| Pages:
1
2 |
Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline
|
|
The Cheating Line
The Cheating Line
Some of this has appeared here before as bits and pieces of our Baja experience so please forgive the duplication. I was 58 and my wife was 54 when we
retired, bought a house in Baja Sur 20 years ago. We both had worked in the insurance business in the west. Not being an Alpha (or even a beta) male I
just muddled through the buying and moving process; paid $25k U.S. for a house, crawled through the closing and bank trust process, stumbled through
the moving, visas, etc. just by doing what we were told to do by various regulators and advisors.
Can’t remember having any serious problems we couldn’t climb over or any really intractable people we couldn’t deal with. The place we bought was less
than a fixer-upper – it had all the charm and character of a haunted outhouse but the price was right and after another $11k of fixing we had a
livable place (a new bodega, new plumbing and electrical, a big concrete pila and 200 feet of decorative concrete walls and gates for security).
Before the remodel was finished we were taken advantage of, cheated by some local Mexicans. It stands out in our minds even today because it was the
one and only time we had a problem.
As the new wall was going up, a pleasant little Mexican man with an orange van full of smiling kids stopped by to let us know he sold plastic
household wares from his house in the village – he gave us a little hand drawn map to his house. A few days later we went there to buy a plastic
garbage tub, tambo grande. He wasn’t at home but two of his many kids (not yet school age I suppose) were left to watch the place and they showed us
his living room/warehouse full of plastic houseware. I found the tambo I needed and asked the price. The girl, the taller of the pair, said “Ochenta
pesos.” I had the exact change and handed it to her and we turned to leave. They disappeared behind a blanket hung like a door into another room
while we heard yips and screams and laughter from the kids.
Back at the house I found out what the yips were all about. On the bottom of the bin was a price sticker marked 60 pesos.
So I guess that’s my warning to you about Mexico. You can’t be too careful or you’ll be cheated at every turn. If it happened to us, it could happen
to you. Out of defference to Soulpatch I will throw in with him to say buying a home in Mexico is not for everyone. The scary part for me is that
after reading his family’s blogs it makes me shake and quiver at the thought of those millions of Mexico’s new immigrants from the U.S. and the rest
of the globe who were afraid to buy, afraid of being cheated, who still come, who still live here (with millions more coming) in rentals, while facing
all the bad things that happen to good people when they rent or lease on this side of the “Cheating line”, the U.S. Mexican border.
|
|
|
woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15939
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
Member Is Offline
Mood: Everchangin'
|
|
thanks for the warning!
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64755
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
There is a price then there is a Gringo price... In Hawaii, the same thing but it is called a Haolie price!
|
|
|
Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline
|
|
David, are there two prices at stores, banks, gas stations, markets, two prices for beer and spuds and TVs and cars and etc? You another one who
thinks he begins to get cheated just after he crosses the U.S. border from north to south? Et tu, Daveeed!
I suppose you would want a Mexican cementero, handyman, auto mechanic to charge the same to some almost starving Mexican neighbor as he would ask of
any foreigner if you really hold that in your heart enough to air it here.
WTF?, over.
[Edited on 5-5-2014 by Osprey]
[Edited on 5-5-2014 by Osprey]
|
|
|
MMc
Super Nomad
Posts: 1679
Registered: 6-29-2011
Member Is Offline
Mood: Current
|
|
I love the way you put the spin on things, thanks Osprey
"Never teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and annoys the pig" - W.C.Fields
|
|
|
CortezBlue
Super Nomad
Posts: 2213
Registered: 11-14-2006
Location: Fenix/San Phelipe
Member Is Offline
|
|
I also think that most Mexicans, expect, to bargain. I have always found, even if the price is acceptable, you always have to offer less. I think it
is built into the culture.
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”
- Albert Einstein
Follow Cortez Blue
www.cortezblue.com
We put the FUNK in disFUNKtion |
|
|
KaceyJ
Nomad
Posts: 391
Registered: 10-7-2011
Location: there
Member Is Offline
|
|
Osprey ,
I like your twisted honesty
Me thinks you and/or Pompano could make up the Sam L. Clemens of bcs.
|
|
|
Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline
|
|
Blue, I think you got Mexico confused with Bangladesh. Mexicans in my part of Baja think that gringos who want to haggle are simply cheap barrateros,
not those visitors or new neighbors who are trying to fit in.
|
|
|
Marc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2802
Registered: 5-15-2010
Location: San Francisco & Palm Springs
Member Is Offline
Mood: Waiting
|
|
My Spanish born father spoke Spanish with a distinct Castilian accent. That made him even more of a target. Mexicans hate Spaniards.
|
|
|
Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline
|
|
Thanks Lencho, I shouldn't be so surprised and disappointed by the fear and loathing sometimes thrown around on this board with the very real rainbow
of ways people perceive Baja and its people. With well over 8,000 members now on the forum, I still bristle over how wide the spectrum is; how does
one square trip reports by Nomads who make all of us proud by their appreciation of the culture, by the depth of their kindness (and that returned)
and friendship with new acquaintance, with endless threads about bear spray and ways to maim or kill imagined robbers and murderers waiting in the
shadows?
