You could ask them for their SIEM Number.
SIEM = Sistema de Informacion Empresarial Mexicano = Mexican Business Information System. It’s similar to our various states' Secretary of State Business Registries.
If the business won’t give you their SIEM #, that’s a big whopping REDFLAG (for those who want to do business with legally-registered companies).
If they give you their SIEM #, you can check them out in the online directory @
S I E M, which contains several “data points” about the company, including number of employees.
If they’re not listed in SIEM, that’s ... at a minimum, a yellow flag – you can then follow up to ask them why you can’t find them there.
If they’re listed in SIEM with 2 employees, but their website says they have 20 DMs ... that’s another yellow flag. (I’m not sure how often that type of info is updated – maybe someone legally registered with SIEM can provide further info on that.)
This is no different than checking out a company in the states to make sure it’s a legally registered company. It’s not exactly BBB or Angie’s List – but it provides the basics.
True – and it’s not our “job” to enforce rules and regs.
HOWEVER – just as one often checks BBB or Angie’s List before hiring a roofer or checks Trip Advisor before picking a hotel, someone who truly “cares” about whether the DMs are getting the insurance, etc., required by Mexico law *can* check the system.
That’s not seeking to impose US rules on another country – or seeking to be an “enforcer.”
That’s merely ... uhm ... conscious consumerism.
I would think that “legal” dive shops could use this “issue” as ... a great marketing opportunity vis-a-vis potential clients. Shops list PADI certification and other “certifications.” Why not list that they are registered business? It’s not quite the same thing as US companies listing BBB A+ Certified ... but it’s something. If I were checking out two different dive shops – one with information letting me know that they registered employees/paid the insurance, etc. (or providing the info where I can check it out myself), and one that was silent about the issue, I know which one I’d want to go with.