I had NO idea that CFE was so strict in its disconnection of services when you don't pay your electric bill.
My bill was a whopping 43 pesos, so I let it slide past its May 22 due date. I figured it was like my OOMSAPAS water bill, which I pay like every
three months.
Big mistake. I was camping at the beach and came back to no power. They only waited TWO DAYS to disconnect me. I had to go to San Jose del Cabo to
pay my bill and get my power turned on.
I found a nice note from my neighbor, who uses the freezer: "John, Power out. I took all your yellowfin tuna and gave it to everybody".
Thank goodness for great neighbors! I'm glad they remembered the wasabi too.
Still 103 in the shade during the day in El Chorro. The beach is nice and chilly by the water with an umbrella...seeya at the beachwoody with a view - 6-2-2009 at 05:23 PM
you owe your neighbor a beer. imagine the waste of perfectly good ahi!!!! unthinkable....
just hope that if there is ever a fire he doesn't start giving away all of your furnishings!!!!shari - 6-2-2009 at 07:06 PM
oh yeah...no friggin around when it comes to due dates on bills here...electricity or phones! Trick is to take the guy who cuts off the power out
fishing a couple times and when he is good and wasted...whisper in his ear a suggestion that he pass your place by when he is cutting off power...at
least till you get back from the beach!!!
I got caught by that little cultural difference too way back when and figured....awww, surely they wont cut it off....like in our country they give ya
a couple months at least. I guess the deal is that if a person who just gets by....gets behind in his/her bills...well, the chances of paying them off
are not good so they have to nip it in the bud right away. No pay...no play
[Edited on 6-3-2009 by shari]DianaT - 6-2-2009 at 07:12 PM
At least in our area, you can pre-pay the electric bill. We just keep a large enough deposit with the electric company that we do not worry about it
being cut off when we are in the states.
When they deliver the bill, it shows how much has been deducted from our deposit.
Sapa has promised up they will not cut off our water. Yes, with them, we have paid a late fee---less than 3 pesos.LB - 6-2-2009 at 07:31 PM
Yes they are STRICT , before we had a bank we made the trip to san jose
to pay. Now we can pay at the bank. Added a mailbox by the meters so they
would quit putting the bills under rocks which often blew away blew away! We have been so
close in paying a couple times that we tape the receipt to the meter so they
do not turn us off when they come. One time, CFE showed up and place a red tag ( sign of turn off) I ran out and found
I could pay him. Local bussiness people will pay for you for a fee ...but we been their and done
that!! We prepay when we leave at the main electric in San Jose, as we found the hard way that
the banks cannot take prepays. After hurricane John for 3 pesos they turned
us off, and the water contract becomes nil after 2 or 3 months and we had to start all
over again. We prepay the water, but had a worker that came and
turned the water on and left for days at a time. We were informed about
a 1,600.00 dollar water bill!! Live and learn. We are smarter now.Bajame - 6-2-2009 at 07:39 PM
They shut mine off at the last day posted on the bill, Then I found out it needed to paid before the date posted. DianaT - 6-2-2009 at 07:40 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by LB
We prepay when we leave at the main electric in San Jose, as we found the hard way that
the banks cannot take prepays.
I forgot that many of you pay your bill at the bank. Since we don't have a bank, we pay everything directly at the local CFE.fdt - 6-2-2009 at 07:41 PM
CFE (electric) bills have to be one of the easiest to pay, it is done online. you can check your bill and pay online or have it deducted from your
bank account. http://www.cfe.gob.mx/es/ServiciosEnLinea/LB - 6-2-2009 at 08:07 PM
Paying on line is great, if you choose to have a bank account in Mexico.
