BornFisher
Super Nomad
Posts: 2120
Registered: 1-11-2005
Location: K-38 Santa Martha/Encinitas
Member Is Online
|
|
Whoaaaa.. Rip Off Attempt TJ Airport (Parking Garage)!!!
I`m not talking about a real bandito, but the bandita at the pay booth at the TJ airport. I mean the exchange rate is close to 14 to 1 right now, my
tab for 6 days was 978 pesos. I asked how much in dollars, and she moved the decimal over one and wrote $97 (as in dollars). Luckily I had the pesos,
but beware and ALWAYS have pesos!!
BTW-- She was peeed off when I actually had the pesos!!! Oh yeah....... at 13 to one it`s about $75!!
Whoooops-------- meant to say this was the parking garage!
[Edited on 6-29-2012 by BornFisher]
|
|
|
Alm
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2747
Registered: 5-10-2011
Member Is Offline
|
|
Pretty common trick in Baja. Get used to it. Another one that they have up their sleeve is - "no change", though usually in smaller businesses. Or
they give you change in pesos at the rate 1:10, when the price was originally quoted in $US (ex. camp fee), and paid for in $US.
|
|
|
Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8813
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Full Time Residents
|
|
wait a minute...do you take pesos in the usa...
i didn't think so...
if you take dollars to mexico...then it is what it is...
exchange money at the border before you cross
|
|
|
motoged
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6481
Registered: 7-31-2006
Location: Kamloops, BC
Member Is Offline
Mood: Gettin' Better
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob and Susan
wait a minute...do you take pesos in the usa...
i didn't think so...
if you take dollars to mexico...then it is what it is...
exchange money at the border before you cross |
Really !!!!!
BF,
You aren't in Kansas any more...
Don't believe everything you think....
|
|
|
Alm
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2747
Registered: 5-10-2011
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Bob and Susan
wait a minute...do you take pesos in the usa... |
If places like San Ysidro you consider the "usa", then I would think so. Tijuana is a border town. Along Canadian border you will often find that both
$USA and $CAN are accepted in retail services on either side of the border. When businesses choose to accept the other currency in such situations as
a courtesy to customers, the rate is somewhere at 80-90%. At 70% it doesn't look nice. Perhaps a Mexican version of "courtesy"  ... Though, in these economic downturn I wouldn't be surprised, they are trying to
squeeze as much as possible out of fewer gringos, to make up for lost profits.
|
|
|
Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
Member Is Offline
|
|
In-Airport Exchange Kiosk
Is there not an exchange kiosk located within the TJ Airport?
There are in other international airports throughout the world.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
|
|
|
BornFisher
Super Nomad
Posts: 2120
Registered: 1-11-2005
Location: K-38 Santa Martha/Encinitas
Member Is Online
|
|
OK here`s the deal--- The exchange rate has been near 14 to 1 lately. The kiosk in TJ was near 13 to 1, not too bad. The kiosk in Los Cabos was 11 to
1 (rip off).
I don`t mind getting getting a lower exchange rate as long as it is near 10%. But when it is near 30%, at the airport garage, I just want to warn
others. Not complaining here, just a heads up to others who may park long term. I had the pesos so no real problem, and I think you could pay with a
credit card which would help. But again-- that bandita thought she had me by the gonads, and peeed me off!!
|
|
|
RnR
Senior Nomad
Posts: 839
Registered: 5-1-2010
Member Is Offline
|
|
Or, she could easily divide by 10 but didn't have a calculator to divide by 13 or 14 .......
|
|
|
BornFisher
Super Nomad
Posts: 2120
Registered: 1-11-2005
Location: K-38 Santa Martha/Encinitas
Member Is Online
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by RnR
Or, she could easily divide by 10 but didn't have a calculator to divide by 13 or 14 ....... |
Or she could have easily asked me to divide by 13 or 14 and I would have been happy to do that. She got a little greedy on me, that`s all.
Gas stations post the exchange rate. But the parking garage at the TJ airport does not. So just a heads up here.
|
|
|
Alm
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2747
Registered: 5-10-2011
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by BornFisher
She got a little greedy on me, that`s all. |
Now you got it right.
| Quote: | Originally posted by BornFisher
Gas stations post the exchange rate. |
Because gas stations have other ways to rip you off - giving less gas for example. In some places they might also give you a lesser grade of gas than
you paid for, don't know if this applies to Baja Norte.
[Edited on 6-30-2012 by Alm]
|
|
|
Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8813
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
Member Is Offline
Mood: Full Time Residents
|
|
you misunderstand taking dollars in mexico
if they take them at all its a courtesy
when you are a vendor and take dollars
you can ONLY exchange a limited amount each month
without incuring a tax
this avoids laundring
the bank rate yesterday 6-29-2012 was 12.99 NOT 14
|
|
|
DavidE
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3814
Registered: 12-1-2003
Location: Baja California México
Member Is Offline
Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
|
|
Not a rip off...
PREMIUM UBA gasoline is presently just five cents US per gallon more than MAGNA. My little car with the cranky 3.0 Mitsubishi 3.0 V-6 seems to love
premium.
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
|
|
|
Marc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2802
Registered: 5-15-2010
Location: San Francisco & Palm Springs
Member Is Offline
Mood: Waiting
|
|
Nowadays I get my Pesos right here in San Francisco.
|
|
|
BornFisher
Super Nomad
Posts: 2120
Registered: 1-11-2005
Location: K-38 Santa Martha/Encinitas
Member Is Online
|
|
| Quote: |
the bank rate yesterday 6-29-2012 was 12.99 NOT 14 |
There was a bank across the street from the Marriott. The rate went from 13.88 (6/22) up to 14.05 then up to 14.08, then back down to 13.8 or so. I
came home on 6/27. The rate was NOT 12.99 but closer to 14!
|
|
|
BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13237
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
Member Is Offline
|
|
I appreciate being given a heads up - that way you can choose to either pay up in dollars at a lousy rate or be prepared with pesos ! thanks for the
info.
It is true that banks here down south are making it harder and harder to do dollar transactions in order to prevent laundering. In the end it just
hurts that little guys in business.
|
|
|
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
