Ma?ana attitude in business

Nov 25, 2008
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Been here way too long I guess, I can never get accustomed to the Dominican "Ma?ana" attitude; what is it with these people.. don't they want to do business??
I sometimes feel that they are doing ME a favor by serving my needs.

Does anyone feel the same?
 
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granca

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Aug 20, 2007
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Sorry, I just can't agree. I buy two rocking chairs in Nagua and they ask if its ok to deliver that same afternoon (1 hours journey to LT), no extra charge. I ring the plumber at 2pm with a problem and he says he's on a job at Samana (1 1/2 hours away) but if he finishes before dark he'll be there, if not first thing in the morning. At 8am he arrives on his motor bike. I ring the electrician at 10 am , he says he'll be there at two and he is. I wouldn't get that kind of service in the UK. You must deal with some funny people or is it something else?
 

waytogo

Moderator - North Coast Forum
Apr 3, 2009
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Santiago DR
Been here way too long I guess, I can never get accustomed to the Dominican "Ma?ana" attitude; what is it with these people.. don't they want to do business??
I sometimes feel that they are doing ME a favor by serving my needs.

Does anyone feel the same?

Pretty much so, several times I have made appointments with people to do work on the house and they just never showed up. Never even get a chance to discuss any aspect of the work, not even prices for their labor, I wish I got "Ma?ana"s. I had 3 men work together here and they showed up every day on time and never told me Ma?ana. Chip referred them to me and everything they did was excellent. These 3 were the only ones.
On Grancas post he either has the gift of gab or an overabundance of good luck, luck of the draw I guess.
 

MikeFisher

The Fisherman/Weather Mod
Feb 28, 2006
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www.mikefisher.fun
it is correct for many,
but with time in the same area 1stly You find out who is reliable and 2ndly, in a small Town area where I am, you really can educate people.
an example would be back in the Day mechanics for my cars,
you call one and get a ?ma?ana?, heck, ma?ana my Azz,
you just have to pass by his place the next day, of course friendly to just let him know that all is fine with your Car now, 'cause his competitor from down the street fixed it yesterday, and "complain" about that competitor because he asked for those outrageous 2000 pesos to fixed that lil simple problem.
sure you will call Him again as the first one next Time,
and be assured he will think twice about an other ma?ana to you.
but right,
the mentality is widely spread out the way described in the OP,
take your Time and change it.
for the usual upcoming needs of something to be fixed I have for my 'hood Today's somebody for everything, and none would tell me a ma?ana,
most would even call to inform that they are later than promised due what ever reason.
it really can be done.
of course with patience,
hey,
coje lo con calma, estamos en el Caribe, ha ha
Mike
 
E

engineerfg

Guest
My take on the manana problem is that people in this country are cultured to be extremely selfish - and they think it's tigre to get away with what we would call "f % *cking the dog" back home. This manana work ethic comes from the same root place that makes them think it's:

a) okay to cut in front of others in line or a queue - at the airport or at a movie

b) okay to go into a public toilet, urinate on the toilet seat, and not clean up before leaving

c) okay to throw your plastic coke bottle out the window while driving your car

d) okay to speed up and honk when someone is trying to get into a lane in front of you


The bottom line? It's always 'ME ME ME' and never ever 'WE'.

That's my 2 cents.
 
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MikeFisher

The Fisherman/Weather Mod
Feb 28, 2006
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My take on the manana problem is that people in this country are cultured to be extremely selfish - and they think it's tigre to get away with what we would call "f % *cking the dog" back home. This manana work ethic comes from the same root place that makes them think it's:

a) okay to cut in front of others in line or a queue - at the airport or at a movie

b) okay to go into a public toilet, urinate on the toilet seat, and not clean up before leaving

c) okay to throw your plastic coke bottle out the window while driving your car

d) okay to speed up and honk when someone is trying to get into a lane in front of you


The bottom line? It's always 'ME ME ME' and never ever 'WE'.

That's my 2 cents.

you should visit the ool and Beacharea Toilets at Resorts here in the Turist Areas, and no locals are allowed to use them
Mike
 
E

engineerfg

Guest
you should visit the ool and Beacharea Toilets at Resorts here in the Turist Areas, and no locals are allowed to use them
Mike

haha bueno, if the tourists are mostly from Spain and Italy, then I think you've reinforced my theory, because I feel the Dominican way of thinking about **** on toilets is not to dissimilar to the Mediterranean way of thinking. Same goes for hand washing...
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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Welcome to the Dominican Republic.

