Medellin Reports

It seems a Davivienda ATM ripped me off on December 4. I guess I had forgotten about it because the money was just put back into my account today January 25; and there is an extra $2.48.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2525508]It seems a Davivienda ATM ripped me off on December 4. I guess I had forgotten about it because the money was just put back into my account today January 25; and there is an extra $2.48.[/QUOTE]My bank does that, within limits, I think it's five foreign transactions per month. Once a month they credit my account.

Thank you jb.

[QUOTE=Nounce;2525488]You guys should thank JB who is the author took the time to write these posts![/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2525431]I do not think that is a scam at all. The exact same thing happened to me in October at my mechanic. But he caught it after I got into my car and ran after me to have me come back in and do the charge back. I also tried to rent a car on expedia in December and it did not go through. I tried again and it did not go through. Both charges appeared on my card. Was the rental car company trying to scam me through expedia? I called expedia and it got fixed. Shit happens with machines. It is not always nefarious.

Seriously how is someone not going to know for weeks or months that they have been charged twice? Do people not monitor their accounts? Do people randomly go months back and try to remember purchases they made? You could look at your account immediately after and see 2 charges pending for the same amount at the same place. I am a cheap charlie with these chicks, but if I had alerts on my credit cards for anything over $50, that shit would never stop ringing.

And like Nounce said, how is she going to get the money? It would have been deposited to the club. So if there was some type of scam, the owner would have had to be in on it. Not only that, but he would have also had to pay taxes on it since card charges are documented. So unless he fired the at least 2 girls for not doing the scam correctly, then that was not the reason they got fired. How are you closest friends with all these people and know all these goings-ons, and still get pegged as a mark? Makes no sense to me.[/QUOTE]You would be surprised, but there are plenty of people who pay little attention to those things, especially when they are in party mode. They only notice something is wrong when a check bounces or a card gets declined. I speak from being one of those guys in the past.

I was contracted to a guy and had set up for only a certain amount of money to be sent to my account each month. Just enough to pay all the bills. The rest was supposed to sit with him, until I needed it. Yes I know that money should have been going into some type of investment, but I was putting in over 100 hours weekly and only spending about 6 days a year at home, not all in one stretch. I kept a loose idea of how much money I was owed.

At a time when I figured to have $16 k owed me, I asked for $10 k. I was finally taking a week off and wanted to buy some things for the house. Boss tells me I owe him $5 k, but he'll advance me $2 k if I want. It took me 4 hours of going through everything to find $19 k in errors. Double charges, unpaid earnings and just simple math errors. I talked to other drivers who had contracted with him and discovered it was a common problem.

I still figure he ripped me off for several thousand, but that would have required a lot more work to prove.

There are plenty of people out there, especially when dealing with hard partying guys, who will pad a bill or double charge. If you get caught, it was an honest mistake, otherwise you pocket the money.

I don't know how waitresses at Gusto are paid, but if they get paid based on how much they sell, there's an incentive. If the tip is on the card, there's an incentive.

There's another angle to consider, although it doesn't appear to be the case. If someone brings in a card reader that's linked to another merchant account, or that's just a card skimmer. They could get you either way.

Personally, the only cards I use in Colombia are my debit cards at ATMs. Everything else is a cash transaction.

[QUOTE=Osteoknot;2525476]If someone says "Meddy" to me, my first instinct will be to slap them in the face

Deal with it.[/QUOTE]You might want to work on your instincts.

It's unlikely anyone visiting Medellin is going to call it "Meddy", unless they have a difficult time pronouncing the double ell sound, which is pronounced different in different Spanish speaking countries. I ran into a similar issue my first visit to Bogota. The girl was talking about a guy I know of named Xavier. I pronounce that Havier, but she kept saying "Chavi. " Nobody did any slapping.

My ex-roommate used to pronounce the "ed" at the end of English words, such as "work-ed", again, slapping was not required.

If I was getting bored of the working girl scene, I'd start moving into the non-pro action. Hit the estrato 4 barrios where gringos don't go. Visit restaurants, bars and stores, strike up some conversations and show some patience. I've seen enough to know that there are options available.

If it's just a desire to bang hostel patrons, take up backpacking. It's a cheap way to see the country and you get to meet the girls too. Start in Medellin and let the people you meet guide you to the next destination. If you're just a guy trying to hook up, you're going to have a lot of younger competition. If you're a guy wanting to find the perfect hot springs to watch a meteor shower in, you're going to get a lot more interest.

[QUOTE=JjBee62;2525366]If you meet the testing requirement for entry no quarantine is required. [/QUOTE]I have a question whose answer hopefully should prove of interest to increasing numbers of BMs who, like me, will have shortly received the magical 2 shot vaccination and plan ASAP thereafter to hop on a plane back to Medellin, El Ciudad de Eterna Primavera (and, more importantly, de Eterna Panocha as well). THE QUESTION. Has anyone seen anything official as to whether Colombian immigration will accept some certified Proof of Vaccination in lieu of the required PCR test? And ditto for anyone entering (returning) to the USofA.

