissed because I didn't want that gas (91 is expensive enough right now), and they didn't even have the decency to put a sign outside on the pump that said they were out of it. If I'd known, I might have saved myself a good 15 minutes and just headed to a different station, which is what I ended up doing.
I was a trainer at one of the call centers here for awhile, and I actually created my own Powerpoint and dedicated a full hour to teaching the class about customer service. It seemed that the majority of the classes felt that waiters and many other service related employees don't give good customer service because they know they won't be tipped. Panamanians (not all of them of course) aren't known for being good tippers.
I had to stop right there and emphasize the fact that there are so many foreigners in Panama right now that are used to tipping well. Employees providing poor customer service are just shooting themselves in the foot. Why go to work for 8 hours and not try to get the largest tip you can?
And department stores here are the worst. There's nothing more frustrating than standing in a long line, waiting to pay, when there is only one cash register open, but no less than nine employees behind the counter. One girl rings it up, another puts the clothes in the bag, and then a third staples the receipt to the bag, while the six others are chatting. Man...you had to get me started again, Patricia.
Ok, no more being negative for me. Hahaha.