Heredia train 2, cars 0
in crossing roulette


The economy is a little slow now, but the best business has to be body and fender repair.  Another vehicle fell victim to the San José-Heredia train Monday night in Calle Blancos. This follows on the heels of another collision Friday in Barrio Otoya.

There were no serious injuries in either crash, and there certainly was no serious damage to the trains that hit the cars.

The Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarrilles still has made little effort to provide safety at rail crossings. The trains continue to blow their horns as they approach the intersections, but this aggravates the neighbors.

The afternoon crash Friday took place where the driver has a clear view of the track in both directions for several hundred feet. Motorists continue to show hesitation as they reach the crossings. Some slow to a crawl, drive onto the track and then speed away as a train comes by. 

Consumer commission
fails to provide justice

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

I was surprised to read that Garland Baker would allow, with any legitimacy, the comment “The Web site [of the consumer commission] states that resolutions may take from 30 days up to two months” while he knows firsthand that this comment is a joke.  It hardly changes the “customer service landscape in Costa Rica” when a negligent company — one that charged for the repair of a roof with a one-year guarantee — failed to honor that guarantee and snubbed its nose at a hearing called at the very consumer agency that is supposed to “penalize” companies.  It’s been close to a year and a half now and nothing has been resolved.

At a special “hearing,” both my husband and I as well as our attorney and a translator appeared, but the other side failed to attend.  The “judge” put on a really stern face, checked paperwork to be certain the other party had been “served notice” to appear, found that they had been correctly served, and simply didn’t bother appearing to defend themselves.  That was more than six months ago. Still nothing.  We signed more papers at the order of the “judge” who proclaimed disgust at the other party and a promise that she would come down hard at the injustice.  Perhaps it was just “injustice” that they did not attend her “court” and not “injustice” to us, the victim.

My suggestion to anyone who employs a contractor without first asking for and verifying references of customers is to laugh at the word “guarantee.”  In Costa Rica, it turns out to be the biggest joke ever! 

We used a firm without checking its credentials because we had a good experience with it in the past but subsequently learned the previous owner, who was an honorable businessman, had sold out to another party the year before and we were now dealing with new ownership, unbeknownst to us.  The new ownership does not have the same honorable business practices and, because of this, we sustained hundreds of dollars in damages and probably the company will receive a slap on the wrist at most . . . maybe in our lifetime.  Again, maybe not.

Reunion with The Mouse
draws family's thanks

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:
 
I hope this small letter finds its way into A.M. Costa Rica especially after Garland Baker's powerful op-ed piece which is sure to attract a lot of attention. The Mouse sincerely thanks Margaret Sohn who sent up the beautiful flag that Mouse was still alive after nine months. We did grieve for the little guy almost daily. Along with Ms. Sohn, the gracious and good office of Dr. Bitter and the veterinarian who took Mouse under her personal care for so much time, Dra. Jessica Jimenez.

Mouse was adopted in Heredia, he lived with us over two years and on January 26th, about 11 a.m. he left not to be seen until Oct. 23, 2009.
 
In addition to him biting on an electric wire, local rumor says that a group of kids abused him. He escaped, was disoriented and these three good Samaritans saved him. He is not as agile as before, wants to be around people more and while not as handsome, he is far more beautiful than ever.
 
It is adjustment time and re-introducing The Mouse to his family, the house and most of all his older sister, Cali California.
 
In addition to thanking all of those mentioned, we also thank and are extremely grateful to you, A.M. Costa Rica for publishing the photo. Thanks to all,

Experience with Defensoría
cost more than it was worth

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

Garland Baker mentioned the Defensoria de los Habitantes in his article about customer service in Costa Rica. Forget about it! This agency is hopelessly swamped with complaints, and its own practices and policies exemplify lousy customer service.

A month after I moved to Costa Rica I filed a claim against a crooked San José importer who had held my container hostage until I paid him double the amount agreed to in our contract to recover my belongings. It took TWO YEARS just to get a preliminary hearing and another six months to get the sleazy Cuban manager of the import firm into a real hearing.

I won, but it meant nothing. He was ordered to pay me the amount of the overcharge. He ignored the order and nothing ever came of his defiance because there aren't any "teeth" in the Defensoria's decisions.

What's worse, the Defensoria's rules don't allow those making complaints to add in the cost of their legal fees to the claims they're making, and as Garland mentioned, no one can file a complaint with this agency without a lawyer. (However, the manager of the import firm showed up on his own without legal representation.) This ridiculous policy insures that for many if not most folks who have complaints, their reimbursement will be significantly less than the amount they've claimed, if it comes at all. And if the amount of the rip-off is large enough to justify the legal expenses, most lawyers will advise clients to file criminal complaints rather than making a claim in the Defensoria.

In my case, the amount of my claim wasn't large enough to justify a criminal complaint, and even though I knew my legal fees would be at least equal to the award I was seeking, I went after the guy just because he offended me so deeply. He had the Ten Commandments nailed to the wall outside his office door and said "God bless you" after every sentence. Yet he held the container holding everything I owned in the world until I paid a "ransom," A classic dirtbag. Had I pursued the issue after he ignored the Defensoria's decision, I would have ended up paying more than double the amount I was seeking in the claim to my lawyer.

The net effect creates an environment similar to the "no penalty" zone awarded to thieves by the police who refuse to pursue theft cases involving stolen property worth less than $500. Crooked businesses know that so long as they don't rip off their customers for more than a couple of thousand dollars, the odds are virtually zero that they'll ever be brought to justice.

After six years of doing business in an atmosphere best described as a never ending HAZING, I've learned that ranting and raving about slights, slaps and sleaze, while emotionally satisfying, rarely produces anything positive. Instead I've created a reputation for myself as a person who is short tempered, confrontational and difficult to do business with. I've yet to find an "internal balance" between assertiveness and effective business strategy. I may never get it right.

What I have gained in the process is a deeper appreciation for those business people who go out of their way to provide solid, honest service and who will bend over backwards to rectify any mistakes or shortcomings in their services. I always make it a point to let them know how much I appreciate them.