A little story about "I Love Latins"

[Turok]

I am new to the board and truely wish I had found this wealth of information before I went on my first trip to Barranquilla in 2003. I am sure my exprience in general would have been much different. I am sure it could have certainly been adifferent experience than the one I had with the agency I Love Latins.

  In all our lives and in mine specifically, I have dealt with companys that make promises and offer you the sky is the limit and rarely ever deliver. Much like the local cable, phone companies we have dealt with in our lives. Ok, I think you get my drift. I must first state that Sam and his agency (I Love Latins) take the cake. So where do I begin??? When you finish reading this you'll understand what I am trying to communicate and I hope it gives others the insight Ilacked on my first trip. Let me first say that this should be taken as a testament to this board and other forums like it. For me writing this is very personal and I hope my experience, and I can think of many other words and phrases to describe the last year and a half of my life, but for now experience will do. Anyway back to me and my realtionship with this lady(as we will call her at this moment) I am hoping that in sharing these thoughts, I will help others avoid the pitfalls, troubles, the scams of a few individuals that can be found here, there, and in every corner of the world. Remember, don't let the bad ones you encounter in your journeys, keep you from finding that special someone.

  On the flight down I did meet a gentleman and his wife who were nice enough to provide me all sorts of wonderful information, suggestions, directions, things to look forward to and things,and situations to avoid to have a wonderful time in Barranquilla. In hindsight I wish had followed their directions more closely. It was a good chance all might have been avoided, almost to the letter in every situation they were right on the money. Again I state I wish I had found this board and heeded the advice on that flight down before that fateful September 2003 trip to Barranquiila.

  Before my trip to BAQ I had made previous contact with a few ladies from several countries, including Colombia, Peru, Brazil, but nothing really came of those contacts/conversations and I continued my search. Then I found "I Love Latins"(Sam Smith agency) on the internet, I read the testimonials, reviewed information, then made the decision to go and see what this was all about. Upon arriving at the airport and getting my bags, we were greeted by Sam and his entourage of lovely ladies that he had arrainged to met us when we arrived. This is were my adventure or better yet my dissaster to better state it, began, when I met her, Helga was her name, if not for the lessons learned, a name I hope to have long forgotten by now. I was informed within the first few minutes of our arrival getting on to the bus immediately to take us to our luxurious accommodations.... (much to our amazement we soon found out that they fell so very short of any of our expectations of what Sam had promised, it was so unbelievable, I must say that 70% of what we were promised by Sam about his Bed & Breakfast, shown on his web site and what Sam had explained to us prior to making the trip, was untrue, never seen, nor experienced, it was like the difference between night and day). More on what was promised and never delivered later...

