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First, if WalMart gave a rat's fanny about their customers, they could do something about aggressive car washers. It's their parking lot after all. A few years ago Soriana threw all the car washers off their property because several of them were drinking and hassling customers.

And haggling is only appropriate for car washers and tourist junk. Elsewhere it is rude and unacceptable. Please do not try to lower the prices on items in a tienda or from the berry people or any other small business. It only gives the rest of us a bad name.

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On ‎3‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 2:52 PM, AlanMexicali said:

Don´t call the pólice. Reporting it to police could cause a person much more than they bargained for with the type of people involved. Here is not NOB. IMO

 

22 hours ago, Jim Bowie said:

One of many survival skills one needs to learn in Mexico is that Mexicans do not just get "mad", they get "revenge". Bear that in mind in your dealings with them. Remember, less than 10% of those that commit a crime(and that includes murder) are ever charged and serve any jail time. This truly is NOT Kansas, Toto !

 

9 hours ago, Denise said:

I live in Florida and we will be retiring to Ajijic in June. I am sorry but it just seems that many of you are using terms like "them" "type of people" "those people" and "these people", I find that quite unsettling.

These scams happen everyday NOB and not just in parking lots, which everyone should know (either SOB or NOB) that you do not do business with anyone in parking lots. You especially do not agree to have anyone do a job for you and not get the price up front.

Also, are things that bad there that people fear "car washers" and are there criminals ( including murders) running rampant because Jim Bowie says only 10% of criminals are ever charged and go to jail?

Help, me understand what kind of place we are moving to because after reading majority of these posts , sounds like it is too unsafe to live there.

 

Denise, common sense is often left at the Border (if it ever was there) when people move to Mexico. But, Common Sense will serve you well in Mexico. Both Alan and Jim tell it how it is in Mexico, but you have a lot of Common Sense and I'm sure are always aware of your surroundings. Therefore, I doubt you will have many problems. Just remember, this is a Foreign Country and things and people are MUCH different than NOB. THAT can be both good and Bad.  Laws here have very little "teeth". Money talks. You can't live in fear, as some do, just live your life. :D

 

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I can't fathom handing 3500 pesos pesos to a car washer just because he asked for it. I'd have handed him 300 (about what a construction worker makes for humping 5 gallon pails of cement up a ladder all day, so more than generous for half an hour's work) and driven away.

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7 hours ago, MtnMama said:

First, if WalMart gave a rat's fanny about their customers, they could do something about aggressive car washers. It's their parking lot after all. A few years ago Soriana threw all the car washers off their property because several of them were drinking and hassling customers.

And haggling is only appropriate for car washers and tourist junk. Elsewhere it is rude and unacceptable. Please do not try to lower the prices on items in a tienda or from the berry people or any other small business. It only gives the rest of us a bad name.

MtnMama, I agree that you do not haggle with growers and tiendas, And I would expect that anybody would because their prices are more than reasonable if not low. But if you think that making a deal is only good for a car washers and trinket sellers.... that is  where I have to disagree with you. Just recently I had a guy at the door wanting to sharpen my knifes. OK, I wanted to give him some business but he wanted 500 pesos for each knife.(I am a gringa so maybe?)  I did not send him away. I offered him 200 pesos  for all my knifes ( 6) he counter offered 250 and I agreed. He did a good job and I told him to come back in a few months. Why this would be rude and unacceptable (in your words)?. There are many instances like that if you are dealing with local trades. You want to be hefpul or simply want their service but not any price. The reason why they ask these ridiculous amounts (in my opinion) is because many foreigners will pay .  I think at the end he was happy and I was OK with that as well. Is not it what a good business is all about???

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18 minutes ago, ned small said:

If anybody offered to sharpen 6 knives for more than 100 pesos,they would be knocking on the wrong door. It isn't rocket science and doesn't take long. You were both treated as know nothing foreigners.

LOL ,  There you go....and I always thought you were  generous "Ned" ;) He would take your 100 pesos but probably has a name for you.:-)  And it  includes the word "foreigner" within.

Cheers ...I am out of here. See you next winter.

 

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The "Name" would be "SMART"....100 pesos for 10 minutes work ..get real...plus, never let these thieves touch a high quality knife...they will ruin it.

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11 hours ago, mudgirl said:

I can't fathom handing 3500 pesos pesos to a car washer just because he asked for it. I'd have handed him 300 (about what a construction worker makes for humping 5 gallon pails of cement up a ladder all day, so more than generous for half an hour's work) and driven away.

Why would you pay 300 pesos for a crappy bucket job car wash when a wash and interior cleaning costs 80-90 pesos plus tip?

Best bet is to simply avoid these people.  That way your car finish won't get scratched from being "cleaned" with dirty water and rags.

 

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Tingting is absolutely right: EVERY one of us got taken upon our arrival in one way or another. That's why it still goes on. It is no different than being shaken down by a transito during your first months. Or finding out that some gas delivery trucks are pretty shady. We quickly learn. There is no point berating someone who has been fleeced.

Learning the value of the peso is key in all this. We have to train ourselves to not think in terms of dollar exchange rates. 20 years ago, a car wash on the street was 4 or 5 pesos. 13 years ago it was still under 10. The fact that it is 45 and over now is nuts. I refuse to pay more than 35, which is still insane for the amount of work involved. In fact, I generally just don't ever do it, and go to the car wash instead, where the water is clean and the work is better. It stopped being about "helping a poor guy out" a long time ago.

