Now. Now, now and Just now.......

When people here say ‘I’ll do it now’ they actually mean ‘forget it’

When people here say ‘I’ll do it now, now’ they actually mean ‘I’ll get round to it, in the near future, as long as you keep reminding me’

When people here say ‘I’ll do it just now’ they actually mean ‘you’ve got a fair chance I’ll get back to you sometime today’

And this is why after a week I’m still without my car. But it’s not just because there was a public holiday last Thursday and most people took the Friday off also, or the fact that the whole country is winding down to a complete standstill for Easter and doesn’t get going until the 8^th April at the earliest. It’s also because I don’t know how things work here.

On Monday I had a big row with the warranty company because they told me my policy had expired March 17th so of course I went ahead and had the work done. I then discover warranty wasn't signed till April 5th, so they extended the warranty but then said as id already had the car repaired they couldn’t assess it and wouldn’t pay another row and now finally they paid R4000 towards the R6241.50 bill.

So all is good, well actually it isn’t because the garage also informed me that the ignition barrel was damaged and the quote for a new one was R4900.00. So on Tuesday a friend suggested that I call my car insurance company as they were the ones who towed my vehicle.

But for my insurance company to investigate I have to make a claim….now hang on, I have a contract with them, if they sub contract out to local towing firm, that’s still there responsibilty? Surely? I don’t pay part to them and part to someone else do I?

Before towing my car the guy did a vehicle inspection to check for damage, marking 2 cracks in the windscreen and nothing else. He wrote the break down up as mechanical/electrical and sat in the car with the lights on to do this. He requested I emptied out my car before he towed it and I saw him trying to remove my keys from the ignition. He was tugging, pulling and pushing the key. I yelled at him that there was a button to press to release the key, but he ignored me and continued. I walked up to the car, nudged him gently out the way and pushed the button to release the key.

Now my insurance company wants to know why I waited 6 days to report this? Why did I wait so long? Because I didn’t think about phoning them, I had enough going on with the warranty people and being without a vehicle, making me housebound as I can’t use public transport here.

It’s Easter weekend now, my car was towed this morning from the garage by the Insurance Company. I’m going to start taking bets on when I get it back and whether I have to pay and how much.

I guess Saturday 6^th after driving to the garage in desperation and demanding it back, yes I will have to pay and the cost won’t be R4900.00 as quoted because that won’t include labour and VAT and they’ll have found another problem.

But your guess is as good as mine as I'm still dealing with people that say 'I'll  do it now'

Do you know what to do when your car breaks down?

I do and I don't.

You see things work differently here in South Africa. I know what to do in the UK but what happens here with a break down?

Two years ago my tyre blew at 120k in the outside lane on the N1, when asked by OUTsurance where I was, I said 'on the N1 driving south to Pretoria, no I can't see any signs, but I'm at a toll gate, what does it say on the toll gate?, hang on I'll take a look, it says E tags and cash only' seriously you can read that blog post here.

So yesterday I drive to the fuel station, fill up, pop in the shop, pay the bill and start the car. Dead as a Dodo, zilch, nothing. I've had a flat battery in the past so I get the jump leads out, pursuade a motorist to help, I attach the jump leads and nothing. Another motorist offers his vehicle, again, nothing. So the pump attendants try a bump start and nothing. I park up. The lights work, the electrics on the sunroof work.

I call a friend who is in a building next door as I was on my way to a meeting, she collects me and all my stuff. I leave my details with the manager and I call OUTsurance.

Now I don't want towing home then have to pay for someone to collect my car at my cost in the morning. I don't know a reputal garage I can be towed to and it's 7pm so everywhere is closed. OUTsurance inform me they'll tow my car to a compund for the night then in the morning I can let the tow company know where to take my vehicle. Well I'm still none the wiser, so the guy at OUTsurance asks me how long I've had the car for and when I reply 2 years, he says 'take the car to where you had it serviced.

So this morning I ring the garage, they can take the car, I call the tow ompany and give them the address and the car is delivered. I'm waiting now for the garage to call me to tell me what is wrong and how much it will cost to have it repaired.

So what is the problem I hear you say? Sounds just like how things are done in the UK doesn't it?

But as an expat, here with hubbies work, it's this sort of thing that we should have been given advice on when we arrived. The day I picked my car up, I drove home and thought 'bugger, car insurance, who do I use?' Can you name me a car insurance company in South Africa? and remember this was back when I didn't have a cell, landline or access to the internet. I looked out the window and saw OUTsurance written on the side of a building, I ran over, took the number down and rang them from a phone box on a street corner.

This post isn't sponsored by OUTsurance, I have had problems with them about insurance with personal cover, but that was resolved and they've rescued me twice when I had no other way of getting home.