The Driver and Golden Bird

Picture: The car we rent from Golden Bird

With this blog posting I feel I need to get a bit off my chest. I am at a loss to know why somethings here in Jakarta seem to be always so hard.............

When arriving in Jakarta we had to find a company that leases out cars and also supply drivers. Having a driver is meant to make getting around Jakarta easier. Asking many other expats about what they do we decided that we would go with a major company and one of those companies was The Blue Bird Group. We wanted to make sure the company was larger enough so they could offer us a back up service for cars and drivers because we all know the unexpected can happen here so we thought "lets cover all our bases".

We have been here five months and there hasn't been a month that hasn't gone by that we have had some sort of drama either with the car or the driver.

The Car

With the car I think maybe we have been unlucky, first the drive shaft feel off the car, then the suspension went on the car, there has also been brake problems and there was another problem which I still don't know what it was but Golden Bird has fixed all in a timely fashion. Call it unlucky or just bad timing or wear and tear who knows but I think all these problems have inconvenient to our day to day travel plans.

The Driver

The biggest problem of all.......................

Keep in mind I don't have a local licence and taxis can take up to one hour to come.

When we first found our driver I didn't realise that he already worked for Golden Bird so when I offered him the job he wanted to still be employed by Golden Bird. That wasn't a problem because instead of giving the driver his salary direct then I would be invoiced by Golden Bird and if he was sick I could get a replacement driver to fill in, so you think it all be hassle free well how wrong I was ?.

Did I mention I have been living here in Jakarta for five months? well out of those five months, each month there has been a problem with our driver. Last week I sacked my driver and I requested a replacement. Easy you would think but remember we live.

Let me take a step back I don't take it too lightly when I say I sacked my driver but the history has been as followed;

Firstly he asked for time off, only half a day, I said yes and he then didn't turn up when he was meant to and instead of calling me he called a friends driver to tell me he couldn't come to work and that was in his first week.

Secondly he didn't ring to say he would be late, excuse was no credit on his phone even though he has to have a working mobile with with credit on it to have a job.

Thirdly he didn't meet me at airport for pickup when we returned to Jakarta from holiday even that we had prearranged as he didn't realise that my flight had been change both Ben, myself and our house keeper tried to contact him in advance but his phone was switched off. Even though he must keep his phone switched on at all times.

Fourthly he had time off over the holidays and then couldn't return due to death in the family this excuse I am skeptical of as it just seemed the death came at the end of the holiday and that he had already asked for extra time off before and I had said no because I had already made plans.

Fifthly I called on a Sunday and asked the driver to come in to worked and I was told he couldn't as he was to busy even though he is on call, 24 hours 7 days a week.

The last straw was when his house flooded and he arranged a replacement driver, he didn't call me as he said he had no credit on his phone even though I had placed credit on his phone. This credit should of lasted him at least one month due to only using the phone I had lent him for work which he was told was a rule.

OK so there are all the problems I have have with the driver so keeping in mind that a driver must have his own mobile phone with credit on it as well as keeping it turned on all the time, be on time for work, don't ask to borrow money and work overtime when required including public holidays.

It saddened me to know that after a number of warnings this driver still didn't listen to me and I had to let him go.

Now comes the "kicker" with the replacement driver we where sent he was late on his first day and when I asked why he was late he said it was because of the traffic, "Wrong answer to give me" we all know the traffic is bad here in Jakarta so you would think anyone needing to be somewhere on time you have to allow the extra time for the traffic to get to your job. Upon asking where this new driver lived he replied one and a half hours away and doesn't have a motor bike. "Wrong answer again" as we need someone who can come for the early morning pick ups.

So this driver lasted a couple of days as I contacted Golden Bird and told them our list of requirements of what we needed in a new driver they where;

Someone to work overtime when required, Someone to start at 7am Monday to Friday, Someone who can come every second Monday to start at 4am to take Ben to airport, Someone to be on time and have own motor bike to be able to do that, Someone to have his own mobile phone with credit on it all the time so he can be contactable, Someone who knows Jakarta well and maybe speak a little English.

Anyone who lives here would say what we needed is normal, so you wouldn't believe it we get our second replacement driver and out of all that I requested he only meets a couple of my requirements. Golden Bird is a large company who cant meet our needs when it comes to finding us a driver so I have decided that I will find a replacement driver myself and see if I can do any better.

No matter how well you plan for the unexpected it seems things pop up all the time. Back to the drawing board and hopefully I will find a new driver soon, fingers crossed.