Menaje de Casa

Elizabeth, the Gringo Gazette has a company called Import/Export International they claim to handle the paperwork and customs problems on both sides of the border. They are located in San Diego at 9295 Siempre Viva Rd. Ste A&B, San Diego, Ca. 92154. Their phone number is 619-671-2324 and the fax number is 619-671-2325. So, maybe call this and get a quote and then call the one that danaeb suggests and get the best deal. I personally have not done business with any of them but since they are both from San Diego and American companies you could have some kind of recourse if job not well done. Later---------bajafun777

here is a sample from rolly brook...
http://rollybrook.com/menaje.htm
take a look

here is an honest import broker
he can arrange shipping too...

Manaja de Casa

We had a similar experience to Heather:

I’d like to relate our experience with our menaje. The nightmare started when the Mexican Consul General in Portland, Oregon, refused to give me the paperwork for an FM3/Work Permit. He told me that FM3 was only for retirees and I can NOT work in Mexico. When I told him I was NOT retiring and that I was going to work in my Chiropractic profession in Todos Santos, he showed me to the door. When I insisted that I needed the forms he rudely replied to “try to get them down there!”, and laughed. Language was not a problem because I’m a fluent Spanish speaker (originally from Argentina.)

So I went to Todos Santos and La Paz, and obtained my Working FM3. When I returned to the Consul in Oregon with these documents, he confiscated them and told me that there is no such thing as a Working FM3 and there must be something wrong with those documents, he had to investigate the forgery... Two weeks later he returned them and reluctantly signed the menaje papers. I asked which border crossing we should go through, and he replied “any of them,” and laughed.

We wanted to do everything legal, so we were very detailed making our menaje list. A friend loaned us their double-horse-trailer and the day came to pack. The trailer was smaller than we thought, and not everything fit in, so some things were left behind. The border menaje customs office is open only during the day, so we arrived at the Tijuana crossing in the early morning. They wouldn’t let us through. They said menajes HAVE to go through Otay Mesa. At Otay they made us first hire a customs broker, who charged exorbitant fees to fill out one simple piece of paper. Then they escorted us to a truck loading dock and they started to unload the trailer. Our belongings were manhandled and thrown around. They threw them out on the filthy muddy ground. We were not allowed to touch anything and we had to stand far away watching them tearing boxes open, pulling things out of boxes, and damaging many things. We waited in the hot sun all day in mid-July last year! We didn’t know what was going on and they were extremely uncooperative. Several officials came throughout the day and raffled through our stuff. They were mostly interested in the electronics. Each wanted to see everything and checked and double-checked the serial numbers, but also poked in boxes and pulled stuff out.

The big problem arose when they discovered that we did not have some of the things listed. They told us there is a stiff fine for NOT having stuff, but I could pay them on the spot to overlook the bigger fine. I did. Then they told me I had to pay another 850 pesos for THEM to reload everything back into the trailer. We were not allowed to be even near our belongings. Now, we had been very careful to pack the trailer at home, putting heavy things on the bottom over the center axle, and lighter and fragile things on the top. We had done a superb job of packing and arranging things at home to balance the weight in the trailer. Did these guys do a good job to repack it? Heck no! And I think that on purpose, they put boxes marked “fragile” on the bottom, heavy things on top, and they just shoved everything carelessly wherever with total disregard to our directions. The end result was the trailer was totally unbalanced and it was a real hassle to tow for the rest of our trip 1,000 miles to Todos Santos. Of course everything did not fit back so the Suburban now also was full, adding to the discomfort of the trip.

We did arrive at our new home without further incidents, but at every checkpoint, when they would make us open the back of the horse trailer, we could see that things were shifting and had bounced around inside there. We can live with all the nicks and dents and scratches and chips on our furniture and stuff, but I don’t wish this nightmare on anybody.

Some people have been lucky with their menaje. We had problems. I think God was testing us and we never lost our faith. Actually this episode prepared us to the nightmares we had later with the construction/remodel of my clinic. But we never gave up; we kept telling ourselves that we are supposed to be here and all the bumps were just tests of our faith, and we made it! If we had to do it all over again, we would have packed a lot less stuff and not attempt to bring it ourselves, or, alternatively, commandeer a much larger trailer and bring everything we wanted to bring, and have a customs broker handle the paperwork, which you need to anyway, even if you haul your own stuff. As it turned out, we brought little, much got damaged, and it cost a bundle. But we’re here, we are healthy and happy, and all that stuff was just that – STUFF.

Good luck with your menaje. Have a detailed list with serial numbers, invoices or receipts with purchase dates 6 months or older, all the official Mexican stamps and seals, get a customs broker beforehand, do everything legal, declare everything. Have some extra cash in your pocket, just in case. Cross your fingers. Take some deep breaths. Perhaps if I had offered cash BEFORE they unloaded our trailer…

--Amir

Here is a picture from our overnight stop in Loreto on the way to our final destination: Todos Santos.

Could they have been looking for the horses?

Quote:

Originally posted by bancoduo Could they have been looking for the horses?

I can laugh now, I'm over the trauma...
--Amir

amir, That looks a lot like my horse/u-haul trailer.

Amir,

Good luck to you with your chiropractic clinic.

I met the "gentleman" at the Consulate in Portland when I asked for an application/and or the proper paperwork to get my FM-3.

He is, frankly, a real creep. He told me I could not buy property in Mexico until I had the FM-3 in place. I already own two properties in Loreto.

I appreciate your honest appraisal of the menaje de casa process.......
your advice will be on my mind as I prepare my "stuff" for the road.

Elizabeth - getting back to the menaje....

I paid $2300 for a quarter semi load from Otay to La Paz two weeks ago. I know it's expensive. Plus, you would have the additional cost of shipping from SF area to Otay if you go the import/export route. Would I do it again? I'm not sure if the expense was worth it vs what it would have cost me to furnish new from stores in La Paz. The good thing is - I'm leaving for LP this Friday to setup my FINISHED (yeah!) casita after a year of construction. So, after all the hassle, money and delays, it's all good.

Stuff

Isn't amazing how our "stuff" dictates our life. I am downsizing in a huge way for my move, and it feels great , with every item shed I become a little more free.