  Back to the first encounter with Helga. As I had begun to say, I was informed by Helga within minutes of my arrival what our next steps would be. I was also pleasantly surprised, she had decided to take a seat next to me on the bus. The fact that she had decided to sit next to me for what I thought were sincere reasons and maybe she saw something in me made me feel at ease with being in a new country I had never visited before.We of course made small talk which lead her to giving me her contact information.  I felt an instant connection with her from the first moment we meet at the airport. Our conversation lead to a group date that same evening. We were like to people stuck together by fly paper, likeglue, inspereable, as I realize now to a fault. I was a fly trapped in the web of a waiting spider and did not see it coming. We met for lunch the next day and went shopping and sightseeing. I cannot describe the feeling or connection I felt for her right away. We even decided not to talk with or meet any other people. Which many of the readers of this board will say was my first mistake, but truthfully at the time I was totally happy with her and my decision not to meet other ladies. Believe me, there were many other ladies and men who tried to get our attention. In essence we decided we would be commited to each othe on the second day of knowing each other. Well we got engaged in the middle of the second week, but we both knew we would need more time to get to know each. We tried to spend every available minute together, but events and her work schedule slowed or delayed us on several occasions when we wanted to be together. One evening we had gone to diner with the couple I met on the flight down. They were so informative and we had a wonderful time spending several hours together at this restuarant. I was so into my lady, and having a wonderful time and apparently she was having a wonderful time conversing with the wife of my new friend. I was later informed they though she was not into me on the same level. But, of course I never picked up on this I was in 7th heaven. As I was told the following day by both my friend and his wife, that they noticed that Helga did not talk about us,our days together, the places we had been to or the things we had been doing, but specifically more interested in what were the States like, how easy/hard it was to get there, the visa process, Bogota and the embassy. It was evident to both of them that while I was whisked away in adoring this lady she was picking the brain and working real hard to find out all she could about the visa and what she needed to do to get it done, and done fast and with the least amount of obstacles. As you can tell by this posting. I did not heed the observations of my new friends and even later on this same trip before returning to the States, I failed to listen to their warnings that I needed to really look into this relationship, and evaluate who this lady was and what were her motives because this lady seemed very different and focused on her own agenda and not me. As you can guess I was too wrapped up and lost in my bliss. Even before I returned home there was this event, as small as it seemed at the moment, it was the start of many questionable events we would exprience as a couple. It was proof positive that something was wrong in Denmark, which I will share with all the readers of this board, to reinforce the fact we need to know what is going on and we need to listen to others with more experience. On this day I received a call from a friend and found out that a friend of their family worked in a store that I had visited earlier in the day with Helga, our taxi driver and a translator from Sams Agency. We bought a few things and I bought a couple of items for my lady. One of the items purchased was makeup for my lady. Well the lady at the counter, my friends friend, I was told that after worked she had come over and told my friend that a gringo and his lady friend(Helga) and another lady and guy a translator she believed, had shopped in her store and that his lady friend(Helga) allowed the other lady to switch her makeup purchase to a more expensive brand. And that his lady was suckering him into buying this expensive makeup and even adding extra items for the other lady and herself. And to make matters worse Sams translator did nothing to stop this but he encouraged them to rip off the gringo. As unbelievable as it was, there was no possible way they could have known, but I was hearing the days events in the store like they were there. Everything that happened during our visit to the store was being repeated to me as if they were with us. After they had explained who and how they knew all this I was taken aback. I was shocked and felt used that she, my Helga and these people, who I thought were becoming my friends could do these things. I should have gotten outta Dodge at that very moment, but as you might guess, I passed on the opportunity, forgave her which I now regret and wish I had been more objective in my decision making.

  More to come.......

http://latin-women-mail-order-brides.com/gallery/sandra119.htm

her new look and profile 2nd row:

http://www.ilovelatins.net/april05gallery006.htm

[JimmySTLOUIS]

... in response to A little story about "I Love Latins..., posted by Turok on May 7, 2005

I am sorry to hear your story but really
your first few lines of your post are really something

"I have dealt with companys that make promises and offer you the sky is the limit and rarely ever deliver"

You felt this way before you saw his video are looked at the website??
Sam might be the biggest self promoter since Buffalo Bill Cody and PT Barnum.

Anyone who is that good doesnt have to go over the top with the claims.
I took one look at his video and thought NO WAY - This looked to me like "Suckers On Parade".

Now before you take me the wrong way.
I know that I have SUCKER written on my forhead. Put me in that side show and I would be telling all the world
"I have been had!"
I dont speak spanish, i like women, i have a few bucks, a am middle age and chubby - all the markings of a SUCKER (join the club)

Thats why I just avoided the whole Hot Chica Colombia girls all the way. I know when I am a mark. For this same reason I dont get into a lot of things. Know when to play and when to stay home.

Try writing some nice girls first and really getting to know them. Also try Peru (i did) there really are not nearly as many "pros".

My wife is as sweet as they come and not a dishonest bone in her body. I can tell you that the sucess rate of guys with Peruvian wifes are pretty high.

