BajaNomad - Beware, Palapa guy rip-off

Beware, Palapa guy rip-off

hdn2mx - 3-28-2010 at 02:15 PM

I don't like to post negative posts but this may help someone in the future.

If your in the Todos Santos / Pescadero region BCS read on.

I hired a local guy from Pescadero named Conacho who builds and works on Palapas. Long story short, he told me how he would perform a minor repair and replace the net I had on my palapa roof and basically ripped me off. He barely started the job then bailed.

He has worked for me before, 10 years ago, mas y menos, but this time he choose to take the money and run. I paid him half to get started and that was it.

If you own property down in that area, I'd avoid using him. He also did not provide the repair that he said he would do. Very shotty work and dishonest in my opinion.

FYI only, RT in Pescadero, BCS

capt. mike - 3-28-2010 at 02:36 PM

i have to laugh at all these stories of similar theme...
why did you pay him a dime in advance?? :no:

1st rule in contracting....never pay up front.

KAT54 - 3-28-2010 at 02:36 PM

Is not this common in baja?
Someone starts then quits?
Did he bid too low?

DENNIS - 3-28-2010 at 02:39 PM

If buying material was involved, it's customary to put up the money for that in advance.

noproblemo2 - 3-28-2010 at 02:43 PM

Another idea on materials, order them yourself instead of giving money to a contractor. Has worked well for us this way.

DENNIS - 3-28-2010 at 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by noproblemo2
Another idea on materials, order them yourself instead of giving money to a contractor. Has worked well for us this way.

Of course. Seems someone had a weak moment.
That's no excuse for the scumbag thief though. I hope this exposé costs him a lot of work.

noproblemo2 - 3-28-2010 at 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

Originally posted by noproblemo2
Another idea on materials, order them yourself instead of giving money to a contractor. Has worked well for us this way.

Of course. Seems someone had a weak moment.
That's no excuse for the scumbag thief though. I hope this exposé costs him a lot of work.

I hope it costs him dearly for what he has done.........

vandy - 3-28-2010 at 04:24 PM

C'mon RT! I thought you must know how things are done down here.

You're supposed to pay DOUBLE the estimate in advance and wait for your change when they are through. :biggrin:

larryC - 3-28-2010 at 04:29 PM

Good one Vandy.
Nice to see that things are the same down there. The first rule I learned was never, ever, never pay in advance. The first time I broke the rule, I got burned. Sorry to hear about your adventure.
Larry

arrowhead - 3-28-2010 at 04:41 PM

This thread cannot end until monoloco implicates the wide-spread corruption in the US for causing Conacho to make off with the money. :smug:

DianaT - 3-28-2010 at 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
If buying material was involved, it's customary to put up the money for that in advance.

And with certain people we know well and trust, we will pay for everything up front and have work done while we are gone.

But certainly not with everyone----

hdn2mx, it is a real shame as it sounds like you knew him. :no:

bajalorena - 3-28-2010 at 08:44 PM

Over our 16 years living here, we have found that the most common procedure is to pay some to start, for materials. Sometimes it is half, sometimes less. Lots of contractors cannot bear the burden of material upfront. Only once in that time did we ever get burned, and the worker brought the materials and then never came back. So we just hired someone else, and already had the materials to work with.
It is never a sound idea to pay everything upfront. You probably wouldn't do that in the US, why would you do it here?

DENNIS - 3-28-2010 at 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajalorena
Only once in that time did we ever get burned, and the worker brought the materials and then never came back. So we just hired someone else, and already had the materials to work with.

I wouldn't call that getting burned. I'd say the guy treated you right unless you paid everything up front.

[Edited on 3-29-2010 by DENNIS]

DianaT - 3-28-2010 at 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajalorena

It is never a sound idea to pay everything upfront. You probably wouldn't do that in the US, why would you do it here?

You are correct that we would not pay in total up front in the US. However, in our village in Baja we sometimes do. Why? Well sometimes we know the person we are hiring needs food, or to pay their phone bill, or something else. So we pay, we leave, and it is done when we return.

But, we would not do it with everyone---some have a little trouble with keeping track of what has been paid to them. :biggrin:

DENNIS - 3-28-2010 at 09:11 PM

Interesting story......

A few years back, I had a buddy who wanted a three wheeled car built from a motorcycle. He hired a builder right here in Punta Banda.
First of each month he would give the builder more money toward the project even though progress was slow....very slow.
Finally, the builder had to tell my bud to quit giving him money because when the project was completed, he wouldn't receive payment as it was already paid for.
There had to be a reward at completion or doing the job made no sense to the builder. The fact that he had already been paid was irrelavant at that point.

