EP's June 2007 Cartagena Trip - Post 2

[EbonyPrince]

Very good points Sean and Soltero.  I will repeat that everything that I have written has happened just the way that I reported it.  I am not placing blame or complaining about anything.  I am giving a very accurate report with many details left out.  As I explained to you Mark I wanted to come home and let everything digest prior to writing my report.

Mark you were the one that telephoned me after speaking to Atomik to get further details regarding what had happened.  We had to have talked for damn near an hour, and I explained everything to you at least several times.  My first impression was that you didn't want to believe anything that I was telling you, and you were dead-set on not finding Luis guilty.  I tried to be fair and I told you that.  I told you that Luis bold-faced lied to me.  Although Luis is cool as a drinking buddy, I told you that I would never trust or use him again.  Everyone that knows me personally from this board, family, friends etc. will tell you that I rarely speak negatively about anyone.  Luis and I got along great.  Without divulging everything, I simply gave you my opinion that he can't be trusted.  I would not want him representing me in business period!

I feel that you could have handled situation with Atomik much better and to at least pay heed to his complaints.  I told you that I was going to write an accurate report without holding anything back.  I also promised that I would give a summary of what I thought you could do to improve your agency.  I have also mentioned Mark that you were free to call me anytime regarding anything.

It is true that Luis wasn't supposed to be any one of our guides.  He was originally assigned to me when I was coming down.  When he told me that he wasn't going to be my tour guide in the taxi ride from the airport, I assumed that you had checked him on the way that he handled me.  Luis always insisted on doing stuff for us, and we never asked him for anything.  He hung around withou being asked Sunday.  Yobany and I spent the whole day in BAQ on Monday.  He tried to get me to change apartments, when I kept telling him I wanted to give Juan Ventura a fair chance to correct things first on multiple occasions.  This was due to me not being able to find out how to turn on the hot water.  When I mentioned the boat ride to him Sunday, he insisted on trying to get another captain for me.  This is after I told him many times that everything was setup, and Atomik would check on everything when he arrived on Tuesday.  When the boat operators asked Yobany to ask me to buy them something to eat, I told Luis about it.  Luis asked me to have Atomik buy one and I buy one.  I told him I wasn't going to do that, because I knew that Atomik didn't really want them around.  I told him to tell them they weren't my responsibility.  He came to me on the beach and told me to hush.  He said he told them that the black guy wants to buy you food because I am cool, but the white guy was against us buying them anything.  When we had to leave early, Luis came to me and tried to blame it on Atomik for knowing.  I then later find out that he knew and planned the whole thing.  He probably wanted us to get back before dark, because we had to take a pretty secluded way back before dark. 

I am sorry Mark, but like I said Luis doesn't deserve your support (IMO).  Coincedentally Luis stopped coming around when people started calling him.  It could have been the $100 US that Atomik gave him.  You told me that you didn't think that Luis was just coming around to eat, drink, and visit the islands.  You mentioned that he was very service-oriented and wanted me to enjoy my stay.  It is funny that I haven't heard from Luis since Wednesday June 6.  He never checked to see if I made it back to the airport on Sunday.

I stand by everything that I wrote or told you Mark...period!  If you want to know more Mark, as I mentioned you are free to call me anytime.

[markanthony7]

First I would like to state that we appreciate everyones constructive criticism it is both resourceful and beneficial to our business but on the same hand with regards to Luis I personally feel there is a "rush to judgement"  and everyone is jumping on an "emotional ban wagon" there has not been in IMO enough accumulated evidence to draw an inference or conclusion about his work ethic and the way he comports himself as an employee and as a person, he is still young and a little rough around the edges and at times needs to be critiqued but I feel unless you have a complete over view of a persons history when you make comments its skewed, vague and ambiguous because you do not have enough information to educate yourself about a person or particular situation.

