I found something I’d written down several years ago and after reading it again thought it might be worth writing about here, mainly for the amusement of gentle readers out there.
I was at a car workshop in Sunway one morning having my car tinted. It was an exceedingly tedious job and from the looks of it was going to take quite a while to complete. I’d walked over to Sunway Pyramid for lunch and basically kill time but by the time I came back in the afternoon the job still hadn’t been completed.
As I was idling about, I spoke to a chap who’d brought in a Mercedes S320 (the W140 model made from 1991-1999). We introduced ourselves and he told me that he was the driver to a certain businessman. I recognised the name of the businessman since his brother is fairly famous property tycoon in Malaysia (he’s the chap who basically developed a large part of Mutiara Damansara/Damansara Perdana).
The driver was explaining to me that this workshop was pretty good to come to since their prices were competitive. He elaborated further saying that one of the cars’ air-conditioning switches was dead and if he were to go to most authorised Mercedes workshops, it would cost about RM300-400, whereas by coming here, he could get one for about RM100.
What really struck me though was his next comment. He said his boss appreciated his forthright thinking in looking for the best prices when it came to fixing the car. And because he (the driver) believed that he’d done his boss a good turn, it was okay to add just RM10-RM20 to the final bill when claiming the sum back from his boss whenever he takes the car for repairs.
I was astounded that he’d reveal that he was padding the bills to me, a total stranger, and also somewhat aghast that he believed it’s okay to take a further cut from his boss for the work he’s doing.
So I wonder, do you gentle readers agree with the driver’s perspective? Or do you disapprove of his action of padding the bill?
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