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August 26, 2002.
Hello,
I love to read your newspaper every
week. Since you and your team are all very knowledgeable
about Vallarta, I though you may be able to help me
out with the following query...
Is there a cost effective way to
send US Dollars back to the USA and Canada (or any other
country for that matter) on a regular basis?
I have visited almost every bank
in town, and there is a hefty charge for the "wire
transfer" (ranging from $30 to $50 depending on
the establishment).
Also, the banks make you "buy"
pesos with your US$, and then "sell" back
your pesos to them in order to complete the paperwork
etc. thus losing out on the exchange rates. They will
not accept the US$ directly for the transfer.
Any ideas?
This is just a query, not really
a letter to publish. But if you feel any of your readers
would benefit (or even have the answer I am looking
for!) feel free to publish this.
Thank you for your help.
Yours sincerely,
Curious.
Dear Curious,
We don't know about anyone else
but personally, we have found that purchasing American
Express or Visa Travelers' checks with U.S. dollars,
filling them out entirely and then sending them up via
DHL or FedEx is the cheapest and most secure way of
doing what you want to do…without all those conversion
fees being deducted by any one institution.
However, our readers may have found better ways.
The Ed.
Dear Editor:
On behalf of Spotlight Productions
I would like to send you our wholehearted thank you
for your coverage of our Children's Theater Workshop
"When You Wish Upon a Star". It was a great
success and your assistance helped us to achieve our
goal of reaching more of the community of Vallarta with
events available to the entire community. We have talked
with our audiences and many did not know of our theater
group and several have communicated an interest in assisting
us in our future productions.
Our children are our future and they
need to be having the experience of creating an event
through team effort, to learn that their dreams can
come true through hard work and perseverance.
It was our delight to watch the children
grow from timid, shy children to confident beaming young
people. Each will take with them this experience that
out of hard work and imagination your dreams can come
true. We have opened the door to some of their creative
talents and will continue to work with them to grow
and visualize their potential.
Once again, our deepest gratitude
for your assistance in helping the new stars of the
future shine.
Kathleen Hennen
Director Spotlight Productions
Dear Editor!
I have to write you again about the
same old song. This time it was Nacho Cadena's column
in the PV Tribune which "inspired" me. He
wrote about his concerns for the future of Puerto Vallarta
and mentioned the incident of the van that was blocked
by cab drivers and got towed away by Transito. Guess
what? It was one of our vans. You might find some details
interesting.
The officer did not respect our pre-contract.
The statement of Transito for this action was, that
the transfer was without a tour guide! Beside the fact
that you do not need a tour guide to transport people
from a hotel to a golf course, the officer insisted
that it was not only necessary to have a tour guide
onboard, NO, it also had to be driven by the guide himself!
What good might this be for? I'm not a lawyer, but I
honestly doubt that there is any law like that.
But this is not the end of story.
The officer got orders through the radio from Sr. Campoy
(chief of Transito) that if we would pay the tow truck
called by Transito and 3 "damas", we could
keep our van, without providing the service, of course.
How can Transito order to pay "damas"? Isn't
that an order to corruption? Well, I'm just thinking.
Like I said, I'm not a lawyer. We even offered to park
the van wherever Transito would like to have it, because
we didn't see the need of a tow truck. But the officer
said: "Well, it's here. So let him take it."
Of course, we would have to pay for the unnecessary
service. The tow truck was from Gruas Santana, which
provides all these kinds of services for Transito. The
tow truck driver hooked up the van from the back, because
we refused to turn the van around, still arguing with
the officer about this action. We were asked to straighten
the front wheels, which we did. We refused to sign the
inventory of Gruas Santana as it comes along with the
permission for this "service". The officer
ordered the driver to leave with the van and told him
that the missing signature "would not be a problem."
Going with the "folio"
to Transito to release our van, I was told that it would
be in the lot of Gruas Santana near the by-pass road.
Arriving there, the van wasn't there. Nobody told us
where it could be. Having some experience in that, I
guessed it might be in Pitillal and showing up there
the next day I didn't find the van, but the office said
that they had it in their new lot in Playa Grande. To
get the van back and on the road quickly so that it
may produce income after losing two days already, I
didn't argue at this point about the payment.
I got our car washer to pick up the
van and we spent about 1 hour to find the lot in Playa
Grande. I have no idea why it goes from La Petite France
all the way to nowhere land, almost up in the mountains.
But as the whole action did not make any sense to me,
I didn't think about it any further. I found the van,
but what a surprise! It was damaged - obviously in an
accident. I attach some pictures. The van was in perfect
condition, when leaving behind the tow truck. The inventory
of Gruas Santana proves it, because the tow truck driver
filled it out himself and crossed all with "bien".
Well, we have a copy, a notary file and a lawyer. The
van is still not on the road.
On a different occasion I met the
same tow truck driver again, which almost brought me
into prison (a different story), and I got the information
about how the damage happened. His story was:
"I took the van from the back, because you refused
to turn it around. You just straightened the front wheels.
In the first curve the front wheels turned and the steering
wheel lock blocked. The van hit another car and because
the wheels where blocked sideways, I had to hook up
the van from the front." This explains the damages
on both bumpers (front and rear).
Greetings to everybody and do not
hesitate to contact us for any further questions.
With kind regards,
Harris Tours
P.S.: The traffic police is faster
than the ambulance when called from Sitio 14 taxi stand,
which must contain a fleet of 50 to 60 cabs. And it
seems very obvious that Santana performs all the services
for Transito, necessary or not, while Transito has their
own tow trucks, which they only use for their own vehicles...
Why is that? The one who pays is the victim. Does the
payment include a commission from Gruas Santana to Transito
Department?
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