BajaNomad

1 bad 1 good in Ensenada

jrbaja - 9-20-2004 at 06:42 PM

was the one that "snuck up" on you? Honesty is a pretty common thing amongst the Mexicans with just a few exceptions. Honest !:lol:

Mike Humfreville - 9-20-2004 at 06:49 PM

In my experience I've been helped far more than I've been taken advantage of.

Here's a story I've repeated many times but still true.

We were living in a hut, south end of Bahia de Los Angeles in 1974. My wife and I had come into the village for a fiesta. Late at night the wind came up, by the time we left it was very dark and blowing hard. My wife dropped her purse and the funds for our entipe year-long trip blew away in the west wind. We were 100 feet from the water.

Folks saw our situation and scrambled, grabbing for the almost invisible $100 bills. Within 2 minutes they had collected all they could find and given them back to us. Out of $1900 we got back $1600. Against all odds, the villagers has spotted and retrieved almost all of our money. I'd bet some lucky fisherfolk were considering themselves blessed the next day when they motored up to a $100 bill floating atop the Sea of Cortez.

Like I said, it's my old story but ever so true.

my vacation would have been gone

Keri - 9-20-2004 at 07:39 PM

. I left my wallet in the KFC in Ensenada at the counter. My daughter and I had gone down the night before we were to leave on vacation . We wanted cold fried chicken for our trip so Kfc sounded good. We got back home and there was a call from KFC mamagement that I had left my wallet there. I had all our vacation money in it $1000 . We went back to pick it up expecting all the money to be gone. It was all there and they would not take any reward money. so my daughter and I went to the DAX store and the bakery and filled 2 giant shopping bags full of goodies and took it back to the KFC. We put it on the counter and told the manager it was for all the workers and Thanked them very much again for saving our vacation. This is the norm not the exception. k:spingrin::bounce::tumble:

A-OK - 9-20-2004 at 09:00 PM

My friend and I buzzed up the beach from Percebu to San Felipe and stopped in for some fish tacos and a cold one at the malecon. While puting back on my riding gear I left my wallet on the table. We were all the way back to the house when I found it missing. I raced back and prepared for the worst scenario since that was the first day of our vacation and pulled up to the taco shop. The waiter came over and handed me my wallet before I could remove my helmet. It had everything in it. I tryed to offer him $60 but he refused any reward.

I have also been bit a few times in Baja as well, but that usually had to do with Federalies and crooked wanna be cops.
I am more comfortable down south than I am in general up here.

Dave - 9-21-2004 at 08:03 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hose A
I lost gas every Thursday for weeks


Ever heard of locking gas caps?;)

Hose A

jrbaja - 9-21-2004 at 08:59 AM

I am extremely envious of your catching them.:O:lol:

That's beautiful !

jrbaja - 9-21-2004 at 10:46 AM

Too bad you weren't using a 30-06 to hobble around with. :lol:

Me No - 9-21-2004 at 11:35 AM

The only times I have been ripped off in the last four months that I have rented a house in Baja is by the gringos.

synch - 9-21-2004 at 11:41 AM

Is the "mistaken change counting" a typical gas station rip-off?

In order to prevent it would you prefer not filling up but just purchasing by price, say 200 pesos worth?

Only by the dishonest ones.

jrbaja - 9-21-2004 at 11:59 AM

Which is one of the reasons I always suggest using pesos rather than dollars.
Here's the deal. They will have some of your change in one hand and the rest in the other. If you are not aware of the exchange rate, you are doomed anyway. And if you are unfamiliar with pesos and mathematically challenged, they will hand you the first handful as if it's a done deal. They will then watch your face.
Now, it's up to you to read the pump, see how much you originally gave him, and what the change is.
Generally, just the look of "where's the rest" will recover all of it.
I think these guys are counting on the education we gringos received in public education in the states!:lol:
And who are the dummies ?:light:

elgatoloco - 9-21-2004 at 12:03 PM

I always just pull up and tell them 400 pesos worth, please. :saint:

synch - 9-21-2004 at 01:53 PM

Just what I thought!
Seems like the smart way to prevent getting change.