Weird....huh.

hdn2mx - 3-28-2010 at 10:11 PM

I hear all you dawgs barking.
Most all of the work I've had done down there was through people I knew or friends of friends. And almost always I paid half up front for materials and never had a problem.
Unfortunately I knew this guy, paid him half for materials, and basically he disappeared until I left. The work was supposed to be completed while I was there. Still no sign of Conacho.
Basically just a FYI, if you live or own property down around Pescadero, some of the workers down there have gotten caught up in drugs, I'm not sure if that is Conacho's story or not, I'll find out when I return and look him up. I just thought I'd pass on the info for a heads up to any one in the area.
RT

durrelllrobert - 3-29-2010 at 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
Interesting story......

..... a reward at completion or doing the job made no sense to the builder.
Weird....huh.

BUILDER is the proper terminolgy for anyone that does work for you - CONTRACTOR which has meaning in US but not in Mexicoshould not be used (unless proceeded by "self-proclaimed")

monoloco - 3-29-2010 at 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by arrowhead
This thread cannot end until monoloco implicates the wide-spread corruption in the US for causing Conacho to make off with the money. :smug:

Canacho probably split for California where he can make more money working illegally at A-head's house while collecting welfare and food stamps. :lol:

Mexitron - 3-29-2010 at 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS
Interesting story......

A few years back, I had a buddy who wanted a three wheeled car built from a motorcycle. He hired a builder right here in Punta Banda.
First of each month he would give the builder more money toward the project even though progress was slow....very slow.
Finally, the builder had to tell my bud to quit giving him money because when the project was completed, he wouldn't receive payment as it was already paid for.
There had to be a reward at completion or doing the job made no sense to the builder. The fact that he had already been paid was irrelavant at that point.

Weird....huh.

Not weird at all...I'm a landscape contractor and there's no motivation better for getting the job finished than to have a nice fat check at the end of the job. For a larger company where the workforce is separate from the accounting it doesn't matter so much but when its just you doing the work its a good carrot on a stick!

bajalorena - 3-29-2010 at 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS

Quote:

I wouldn't call that getting burned. I'd say the guy treated you right unless you paid everything up front.

[Edited on 3-29-2010 by DENNIS]

Ok, I guess we didn't get "burned", poor choice of words.
In that case, we paid for the materials, he delivered them, and when he didn't show up for over a month to do the work, we hired someone else to do the job.

durrelllrobert - 3-31-2010 at 11:25 AM

Quote:

Canacho probably split for California where he can make more money working illegally at A-head's house while collecting welfare and food stamps. :lol:

heard he was hospitalized on Orange County:http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh37/durrellrobert/bennyhill.jpg
:lol:

[Edited on 3-31-2010 by durrelllrobert]

dtutko1 - 3-31-2010 at 04:08 PM

I had quite a bit of work completed by local builders/contractors this winter in Pescadero. In all cases i had to put up $ for materials. I had very little problems with any. Very good quality work. I did have to get used to the work happening on Mexican time. If anyone in the Pescadero needs a gate or metal doors, I would highly recommend Ramon Hernandez. He lives and works at the house just south of the entrance to Rancho Pescadero.

hdn2mx - 3-31-2010 at 09:03 PM

Hey Don, Hows things going down there?
The concrete pad at Chicken Point looks great!
It's Ron Thompson, RT talking at ya, your brothers friend.
Super Bowl Sunday Palapa...remember?
When do you head back north?
RT

wilderone - 4-17-2010 at 07:54 AM

Is what he did a crime? report him for theft. go to his house and demand your money back.

Thanks for the help!

hdn2mx - 4-24-2010 at 05:19 PM

Regarding my original post, a friend of a friend read the post in Pescadero, printed it out and read it to Conacho who is his neighbor in Pescadero.
I end up getting an updated cell number and hopefully Conacho will make good on his work. Time will tell.

I quess the bottom line is posting on the Nomad or any where else for that matter can definitely be helpful.

Thanks again for reading and passing on the info.

RT in Pescadero, BCS (Todos Santos area)

tiotomasbcs - 4-24-2010 at 05:43 PM

I think Kanacho is living on your money & squatting on your property?! Think of it as an investment!! New family, kids, grandkids, goats, scrap metal, etc. Good looking daughters!! Welfare, Mexican Style. Beer, lots of beer, more beer, is the drug. Gotta go, hear there's birria this weekend. Tio