We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto...
 

MikeFisher

The Fisherman/Weather Mod
Feb 28, 2006
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www.mikefisher.fun
Yep,
Kansas is Out,
and also In,
they are also allowed to Vacation here in one of the world's Mayor Vaca Destins for the Northamerican Continent, to mingle with the Europeans of course, lol.
Mike
 

ExtremeR

Silver
Mar 22, 2006
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My take on the manana problem is that people in this country are cultured to be extremely selfish - and they think it's tigre to get away with what we would call "f % *cking the dog" back home. This manana work ethic comes from the same root place that makes them think it's:

a) okay to cut in front of others in line or a queue - at the airport or at a movie

b) okay to go into a public toilet, urinate on the toilet seat, and not clean up before leaving

c) okay to throw your plastic coke bottle out the window while driving your car

d) okay to speed up and honk when someone is trying to get into a lane in front of you


The bottom line? It's always 'ME ME ME' and never ever 'WE'.

That's my 2 cents.

And you took this opportunity to vent and trash every Dominican. I got called selfish, go figure...
 
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ExtremeR

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Mar 22, 2006
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Been here way too long I guess, I can never get accustomed to the Dominican "Ma?ana" attitude; what is it with these people.. don't they want to do business??
I sometimes feel that they are doing ME a favor by serving my needs.

Does anyone feel the same?

I think you had bad luck gettingt a good honest and hardworking service provider there. In my experience there's some workers who are in your home 5 minutes after you call them and others who doesn't give a crap about the gig being offered even though they don't have money for lunch the next day. The trick is get somebody reliable and stick with him/her.
 
Sorry, I just can't agree. I buy two rocking chairs in Nagua and they ask if its ok to deliver that same afternoon (1 hours journey to LT), no extra charge. I ring the plumber at 2pm with a problem and he says he's on a job at Samana (1 1/2 hours away) but if he finishes before dark he'll be there, if not first thing in the morning. At 8am he arrives on his motor bike. I ring the electrician at 10 am , he says he'll be there at two and he is. I wouldn't get that kind of service in the UK. You must deal with some funny people or is it something else?

No, You are dealing with the exceptions not the rule.
 

Bob K

Silver
Aug 16, 2004
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I agree with Extreme it is a 50/50 deal. I find most of the problems with companies (Codetel , de Lancer, and such) and less with trades people. Maybe because we have weeded out the Manana group over the years. But currently have plumber, electrician, handy man etc that will be there when they say they will and will fix the probelm correctly the first time (an general unknown experience here). I guess we are lucky.

Bob K
 

bachata

Aprendiz de todo profesional de nada
Aug 18, 2007
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Been here way too long I guess, I can never get accustomed to the Dominican "Ma?ana" attitude; what is it with these people.. don't they want to do business??
I sometimes feel that they are doing ME a favor by serving my needs.

Does anyone feel the same?
Three months ago I set up an appointment with the sears store tech department to send a technician to check my water heater as it was malfunctioning two month after to be installed,
They set me up for any time before 12:00 pm. at 2:30 pm the tech. called me to apologize for the dilate and said to be here by 5:30 pm at 5:45 he called again trying reschedule for another day.....
This made get so hungry that I have to talk to this him in a bad attitude and he started arguing on the phone telling me that it was not his fault that the company have been putting to much service orders in his computer, but finally showed up at 6:00 pm.

So this is not a DR related problem only...

Do you want hear tens of theses stories about the cashiers that I was supervising when working for a management company here in US.

JJ
 
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pelaut

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Aug 5, 2007
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www.ThornlessPath.com
Sure, it's cultural. Usually a benefit of living here, but sometimes frustrating.

TIP: stay with the service person.

Latinos are more personal than you. Like lawyers, they only work on your issue when they're "between four eyes". Next guy comes in, he gets the attention, and so on throughout the day.

Just stay with him and buy him a beer and chat ? he'll stay on your case till it's done.

Longer job? Like furniture? Do the same thing, but in segments. Stop by twice a day at random times to check out the job and chat.

Otherwise, go live somewhere else where the people aren't so personable . . . .