Blue Bird style of business

Earlier this month a Blue Bird taxi smashed into the rear end of my car while it was stationary at an intersection. In a city like Jakarta, relatively small collisions of this sort are inevitable and can easily and routinely be dealt with if the parties behave with a degree of honesty; unfortunately that was not the case with Blue Bird.

My secretary called the Blue Bird office to sort out the problem. Rather than apologizing and making good my losses, in a clear attempt to intimidate, the company sent someone called Heri Pramono to my office. His only purpose seemed to be to acknowledge that his company was completely at fault and to refuse to pay for the damages.

When asked why his company wouldn't do the right thing, he just laughed and pointed out that there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. Three days of phone calls and attempts at a reasonable settlement went nowhere.

Sadly, this is a case of one of Jakarta's highest profile and most visible companies demonstrating contempt for the public and an utter lack of business ethics or integrity. Having since done a little research, I have found that this way of dealing with their negligence is Blue Bird policy and is apparently part of their business methods.

PATRICK GUNTENSPERGER Jakarta