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What recourse if you're cheated?


kgreenbury

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About 5 weeks ago now I made a down-payment on a product that was supposed to be purchased for me by a local businessman. I gave him half the money but have never received my item and I'm getting a complete runaround whenever I manage to speak to him. His phone now goes straight to voicemail, his shop is closed half the time when I try to find him, and he's told me 4 times now that he would be out to the house - twice he said he'd come and install the item and twice more he was supposed to stop by and return my money when I gave up and requested a refund. Doesn't show, doesn't call. Is there anything I can do at this point or do I just have to write off my money? It was a fairly substantial sum... 

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Don't write off your money-fight for it. I had 2 similar problems. One was resolved in my favour by getting a mean lawyer to visit him. The other was solved after I wrote the problem person and told him my lawyer was about to get involved.

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1 hour ago, oregontochapala said:

Call Spencer McMullen.

IMO, Spencer will tell the victim, to try Profoco, but that's only arbitration. Maybe go to Ministerio Publico (fraud). Probably dead end. Civil lawsuit? Costs a lot and takes forever.

You probably end up calling it tuition in the school of hard-knocks.

I got the same thing from the electronic guy on Pepe Gazar. Took my $$, promised the product; excuse anter excuse. Finally I asked for my $500 back. No. Asled about the product. "I'll call you." That was a year ago. This was after 10-years dealing w/him and offering to pay for his dog ("Charlie" have surgery.

Remember though; for every one of these kinds of guys, there are IMO 9 that you can trust their words.

You should say who this is to warn others.

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7 minutes ago, cedros said:

Don't write off your money-fight for it. I had 2 similar problems. One was resolved in my favour by getting a mean lawyer to visit him. The other was solved after I wrote the problem person and told him my lawyer was about to get involved.

According to  what Spencer told me some time ago, an attorney can't write a "threatening" letter. You can of course, get your attorney's card and hand it to the bad-guy and say your attorney will be contacting him.

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1 hour ago, Eric Blair said:

According to  what Spencer told me some time ago, an attorney can't write a "threatening" letter. You can of course, get your attorney's card and hand it to the bad-guy and say your attorney will be contacting him.

I wrote a threatening letter saying I would start legal action-my lawyer didn't need to as it worked and I got free service from the problem person. As to my lawyer who visited the problem person I have no idea what the lawyer said but it worked. 

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I went to Profeco and was treated very well. They try to mediate and when a solution is met they issue an order that must be followed within a certain time or on the spot if possible. I stood my ground and was very happy with the outcome.

 

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Sorry to say I spent almost a year and multiple visits with very polite, well intentioned staff members at PROFECO in Guadalajara.  Had filed well documented complaints against CFE and Telecable.  We had multiple meetings with representatives from PROFECO and CFE as well as Telecable.  LOTS of talk but absolutely NO action and we never got any results.  In our situation(s), nothing was done but a lot of wasted trips to and from GDL, paying for parking, making lots of copies and a waste of life.

Happy to read someone had success with PROFECO.

Cheers!

Valerie  :)

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1 hour ago, thevalerieleigh said:

Sorry to say I spent almost a year and multiple visits with very polite, well intentioned staff members at PROFECO in Guadalajara.  Had filed well documented complaints against CFE and Telecable.  We had multiple meetings with representatives from PROFECO and CFE as well as Telecable.  LOTS of talk but absolutely NO action and we never got any results.  In our situation(s), nothing was done but a lot of wasted trips to and from GDL, paying for parking, making lots of copies and a waste of life.

Happy to read someone had success with PROFECO.

Cheers!

Valerie  :)

That is what I was afraid would happen so I took direct action myself.

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PROFECO can and does work but you have to know how to file papers and cite the law and what types of penalties to ask for.  The business needs a proper address and if the person or company is fly by night or never open then it wont work well.  

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Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Best to have an attorney fill and file the papers. Yes?

Best to have an attorney do paperwork to cite the laws. Yes?

There are no Pro Bono attorneys Lakeside. True?

PROFECO has no enforcement powers. Can't issue a collectable judgment. Correct?

PROFECO can't directly do anything about/against a license. True?

I wasted a lot of time and $$ trying to get something effective through PROFECO and that was the result -- Time/$$ wasted.

IMO, Mexico is a self-help country. In most cases, the agencies there to help you don't.

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2 hours ago, Eric Blair said:

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Best to have an attorney fill and file the papers. Yes?

Best to have an attorney do paperwork to cite the laws. Yes?

There are no Pro Bono attorneys Lakeside. True?

PROFECO has no enforcement powers. Can't issue a collectable judgment. Correct?

PROFECO can't directly do anything about/against a license. True?

I wasted a lot of time and $$ trying to get something effective through PROFECO and that was the result -- Time/$$ wasted.

IMO, Mexico is a self-help country. In most cases, the agencies there to help you don't.

I can empathise with your observations , given that Mexico is way down on the place to do business etc. and my many experiences.

Perhaps what is more amazing, people looking to relocate at Lakeside are checking other "features" (Internet speed etc etc.) without consideration to corruption...then grumble about being stopped by the Transtrios or not filling pot holes.

Even if you are building a house,  it is fraught with challenges . I Am experiencing  a situation of a Peon stealing equipment from the job and the chance of a  favorable  resolution  is zero. We latter learned the guy is part of a gang who rob homes to obtain money for drugs. And if you don't think drug's are a problem in this area , you are dreaming. 

If you are a total inactive person and wanting to just chug along then Mexico is OK, just don't peak above the sheets.

I am not interested in  hearing  it from the "other's" who have never had a problem...fine..... but please absence of evidence is not evidence of absence

https://www.business-anti-corruption.com/country-profiles/mexico/

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Everything depends on your point of view and your personality.

The best advice I have received abut living in Mexico is to leave your notions/beliefs of how things should be at the border. Don't come to Mexico thinking it will be like NOB, or even worse, you will change how the "locals" think or act, or their values to suit you.

When in Rome  = = == =  =

Since the change in the local police, I haven't had any problem with mordida by cops.

Build your own home? NEVER! Takes 2X as long and costs around 2X what you figure. "Five finger discounts" by workers is traditional.

IMO, be nice, keep a low profile, don't go out, except to the malacon or plaza at night and enjoy the positive here, and I see a lot of it.

Finally, IMO, don't take what you read on any board as gospel,  unless it is direct from the first source and factual.

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Pay for good, solid advice or be an adventurer or cheap and then complain.  I wouldn't rebuild the engine in my car myself to save money then complain how hard it is then how it runs bad as I knowingly was being cheap and need to face the consequences instead of leaving it to the professionals.

Pro bono attorneys?  Hmmm... rapes, robberies, murders, children without papers or identities, gangs, disappearances and violent acts but those victims as well as the 1,000s of migrants on the way should wait as  a frugal foreigner should be the attorney's top priority and not have to pay? About as classy as barging into the homeless shelter soup kitchen line arguing that no law states they can't serve you food before you return to your mansion.    

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On 11/8/2018 at 7:55 AM, cedros said:

Have anyone been successful using Profeco?

Yes, I filed a complaint with PROFECO several years ago about Volaris--long story--but the result was that within three days after my report, what Volaris owed me was deposited to my bank account.

 

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