Woody

Thanks Dave. As soon as I see the reversal, I'll get square with PT on the balance due for cancellation. PT subscribers need to have a full understanding of how PT interprets the following part of the contract: "Subsequent terms of this Agreement automatically renew on a monthly basis without further action by you unless you give Planet Telecom written notice of non-renewal at least thirty [30] days before the end of the monthly term in which the notice is given. You are purchasing the Service for full monthly terms, meaning that if you attempt to terminate Service prior to the end of a monthly term, you will be responsible for the full month's charges to the end of the then-current term, including, without limitation, unbilled charges plus prorated or discounted install fee if it has not been paid completely at the beginning of the contract, all of which immediately become due and payable. " Under PTs interpretation, there are only 1 or 2 days of each month that anyone could cancel without incurring charges for an additional month. And, subscribers couldn't cancel at all in February without incurring charges for an additional month since there aren't 30 days in that month. I like to think that I am a practical person with some common sense, and my interpretation is that 30 days advance notice is required for cancellation. I'm pretty well done with talking about my issue with PT in public. I do advise PT subscribers to be aware of your interpretation of the cancellation provisions in the contract.

I'll give two cents worth on this topic since I have had some claims experience for both house and car. Several years ago, a guy with a brush bumper on his pickup cut his wheels too soon backing out of a parking space at Rey and it excavated the side of my car. It took almost 8 months of constant prodding to get his insurance company to pay for the damage and even then I had to run all over David to get estimates from their approved repair shops. If I hadn't had help from my insurance agent, my car wouldn't be repaired today. I had two big lessons learned from that one. The first is that I wouldn't want to have my insurance from that other guy's company, no matter how cheap it might be. And, second, we all need to get our insurance from an agent who will service us during the policy term.

Dan, I don't know you, but I have always found your commentary to be balanced. This is no exception. Your point concerning the time it takes to adjust purchased bandwidth is very valid. I have no desire to see PT take a burden on my service cancellation. That said, 30 days notice is the contract requirement, and that is what I am willing to pay for. I do hope that PT can find a way to compete with CO on bandwidth and price, and that they will rediscover their original formula for succeeding with superior service. That would be awesome!

Yes you are correct. Before withdrawing the authorization for automatic payment, I asked my bank if they could do a stop payment for anything coming from PT. The answer was that my only alternative was to cancel the card and wait for it to be re-issued in a new account. I am very selective about who I give auto-pay authorizations to, but PT seemed to be cut from a more ethical cloth than most. Nothing like a good lesson learned.

This is going to sound like sour grapes, and I guess it is to some extent. But, it's also a warning to those of you still using Planet Telecom. We had PT internet for almost four years. We used their 3 MB service and paid $200/month for it. You can do your own math for how much PT received from us over those years. And, we were good customers. We authorized PT to bill our credit card in advance of receiving the service each month. Cable Onda bought MobilNet and started offering 9 MB service in our area for $133/month. I guess you could say that the decision to switch to Cable Onda was a no-brainer. I notified PT on April 15th that I was canceling their service. I had already paid for service through April 30th, but the contract required 30 days notice for cancellation so I figured I would have to cough up another $100 for 1-15 May. Wrong. PT's position was that I could only cancel on the 1st day of an unpaid month, so I would owe them $200 for the entire month of May. Since their antenna and modem were removed on April 15th and returned to their office in David on April 18th, I was actually paying $300 for a period in which I was using none of their bandwidth. On April 18th I notified PT that the authorization to direct charge my credit card was terminated effective immediately and that any final payment associated to cancellation would be by cash, check, or bank transfer. On May 4th they charged another $200 to my credit card. I have started the dispute action with my credit card company. Over the years, I have said a lot of good things about PTs customer service. Stupid, stupid me. But, I've vented now, and I feel better.

Carolina and Daniele, We have only eaten at your restaurant one time and we found your hospitality, the service, and the food all excellent. Please don't change anything. We will definitely return. Best regards, Woody

A little off topic, but it seems that Fish House has changed from corvina to tilapia as their "standard" for many plates including fish and chips. You can get corvina substituted for about $3 difference, and even at the higher price it's still a bargain compared to other places in town. We're not big fans of tilapia.

I never heard of an epi-pen until I read your message. Sounds like something that belongs in our emergency medical kit. Can they be bought at the local pharmacies? Copious amounts of red wine dulls the pain of the sting. I know where to get that.

From what I have heard, some areas have a bigger problem with scorpions than others. They are pretty much a constant part of daily life where we are -- dry season and wet season. We use a pest control service and it has greatly reduced the number we see, but has not eliminated them completely. Check your exterior door thresholds also. Scorpions don't need much of a crack to get under a typical Panamanian door -- many of which don't even have thresholds. I've been stung twice and it is painful. Side effects for me were numbness in lips and tongue -- very similar to what you experience with dental work. Some people have severe allergic reactions to scorpion venom. If you get stung, it is probably a good idea to take an antihistamine such as Benadryl. (Qualifier: I am not a medical professional.) You kinda get used to them after a while -- kinda kinda.

