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There really are no venues here that are set up. Except Club Vertigo. Everything Else you have to build the stage and seating and lights and sound. Good luck. I know a guy who has been in the production business for 30 years and he wants me to help him do a concert here. Too much work and you have to pay taxes on the event up front – then there is the muni to deal with. Costa Rica is not Biz-Friendly. Remeber the old CR saying: better to ask forgiveness than permission. Then you may actually accomplish something here….
Ha! If so let me know. I have been screwed by almost every class of service provider here in Costa Rica. From attoeneys and banks to windows and Zebras – lets not go into the Zebra tales, but let’s say that every service provider from a to Z has got a piece of me. Now I with hold payment for a while to see if what the service actually works. If it doesn’t I catch them on a technicality. At the beginin I say i want servive without problems and the price has to be a without-problems price. When they have come back for the umptenth time and finally got it somewhat close to right (or tolerable0 I say that I will pay them in a week and that that they can excepect the with-problems price which is a 10% discount. If they complain or get ugly then I tell them to write me a recite that says paid in full (with a 15% discount). If they balk I say see you in court.
I have never been taken to court. I have heard some belly-aching like you would not belive. And some “service” providers just never call back. They know they and their “service” sucks.
So tjhere you go. Consumer protection in Costa Rica ? yea right. Costa Rica is a land of make believe. Children playing grown up’s games.
Lets go shopping, but we won’t buy anything kinda stuff. The intention here for the most part is playish. Sad in most ways but refreshing if you only want to fornicate, drink or party….
Howard has a real estate agenda and tries to sell at his tours. He seems nice but kind of dopey and reminds me of an old San Fransico hippy with bad hair transplants on the lamb in Costa Rica (LOL). I saw him at the ARCR thing and I would save my money if I were you. Typical want a be slick tell you what you want to hear salesmen guy. I was not impressed as you can probally tell. He makes himself out to be the all knowing Costa Rica Expert Allah. Kind of creepy.
This is the Gringo way of doing things here. Ask your Tico neighbor friend how they terminate. Have an attorney write up a dismissal notice that says accepting the money relinquishes her right to claim any further money. Pay her 1/12 of the total amount you have paid her so far. Keep it simple and don’t be intimidated. Gringos here want to be liked by their neighbors so much that they screw up the working relationship. Be their boss not their friend. When you hire domestics tell them there are no purses brought to the job, no ipods or cell phones and you are to be addressed as Don so and so.
If you let your employees run you, you are now the employee no matter that you are the one that is paying. Ticos are experts at putting gringos in defensive positions. You write the rules for your employment, not the employees. Yes, you have to know what is legal here, but after that, it is up to you to enforce conduct on your job site.
I had a hard time with accesorios autimaticos. They must of come back at least 6 times before the job was done right. You have to stay on top of workers here. I had to spend 3 hours on top of the window guy to make sure he did his job right. He kept saying he was finsihed without: 1 ) adequately sealing the windwa, 2) cleaning the windows and frames so I could see imperfections in the install and material,mounting the screens with screws instead of the turn knobs used so you can easily remove them. You really have to watch the people that install here because they do incomplete work. So watch your gate guy and you should probally have Tom come check it out before the final payment.Also withold at least 10% untill you see how it works for a month.
Scott,
That is what I call making a diference. Nice going my man. One peson making constructive actions one day at a time. This really made my day. Awesome work.
How do we find out who the “Greedy few” Costa Ricans are who are straving out the population by making import and local goods so expensive through market manipulation. Oh,, but wait, everybody is too afraid of the asenine libale laws to name names – the same libel laws designed to protect the greddy few I surmise… Robinhod where are you, or anybody with cojones will do. What about the gut who flew his plane into the IRS building. What was his name, Joe something?
Scott, the “imperialist” card? You being a Brit should know a lot about that. What do they say about people who come from a glass houses?
This thread has gone way off topic. However, should US illegal aliens behave as guests in the US? I certainly don’t view them as guests, and don’t treat them as guest either. And that also goes for US legal aliens. What is this guest myth all about? Why the seperation attitude. Elitism, disguised “we know better than the Ticos” syndrome. yes when it comes to building and technology the developed world knows better. Ah, but when it comes to living, I’ll take my cup of life in Costa Rica any day. The problem is the cup is being degraded by Western values.
“until there is no more society. And that possible eventuality is what really disturbs me.”
First you hide in the masses and then you say there will be no masses to hide in. So why woud you choose to hide in the masses in the first place?
Saying you will hide were it is not safe to hide is being in denial. So now you just don’t do anything and hope for the best eh? That’s sticking your head in the sand. Baaaahhhh – sheepeople.
OK – so now its the osterich complex eh? Denial and doubt has sunk in so you are putting your head in the sand and hoping for the best.
Besides the crime, the higher cost of living (with less demand for goods – go figure) what upsets me most is the changing of the culture. There is a move toward traditional values in the US (small move but a move none the less). I first came here about 20 years ago and the difference in cultural values is significant. It’s not all smiles like it used to be. Materialism and greed are running rampant.
20 years ago we would marvel at the tranquil calm Tico and think, how can they be so happy with so little. Then the cars started to pile in. Yes not so long ago there was no traffic here. You could drive anywhere any time of the day without traffic and that included san Jose. When the Ticos started to drive we realized that the quickest way to make a calm Tico an macho monster was to put the behind the wheel!
To side track, walking has its rewards and those are that you earned your arrival. Driving is cheating you way to your destination. Do you see many people happily driving somewhere. Take a moment to look at driver’s faces – stressful.
You see a lot more happy walkers that is for sure.
Man I miss the traditional values. Arias and the new woman are moving this country to be the US and what is worse, it is the same bunch a cronies that are strangling the life out of the average Tico. When the cost of building and good is down in the states and from what I hear pretty much worldwide, and the demand here is low (jut go into your local hardware store and witness the empty sheles9 the cost of living and building here keeps going up.
It sure isn’t supply and demand. So what is it. I’ll tell you what, It the greedy few that control the markets in Costa Rica.But since the asinine slander laws here have everybody afraid to name names the situation perpetuates itself.
Greed,
manipulation
slander laws
loss of fundamental values
This is what is killing the lifestyle here and eliminating the smiles.Parade style riding for sure exists, doesn’t mean its a smart thing to do though. For good reason there is a law against it.