2. Owners frustration! last week I made a brief post about owners frustration and this is factual; when a person has a negative experience they are ready to tell it with a mega phone but clients that have positive experiences prefer to be private and wont write trip reports, I want you guys to trust me on this issue , it is lopsided, unequivocal when it comes to reviews and reports, reiterating what I said I appreciate your critiquing the various issues but right now you are like "arm chair Quarterbacks" your vision is only partial, I on the other hand have worked with Luis and I have received virtually no complaints on the other hand many of are clients have given just the opposite of some of the negative criticisms you suggest, we have been in the Latin Intro biz for over 3 years now and if our reputation for doing business was that bad we would not have been around even this long, What I am stating in so many words, I am not making excuses for Luis, I am going by his overall history, tract record with satisfied customers and work record, and the good by far and I mean by far out weigh the bad, he has treated our clients with honesty, cordial and a wealth of guidance and resourcefulness to clients seeking Latin introduction and romance and we get many referrals as a result of his diligent work ethic and responsible demeanor

3. Sean you make some valid points but I IMO don't think I made excuses for the Mudd debacle we ownership to that and we are taking assertive steps to repair the breach, on the other comment about the EP being shorted addresses, I only said I wish he would have let me know as the manager and given me the space and opportunity to get involved and correct the issue, I was not aware of the situation sometimes in a work relationship you have to pick up where your business partner missed or omitted something, we have been a situation like this before and I completed the order or corrected an issue (example) the other day an employee at McDonald's got my order wrong I went to the manager and they corrected it, and it is my fiduciary responsibility to act accordingly with regard to our customer service. The cell phone issue you raised everybody knows the cell phone situation is "jacked up" period , I always tell my clients as a matter of orientation before they go on their trip to plan on buying a 20 phone card to contact young ladies, as you know in Colombia you cannot dial from a house phone to a cell phone direct, this sucks! but Colombia is a third world country and they don't have anti trust laws and the cell phone companies have a monoply or strangle hold on the issue but when I return in July the first I am looking into getting an unlimited cell plan for Luis, the problem is you have to be a resident in Colombia.

4. Josh we had a long discussion about this on the Gringos board but I am not aware of her status and even if she is involved with someone I don't know the extent, if she is engaged I will place a stamp through her if its just a serious relationship we like to give it a little time and place her in an "abeyance period"

5. Ebony Prince - I keep listening to your statements and I could be wrong but I just don't see or hear any critical thing he has done wrong regarding you, it appears that it is more of your perception about him, sometimes peoples personalities just conflict,
2 months ago we had one client and he could not stand Javony , Luis took over and the customer was happy on the otherhand with you it was the reciprocal. Now sometimes its about your perception, after the Mudd debacle, Luis and I were very cautious that something like this would not happen again that is why he kept hanging around with hyperviglelance and concern, he wanted to make sure your vacation and Latin Intro experience was satisfactory, he was not attempting to be an irritant, he does not want the reputation of being neglectful to his clients but supportive to your every need and at your "beck and call", he is the tour guide manager and wanted to make sure with due diligence that everything was going smooth, remember Amor De Cartagena is an unconventional Latin Introduction service we attempt to place or assign one tour guide with a client to be his compadre, cousin runnin buddy, protector, guide translator, this is our style of service, we fell it is revolutionary and far more beneficial, productive and efficient way for a client to get the optimum vacation experience and when it comes to its fruition I honestly believe everyone else will follow our pattern because it is far more practical then the conventional service, time will tell! but when we developed this concept it grew out of customer dissatisfaction and its infrastructure is designed to meet the needs of the customer and not the profitability of business owners, so they are trained to coddle their clients every need thats in their job description, I feel this statement is applicable to some of the issues that brother Soletro raises as well

5. Atomix , I will talk to Mike when I return on the first of July, I am still investigating but from your side of the story and a few other midigating factors I believe it was more of a misunderstanding, Luis did not take possesion of your money, it is incumbent upon Mike to arrange the boat tour, not Luis, you paid him and his room was directly across from yours , so I don't see how anything could have gotten missed, if I was dealing with Mike I would say no, I am going a cross the hall and pay Mike because he is the propietor or owner of the business, therefore he is responsible. If you owned a car lot and I bought a car from you, I would not pay Sean on your behalf, get the point and what really makes it inconsistent is that Mike was directly in front of you in the next apartment for the duration of your trip, there is no rhyme or reason for this

[rpcv]

I always tell my clients as a matter of orientation before they go on their trip to plan on buying a 20 phone card to contact young ladies, as you know in Colombia you cannot dial from a house phone to a cell phone direct, this sucks!

Maybe it is different in Cartagena but in Cali, all I have to do is dial 032 first on my Colombian cell phone, then the house number and the call will go through.