Exact peso order.....

Hook - 9-21-2004 at 02:15 PM

...is fine IF you are only driving short distances. But if you are intent on squeezing every possible drop in your tank as you depart from El Rosario to, say, Gonzaga or G.N. and you're towing something, it isnt practical.

mcgyver - 9-21-2004 at 02:28 PM

To avoid all the trouble you must do as jr baja has said: learn pesos, know the exchange rate, watch the pump. learn to count in Spanish, at least up to twenty, preferabably 100.
Hook I have the careless habit of shoving bills and credit cards into a shirt pocket, three times I have been stopped by a Mexican in Baja and the bills I dropped returned. Don't know how many were not but when I dropped a ten in Walmart a guy grabbed it and ran!
BTW did anyone see the report that a store clerk took a 200 dollar bill with Kerrys picture on it and gave them 100 in change??

Dave - 9-21-2004 at 02:29 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by jrbaja
Which is one of the reasons I always suggest using pesos rather than dollars.
Here's the deal. They will have some of your change in one hand and the rest in the other. If you are not aware of the exchange rate, you are doomed anyway. And if you are unfamiliar with pesos and mathematically challenged, they will hand you the first handful as if it's a done deal. They will then watch your face.
Now, it's up to you to read the pump, see how much you originally gave him, and what the change is.
Generally, just the look of "where's the rest" will recover all of it.
I think these guys are counting on the education we gringos received in public education in the states!:lol:
And who are the dummies ?:light:



Oh, I get it. Blame the victim if he is dumb and/or mathematically challenged.

Intent to defraud is a criminal act, not a cute parlor trick.

Fleecing dumb gringos is not the kind of publicity Mexico needs. Station operators who are aware of this scam should fire employees who use it.

JESSE - 9-21-2004 at 02:36 PM

Unless your in a pueblo somewhere in Baja, you need to be careful with your things and the way you do business here, theres plenty of Mexican thieves around to take advantage of those that arent to careful.

Baja is no longer full of Baja Californians, every year theres more and more people from the mainland, and many of those people arent here to make an honest living, watch your back.

Or perhaps

jrbaja - 9-21-2004 at 02:37 PM

learn yer Gazintas!:lol:

marla - 9-21-2004 at 05:27 PM

Personally I have found scrupulously honest Americans and scrupulously honest Mexicans, dishonest Americans and dishonest Mexicans. The only differnece to me is when the Mexicans have been honest or dishonest it usually involved a sum of money that was nothing to me and vast to them.

Caveat Emptor

MrBillM - 9-21-2004 at 08:15 PM

I learned my lessons at a tender age when I would go to Caliente Race Track in Tijuana
with my Dad. I was about 10-12 and he would give me his winning tickets to cash at the
window. I think it gave him a kick that they would cash tickets for an obviously underage
kid. It also allowed him to sit on his ass and drink. Anyway, I was warned from the first
time that the cashier would try to short me. Sure enough, the common trick was to count
out MOST of the winning quickly and then stop. If you looked at him waiting for the rest,
he would continue.

It is a lesson that has served me well for 45+ years. During that time, aside from a few
incidents in Mexican Bordellos in my youth, 99 percent of the questionable transactions
have been at Gas Stations, especially at unmetered locations or when paying in dollars.
I haven't paid for gas in other than pesos for the last 10 or more years, the only except-
ion has been at the self-serve pumps in San Felipe with a posted exchange rate. Even
then, I always pay for an amount that I am sure won't require change.

On the other hand, I have had many pleasant experiences with local shopkeepers who
could have kept some of my change without my knowing it.

synch - 9-22-2004 at 08:14 AM

mcgyver wrote:
"Hook I have the careless habit of shoving bills and credit cards into a shirt pocket, three times I have been stopped by a Mexican in Baja and the bills I dropped returned. Don't know how many were not but when I dropped a ten in Walmart a guy grabbed it and ran!