TE AMO PERU!!!!

jim

[Tommy]

... in response to I am a SUCKER too  - but i passed, posted by JimmySTLOUIS on May 9, 2005

Lima, Peru is as full of sharks as Cali in my opinion.  The difference is that not that many guys go there and so you dont hear about it much.  I also used Raul's service and found that the ladies were not as good at it as their Colombiana counterparts, but perhaps more subtle.  They dont have the experience that the Calenas do dealing with Gringos and learning how many suckers go there and how they can take them to the cleaners depending on how hard up and horny the guy is.  

However, if I had no option other than to go to one place to find a WIFE, it would most likely be Peru.  I would probably go to another city, but Lima has loads of nice women and one need only use common sense to avoid the girls looking for green cards and money rather than love.

There are so many sad stories of guys who get taken.  I would say that for most of them they were probably helpless due to the fact that they have never seen any women like the ones in Cali, and elsewhere.  They simply cant deal with the visual experience and throw all common sense to the wind.  Cali is dangerous for guy like this as I would have to say the per capita there is more hot ass in that city than just about anywhere on the planet.  Lima has hot women, but not nearly the same percentage.  But, you only need one.

Tommy

[Jake]

... in response to I am a SUCKER too  - but i passed, posted by JimmySTLOUIS on May 9, 2005

Jim ...... I will also give some high marks to Raul and Matching systems . A few years back I bought some address's  from SOTB and met a very nice and sweet lady from Peru ............ we had been together for about 6-7 months ... it was just not right for us ... But she was a very sincere and loyal lady .... I really missed her a lot after it was over ..... I don't think there are abundance of super ladies .. but there are some great ones ...

Glad to hear every thing is going well ......... It is refreshing to hear about there success stories ... and not how many guys are going to Cali !!!!!!  as if this is there answer ...

I also switched to writing to a few ladies a while back ...And there are some very good advantages to this . It is not for every body . But I met my sweetie by writing and it will be 3 years in October , we are now waiting for her interview ..

Ps ... I gave up on the driving idea ... for now ....

[Seeker]

... in response to A little story about "I Love Latins..., posted by Turok on May 7, 2005

is a saying in Spanish that essentially means that "With prior warning there can not be deceit." Welcome to the board Turok. Unfortunately, your experience is not uncommon. Since you can't change the experience, I'd encourage you to change your perspective on your experience. I think you are accepting responsibility for your actions since you often admit being caught in your "bliss" to heed warning. I think it is O.K. to forgive those who do us wrong, but then we must also prevent them from harming us again. You forgave this woman, but continued to expose yourself to her lies, deceit, etc. Not surprisingly, you got burned again.

It is difficult to tell such a personal story like you did. Thanks for posting your experience. I remember when I thought I would find my dream wife on my first trip to Colombia; boy, was I naive. This process takes courage, time and patience, but it also takes wisdom, the ability to be realistic and cut your losses at every opportunity. There are many agencies and hundreds of Colombianas that would be thrilled to date you and eventually commit to you. However, finding one of them will take determination on your part. I hope you don't give up on your search.

What I learned from your post is that your experience illustrates a possible outcome for those who venture on this adventure. However, JimmyStLouis' experience is in deep contrast to yours and illustrates another possible outcome. Therefore, proceed with caution, but with the confidence that you too can and will succeed. Good luck to you and don't be discouraged.

[Turok]

... in response to A little story about "I Love Latins..., posted by Turok on May 7, 2005

[This message has been edited by Turok]

As we all know this board is for sharing our experiences and knowledge. I am writing about what I experienced with I love latins and  with my ex-fiancé. It appears some have already made a judgment about my story without all the details. I thank the other members who have withheld judgment until the full story is told. Believe me I wish this was not how my experience ended with Helga and I Love Latins.

