Getting the Details - Patience Required

I'm a details kind of guy...it helps me make smart decisions in life and avoid misunderstanding and wasting of time.

Here in Panama City, sometimes the details are very hazy.  Let's start with some examples:

There are no real EXACT addresses.  Address here are like this:  

McDonalds

73rd Street

San Francisco 

NOT 

McDonalds

1212 73rd Street, 

San Francisco, 

Panama City, 

Panama 32156

Location of things:

"The rental car place is a few blocks from here"  when it really is a 2 miles away.

How much something cost:

"I know this car dealer that sells used cars for under$5,000" when you get there, they only sell NEW cars and the starting prices are $9,000.

Getting things done:

"Just call and they will switch the electricity into your name"  when the reality is you need to go to the main office and wait for an hour, then come back another day.

"The repairman will come by tomorrow to fix the AC at 6pm, I will call you when he is on the way"  when the reality is the repair guy will come 3 days later, you will not get a courtesy call informing you of this, then when he comes, he won't have any tools, so he'll have to come back another day.

"I will take the paperwork tomorrow and switch the car into your name.  You do not need to go" when the reality is, they will take the paperwork when its convenient for them and it turns out that you need to go down to the registration office yourself to switch it into your name.

"Don't worry, we'll pay the old water bill" when the reality is 2 weeks have passed and the bill has not been paid, the new bill is here and you've called multiple times to find out when the bill will be paid and you get no response.

These are just a FEW examples of how things go around here.  You have to be VERY clear about what you want AND then follow up to make sure its going to happen.  Sometimes, people will get annoyed when you ask questions to clarify what they are saying or they just gloss over the details.

Unless you have a lot of time on your hands and patience, I suggest getting clear details AND following up right away to make sure they are actually happening, especially before you hand over any money.  NOTE: sometimes you can't get any detailed info and you have to be okay with that.