How can one balance the countless online mags and blogs and newsletters from those happily hunkered down in Baja and Mexico with all the talk of
"Don't buy anything, bla bla bla" "Never do this, never to that, always get an attorney, lock your car, lock your house, lock your heart, etc?"
|
|
|
bajalearner
Senior Nomad
Posts: 670
Registered: 8-24-2010
Location: Tijuana
Member Is Offline
Mood: in search of more
|
|
That's the nature of "business". Starting when Adam sold Eve some overpriced vodka so she could make a c-cktail.  And continuing
when Eve sold Adam an overpriced apple-tini 
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64755
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Osprey
David, are there two prices at stores, banks, gas stations, markets, two prices for beer and spuds and TVs and cars and etc? You another one who
thinks he begins to get cheated just after he crosses the U.S. border from north to south? Et tu, Daveeed!
I suppose you would want a Mexican cementero, handyman, auto mechanic to charge the same to some almost starving Mexican neighbor as he would ask of
any foreigner if you really hold that in your heart enough to air it here.
WTF?, over.
[Edited on 5-5-2014 by Osprey]
[Edited on 5-5-2014 by Osprey] |
You confuse my observation as being some kind of approval for the two price system, it isn't. I am just surprised you seem unaware of its existence,
that's all. It happens all over the world, I bet.
In Bahia de los Angeles maybe 12 years ago, I was charged a price for a tire repair... the next customer (a Mexican) inquired the shop owner how much
for a tire repair and the owner (in Spanish) quoted him a lower price for the same thing. It is just a fact of life, I didn't feel insulted. Now, if I
lived there instead of being a tourist on a vacation, I would have a chat with him perhaps?
|
|
|
Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline
|
|
David, perfectly understandable. I would charge you more. More than, oh, I don't know, almost anybody. Bet you wouldn't irrigate your cousin's place
for the standard rate of a "phone in".
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64755
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
Cousin is not the same as countryman. Funny your comment... after I give so much for free to so many... happily, too.
As for my irrigation services, I have one price and it doesn't change if your home is in Rancho Santa Fe instead of Escondido.
|
|
|
msteve1014
Senior Nomad
Posts: 947
Registered: 12-2-2006
Member Is Offline
|
|
The trick is to drive down in your new pick up full of expensive toys, and then tell everyone you meet how poor you are while you haggle over a
dollar.
|
|
|
bajaguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9247
Registered: 9-16-2003
Location: Carson City, NV/Ensenada - Baja Country Club
Member Is Offline
Mood: must be 5 O'clock somewhere in Baja
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by msteve1014
The trick is to drive down in your new pick up full of expensive toys, and then tell everyone you meet how poor you are while you haggle over a
dollar. |
|
|
|
Martyman
Super Nomad
Posts: 1904
Registered: 9-10-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Osprey
David, perfectly understandable. I would charge you more. More than, oh, I don't know, almost anybody. Bet you wouldn't irrigate your cousin's place
for the standard rate of a "phone in". |
LOL!
|
|
|
monoloco
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6667
Registered: 7-13-2009
Location: Pescadero BCS
Member Is Offline
|
|
If it wasn't for cheating gringos the locals wouldn't own all those fancy cars and beachfront homes.
"The future ain't what it used to be"
|
|
|
MrBillM
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 21656
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Out and About
Member Is Offline
Mood: It's a Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Day
|
|
Caveat Emptor
Saves on the Whine.
Having been introduced to the Mexican way (at Agua Caliente among other places) as a young child traveling to TJ in the '50s, the
sharp manner of daily exchange was well-known long ago and I have NEVER been disappointed, unsettled or angry when
encountering the Expected.
I've always been surprised at those who were caught surprised.
|
|
|
Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
Member Is Offline
|
|
Once in Loreto 4 of us got two hotel rooms for a week, charged all our fishing trips, meals, booze, everything to the room. When we checked out the
bill was 1,780,000 pesos and I paid with a smile = $560 bucks of extended paradise meant cheap thrills, again, in a country I grew to love no matter
what the scam, the plan or the jam. Still feel the same.
|
|
|
| Pages:
1
2 |
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
