Jewelry making San Miguel de Allende Mexico Announcements & News

• Accounting Services: Juan Manuel Orta,
  044-415-101-1805, free consultation for first-timers



• Aqua Bell, purified water, call 120-3500, 19 liter jugs, home delivered, no deposit charge, 12-pesos, 20% discount



• Art Print, San Francisco 11, upstairs, (quality full-color digital printing, 10% minimum $400 pesos)



• BBQ Bob's, Salida de Celaya #6 organic produce, (10%, 100 peso minimum)



• Beatriz's Vacation Rental Apartments - 10% discount off rentals apartments.



• "Best of San Miguel" published by Joseph Harmes, (10%), order by e-mail:
  escritorsma@cybermatsa.com.mx



• Black & White Shop - "Tonina" - now located Loreto 28A, 20% off



• Camar Printing - 10% off all printing services, minimum $500 pesos.



• Casa del Inquisidor, Aldama No. 1. Members may take 10% off marked goods. Casa del Inquisidor furniture & décor store, furniture, upholstery, rugs and hardware, in addition to Casa del Inquisidor's professional interior design.



• Casa Linda, Luxury Hotel - 15% off for cash, 5% when using credit card.



• Casa Montana Hotel in Pozos - 20%.



• Chelo's Farmacia - 20% drugs, 15% off retail products except those already marked down, $50 pesos minimum.



• Classes un LTD - VIP Club members may take 10% off continuous education classes. For additional info visit their website, www.classesunlimited.com, or call: 152-2483.



• Clinica Izuinapan Pet Care and Spa. Veterinario Dr. Rodrigo Garibay offers 10% off pet needs including spaying, neutering, grooming and SPA services. La Clinica secializes in alternative and preventive medical treatment & Professional Grooming for pets
  Relampago #22 Col. La Lejona 2da. Seccion,
  Cell: 044 415 151 9325.



• Darla's Jewelry, corner of Correo and Recreo, (15%)



• Dryclean USA, Salida A Celaya No.14, 185-8200,
  Dry clean and laundry services, pick up and
  delivery, 15% discount, 100 peso minimum.



• DuPont Paints, 152-39-87, (10%) off
  Two locations Salida de Celaya #26 and, Libramiento a Dolores Hidalgo #46, 044-415-100-6552



• Elite Nails, waxing etc. Zacateros #29 (15%) 100 peso minimum



• ERA Gift Shop, Zacateros #39, (10%)



• Georgia Dering Massage Therapy, 044-415-103-3364 (10%)



• Goldie Designs, Canal #9, (10%)



• Helena Moreno Fine Arts Gallery, Jesus #18, (10% off marked items)



• Hotel Casa Cafe on Hidalgo, (10%) coffee by the kilo, whole bean or ground



• Intercam Casa de Cambio - (premium rate slightly above posted rate when cashing in dollars).



• Joyous Heart represents, Shaklee, Mexico, Zamora Rios #9, Colonia Allende, 152 1213. Deep discounts to VIP Club Members.
  
  
• La Morada Hotel - 20% off rooms and suites (some black out dates apply).



• Lavamagico laundry service (home delivery), Pila Seca #5, 152-0899. (10)%



• Noel Propane Gas, home delivery, (6%) off retail price 154-8383 Special Instructions, must call in for cylinders or tanks beforehand give card # and date of expiration. If encountering truck on the street must call in when in house. laundry service (home delivery), Pila Seca #5, 152-0899. (10)%



• The Leather Shop - Umarán #1, (10%)



• Moyshen Art Gallery Hidalgo #4, (10% off marked art)



• McDonalds Mail Box Service to US (10% discount for year payment)



• Patricia's facial & body treatments, Ladrillera #1, 154-8104. (10%)



• Ren Ellis Leather Goods, Recreo 8A (10%)



• San Miguel Health and Fitness Center - 20% off first month's membership.



• Satellite Mexico TV - Welcome, SATELLITE MEXICO, VIP Club members can take 10% off services, including installation. Contact Chuck for info: satellitemexico@yahoo.com



• 3 Señores - Camping and horseback riding. For reservations call:
  044-415-101-4976. 25% discount of regular rates.



• San Miguel Designs; (www.sanmigueldesigns.com). (15%).