Note to self:
Follow mcgyver around Wal-Mart and watch the floor behind him

Peso - Dollars

bajalou - 9-22-2004 at 11:51 AM

I make it a policy to always have pesos and pay for everything - everywhere in Mexico with pesos. The only exception is some tourist places when the price is quoted in dollars, then I pay with dollars and request my change in dollars. While there is a bank rate of exchange, each merchant is entitled to use whatever he wants if he has to exchange money. One gas station attendent told me that insisted they use a really bad dollar-to-peso rate as a way of maximizing profits. He didn't like it but he just worked there.
I too have had more good experiances with lost items in Mex than ever in the US.

:biggrin:

Advice for Moms......

Debra - 9-22-2004 at 12:11 PM

I most often travel with just myself and young son (this last trip 5yr. old GD also)....so, as you know doing the Math, watching the pump and the kids is not always an easy task.....I always jump out with a calculator in hand, I pretend to watch the pump (push numbers, I have really no idea which...my thoughts are on the children) when I get back in the car I really do the Math...I can say I've never been ripped off (that I know of, :biggrin:)

These are the kind of stories

jrbaja - 9-22-2004 at 12:20 PM

by people that actually spend a LOT of time down here, that you will never see in any u.s. fishwrap publications.:light:
I have truly been amazed at a lot of the misinformation printed for public viewing and knowledge, or lack thereof, of actual facts regarding Mexico by u.s. jounalists both in l.a. and sand iego.
But, I do have to thank these guys for keeping so many people baffled with BS for such a long time:lol:

OK...We're at the GN checkpoint........

The Sculpin - 9-23-2004 at 08:49 AM

and for some reason, this stop is especially "thorough". The guys look at everything in the truck and the trailer. I even have to take duffles out of the truck in order for them to look both in the duffles and where the duffles were. They even wanted the dog out of her kennel! By now, there are about 12 cars behind us, and the spray guys in front are wondering if they should start their break. Oh, and it's dusk. Finally, the boys in green are satisfied, and they tell us to go on our way. I hasitily throw everything in the truck (dog included), get sprayed, and scidaddle into GN to look for a hotel room. As we're approaching the Y, this guy behind me in a car approaches fast with his brights flashing. Can't pull over, so I slow down and wave to him to pass, and he doesn't move. As we approach the town, I pull to the side a little bit, and he STILL doesn't pass me. I look more carefully, and he's not policia, so now I'm confused. I keep going, and pull into the El Morro. He follows me in real close, so now I'm getting a liitle peeed off. I tell the family to stay in the car, and I get out, prepared to have it out in front of the Officina in front of all these people who are trying to book a room. As I'm getting out, I see he's getting out too, and the look on his face is not friendly. He looks at me, and then reaches into the back seat of his car. I'm starting to freak out but keeping a real firm stance...getting ready for god knows what?!?!?...I now notice that his wife is in the passenger seat, and she's got this "what a dumb gringo" look on her face....I look back at him, and see that he is taking one of MY duffle bags out of his back seat!! He looks at me, throws the bag at my chest, calls me a pendejo, jumps in his car, and screeches away!!!!!! WOW!!!

After that, it was off to the mallarimo for a couple of margs to settle down.........

Never can tell when you'll be hit with kindess!!!

WELCOME SCULPIN!

David K - 9-23-2004 at 08:31 PM

... and your first post on Nomad is a good one!! Good to see you here amigo!

JESSE - 9-23-2004 at 08:35 PM

Great story!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pendejo

synch - 9-24-2004 at 07:35 AM

We all know "pendejo" is not a term of endearment (chuckle) but what does it literally mean?
Thanks

JESSE - 9-24-2004 at 09:50 PM

Pendejo=Dumba**