Oh, my, I looked your pic and swear I tasted mole....
[youtubehq]KNlSsGNRiAw[/youtubehq]
Taxi Mafia
- Thread starter John Larsen
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Oh, my, I looked your pic and swear I tasted mole....
[youtubehq]KNlSsGNRiAw[/youtubehq]
Mike
Contributor
Umm, did you start driving a taxi? Don't know what the heck you are talking about.
BINGO!
Fact -
1) 10:1 has nothing to do with anybody's business expenses. It's a very simple method to whack a tourist while making it easy for him to do the math
2) There ARE businesses operating in Mexico who give you fair exchange rates. So if they can do it, what are they?
A) Stupid?
B) Losing money?
C) Honest?
I'll go with 'C'
Some would apparently have everyone believe that it's impossible for anyone doing business to exchange at anything higher than 10:1. Not buying it. The fact that their are businesses that do offer fair exchange rates simply disproves this myth/rationalization/fantasy.
I know for a fact that Blue Magic Scuba converts your bill to US dollars at the current REAL exchange rate.
How the heck do they stay in business, since they aren't a bank? Weird. Apparently as I've been told XZY isn't a bank., they have expenses involved in exchanging dollars for Pesos.. so how the heck do they and other honest buisnesses in Mexico function without using the 10:1 ratio? Anybody know how? Sure seems like a mystery if you buy into the BS.
Skittl1321
Contributor
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This is it, I'm tellin ya.
I have eaten at Buccano's, I have eaten at LeChef and others. I cannot say that any of them measure up to the warm and friendly atmosphere I found here. I could get a 10:1 or an 8:1, I would still return.
El Moro Home Page
I have eaten at Buccano's, I have eaten at LeChef and others. I cannot say that any of them measure up to the warm and friendly atmosphere I found here. I could get a 10:1 or an 8:1, I would still return.
El Moro Home Page
So all those places are overcharging me when I pay pesos, because the prices are set on the basis of faking a good exchange rate for dollars? That seems unworkable?
---------- Post added July 14th, 2013 at 08:25 PM ----------
This is it, I'm tellin ya.
I have eaten at Buccano's, I have eaten at LeChef and others. I cannot say that any of them measure up to the warm and friendly atmosphere I found here. I could get a 10:1 or an 8:1, I would still return.
El Moro Home Page
Ain't it the truth, brother, ain't it the truth!
Mike
Contributor
The US dollar is the safest currency in the world, it's desireable, it's wanted, it's actually preferred in many cases, because of it's stability. Mexican's love a stable currency and remember the days of the wild Peso and wanted US dollars more than anything. The only time the US dollar has had an issue in Mexico has been during a period a few years ago when the Mexican government was enacting new laws designed to combat the cartels, cause guess what currency the cartels like too? It ain't the peso! The Mexican government also has issues with manipulating their currency and that can also artificially effect the US dollar desireablility based on any new laws they pass that make it detrimental for Mexicans to exchange if they have to.
Saying a taxi driver or another business isn't a 'bank' is irrelevant. What you're failing to understand is that in Mexico in tourist destinations, the US dollar is readily accepted as local currency. If you offer something for sale and set the rate for your product at XZY, it doesn't make a bit of difference if you pay for it in US dollars or Pesos. We have a modern solution for the problem of figuring out if you want XZY for your product how many Peos you have to give them, US dollars or any other currency they accept, that solution is called the exchange rate, and it's official and set by financial institutions, not vendors. Now if you can snooker some unsophisticated tourist by convincing them that it's 10:1, then you're getting a bonus, and that's exactly what is going on, no more and no less. It's a scam. It's an easy one and has been going on for a long time. I guess it's been going on so long, I learned in this thread there are actually people who are so missinformed about all this, they actually defend the very people who rip them off.
Careful you don't break your arm patting yourself on the back for the astuteness of your observational powers.
I think if those people exist they are in a tiny minority. I haven't read anything in here that indicates that anyone is not aware that taxi drivers sometimes get a better rate if you pay in dollars. I can only speak for myself; I am fully aware of it and I just don't care. Anyone who has spent any time on the island and uses taxis to get around is fully aware of how the game is played. It doesn't make any difference why the exchange rate in taxis is frequently 10:1, it just is. All the posturing and righteous indignation posted on this internet message board isn't going to change it. What you can do is take some easy steps to make yourself not a potential victim, not that it's worth losing any sleep if you get taken for a dollar. So what? Big deal. Play better next time.
Skittl1321
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If they do the vast majority of their business in dollars, maybe.
Every op I emailed about prices quoted to me in dollars. They would be terrible business people to not take in account the cost to exchange to pesos. I have no idea what any of them would charge in pesos. I just looked at a ton of websites, and I didn't find one that quoted in pesos. The cost of working in a foreign currency has to be built in.
That statement was made solely about an ops exchange rate, not any other kind of business.
Sure, like shark finning. It just is.....
I am not sure which I am, but can I choose? I really like righteous indignation. I want that one. Let Mike posture.
