Downtown Office Suites Raided By Nonthinking Gringos
I office Ave. Rio Branco building next to Carioca station. I pick a floor to do some mongering. When I get to my selected floor I run into 9 gringoes from Copacabana. They are all wearing tourist uniforms and back packets like Navy Seals on a mission to find the termas atmosphere. They complained that they went to a suite and were told to come back in a hour. Literally they were turned away. Of course they were turned away for approaching a suite like they were enter 4 x 4 or somewhere. After I followed them to the 1st floor, I doubled back to the suite where they were turned around and entered it with a problem, and I had a nice session. A completa costed R150 a hour or so with a credit card.
This location should be handled discreetly. Like most large office building there are cameras. On the first floor near the elevators I observed a camera room, where the door window had dark tint but you could see the manned monitors. So the word to the wise, do not approach an office suite as if you are entering a terma. Don't be loud and go with no more than two people. Or if you can go by yourself. My last visit to the office building I travelled by myself. I was schooled the day before by ISG member aceva.
Etiquette when visiting Centro casas.
[QUOTE=Jamaicanceo]I office Ave. Rio Branco building next to Carioca station. I pick a floor to do some mongering. When I get to my selected floor I run into 9 gringoes from Copacabana. They are all wearing tourist uniforms...[/QUOTE]
Very true.
All the casas on Rio Branco 156, 181 and 185 demands a decent behaviour. These casas are anonymous. They handle their clients with discretion. When a customer enters the casa he's often being showed into one of the rooms, where he's being presented all the ladies. Normally they do everything to avoid that one customer meets another customer. That's standard procedure.
They don't mind having gringos as clients, as long as they know the drill and behave. Having a bunch of loud gringos might be a nightmare for the casa. It might scare away their regular customers. These gringos might be better of at BA 85 or Uruguaiana 24.
I do feel guilty, as I do post my list of casas. I guess I sometimes forget that there are all kinds of mongers that use this info. The decent ones and the ones who think they are visiting Disneyland.
Huge Rental Problem!! Am I being screwed or is it a cultural difference?!
I need the board's advice on a problem I have here in Rio! Its kinda confusing, but I will do my best to explain the situation. I would like you guy's feedback on whether I am wrong legally, morally or if you think i am correct.
In February, I emailed a woman that I had rented from on the past. I told her that I wanted to rent her apartment for the month of March, she told me the place was available and I could have it for 2000R. She asked me when I was going to arive and I told her I would arrive in Rio on the 28th of February, I told her I was going to stay with a friend and then go pick up the keys on monday the 1st. She told me that nobody would be in the apartment and if I wanted, I could pick up the keys on the 28th, no problem.
I arrived on the 28th, unpacked and she said "we will settle up everything tomorrow, just get settled in and drop by my apartment tomorrow". I went Monday the 1st and we signed a contract for the month of March, I paid my 2000R and my 300R deposit. I moved out on april 1st and when I went to pay my bill for the gas and electricity, this is where the bullshit started. I will try to explain it, but its kinda weird.
When I went to pay my bill for the lights and gas, the woman’s daughter told me that I actually owed her for an extra 4 days!!! She said I owe for the 28th of February and I need to pay for the 29th, 30 and 31st of march!! I was floored!! I kinda half expected I would have to pay for the 28th, I know there is no such thing as a free lunch! But the 29th, 30 and 31st bullshit I didn’t understand.
She told me it works like this is in brasil. "if I check in to an apartment on the 28th of feb, then the clock starts ticking from that moment. So now I rental time period is from the 28th of feb till the 28th of March!!" She said my time period stopped on the 28th and I had to pay for the remaining 3 days I stayed in the apartment!! Furthermore, because it wasnt under the month long contract, i now had to pay the daily rate, which is 200R per day!!!!! So now I owed her 800Reias!!!!
With a smile on my face, I politely told her that I had already paid for the month of March and that at the most, I owed for one day's rental, the 28th of february! She swore that that is not how it works in brasil, she said,” whatever day you move into the apartment is the day you have to move out on the next month when you do a one month rental! If you move in on the 28th, you have to move out on the 28th the next month!”
Her and I went back and forth for over an hour trying to resolve everything. I even called over a brasilian friend who speaks English to try and get her to see my side of things. No luck, we were both convinced that we were correct. The lady's daughter is now laying a heavy guilt trip on me now, saying if I don’t pay the bill, the money will come out of her pocket because she is responsible for making sure the owner gets the money for the rental.
My question to the board is this. Common sense tells me I am right, however I know common sense in brasil does not always mean the same thing in America. Should I just pay the 800R, tell he to go to hell, or split the difference and chalk it up to a cultural misunderstanding?
