Woody

12 hours ago, CanPanDave said:

Time for me to jump in here....

First off, Planet Telecom owes an apology to Mr. Wooderson for putting a charge on his credit card without authority, that has now been reversed and happened as a result of changes in our staff and the manner in which we charge credit cards when the card holder is not present in our office.

Our company policy is clear and we do not charge any credit card without the cardholders permission.

With regard to the charge:

Our contracts are explicit in that we require a minimum 30 day cancellation notice. This is the same as cellphone providers and many other internet providers both here and in most countries around the world.

We insist that a cancellation request must be made in writing or via email. This is to minimize the chance of any misunderstanding.

The equipment used to receive internet belongs to us. If we need to come and get it at the end of your service term, we charge $25. Clients who don't want to pay that fee are free to return the equipment to our office. This policy is not any different from other providers. If a client does not confirm the request to remove equipment or does not return it after 2 months we invoice for the equipment and then report the debt to the Credit Bureau of Panama.

These points are all covered in the contract our clients to are required to sign. It is not buried in fine print but is contained in the first item in the contract. The contract is available for all to see at: http://www.ptpanama.com/public/PTPInternetContractFinalEnglishWEBVer20120724.pdf

With regard to our plans and prices:

We are painfully aware of the market space in which we work, our newest competitor is also one of our suppliers and sells bandwidth to their clients at prices 75% less than they sell it to us wholesale, what do we think they are trying to do? 

The contracts we have with our suppliers are all long term, 1 to 2 years, we are not able to reduce our bandwidth commitment while under the term so the idea that we manipulate what we buy depending on what customers leave is simply not true, we are frustrated with many of the same types of things all foreigners find frustrating about living and doing business in Panama.

Our clients are very familiar with our products, the strength of our network, the manner in which we handle support and in general, the way we do our business. 

We have had some success in renegotiating contracts with our suppliers and are impatiently waiting for them to increase our capacity, we are in the process of offering more for less; however, given the diverse locations in which we provide service, it is being staged in a way that will allow us to continue to give our customers the speed, reliability and service we are well known for.

We anticipate being able to provide our new plans to all of our residential clients before the end of May.

We will reach out to each client with our offer as soon and as we are comfortable in being able to provide the additional bandwidth without negatively affecting other clients on a particular segment.

Thanks

Dave Veilleux

Planet Telecom Panama

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:  

18 hours ago, TwoSailors said:

We just signed up with Detresno Insurance. Gloria is great. Returns emails and phone calls very quickly.

She is saving us $350 a year for car insurance verses our previous agent.

detresno@usa.net

http://www.detresnoinsurance.com/about-us--our-services.html

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.

7 minutes ago, Twin Wolf Technology Group said:

As I read your explanation, I do not think it is sour grapes.    Realizing of course, that there are two sides to every story, I will make several comments.

1.   The 30 day notice is both a money grab on an outgoing client as well as a minor protection to the service itself.   Internet Service Providers buy their bandwidth from an upstream provider.   In other words they get the route to the Internet from someone else and need to pay for it.   The 30 day notice gives them a chance to adjust the amount of bandwidth they are buying otherwise they get stuck paying for more than they have sold.   It is a balancing act and they likely buy bandwidth by the month as well.   Bandwidth is something that cost the same whether it is used or not used.   When a client says they didn't use it, it is not like the provider can then sell it to someone else.  The provider still has the same expense and still pays for it even when you do not use it.   On the other hand, they are getting a month and half of payment and notice, not just 30 days.   That is not fair nor the spirit of the contract.

2.   It is perfectly reasonable to think that you are a long time customer that purchased a large amount of bandwidth thereby giving them a very nice profit.   The day you give notice, you are no longer a great customer and many companies treat you as if you are less than a loyal client.   That is just the sad state of doing business with many companies.   They fail to realize the bad press they get by doing so and that appreciation they had ends the moment you give notice.   Your either a great customer or a SOB that went to the competition.

3.  I have publicly written about Planet Telecom, both in glowing terms of their service as well as the disappointment of their very high cost ... their service is the most expensive in this area.  Both are wireless services, not cable.   Cable Onda Wireless Internet is currently around $11 per meg ($45/4 megs) and Planet Telecom is around $83 per meg ($125/1.5 megs).   It varies a little depending on how much bandwidth you purchase but the difference is shocking given you are comparing like services.

I had hoped by this time we would have seen a price drop from Planet Telecom.  I do not understand how they plan to stay competitive when they are charging more than 7 times as much for the exact same service.   Word is quickly spreading about the Cable Onda wireless service and how it is so much more reasonably priced.

In one part of my business in the US, I sold dedicated bandwidth to clients.  The longer the client had service, the more of a discount they got.    In other words, they got rewarded for not switching.   It stopped people jumping back and forth as competitors dropped their price and made my clients loyal.

 

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!

