FACTOIDS:
Real estate market is unregulated- be very careful.
A common scam is for realtor to tack $20K or more onto the
price of a house price, give the buyer his asking price, and pocket the
difference plus the 5% he charges.
NEVER EVER pay realtors for tours of the city- EVER!
Watch for vertically integrated schemes- realtor recommends
friends and they all kick back to each other.
If you bring pets into the country, all paperwork needs to
be done in advance. This involves
vet visits etc., months in advance.
Following the simple rules of immigration make it easy. I will also post later some helpful
factoids about this. That said,
PATRICIA SANCHEZ informed me that she provides a costly service of helping get
pets through customs. DO NOT PAY
FOR THIS SERVICE- IT IS NOT A SERVICE, IT IS A WASTE OF YOUR MONEY, AND I WILL
PROVIDE DETAILS LATER.
Unfortunately, when we travel abroad, or think of relocating
abroad, we must place our trust in people. Here is my experience with the following individuals. You decide if you want to deal with
them after reading this, however, you have the benefit of my experience. Here are the individuals:
Hector G. Quintana, COO
EscapeArtist Ecuador
+001.786.220.4987 (Global)
098.522.9631 (Within Ecuador)
ecuador_hgq@escapeartist.com
http://Ecuador.EscapeArtist.com
Noelia
Roldan
ZEN
GLOBAL
Ecuador
+593.99290.7522
Global
+001.786.220.4987
Patricia
Sanchez (CHEF)
Gourmet
Cuisine
Servicio
Personalizado
Urb
Puerto Azul
MZ.ME
Villa 6
Guayaquil
Ecuador
Telephono:
2870-816
Cell:
094801727
Email:
chefbanker@gmail.com
I first met Noelia through the expat web site Internations,
which is excellent, but like the web, it is the wild west, so be careful.
Noelia was charming and responsive, but in short order, I
was shunted off to her partner Hector.
Long story short: after weeks of planning, Hector took the lead and
assured me that he is a professional, he understood my needs and would ensure
that everything would be taken are of in Ecuador.
On arriving in Guayaquil Ecuador Hector’s promises fell
apart. The one good thing I must
say is that he arranged for transportation from airport to hotel, which I did
not request, but I greatly appreciate- thank you Hector.
On arriving to hotel, Hector called and said, “I have some
bad news and some worse news”.
Basically, he and Noelia were “stuck in Quito”, but would have his
friend, Patricia Sanchez, show me around the city instead, and we would meet up
in Salinas as scheduled.
Patricia gave a long tour. This included a very long walk along the malecon (walkway
next to the Guayas River) that was completely deserted or vacant. She took us on a tour to pick up her
cell phone that she forgot outside of Guayaquil. She took me on a tour of an expensive restaurant, and was
all too happy to have me pay for her meal. At the end, she told me it would be $30/hour X 8 hours as per Hector. My policy is not to argue, as it could
be a visit to a foreign jail.
Thank you for referring your good friend Hector.
Hector then arranged for cab fare with one of his preferred
cabbie friends. The trip to
Salinas costs $10-15 USD more than if I had gotten a cab off the streets. Again, thank you Hector.
Once in Salinas, neither Hector, nor Noeilia ever showed
up. I guess they are STILL in
Quito. They did try to call after
4 or 5 PM a day after we arrived, and we had already wasted more than a day on the coast- seeing
no property. Hector told me-
“Don’t go to Cuenca because the transportation isn’t safe”. I decided to brave it because I could
not waste anymore precious time.
Guess what- it was not only a safe ride that is mad many times a day by
hundreds of people, in many types of vehicles, it was a totally delightful ride
with great scenery. This was a
flat out lie for obvious reasons.
Hector left us abandoned in a foreign country, and a different continent in which I do not
speak the language. Few people here speak English. He did not send anyone to take his place. He lied. He wasted my time and money. He sent me on wild
goose chases. He “hooked” me up
with his “amigos” who overcharged or charged for services that should be
free.
Finally, while I was in Salinas with nothing to do (again,
thank you so much Hector and Noelia), I spoke with several people. When I mentioned Hector and Noelia, all
seemed to either know them or know of them. From what I heard, their reputation is in keeping with my
experience. Since what I heard is
all second hand, I won’t repeat it, only what I know to be true.
Hector- I put a challenge out to you. You wasted my time and wasted a lot of
money. Repay the money that you
directly cost me.
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