I would just say injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere and we who engage in nonviolent direct action (on Scubaboard) are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive (about taxi fares).
---------- Post added July 14th, 2013 at 09:22 PM ----------
Sorry the whole bit about a dive op charging in pesos was more allegorical than factual. Most don't charge in pesos I think. Tons of other business use a more reasonable exchange rate than the old 10 to 1, 28% surcharge.
Mike
Contributor
I've been going to Mexico, including Cozumel starting about the Mid 1990s.
Here is my recollection of events regard this whole subject. Those of you with the same history of visiting there can chime in whether this sounds correct and familiar.
In the mid 90s, all the way to about 2007, the real exchange rate from Peso to Dollars was a pretty consistent 10:1 rate, give or take a little. What I recall was local businesses used the let's call it 'local rate' of 10:1 rate for all those years, for 1) it was pretty accurate to the real rate, 2) it was easy to do the math. During all those years, dollars were very desired, there was no problem paying with dollars and whether you paid with dollars or peso it made little difference to a local.
Come about 2007 and the US economy hit the skids and the exchange rate went up and up. Locals didn't know if the rate would continue to climb in the begining and the old 10:1 worked well for almost 10 years, so a lot of locals still were doing 10:1, and tourists were used to 10:1 so even as the ratio changed 10:1 was still in use and was still all good.
Now as the real rate continued to change, going up to 12:1 and 13:1, locals who were still doing the 10:1 suddenly discovered a bonus they were getting when they exchanged, they were getting a nice 10%-20% bonus on top of their normal fees. Let's face it, during this time Mexico and Cozumel were feeling the nasty US recession with visitor counts down and less business and income, that nice 10-20% bonus was happy money!
On top of the recession Cozumel got hit with the fallout of the Mexican swine flu out break in 2009, cruise ships stopped coming and tourism was hit even worse. During this time the real exchange rate went to over 15:1, and anybody getting 10:1 was suddenly getting a very nice bonus.
Every since those events, this is when I first started seeing businesses 'playing dumb' with the exchange rate, trying to get away with 10:1 still when it was 14:1 and even 15:1 for a short time. Some businesses had played fair during these years, using the real rates and keeping up with the fluctuations. But somewhere along this time frame, the dishonest ones kept trying to perpetuate the 10:1, realizing the nice big fat bonus money they got preying on those who didn't know any better.
This all started about 2007-2009 and that's where it came from. It was a new way to game the system and the tourists, it was a new income source and that's all it is. It's a total farce now, a total scam and those doing it know exactly what they are doing. It's not justified through 'banking' expenses or the fact they 'aren't a bank'. Don't forget they weren't 'a bank' before either from pre 2007.
That's my memory of the whole thing.
Here is my recollection of events regard this whole subject. Those of you with the same history of visiting there can chime in whether this sounds correct and familiar.
In the mid 90s, all the way to about 2007, the real exchange rate from Peso to Dollars was a pretty consistent 10:1 rate, give or take a little. What I recall was local businesses used the let's call it 'local rate' of 10:1 rate for all those years, for 1) it was pretty accurate to the real rate, 2) it was easy to do the math. During all those years, dollars were very desired, there was no problem paying with dollars and whether you paid with dollars or peso it made little difference to a local.
Come about 2007 and the US economy hit the skids and the exchange rate went up and up. Locals didn't know if the rate would continue to climb in the begining and the old 10:1 worked well for almost 10 years, so a lot of locals still were doing 10:1, and tourists were used to 10:1 so even as the ratio changed 10:1 was still in use and was still all good.
Now as the real rate continued to change, going up to 12:1 and 13:1, locals who were still doing the 10:1 suddenly discovered a bonus they were getting when they exchanged, they were getting a nice 10%-20% bonus on top of their normal fees. Let's face it, during this time Mexico and Cozumel were feeling the nasty US recession with visitor counts down and less business and income, that nice 10-20% bonus was happy money!
On top of the recession Cozumel got hit with the fallout of the Mexican swine flu out break in 2009, cruise ships stopped coming and tourism was hit even worse. During this time the real exchange rate went to over 15:1, and anybody getting 10:1 was suddenly getting a very nice bonus.
Every since those events, this is when I first started seeing businesses 'playing dumb' with the exchange rate, trying to get away with 10:1 still when it was 14:1 and even 15:1 for a short time. Some businesses had played fair during these years, using the real rates and keeping up with the fluctuations. But somewhere along this time frame, the dishonest ones kept trying to perpetuate the 10:1, realizing the nice big fat bonus money they got preying on those who didn't know any better.
This all started about 2007-2009 and that's where it came from. It was a new way to game the system and the tourists, it was a new income source and that's all it is. It's a total farce now, a total scam and those doing it know exactly what they are doing. It's not justified through 'banking' expenses or the fact they 'aren't a bank'. Don't forget they weren't 'a bank' before either from pre 2007.
That's my memory of the whole thing.
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