You are a very good and naive person. No mere to offend you. I was thinking the same as you a couple of years ago.
can you elaborate?
price is x if i do it myself
or i can pay more and let someone else do it
the breakdown of the extra is not my concern
if my agent example charges me 1.5 to do something that costs me 500, i will take into account the pros and cons of me going to immigration 3 times and my time and expenses for doing it, taxis, time and energy wasted etc, and i think well 1jt more is nothing to me and all i have to do is literally tell her i am at the u turn at buncit, and by the time i get to the 3rd floor she says just come in sit down smile and do your prints, and then thats it for a year
instead of faffing about queuing, waiting, photocopying shit etc etc
thats my personal decision, costs and benefits etc
i dont really understand your point, certainly i am not naive, i have been here a long time and im pretty street smart and well educated and knowledgable about these things, i pay extra for someone else to do it, it costs her 500 but she charges me 1.5
like the SG kitas guy, he charges s$270 for something i can do for s$170, but he can do it in 3 hours or I have to stay overnight to do it myself and queue and blah blah
I prefer to sit in the horizon club lounge in shangrila eating free sandwiches and drinking free cappuchino and be home again in jakarta by 7pm for the sake of s$100
in fact i have known my agent here 10years + and give her a lot of clients and i know how much is the official costs and she makes light of it but i know even as an agent she can get things done very quickly, she often explains to me the system they use online, user name process etc for agents because im just interested to know how it all works from them
anyway not sure really what you mean? yes my agent could do it for 500 but she would be out of pocket then for fuel, taxis, her time etc. thats her job, thats what she charges
its not like she tries to hide it, she says if you want to extend it costs x amount, of course we all know the official amount but thats what she charges me to do it for me
xyz ingredients cost x amount, get a chef to cook it and serve it to you on the 30th floor of a hotel and suddenly its 3xyz ++
just their overheads, profit etc
but for me personally and my agent she never hides how much she charges me for her services
whats that old triangle joke, you want it done fast, cheap and well done? pick any 2 from 3 lol