1 hour ago, JudyS said:

And another word.  Don't ever authorize automatic payments from your credit card.  It can be very difficult to stop them.

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.

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.

3 hours ago, JudyS said:

Typical scorpion stings cause pain at the site of the sting, like a bee sting.  If you are having numbness in lips and tongue, those could be much more serious reactions.  You might discuss those with a doctor and see if you should be carrying an epi-pen.  Those symptoms sound alarming.

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.

7 hours ago, Admin_01 said:

Bonnie, thank you for commenting on the movement from education to political swipes. You are correct that this thread is about education, and future postings should remain on-topic.

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!

37 minutes ago, Bonnie said:

Por ejemplo, look at Donald Trump. He "loves the uneducated." They're the easiest to control.

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. 

5 hours ago, Penny said:

Once again this morning I was waved through the police stop at the Caldera road and once again it occurred to me how ineffective this effort is. I believe all the money being spent on having 2-3 policemen there most of the time is to protect Boquete from maleantes coming up from David to do home invasions and assaults against the Boquete residents (who are rich, don't cha know). The problem is the police chose to be on the side of the intersection where there is shade and not on the side of the intersection where they will do any good. Any maleante wanting to come into Boquete without being stopped needs only come in via the Caldera road. The same is true for any maleante wanting to leave Boquete with their loot and return to David. All they have to do is turn left onto the Caldera road before they get to the police stop.

What is it that I'm not understanding here???

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

20 minutes ago, Penny said:

Alberto and his family are my neighbors. I have two tenants who do a lot to support and assist Alberto and his family. Although this family lives in abject poverty, the kids all seem happy and healthy. And Alberto is a sweetheart. He studies his English every day. He is never down or depressed. Quite amazing !!!!

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.

2 hours ago, Franagain said:

I won't eat there again, not only because they refuse to honor the pensionado discount but ALSO because of the difficult situation they put their staff in by requiring them to explain to a customer just why the owner refuses to abide by the law.  Tacky and very inconsiderate. The owner himself should be the only person to try and defend their ''policy''.

There are many other very good restaurants here now, and they ALL have found a way to follow the law. 

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.

4 minutes ago, Deborah said:

Penny,

   Mark's post suggested these were more permanent and not related to the Feria; I suspect that is why others expressed interest, as did I.  I have absolutely no interest in traversing Avenida Buenos Aires during the Feria.

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.

1 hour ago, TwoSailors said:

Our water bill was around $100 a month in Southern California. And this was before the mandatory 25% water reduction for each home and business and the 20% increase in water bills and over water usage charges.

 

Be happy with what you got!

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!

20 hours ago, Keith Woolford said:

From the outset I have been hesitant to get involved in discussions concerning AAC because of the controversial manner in which the RD startup was handled.

Yup, we are in violent agreement on that point.

1 hour ago, Brundageba said:

Rodny Direct has a database for clients that is much broader....we like that.  We want to know a guy like Rodny can take all the information we supplied him and find a place for our dog, locate our relatives, contact our attorney who has POA, and send the emergency squad to our home with 100% information on what our health status is.  For my husband and I, $80/yr is a value for service.   That said...we love Rodny and what he's accomplished.  He is an example not only for the handicapped but as well for you and me to achieve beyond our wildest imagination and succeed...and then do more.  Go Rodny.  Yes we're biased.

There is no other service that can equal Rodny Direct in Panama...period

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!  

4 hours ago, Brundageba said:

I have this great Colombia shirt with a front breast pocket with a hidden zipper.   I can put credit cards, cedula and $$ in there and you can't even see the pocket. You just would not know a pocket was there.   The zipper tab hides beneath the front button placket edge.   I LOVE that shirt for big city shopping etc. 

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.

3 hours ago, Brundageba said:

I was thinking that today.  I mean why insert an article about a dentist who did pro bono work on a woman who had her teeth knocked out by her boyfriend?   Had nothing to do with Boquete....I just find it weird and not particularly helpful to the new folks.    The new folks?   Apparently lots of them.  I agree...a TON of useful information got buried when Lee was...or shortly thereafter.

My thoughts were that the poster was simply doing a parody of the direction Ning had taken.  He had another post about a guy who started dealing in marijuana to get enough money to buy his girlfriend a boob job.  I might be wrong about it being parody, but I don't think so.

I also think that Olga must be getting paid by the word.  I pity her husband if the incessant babbling is her normal persona.

I bought some of his nice longostinos yesterday too.  It's great to have him back.

Since I put something in the pot to lend him a hand, I will comment on that.  I don't know how Miguel used that money, and it really doesn't matter to me.  I am sure that it helped him in some way during a bad time.  I'll put on my rose colored glasses and believe that our help is one reason he is back now.

For anyone who doesn't know Miguel, he is a fish monger from David.  He is usually parked somewhere between Romero and Ro-Her in a red pickup that is full of coolers.  His fish is always fresh and priced lower than the markets.  He speaks a little English, and he remembers your name.