Expat Files - Hit and Run - 08/04/13

-It happened again, my car (almost) new car was hit in a parking lot… another hit and run... and no little note of apology on the windshield either (yeah right!) Now, I didn’t notice the damage till I came back from my errand, and when I asked the guard and the people hanging around the lot, no one saw at thing… naturally. But since this is Latin America, the story doesn’t end there… it never does.

-Keep in mind that any verbal agreements or handshake deals you make with Latins are flexible and nonenforceable and can even get out of hand. Yet, first worlder’s like us are used to doing a certain amount of casual business that way. So when you make a friendly deal, do go ahead and close it with firm handshake but always get the terms in writing too!

-I’ve had my light new car (a compact 2012 model) in the body shop four times already in just one year! So the question remains; how much parking lot “scratch and dent” stuff can, or should, we gringos take before we just throw in the towel and let our vehicles devolve into typical Latin American beaters? Well, here’s my rule of thumb on that…

-Normally when you have prepaid cellphone and you purchase additional minutes everything goes smoothly and without a problem. However there are some penny ante but annoying scams that you should be wise to. Note if you’re not paying attention when buying extra phone minutes, you could get ripped off and not even know you’ve been had-  not for a while anyway (and sometimes you’ll never find out!)

-Be sure to follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.

-And while you’re at www.ExpatWisdom.com don’t forget to pick up your free reports!