Steve, Don't forget that I amended Part A, as follows: Amendment to Part A - Tongue in cheek. LOL. Jaja, etc. I love all my British buds. God forbid I should offend anyone. Jaja. But when I was in London a couple of years ago I did notice that the Brits certainly did not discourage, and sometimes actually subtlely encouraged, tipping by me, an obvious American. Thank goodness my daughter had been studying there for 10 weeks already and eduecated me quickly. They should be well paid there. A $10 hamburger in the states, like at a TGI Fridays for example, was 10 GBP. Looks ok to a kid on dad's credit card but the exchange rate was about 2x1 then so it was equivalent to $20 US. Now, that was the real education, although I knew it was coming. I love it when I see Brit tourists not tipping in Cancun when they can buy a beer for roughly 1/7 the price it England. I do admit that the beers are far better in England, even though so many people there are all about the Belgian Stella Artois. Too bad Costco only offered that for a short time. Cheers,
I must admit to finding the whole tipping culture really confusing to the point of being unsettling. This seems to start with the argument that the wages are pitiful and therefore tips are essential. The pyschological off shoot of that is that I am rich, you are poor, but dont worry I will give you some of my money?......... That does not fit well with me at all. My personal opinion is that tipping should be a reward for effort over and above the call of duty and not an expectation. If the the problem is poor wages, why not get that addressed and then deal with the rogues who try to con extra money with tips on the bill disguised as tax and an expectation for a tip as well. Of course bringing Mexico into the first world, with first world wages, might just have unwelcome consequences. Mexico could well become a more expensive place to vacation, but surely the rights of the local Mexicans come over and above the rights of tourists to have a cheap vacation. Brits used to go to Ireland for a cheap week-end away and descend on Spain for a cheap sunshine and Sangria holiday. Neither of these places are cheap anymore - far, far from cheap. But the Brits still go to Spain and it is still the UK's favourite sunshine destination.
Oh, Felipe!!! I remember him from way back when, when he worked at Hard Shell Taco for Chris P. What great times we had there and with Felipe and his magic tricks entertaining the kids... and us!
If it makes you feel better, go ahead and tell these restaurants how you're going to "report" them as having ripped you off. But my experience has been that the Mexican people don't give a second thought to "the future" In fact, I don't think they're even taught the meaning of the word. All they care about is TODAY.....and this is by no means reserved solely for the restaurant business....it's the same for most Mexicans who provide a service...like your carpenter who doesn't show up for work when he says he will. The latter I think is more of a "cultural" thing and the Mexican people are used to it. We "foreigners" should probably learn to accept it, if for no other reason than hair retention and the prevention of ulcers. The restaurant thing and other related incidences seem to apply only to us foreigners. (Gringo tax, etc.) However, it is widely believed that many restaurants in Mexico, are nothing more than money laundering fronts for the Narcos, and they couldn't care less what kind of bad press they receive. Their books are going to show "filled to capacity," whether or not a single person patronizes the place. Just MHO.
Would you consider the Airport Shuttle or Taxi (from the airport to the hotel zone) a "rip-off." Are these companies part of some kind of Mafia? How is it that they all charge such high rates? How come someone doesn't come around and offer $15 per carload instead of the $45 - $70?
Taxis have to have specific permission to be allowed to collect passengers from the airport. And that permission is not cheap or easy to get. That's why they can all charge top dollar for shuttle services. If you want cheap then take the bus from the airport to the downtown bus station. Then you can take any normal taxi anywhere.
Leaving aside regular taxis who aren't supposed to pick up at the airport, I think that's a very good price for a private return shuttle service. Especially when you can have as many as ten people per van for just $70. When you consider a return transfer involves around 2 hours of a drivers time, gas for say 30 miles, insurance, maintenance, purchase/lease cost of vehicle, depreciation, office staff to take reservations and co-ordinate the service, affiliate commissions, computers, uniforms, cellphones, licences, permits etc. I dont know how they manage to offer it at such low prices. Well I do actually, the companies dont make much per trip but rely on volume. Word of mouth, publicity and reputation being key to achieving the volume. It's probably one of the few businesses in Cancun that is truly market driven - raise prices lose custom, lower them and gain. It finds it's own level.
Hell, I didn't even know taxis weren't supposed to be at the airport...I see tons of them when I'm there. Do they all have this "special permission?" BTW, how much is a taxi fare from CUN to (say) the Oasis Americana on Tulum?
Regular taxis can take people TO the airport, but they cannot pick up passengers FROM the airport. The airport has a taxi company (Greenline) that can take people from the airport to their hotel. A private taxi to the hotel zone is about $58.00us one way. People can take a shared van from the airport to the hotel zone for about $16.00us per person one way. To downtown the private taxi is $56.00 and shared van $16.00us I could be a couple of dollars off, these are last year's prices. I take the bus from airport to downtown for 40 pesos The private transfers like E-plus are a pretty good deal compared to the airport's taxi/shuttle.
WOW!!!! Here in Veracruz, it's about 15 USD for a taxi to the airport, and the distance from downtown is the same, if not a little further. Thanks for the heads-up.