When I made my reservations to the tour I had several phone calls with Sam that covered things to expect, event activities, things to do, and items to bring. On one of our calls we talked about hotel options, I mention to him I had been writing a lady from amigos.com and she offer me every company discount at the Prado for $55, he told me it sounded like this lady was trying to lock me up so to speak, he then told me about the Hotel Royal $35/night, and his Bed and Breakfast for $75/night. Of course I asked why the big price difference. He informed me his B & B offered the same services as the Hotels plus you would get full access to office facilities, additional translations services, and  breakfast every day. Well out of the 12 days I was there the telephone was disconnected for non-payment after my fourth day, the office computer never work (so no internet access), as far as breakfast it was serve a total of 6 days, and on the first day me and Angel his office manager/translator had to walk to the store to get items which Angel did pay for. Also during my stay we ran out of water and Angel informed me that there was no money to buy more, so of course I bought water. As far as the translation service which was suppose to be included, Angel Sam's office manager at the time said he did not know about this service, so I talked with Sam about these charges and the problems at the B & B and he told me he would refund me $40 a day and he also would have a talk with Angel. I said ok and he would refund me the $480 in November of 2003. To this day I have not received anything from Sam. There are others who were on the tour with me that knows about this situation and the problems we had.

It seems some have taken offense to the web links with just her photo and profile. So here is another link from the event with both our pictures:

http://www.latin-women-mail-order-brides.com/gallery/Sept03tour5.htm

I provided the links because she is part of my story. The happy client mention on one of the the links that says she is engaged is me. Our relationship ended when she was caught in another lie regarding her attendance to the event in February of this year. I am getting ahead of myself here but the essence is she told me she was not there and some friends who attended informed me she was there. In the past she told she was going to the events to help Sam, but as you probably can guess she was there for different reasons. Sam even told me this on a phone call we had in late February.

Now into the second month of our relationship a new issue arose, the problem of a lie. The lie began when one night on a telephone call which I made regularly almost every night, she told me that she had been robbed that day at a bank where she had set up her bank account.    Of course I was concerned and was worried that she was ok and had not been hurt.  She had lost all the money that I had sent her and her pay check, at this point I was even more concerned that she was left with nothing and needed money for food and such.  After making sure all was well and informing her I would send more money to help out.  I contacted my friend who has a wife from the same city and told them about this awful event that happened to her in the bank.  They were surprised as I was.  Then they informed me that was strange that they had not seen this on the news,  a side note is whether a bank robbery happened here in the states or in any other country, it is always big news and usually makes the wire by the evening news, if not a live report at the scene.  Well here is the strange part, no mention on the news via their satellite tv, they decided to ask her family later that night when they called to say hello in the normal routine they followed.  Much to my surprise the follow evening when I had spoken with them they informed me that both the local papers and the tv local news channels did not have one line or speak of any bank robbery.  I even had access to the web and could read one of the local papers "EL Heraldo" as they had informed me if I had wanted to check it out.  Truly what bank robbery that actually happened would not have made the evening news, for that matter even made the morning paper or was not the talk of the town.  Still not believing that it did not happen. after more conversations with my lady with her knowing nothing of my new found knowledge informed me which bank it was and where it was located, I obtained this information to prove to myself that it was true and had happened.  My friends informed me after finding out which bank it was and that it was near their neighborhood that a friend and family member could go to the bank and ask what happened, with that I felt that I would find out the truth that my lady was being truthful and not lying.  Well as you've guessed that word came back that no robbery had happened in or outside the bank or any of their other branches or any other bank in this area. Nothing happened related to this event.  I confronted her on this, I am sure she was overwhelmed by my information accuracy and knowledge,  I decided not to call my friends who had provided all the proof I needed to know the truth and that she had lied to me, as unforgivable as it might seem, even asking her about the police report, which there was none, her family was unaware of the days events(now who does not tell their family about an event as such as this) and she continued to state it did happen, I decided to forgive her and move on with our lives.

more to come.....

[Calipro]

... in response to Re: A little story about "I Love La..., posted by Turok on May 8, 2005

It sounds like a pretty serious relationship.

So how was the sex?

Could you tell she was faking it?

Or was that a red flag also?

I hope you didn't break rule number one!