• Satellite Mexico TV (10%) off services, including installation



• Seventh Heaven Boutique - Sollano #13, Various discounts to members.



• Stilo Lamps and Furniture, Casada Aurora, (10% off marked goods)



• Vista Real Hotel and Vista Real Hotel's Restaurant - (20%) Blackout periods apply

Notice: Certain Restaurants and Businesses may have restrictions that do not appear on this website. Please contact The Restaurant Club directly for a complete list of participating businesses and restrictions.

Web site Questions/Corrections, contact web@vipsanmiguel.com and Lou Christine

VIP Questions, contact vipsma@cybermatsa.com.mx for the VIP CLUB

I’ve written quite a bit about The Ugly American Syndrome. In my columns, print and online magazines, and in every book I’ve written, I’ve mentioned this topic. I get a lot of mail from readers, either praising and agreeing with me or chiding and condemning me.

As of today, I think I will begin cutting Americans some slack, especially American expats in Mexico, regarding The Ugly American Syndrome. My visit to the bank today convinced me that maybe I’ve been too harsh and need to lighten up a bit. I think my readers (the chiders and condemners) in San Miguel de Allende might breathe a collective sigh of relief over this announcement.

What happened is something that should not have surprised or shocked me. I guess I simply have reached the end of my expat rope—at least today. When I get my quarterly royalty checks from my book publishers, I take them to my Mexican bank and deposit them. Because they are drawn on a foreign account in the States, there is understandably a hold on these checks.

I get that and it doesn’t bother me one bit.

But here is what I’ve been told ever since I began depositing royalty checks into this account:

“There will be a two-week hold on this check.”

At the end of two weeks, the wife and I go off to the ATM to check the balance and the funds are not there. We go back to the bank. The bank officer tells us:

“Oh, there is always a three-week hold on foreign checks.”

We wait another week, go to the ATM, and the funds aren’t there. So, we go again to the bank.

“Oh, there is a 22-day hold on all foreign checks.”

The next day, we go to the ATM and the funds are not there. We go into the bank:

“There must be some mistake. There is always a 25-day hold on all foreign checks.”

We wait three more days and go to the ATM to check things out. There are no funds. We drag ourselves into the bank with the wife trying to talk me out of murdering someone.

“Oh my, my! There is always a 30-day hold on all foreign checks.”

In Mexico, as I have written before, nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, is as it seems. Nothing will work with any degree of logic or reason known to the rest of the world. Here two weeks can mean pretty much any amount of time. In Guanajuato, Mexico, two weeks means many things. It can mean three weeks, twenty-two days, twenty-five days, or thirty days. And let me tell you, each bank employee will tell you something different each time you make a deposit. They will look you straight in the eye and tell you whatever comes to their minds, whether it is the truth or not.

What I do not get is just why no bank employee knows how anything works! This brings me to a conversation with an American expat who has lived in Mexico much longer than I have. She said once that what Mexico needs is a Business Manager. These people need a Business Manager in everything that has to do with anything to show them how things work. This is because in all aspects of life, at least in Guanajuato, no one who does anything that has to do with something knows just how it is suppose to work.

Trying to do banking in Guanajuato is not the only thing that doesn’t work. I would love to tell you that this is so but I would be lying.

Once we tried going to the movies. The theater manager was at a party and was having too good of a time to show up with the keys to the box office to sell tickets. She sent word that someone was welcome to come and get the keys and sell tickets, otherwise we would all have to wait.

Can you begin to imagine what would have happened in America when this movie theater manager finally showed up? She or he would have been lynched by the crowd.

Here is the really bad thing. This sort of “Qué Será, Será, whatever will be, will be…” service is vastly tolerated all over this country. The Mexican nationals, at least from my observation, seem to tolerate a level of service from providers that Americans and Europeans would not tolerate for a second!

Only those who have spent time internationally seem to be perturbed by those of their fellow countrymen who settle for or offer this, “The future’s not ours to see, Qué Será, Será…” service.

Well, the next time I see some American tourist or expat acting out The Ugly American Syndrome, I am going to march up to them, pat them on the back, and tell them, “I feel your pain, Bubba!”

by Douglas Bower

Article Source: EzineArticles.com