Prudence and Madness

This is actually a delayed post because the events that I’m going to tell happened a week ago. So why am I telling it NOW?

Perhaps just to let it all out in this blog. Perhaps to let everyone know in what ways Meralco can be so incompetent.

Three weeks ago, my dad called Meralco to report the “leaning” electrical post near our house. I’m not so good at gauging distances and angles (I’m no mathematician or engineer) but, if I may say so, I guess the post was leaning at an angle of 20-30 degrees and that’s a lot, folks (I know I should just have taken a photo and describing it would have been easier but I was being my forgetful self). And its weight is almost precariously supported by the frightening bundles of electrical cables attached to it. I know that it wasn’t like that before, since we’re one of the first occupants of the subdivision. But with the increase in the residents, Meralco must have just connected the wires and all with no plans whatsoever. Maintenance wasn’t even that good. So when my dad placed that call to Meralco to report it and nobody from the company showed up in a few days, it didn’t really surprise us at all. But we’re very, very disappointed.

And just imagine our dismay when finally, the folks from the company came, looked at it, and then said they’re going to just come back to repair it (they already received a report of something to repair. So, they just go check out if the caller wasn’t lying?). Knowing Meralco, that would definitely take more than a couple of days again. Why are they purposely delaying the repair? My dad said maybe because these are just subcontractors and wanted to earn more by extending the number of days spent for repairing a single electrical post. So, again, we waited, hoping that the post will hold on until the repairmen come back.

But that hope failed last Wednesday night.

I remember that night was filled with strong, howling winds and a bit of rain. We had to close the windows out of fear that glass panes might get shattered. Wind chimes were going crazy. Then, we heard something crash outside. We didn’t even have to go out to know what made the noise. For sure, it was the electrical post. Then, the lights flickered and my computer screen just went off. Soon, electricity was gone (that’s also one reason why I’m angry at Meralco. I was typing a post when electricity was cut off and I haven’t been able to save that post).

Dad picked up the phone and called Meralco again to report the electrical post that wasn’t leaning anymore (because it already fell, thanks to their fast delivery of services). He was, again, given a show by Meralco of how incompetent it can be. When he gave the report number, the guy on the other end said there was no such report filed. And because my dad is not someone you’d like to cross with when he’s angry and his voice is forever booming (I don’t think he comes with volume settings. His voice is always set to maximum), the customer service call agent managed to “find” the “missing” report and assured my Dad that repair will be done as soon as possible…the next morning. It’s also like saying, “because we’re incompetent bastards, you have to suffer a night-long absence of electricity. No lights. No aircon.” Oh yeah, if only they responded to the first report promptly, that electrical post would have been repaired by that time and wouldn’t need to fall. But, of course, Meralco being Meralco, they had to do it the incompetent way: wait for the electrical post to fall before we repair. More profit that way, it seemed.

This was how the fallen electric post looked in the morning. And note, I took this photo at around 9:30 a.m. and still there were no signs of the repairmen from Meralco. What time do these folks come to work? After lunch?

Somehow it was a good thing that I was on 24-hour duty that day. At least, I didn’t have to suffer from heat because there’s no aircon or electric fan. And guess what time those repair folks came? They came to our house at exactly 12 o’clock noon. Did they expect that we’re going to feed them lunch too? No way. Work first, then snack later.

Thankfully, electricity was back by nightfall. I was still at the hospital when my mom informed me via SMS that electricity was back.

Here’s how it looked like the following morning, when I got home from hospital duty:

And I do remember my twit about blogging this little true horror story once I get back online.

Oh well, I didn’t exactly lie, but this post just had to be in the back burner for a while to make way for more interesting posts (people watching is definitely more interesting). Also, I was so mad when I posted this twit. Better to have myself simmer a bit before embarking on writing a post criticizing the competency of a company.

So what did the publication of this post accomplish?

Well, I don’t think it would make some incredible change in the competency of Meralco. It will not even make the news (who would be so interested in another story about Meralco? I bet lots of similar horror stories happen in this country). But, at least, I get to share MY story in my own space. And for my blood pressure to finally go down (I’m speaking figuratively, of course. I’m not hypertensive).

And yeah, a little lesson to learn, too: always make some time allowances in reporting malfunctioning electrical posts to Meralco because it takes a very long time before they respond to such reports. So check your electrical posts right now. If you see even a bit of a deviation from the vertical plane, call Meralco quick! By the time they get to respond to your report, the electrical post would have been leaning by 45 degrees then. Or if you’re (un)lucky, your electricity’s gone. Or someone got electrocuted from the hanging “live” wires.

So, how about you? Do you have your own horror stories about Meralco that you’d like to share?