[papi]

... in response to Re: A little story about "I Love La..., posted by Turok on May 8, 2005

[This message has been edited by papi]

Turok, sounds like you have 2 issues going on here. One – that is being unsatisfied with an agency owner and second problems with your past novia. The accommodations sound less than spectacular but I don’t feel you can blame the agency for the problems with your lady. Again, I have stayed at some crummy B&B's and also seen and experienced many scammers so the story is not all that uncommon but consider separating the 2 issues, as follows:

1. My crummy stay at XYZ agency
2. My lying, stealing ex-novia

Better luck next time

Papi
www.tropic-romance.com

[Cali James]

... in response to Re: A little story about "I Love La..., posted by Turok on May 8, 2005

[This message has been edited by Cali James]

"Then they informed me that was strange that they had not seen this on the news, a side note is whether a bank robbery happened here in the states or in any other country, it is always big news and usually makes the wire by the evening news, if not a live report at the scene."

This wasn't a "bank robbery" but a robbery as someone exits the bank or ATM machine.  These happen all the time in Colombia and in many cases the person doesn't even report it to the police.  This isn't likely to make the evening news either unless it was President Uribe who got robbed. lol It's also possible that her family didn't know, she might not have told them that you had been sending her money.  Having said all that her story about the robbery sounds suspicious.  It's the kind of story I would expect from someone looking to get more money from a gringo. What would be the motivation behind telling you she had been robbed if she hadn't actually?  Well, she'd be hoping that you'd send her MORE money of course to replenish what had been "stolen".  Also if you're exclusive with a gal, the gal shouldn't be hanging out at agency fiestas either.  This would be a major red flag to me.

"I decided to forgive her and move on with our lives."

Why?  If you truly believed she lied to you why would you continue forward with the relationship.  This would have been a serious big time lie, a relationship breaker if there ever was one.  Continuing on strikes me as extremely odd unless you were getting something in return that was mighty powerful.  By continuing the relationship with her, you were telling her that it was OK to lie, cheat etc because you accepted this kind of behavior from her.

[Jamie]

... in response to A little story about "I Love Latins..., posted by Cali James on May 8, 2005

“It's also possible that her family didn't know, she might not have told them that you had been sending her money.”

James he said her pay check was robbed, “She had lost all the money that I had sent her and her pay check”

The family would likely have been informed of this.

“"I decided to forgive her and move on with our lives."
Why? If you truly believed she lied to you why would you continue forward with the relationship. This would have been a serious big time lie, a relationship breaker if there ever was one. Continuing on strikes me as extremely odd unless there's more to the story than what you are telling us.... “

I think the strike breaker was looming earlier.

I don’t think this guy is writing so we can all judge his mistakes. I don’t see any denial regarding his bad judgments, but that does not excuse predatory behavior and negligence from others.

Engage the Exotic - Latin Women
http://International-Introductions.com

[Jamie]

... in response to A little story about "I Love Latins..., posted by Turok on May 7, 2005

Since you have not given us the full story I will limit my comments.

I don’t believe you need to post pictures to improve your credibility. You have many posters here that don’t even provide their real names yet their perspective is taken into account.

As for posting the girls photo it is correct that we do not know at this time if what you say about her is true. But I weigh in favor of protecting future men versus the reputation of the woman under such circumstances. The website says she is engaged to a “Very Happy tour gentlemen” is this true? If she is engaged why does the same website show her profile as available? It’s funny how some doubt your credibility yet don’t mention as obvious contradiction from the source of your complaint.

Many of the men on this board are seasoned and they forget what its like for most new arrivals to Colombia.  They would prefer to slap some sense into you instead of walking you through the process. Arriving to a foreign city the first time with an open heart and trust in your host is not over expectation. You rightfully assume the translator would be looking out for you. The reality is most of the translators are not employed by the agencies. They are free lance and operate under their own guidelines. Such a guideline in Colombia is survival, usually with the help of crookedness. I have yet to meet one free lance translator in Barranquilla that I had confidence in and many knock on my door.