I hope that this post doesn't prompt a deserved RTFF riposte from JjBee or others. I do recall a week or so back someone on this thread pondering whether the vaccination document that he had received was formal enough (e. G. It lacked official letterhead) to pass muster with immigration officers. The document I will receive here in New Jersey is an index-sized card that, in the upper corner, does have the official logos of the US Department of Health and Human Services and of the Center for Communicable Diseases (CDC) --so perhaps that is the standard certification document to be used throughout the US. It also has the dates of each of the two vaccinations, initialed by a representative from the organization operating the vaccination facility.

[QUOTE=Surfer500;2525495]The curfews and weekend lockdowns are all very doable, however if the CO government in the future instigates quarantines for new arrivals, besides the testing requirement, this will be very discouraging as far as I am concerned.[/QUOTE]I agree. I have a trip booked in about 3 weeks. .. I will be vaccinated and have had a PCR test. There's no way that I'm going to quarantine under those circumstances. The only thing that gives me some comfort is that the UK strain has been known about for a long time and so far there have not been any quarantines imposed as far as I know for even travelers from the UK.

[QUOTE=Vitrea;2525471]There has been a lot of discussion about this. I thought I would add my personal experience. Consider it my 2 cents.

Most of us agree that the CO government rules are beyond stupid and not based on any science but is what it is. This forum is not about debating that.

I have make 4 trips to MDE since October and they had some form of lockdown when I was there. I do a PCR test when I go in so there is no quarantine for me. I have had almost no issues finding dates. Girls don't care. I mainly use FB and rarely casas like Energy with friends. Of course if you are depending on clubs exclusively, it will have some impact but overall, I would not discourage anyone from going due to restrictions.[/QUOTE]After several years reading this forum, I would say that most of us are not qualified to make any type of scientific determination. However, what the Colombian government is doing is quite simple and as someone who has made so many trips to Colombia, you should be able to see it.

Although you can find a party any night in Medellin, the weekends are the time when everyone gets together for a good time. Figure at least 100 night clubs with an average of 200 people on a Saturday night. That alone could lead to 1,000 new infections in the following 10 days. Those 1,000 have families. 1,000 becomes 10,000, becomes 30,000. Now add in Friday night, and Sunday night if Monday is a holiday. Now start adding weekends.

So they put in a midnight curfew, which cuts it down a little bit. Then they do full lockdowns on some weekends, which cuts it down a bit more. On top of that, they require testing and-or quarantine. This discourages some people from traveling, the weekend curfews discourage more people from traveling. They know they can't stop the bleeding, but they are hoping to slow it down.

For the rest of your posts, that's a good assessment. Facebook is mostly unaffected and casas and strip clubs are options, but if you're going for the night life and hoping to pick up girls in the discos, your options are limited.

[QUOTE=Knowledge;2525518]Thank you jb.[/QUOTE]I detected a note of sarcasm there. Actually you should thank Nounce because he went to the trouble to find and link the posts.

You're welcome.

[QUOTE=Osteoknot;2525517]My bank does that, within limits, I think it's five foreign transactions per month. Once a month they credit my account.[/QUOTE]I had $147 taken out in December when I used the ATM but it did not give me money and $149 returned returned today. The ATM fee is not what I am talking about. Yes my bank returns those; unlimited as far as I know.

[QUOTE=Surfer500;2525495]The curfews and weekend lockdowns are all very doable, however if the CO government in the future instigates quarantines for new arrivals, besides the testing requirement, this will be very discouraging as far as I am concerned.[/QUOTE]But Biden is trying to get 10 day quarantines upon return.

[QUOTE=Sangnyc21;2525574]But Biden is trying to get 10 day quarantines upon return.[/QUOTE]Yes, it's problematic and being studied by his advisors with some recommendations from them I believe next week. It would be a boner killer for International travel, and begs the question how they would enforce it. Hopefully they will come up with an alternative to this and they are also looking at land crossings as well into the USA from Mexico / Canada.

So it's a bit better in medellin. This is a national curfew. Quintero is lobbying for no more curfew for medellin. So we'll see how that goes.

[QUOTE=Osteoknot;2525291]Well, things did not go as planned which is why I try to avoid making plans whenever possible. I am not sure if Cat Girl is ghosting me but she is acting like she doesn't want to see me. I guesstimate 50% she wants to take the money I have recently deposited in her bank account and cut and run; 50% she is scared at the prospect of hooking up with a monger, getting used up, and abandoned.
[/QUOTE]I am totally lost. Do you know this chick or not? You were talking about buying pets together and shit and now it is she may be scared to hook up with you as if you have never met each other. And weren't you the one first ghosting her because you were too busy with other chicks?

That is why I do not notify anyone I am coming to town. I pop up and say I am here and if they want to get together we can get together. All that planning and anticipation and shit is for the birds. Just go with the flow once boots are on the ground.

[QUOTE=MrEnternational;2525615]I am totally lost. Do you know this chick or not? You were talking about buying pets together and shit and now it is she may be scared to hook up with you as if you have never met each other. And weren't you the one first ghosting her because you were too busy with other chicks?

That is why I do not notify anyone I am coming to town. I pop up and say I am here and if they want to get together we can get together. All that planning and anticipation and shit is for the birds. Just go with the flow once boots are on the ground.[/QUOTE]I know many like to plan ahead. I only plan one girl the day I'm about to board the plane.

But when you plan ahead more than 50% of the time it won't work out and meanwhile mostly it'll be your time that's wasted.