dddelrio
Newbie
Posts: 1
Registered: 8-17-2005
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Club Cantamar SCUBA Diving Rip Off
: I just spent a week at Cantamar in La Paz. The diving was great but when I paid with my credit card they charged almost 10 percent more than the
rates posted on the internet. Then they said it is the banks fault but the hotel just converts the dollars at an outrageous exchange rate - and then
tried to blame the bank which actually used a very good rate.
: Cantamar says this is normal but I lived in Mexico for 3 years and this is a very shady and unscrupulous practice.
: In addition, they would ask for a surcharge of 20 dollars to take us to special dive sites but then pack the boat with up to 20 non-divers.
: My advice after diving in Cozumel, Aruba, Curacao, Bahamas, Bay Islands and Costa Rica is go to another dive shop and hotel -- by the way their
hotel is a 20 dollar cab ride from the town of La Paz so they hit you up for every little thing you need.
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rpleger
Super Nomad
Posts: 1087
Registered: 3-12-2005
Location: H. Mulegé, BCS
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Mood: Was good.
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Thanks for the tip.
Richard on the Hill
*ABROAD*, adj. At war with savages and idiots. To be a Frenchman abroad is to
be miserable; to be an American abroad is to make others miserable.
-- Ambrose Bierce, _The Enlarged Devil\'s Dictionary_
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Bruce R Leech
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6796
Registered: 9-20-2004
Location: Ensenada formerly Mulege
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Mood: A lot cooler than Mulege
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the Banks here in Mexico charge a very high percentage rate to buy or pay anything with your card. it can run as high as 8 to 14 % this is why most
stores and a lot of other business don't except them. we have 3 or 4 hotels here in Mulege that except cards and all charge the extra. one I believe
is 12%. you get the Bank exchange rate of the bank that Owens the machine at the business where you are making your perches when you use the card.
so I really don't think you got riped off. I think you just didn't understand how things work here in Mexico.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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Diver
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4729
Registered: 11-15-2004
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Thanks for the tip Bruce.
Seems like getting pesos at the cash machine, bank or Bruce may be the best way to ensure you're paying what you think. Sounds like the hotel/diving
had some other problems as well.
A few years ago we stayed on the Malecon and arranged a few days of diving through a La Paz dive shop . The 22' Panga was all ours (4 divers) and we
had a blast. Wish I could remember the name of the place ???
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Ken Bondy
Ultra Nomad
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Registered: 12-13-2002
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Mood: Mellow
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dddelrio
That's very disappointing. The Club Cantamar is owned by the Aguilar family which has been an icon for diving in La Paz for many years (Baja Diving
and Service). I have never been to their Club Cantamar hotel, but I have dived with them many times through their shop and always found them
competent and honest. I wonder how active they are in actually running the hotel? Sorry you had a bad experience with them. Did you get out to El
Bajo? If so how is it looking these days?
++Ken++
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CortezExplorers
Junior Nomad
Posts: 37
Registered: 3-17-2006
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Bruce R Leech
the Banks here in Mexico charge a very high percentage rate to buy or pay anything with your card. it can run as high as 8 to 14 % this is why most
stores and a lot of other business don't except them.
so I really don't think you got riped off. I think you just didn't understand how things work here in Mexico. |
This is all very true, however, speaking as a business owner, we encounter the same problem; the solution - Build the CC percentage charge into your
initial pricing, then if a customer pays with cash, offer the percentage as a discount -
everyone is happy and all expectations have been met.
regards
matthew
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