Being overwhelmed with a woman hampers your guard. Having faulty perception with the lady you are enamored with happens too many. All the more reason local support and objective insight from your host is so important.

Engage the Exotic – Latin Women
http://International-Introductions.com

[Turok]

... in response to Re: A little story about "I Love La..., posted by Jamie on May 8, 2005

Jamie says:

As for posting the girls photo it is correct that we do not know at this time if what you say about her is true. But I weigh in favor of protecting future men versus the reputation of the woman under such circumstances. The website says she is engaged to a “Very Happy tour gentlemen” is this true? If she is engaged why does the same website show her profile as available? It’s funny how some doubt your credibility yet don’t mention as obvious contradiction from the source of your complaint.

Thanks for your observations and taking the time to read and review my post before making any type of predatory judgment.  As stated above in reply to my post, here exhibits one of several contradictions that I experienced in my dealings using Sam's agency "I love Latins".  As I stated before yes, we were engaged and as the link clearly shows that Sam is posting to all viewers of his web site that she is Engaged to a “Very Happy tour gentlemen”, then I found out that another link via Sam's agency "I Love Latins" had her as available.  Of course imagine my shock and disbelief at seeing this other profile of my ex.  This relates to another issue that I experienced with Sam back in Oct. 2003.  After several phone conversations and emails from both of us(myself and ex) I was assured that her photo and profile would be removed from the website. Much to my displeasure it took numerous follows ups, calls and emails over a period of 2-3 months to finally not see her profile and photo, later to find out that her pictures were not removed but moved to another area of the website with the words "Engaged to a Happy Tour Client" which is why the link was provided to show that something was not right.

Jamie says:

"Arriving to a foreign city the first time with an open heart and trust in your host is not over expectation. You rightfully assume the translator would be looking out for you. The reality is most of the translators are not employed by the agencies."

"Being overwhelmed with a woman hampers your guard. Having faulty perception with the lady you are enamored with happens too many. All the more reason local support and objective insight from your host is so important."

In this case the translator was employed by Sam(as this service was included in my tour package) and I was to utilize the service of the translator during the day, or anytime I needed the service.  Just a side note is that the translator, Angel was also Sams Office Manager at the agency/B&B.  I was also told by my ex that she preferred to use Angel as her translator, so we used him.  I did assume that the translator was looking out for me, why would I think otherwise, since I felt I was already dealing with a legitimate organization and this person was a representative of that business, nobody rightfully takes their money and just throws it away.  I bought into the entire kit and caboodle, the package, promo, perks etc etc. trusting and believing, now realizing I was a little naive and not posting my guard 24/7, maybe I should have been on watch 24/7. Hey its always easier looking back in hindsight.

[Heat]

... in response to Re: A little story about "I Love La..., posted by Jamie on May 8, 2005

As for posting the girls photo it is correct that we do not know at this time if what you say about her is true. But I weigh in favor of protecting future men versus the reputation of the woman under such circumstances""

Good point of view.  We agree.

[zack]

... in response to A little story about "I Love Latins..., posted by Turok on May 7, 2005

Funny how I have been on several of Sam Smith's tour parties and have nothing but good to say about him and his services. Regarding the accomodations- this is Colombia. As said below, were you expecting the Waldorf? Based on your comments thus far, it seems like your misfortunes are resulting from YOUR mistakes, not Sam's.

Zack

[papi]

... in response to A little story about "I Love Latins..., posted by Turok on May 7, 2005

I like nice accommodations too but have never found a B&B on the same level as a nice hotel including in the US. I have stayed at several agency B&B's and found them ranging from crappy to just above acceptable, never 5 star. I have read good reports on CaliVIP and assume they offer very nice digs. If you want to return to BAQ, there are plenty of nice hotels which I would be happy to give you a report. Regarding the behavior of the woman in question – I have seen and experienced  much worse and not sure if it was Sam who dropped the ball on your trip. Better luck next time

Papi
www.tropic-romance.com