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Too many extranjeros here live in fear of saying "no" to a Mexican for fear that they will do harm to them or their property. They laugh it off as they got "taken" but many repeat the same process every time they have dealings with Mexicans. Some "disguise" it as a "tip" or just " giving something to the poor because we have a lot more than they do," or pay a lot more to maids and gardeners thinking they will not steal from them and will take care of their property better. If they find that you can be taken easily, they lose all respect for you and will continue to bleed you dry. I wouldn't live that way, but whatever make a person "happy".

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16 minutes ago, Hud said:

Too many extranjeros here live in fear of saying "no" to a Mexican for fear that they will do harm to them or their property. They laugh it off as they got "taken" but many repeat the same process every time they have dealings with Mexicans. Some "disguise" it as a "tip" or just " giving something to the poor because we have a lot more than they do," or pay a lot more to maids and gardeners thinking they will not steal from them and will take care of their property better. If they find that you can be taken easily, they lose all respect for you and will continue to bleed you dry. I wouldn't live that way, but whatever make a person "happy".

I have heard it many times in 37 years in Mexico: If you get ripped off or have your stuff stolen, example out of your yard/house/business/car, it is your fault for not taking care of your stuff properly. I feel the pólice and MP might have the same attitude.

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What bothers me is that  when a new person ask for information from all you "old Timers" you always say how safe you are how friendly the Mexicans are, all the young people with bright shining faces saying Hola to everyone. There are two ends of every stick...when you pick up one you pick up the other.

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1 hour ago, bigd said:

What bothers me is that  when a new person ask for information from all you "old Timers" you always say how safe you are how friendly the Mexicans are, all the young people with bright shining faces saying Hola to everyone. There are two ends of every stick...when you pick up one you pick up the other.

Bigd is right on. We need to give honest info to newbies. I know lots of people think I lied or am stupid because of the cost of our health insurance. No, good insurance costs a lot.

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What bothers me are the bitter, angry "old timers" who want everyone to feel about living here the same way they do. They always say how unsafe they feel, how Mexicans are out to screw them over, how kindness will be met with disrespect, and refuse to believe that other people could possibly have had different experiences from them. I personally could never live the way they do and can not understand how a world such as theirs makes them "happy," smug, and self-satisfied.  

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On ‎16‎/‎03‎/‎2017 at 10:55 AM, bigd said:

What bothers me is that  when a new person ask for information from all you "old Timers" you always say how safe you are how friendly the Mexicans are, all the young people with bright shining faces saying Hola to everyone. There are two ends of every stick...when you pick up one you pick up the other.

After awhile living in Mexico you see that there is a lot of petty crime, no doubt, as you hear about it but NOB you might never hear about it from victims as you might here. 2 things come to mind;

1. Mexico has no welfare, so to speak of, as in free housing, cash or food stamps etc.

2. Mexico´s demographics are not close to NOB demographics; NOB almost all high school graduates. Mexico living conditions for many, many more "hillbilly type" people existing that way and when they moved to the towns or cities they still wouldn´t be able to read or write as their parents never lived close to any school.

Other things are different such as public áreas with all types of people there often. NOB where is there any of these? Central Park, NYC  famous for crime for how many decades?

Not many class distinctive colonias, more mixed with nice houses and stores and crappy houses and stores for many decades this was the way.

Easy and fast public transit for almost anyone to go anywhere they like which includes other cities and towns.

Pólice [crime prevention] and MP that concentrate on major and vilolent crimes and not property theft or damage unless they catch them in the act

Federal and state governments not willing to hire more MP investigators, more judges, build more courthouses and more jails than they have. They never did want to fill them up with petty criminals in the first place I feel. They want to leave room for the big criminals they catch and process. Processing them correctly has been traditionally very poor in all of Mexico.

Mexico is still a low/limited liability country which keeps the cost of many things down.

This is only my opinión. If you disagree go ahead.

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8 hours ago, Mainecoons said:

Why would you pay 300 pesos for a crappy bucket job car wash when a wash and interior cleaning costs 80-90 pesos plus tip?

Best bet is to simply avoid these people.  That way your car finish won't get scratched from being "cleaned" with dirty water and rags.

 

I had a VW rabbit for 7 years. Everywhere I was asked about a car wash, I would ask how much?  Most would say between 30-50.  I would counter with but that is a "small" car. I would point to it and say chico. Most laughed and I ended up paying 5 p less.  It was more of a game. They figured that or nothing. If it was very well done I'd pay the 5p.  Also I always asked about the water and made them show me where they got the water and look into the pail.

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I live in the center village and most of the time I just want the daily dust washed off every couple of days by whomever is readily available whereever I go.

 

Today there were no washers at Walmart so I am home with an unexpected dirty vehicle.  Darn.

 

The bag loading fellow said they were told to leave.  He figures they will be back in a couple days.

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I think it's important to remember that the washer guys do this for a living. It puts food on their tables and clothes on their children's back. Sure I have nothing against the Lake Taco car wash, but I respect the guys at Walmart and super Lake because they are working. I never have a problem. I always look at say, cincuenta? And get a yes. If I forget, I just give them a $50 note and that's that. It may be because I'm a guy, but just saying, 50 pesos? Is not complicated and they all understand that.

 

(BTW, the old guy at Super Lake guided me right into another car - be careful!)

 

 

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On 3/14/2017 at 3:22 PM, CHILLIN said:

The sour faced boy has been exiled to work down by iShop, and he is not making any money, both by reputation (very clumsy scammer), and lack of business.

LOL - I know exactly who you are referring to. Great description :)

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