Bud, I don't do politics online. Conversations flow as this one did. When I'm in the mood for one-way conversation, I go to Ning. Bill says, don't be like Ning. Cheers!

I'm fairly well educated. I'm hard to control. And, I'm not fond of Donald Trump. But, still I disagree with your postulate. It's kind of condescending don't you think?

I think there was a method to the madness in choosing that location, and protection from weather is only a part of it. Via Boquete is the primary road carrying traffic from all points South. There is no ditch dividing the highway at that location, so it makes it easier to operate on both sides of the road if needed. The check can easily be expanded to the southbound lanes of Via Boquete or to the route to David via Gualaca. Nothing is ever perfect, but I can't think of much that would be better in getting the best bang for the buck.

Penny, I'm not sure what you really want. The police are checking the major entrance to Boquete from David. I live off of Caldera Road, and I have seen them check traffic going South after crime incidents in Boquete. It would be great if every entrance and exit to/from Boquete were protected 24/7/365 but what we have now is a major improvement over what we had last year. But, that just gets more and more expensive. I've been pleasantly surprised that the checkpoints have lasted until now. I'm thankful for the upgrade in protection that they have come up with even though it seems to be short by your standards. It must be very expensive to operate the checkpoint. And, I'm really disappointed with your implication that they are only checking in a comfort zone. Be thankful for small steps that improve protection. Maybe you can make a case for expanding the checkpoint, but please do so without slighting the officers trying to protect you. Best regards, Woody

After 4 years in Panama, I think I finally get it. The majority of Panamanians don't worry about things that they can't control, and they will find any reason to make it a happy day. There are some real bad apples in the bushel, but the good apples are the sweetest anywhere.

I have noticed that I spend more time reading all of these sites since these high winds arrived. The wind seems worse this year. I blame it on El Ningo. It sucks more than our Dyson.

One-eyed Frank, had my favorite approach to the "law" on this always-contentious topic. He gave the 25% jubilado discount, and if you weren't a jubilado he gave you a 25% discount too. Everyone was special. I'm glad to hear that some jubilados will avoid Retrogusto because of their policy. It's getting harder to find an unoccupied table there.

OK. I'm in the mood to take the heat for speaking my mind. I know what the law is. But, the burdens of complying with the law are on the restaurant. The government provides no reimbursement to them for providing the meals at a reduced price. They expect the restaurant to take it from profits. So, now everyone wants to run to Acodeco to force a restaurant to operate at a reduced margin or possibly at a loss. It seems to me that the best way for restaurants to handle the jubilado discount is to put an added fee into the bill of every non-jubilado that will cover those costs. Oh, but surely someone would find a reason to take that plan to Acodeco too. I think I will write a letter to Athenas and suggest that purchases from flea markets be covered by 25% jubilado discount. Seniors would get a far greater benefit from that than they will ever get from dining at Retrogusto.

Yeh! It seems to me that airports and airplanes cause a kind of "road rage". People block people trying to board, and people get aggressive trying to de-plane. This is despite the fact that the plane departs at the same time regardless of when you got on it, and you will still wait at the baggage carousel regardless of when you got off of it. I've got to believe that something about traveling makes people do rude things that are not usually in their character.

Ditto that. It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to use laminated stickers for three evenings of traffic control, so it would be logical to assume there is a bigger "plan". But, hey, TIP.

And Boquete garbage collection increased to $60 per YEAR for 2016. My mom living in Northern California pays $70.70 per MONTH for her garbage collection. Be very, very happy with what you got!

Yup, we are in violent agreement on that point.

There are times when I feel like I must speak, even when I don't want to. This is one of those times. For all of the reasons cited by others, we feel very fortunate to have membership in RD. Rodny's track record is comforting. AAC is giving their best effort to reestablish a service at a price compatible with the budgets of many expats in the community. I want to see them succeed because this type of service has proven that it can save lives and resolve problems, and I believe that AAC can do a good job if they are given a chance. The next time I go to TMM, I intend to leave $20 with DVH in the hopes that the seed planted will blossom. For me, the absolute greatest thing about living in Boquete is that I know someone will always be there if I need them. Most of us put our trust in Rodny when the Hotline was first formed, and we didn't know then, what we know now, about how well he would perform. I'm hoping y'all will give Franc his chance too.

Perfecto!

OK. My apologies in advance, but I really gotta dink with you, for the fun of it, because of all the comments that are usually attributed to the correct spelling of one country's name. Did you mean Colombia or Columbia? Columbia Sportswear is great stuff, but it's name is probably derived from the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest, USA. There is always the possibility that you got a great shirt in Colombia with those attributes. But, I always associate Colombia with Hooters -- and, that's ridiculous because Hooters is based in Atlanta, Georgia.