Marcelyn Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Here is a link to locate ASEP in David - https://goo.gl/maps/BjKsFPdRBCJ2 Yes, we have been to ASEP several times. Staff is friendly and responsive. All conversation is in Spanish. We also ask the manager to sign and date our complaint form. Suggest taking documentation re the problem (list of time and duration of outage) and outage report number assigned by Fenosa when notified of outage. (Check the backside of your electrical bill for phone number for Fenosa.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 21 hours ago, Marcelyn said: Here is a link to locate ASEP in David - https://goo.gl/maps/BjKsFPdRBCJ2 Yes, we have been to ASEP several times. Staff is friendly and responsive. All conversation is in Spanish. We also ask the manager to sign and date our complaint form. Suggest taking documentation re the problem (list of time and duration of outage) and outage report number assigned by Fenosa when notified of outage. (Check the backside of your electrical bill for phone number for Fenosa.) In what way were they responsive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 I went to ASEP several years ago and returned twice with additional paperwork that they wanted. Nothing came of it. It’s unreasonable to expect paying customers to buy a backup generator to cover frequent power outages. Most cannot afford one. IMO, when we pay our bill, we expect consistency of service, i.e., infrastructure that can survive all but the unexpected. The distracted driver clipping the utility pole was unexpected, and I hold no grudge against Fenosa for that extended outage. High winds and rain are not unusual here. Fenosa’s infrastructure and maintenance should take them into account. It is wrong to put the burden of consistent service back on the customer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siempre Soluciones Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 Bonnie, You wrote: "It’s unreasonable to expect paying customers to buy a backup generator to cover frequent power outages. " You bring up an excellent point. However, how much are you willing to pay extra for the infrastructure necessary to improve the availability of electricity? How much can the average Panamanian afford? I'm sure at some point this was presented by Union Fenosa to Panama's regulatory agency, ASEP I assume, in the planning stages and it was apparently declined. It usually goes something like "Constructing redundant facilities, in this case parallel poles and lines, to improve availability would cost x amount of dollars requiring us to raise the average monthly bill y dollars." I'm sure a study like this was completed, it sure would be interesting to know the numbers. I purchased a home in a Panamanian neighborhood where the previous owner's monthly electric bill didn't exceed $3.62 in their last six months of occupancy. So an infrastructure surcharge of say $5 per month would be a burden to someone living on a $50 per month social security check. One would think this may have been a deciding factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonnie Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 16 minutes ago, Siempre Soluciones said: Bonnie, You wrote: "It’s unreasonable to expect paying customers to buy a backup generator to cover frequent power outages. " You bring up an excellent point. However, how much are you willing to pay extra for the infrastructure necessary to improve the availability of electricity? How much can the average Panamanian afford? I'm sure at some point this was presented by Union Fenosa to Panama's regulatory agency, ASEP I assume, in the planning stages and it was apparently declined. It usually goes something like "Constructing redundant facilities, in this case parallel poles and lines, to improve availability would cost x amount of dollars requiring us to raise the average monthly bill y dollars." I'm sure a study like this was completed, it sure would be interesting to know the numbers. I purchased a home in a Panamanian neighborhood where the previous owner's monthly electric bill didn't exceed $3.62 in their last six months of occupancy. So an infrastructure surcharge of say $5 per month would be a burden to someone living on a $50 per month social security check. One would think this may have been a deciding factor. Good point. Something I hadn’t thought of. I suppose I was judging strictly on the basis of my situation. I paid $150 to $175 a month for about ten years until someone (Juan Arauz) finally traced it to a faulty UF transformer. Since then I’ve paid $50 to $60 a month. So it’s never seemed like an especially low bill to me, but I neglected to consider the situation of others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Woolford Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 (edited) On 2/20/2018 at 9:59 AM, Marcelyn said: Here is a link to locate ASEP in David - https://goo.gl/maps/BjKsFPdRBCJ2 Yes, we have been to ASEP several times. Staff is friendly and responsive. All conversation is in Spanish. We also ask the manager to sign and date our complaint form. Suggest taking documentation re the problem (list of time and duration of outage) and outage report number assigned by Fenosa when notified of outage. (Check the backside of your electrical bill for phone number for Fenosa.) Isn't "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" an American proverb? The point of making continual consumer complaints to ASEP is so they have some ammunition to confront the supplier with. Keeping a log of outages that can be presented makes a lot of sense for those who are continually affected. Edited February 21, 2018 by Keith Woolford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bud Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 12 hours ago, Bonnie said: In what way were they responsive? We have a policy of not disclosing our business affairs, but in general ASEP has provided information about how things work here in Panama, and made recommendations as to how to deal with public utilities (e.g., electric utility and cable service, etc.), and then interfaced with the utilities once we had done our job with documentation. We found the ASEP staff cooperative and friendly, never in a hurry, and conversations always in Spanish/Spanglish (but we were successful and I am definitely not fluent). In one case we actually got back a refund from a utility based on the interaction between ASEP and the utility. For those who may not be aware, ACODECO and ASEP are two totally different governmental agencies. ACODECO deals with consumer rights and issues. ASEP is the Autoridad Nacional de los Servicios Publicos -- in other words, the governmental oversight over public utilities (other than water/sewer related, which is IDAAN in many cases). We hear people frequently confusing the two agencies. Our experiences with ACODECO have been disappointing, but ASEP does a good job, in our opinion. The main thing for customers to do when dealing with either agency is to document everything. For instance, with ASEP bring in written documentation of every telephone call to the utility (e.g., Gas Natural will provide you with a ticket number for each outage/trouble report). Include summaries of who you talked with, scheduled service calls, who showed up when, and what was accomplished if anything. Etc., etc. Granted, it is a bit of a hassle, but doing the documentation thing has worked well for us when dealing with ASEP and the utilities. As an example, with sufficient documentation at hand, the manager of the ASEP branch in David actually called the utility and had a "frank" conversation (my terminology) with management level people at that utility. In summary, our approach of going in with a smile and a statement to the effect that "I need your help" (along with written documentation) works wonders. Leave the bad attitude at home. This approach seems to work well for us in almost all cases. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoSailors Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 10 minutes ago, Bud said: In summary, our approach of going in with a smile and a statement to the effect that "I need your help" (along with written documentation) works wonders. Leave the bad attitude at home. This approach seems to work for us in almost all cases. That is the universal attitude one must have in all of Latin America. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Woolford Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 About 25 years ago a Costa Rican gentleman took me aside and told me very gracefully. "Señor Keith, si pierdas tu paciencia aqui, vas a perder totalmente." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Woolford Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 The general manager of Gas Natural Fenosa, José Hurtado, and the Director of ASEP, Roberto Meana, have been called to appear before the National Assembly today to explain power outages and fluctuations in Chiriqui. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoSailors Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcelyn Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 3 hours ago, Keith Woolford said: The general manager of Gas Natural Fenosa, José Hurtado, and the Director of ASEP, Roberto Meana, have been called to appear before the National Assembly today to explain power outages and fluctuations in Chiriqui. Oh I hope the outcome from this meeting will be consistent utility service. Currently our electricity goes out more often than I do. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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