Dipolog house and lot for sale
Are Philippine Building Contractors Trustworthy

Another week has past with little progress on the outstanding items apart from the glass rack which has finally arrived and was fitted to our home bar. Some modification was required, but now at last we no longer have to reach into cupboards for glasses.

I called at the site engineers office to find that the resident engineer is on maternity leave. So I invited another engineer to review the status of my list. He was surprised to see the half completed hole in the wall of the dirty kitchen, and the draining board in the main kitchen which had been installed directly onto concrete, with the result it could not drain properly and also did not have any give to prevent breakages is plates or glasses slipped from wet hand.

I then pointed out the light switches in the bathrooms which have become a safety hazard as they are coming away from the wall. They were meant to have been installed outside the rooms to ensure water and electricity cannot come in contact.

Finally I pointed out that the pavement and roadside flower border outside my property had been destroyed during construction and needed to be replaced. I also comment that there was a severe lack of maintenance within the complex with overgrown lots, and a swimming pool fir only for frogs and hope that matters improved by the end of the month, as summer is coming fast.

Dipolog house and lot for sale

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Are Philippine Building Contractors Trustworthy

Based on my experience over the last year, I would say the old UK adage Buyer Beware rings true. I have had involvement with three different contractors whilst building my house and not one has yet completed the work, the mistake is mine of course as all have been paid.( I will however get what I paid for eventually)

I strongly advise that payment only be made after work has been completed, and even go as far as holding back a sum of the total to cover the guarantee period to fix defects.

For a large project its a good idea to agree on stage payments to be released when various key parts of the project are completed. It can also be beneficial to purchase your own materials and you can quite often get discounts from local suppliers by doing this. I discovered I could get discount from Mega Home in Dipolog city when my builder had to pay full price.

If you pay contractors before the work is completed they will spend the money and then come back with excuses as to why they need more, quite often it is because they have a cash flow problem.

If you are an Expat and married to a local try where possible to let your local partner do the negotiating as "Joe" has lots of money and is good for a rip off. Generally if I am planning on purchasing a large item, I will find a source and check it out and then a few days later send my other half in to negotiate and do the final purchase.

Dipolog house and lot for sale

I never knew how lucky people in the UK are with free healthcare, yet they still complain. Having been sheltered for many year, in the last year I and my family have used private hospitals for minor ailments and had to pay quite reasonable prices for consultations and medicines. However at the weekend Jay broke his arm falling from his bike and was admitted to Dipolog Medical Centre. This was an all new experience especially as we do not have medical insurance.

The elbow required surgery so I got a rough estimate of 25,000 PHP for the surgeon, but was not told of all the ancillary fees which ended up amounting to 70,000 PHP, all of which have to be paid before leaving hospital. This can have a dramatic effect on most peoples cash flow and even if one has local insurance you still have a portion to pay.

I would have preferred to have known the higher figure prior to admission, so as to be able to check out alternatives, as although the surgery was urgent it was not an emergency.

Yes insurance is on my to-do list and at least now I have a real case to use in order to insure my family with a company which provides the best policy to seat my needs.

The hospital experience itself was also an eye opener, having opted for a general ward ended up in a 3 bed ward with no other patients. Posted visiting times seemed to be ignored and in fact family members were there 24/7. The equipment was adequate and surgical staff knowledgeable, some questions about ancillary nursing staff.

Once I have gathered some more information on Insurance I will post it here.

Till the next time David Ogden

Dipolog house and lot for sale
UK TV in Philippines

There has been one thing that I have really been missing in the Philippines and that is UK TV, whilst in Malaysia there was access to a couple of channels and Star sports screened Rugby, plus there was an Australian channel, but her we have to put up with American channels, which are no match for the Likes of BBC.

I have now discovered it is possible to watch BBC via your computer this sounds like a great idea. The cost is less than 10 Euro (570PHP). I am already planning on purchasing a large screen for my computer later in the year, so this could serve a duel purpose.

I am at present using a PLDT DSL connection at 3Mbps, so this should be more than adequate to receive the service.

The only thing that I will need to be careful of is not to become a slave to the TV, however as the Philippines is 8 hours ahead of the UK the timing difference will temper what is available to watch.

Dipolog house and lot for sale
Sell my House