Phuket living: When everything goes wrong call Dr Jock

http://blog.phuketoceanvillas.com/when-everything-goes-wrong-call-dr-jock/

My car wouldn't start, the lighting system in my house broke and, worst of all, the toilets in my house were blocked.

I don't remember breaking any mirrors.

But I was certainly down on my luck.

Now, if I had these problems back in England it would cost me a small fortune.

Even worse, I'd spend hours on the phone with mechanics, plumbers and engineers comparing quotes.

And then it would be days before they came out to ‘have a look’ – at my expense of course.

In the end I'd get a big bill for my trouble.

But luckily I’m not in the UK – I’m in Phuket, Thailand.

So I called Dr Jock.

He is not a real Doctor. He looks after my garden and maintains my house.

But his talents don’t end there...

He had a quick look at my car - then disappeared.

Ten minutes later he was back - mechanic in tow!

"It's the battery. It's going to cost 3,500 Baht. OK?" He asked me.

"Yes, of course. But are you sure it is the battery?" I replied.

I've had enough cars to be wise to mechanic’s tricks.

And I didn't want to replace the battery only to find out it was some other problem.

"You can have the new battery for a few days. If the car doesn't work after that, you don't have to pay" the mechanic said.

Can you imagine that? A new battery on loan. No chance of that in England.

It turns out he was right. I've been using that battery for a week now and my car is fine.

The lighting system was a bigger problem.

To cut a long story short - it turned out to be the power supply.

But a new part had to come from the US. It would take weeks and cost me an arm and a leg.

In stepped Dr Jock...

He took the faulty part to Amorn.

If you don't know Amorn, it’s an Aladdin's Cave of electronics next to Big C supermarket in Phuket.

"I can fix. One hour. One thousand Baht" the engineer at Amorn told Dr Jock.

And that was it - problem solved.

So, the only thing left was the toilets.

I will spare you the gory details.

But Dr Jock called a man with a van who fixed them pretty fast.

I was impressed.

All 3 problems sorted in just a few hours.

What did all this cost me?

6,500 Baht (US$ 210).

I don’t think I’ll be feeling homesick for England any time soon.