That depends on each situation. We choose not to as advised by our
tax attorney. Yes, if would be easier, buttttttttttttttttt..........oxxo - 6-2-2009 at 08:16 PM
I was cutoff by CFE in San Jose last year one month when my account was 20 pesos short! Lost a lot of food. But I learned my lesson the hard way and keep a large balance in my account now.Woooosh - 6-2-2009 at 08:25 PM
Not only do they cut you off on the exact date the bill is due in Rosarito- they physically remove the meter. Then you have to pay and wait for the
CFE guy to put it back on. After that happenned once- we set the bill up on auto-pay with the bank.
[Edited on 6-3-2009 by Woooosh]bajalou - 6-2-2009 at 08:36 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by LB
Paying on line is great, if you choose to have a bank account in Mexico.
That depends on each situation. We choose not to as advised by our
tax attorney. Yes, if would be easier, buttttttttttttttttt..........
Don't know about CFE but I pay Telnor online with US account.bajalorena - 6-2-2009 at 08:45 PM
Five years ago, we were shut off for being 8 pesos short. Our neighbor had keys and distributed arrachera and turkey to the local population. Needless
to say, when we visit the U.S., we leave a large deposit (anticipo) now.bajalorena - 6-2-2009 at 08:48 PM
Five years ago, we were shut off for being 8 pesos short. Our neighbor had keys and distributed arrachera and turkey to the local population. Needless
to say, when we visit the U.S., we leave a large deposit (anticipo) now.
cfe
noproblemo2 - 6-2-2009 at 10:42 PM
Our local mercado pays our utilities for us, for a dollar each bill, learned that after CFE cut us once.capt. mike - 6-3-2009 at 06:15 AM
it's a NO BRAINER.... used to happen to me at Mulege if i missed by even 2 days.....corte!!
so the fix was easy.....just pay extra when you pay, it is insurance and you have a credit acct - then they don't cut it. i just paid up an extra
month's worth when it was due.
when i get a place again i'll use on line bill pay tho, get a mexican acct.shari - 6-3-2009 at 07:18 AM
thanks for this thread...it is amazing this hasnt been discussed before and I often forget to mention that to people so this kind of information is
really usefull to recent residents.
We also have the cel phone # of the CFE guy here so we can just call him to come out in case of an emergency...which always happen on the weekend.
Last week, our meter was flaming and he came out and changed it for us.CaboRon - 6-3-2009 at 07:25 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by LB
Paying on line is great, if you choose to have a bank account in Mexico.
That depends on each situation. We choose not to as advised by our
tax attorney. Yes, if would be easier, buttttttttttttttttt..........
Even if you do not pay online, you can sign up on the CFE website and check your bill .....
That way if it blows away you still know how much you owe .LB - 6-3-2009 at 08:18 AM
The emergency number on the back of the bill 071 is a great number to use in
an emergency. We were out for 4 hours, I called and asked for english and got a
nice English speaking young man who informed me what was going on.
Telmex has a US pay online, which we use, and also have used the 800
customer service number which is on the Telmexusa site.karenintx - 6-3-2009 at 08:47 AM
We pay credit toward our CFE account a couple times a year then monitor our account online. So far there has never been a problem with any "monies"
disappearing!
Like "LB" reported, we too use TelMex USA. I watch the peso's rate on Yahoo Finance for a good exchange, then use our Capitol One C/C since there is
no International Exchange Commission Fee...sit back and monitor online.
Look forward to the day CFE has a USA program like TelMex USA.Woooosh - 6-3-2009 at 09:55 AM
A little off topic... but I found the people at CFE to be absolutley fantastic when a brown out nearly damaged everything elctornic and spolied food
(before I put in the battery back-ups and power modulators). After a two-minute check to verify my house was indeed impacted they offerred to pay for
anything damaged or ruined. They even checked back with me. I was blown away and really don't think San Diego Gas & Electrict customer service
could have handled the situation as well.
solar
mooose29 - 6-4-2009 at 12:44 PM
No monthly bill with solar and wind turbines. Of course that comes with its own set of issues, upfront cost and maintenance.
Lost a lot of food. But I learned my lesson the hard way and keep a large balance in my account now.