Message for Pete E

[Nico]

Pete, How does Dolex work? Is it better than western union? Is there a Dolex in Denver? Where do the recipients pick up at? Are there Dolex offices throughout Latin America or something?

         Hope all is well,  Nico

[cali outlaw]

... in response to Message for Pete E , posted by Nico on Feb 7, 2003

To Pete and Nico, I don't mean to be a pest, but my wife uses Girosol to transfer funds to her mother in Palmira, local office convenient for her there.  She only needs cedula and local info to claim her funds, cheaper than western.  The main office is in Miami  area.  We have not had any problems in 2 years. Good luck.  Good exchange rate also.

[Michael B]

... in response to Message for Pete E , posted by Nico on Feb 7, 2003

Got 2860 peso per dollar (I think today's 'newspaper' rate is about 2950). $5.00 fee to Colombia (right now they are running specials, $1.00 to Mexico and $3.00 to somewhere, Guatemala, I think, sometimes they run $1.00 or $3.00 specials to Colombia too.) I've used them many times and I've never had any problems. I go with them or AFEX, depending on where I am (AFEX charges a flat 4% but gives your lady slighty more pesos for your dollar). How do they work? If you've been to Colombia, you've seen the money changing houses in the shopping malls? They have arrangements of several of those (NOT labeled Dolex in Colombia, in Colombia the payout company will vary depending on your lady's location).
You will need:
1) Cash money
2) Some kind of ID like a driver license
3) Your name, address and phone number
4) Her name (both apellidos), her address and phone number
5) Where is the best office for her to pick it up? They will offer several choices, choose the one nearest her house (they will ask you like "OK, Cali, North or South part of town? (In Cali I think North is Chipicapi, I know for a fact that South Cali is Unidas, local 116, Cosmocentro) You might want to ask your lady which major shopping center she perfers via phone before you go to Dolex.
6) When the money arrives (usually in 1/2 hour to an hour) they will telephone her and tell her to come get it.
7) She will need her cedula to claim the money.  

Only drawback is your clerk here in the US might not speak any English...if that's a problem for you, be prepared, just have it all written down before hand, the recepit they will give you is in Spanish and English, so you can double check that they got it right before you leave the window. If you like, they will give you a card, like an ATM card, and next time you want to send money, they just swipe the card and you won't have to write everything again.

I don't know if they have an office in Denver, but (reading from my receipt), their HQ is:
525 W. Jefferson Blvd, Dallas TX 75208, phone 888-246-2527, call and ask where their Denver office is, they beat the pants off Western Union and Am. Express for sending money.

[Nico]

... in response to I used them today, in fact, posted by Michael B on Feb 7, 2003

Called the 1-888 number and they spoke only Spanish which is ok by me as I speak Spanish but they said there was no Dolex office in Denver. I may try to find AFEX . I assume they are also better than Western Union or Money Gram.

                       Nico

[Michael B]

... in response to Re: I used them today, in fact, posted by Nico on Feb 8, 2003

They charge 4% and the delivrey in Colombia is made the same way I explained for Dolex (in fact, in Cali they use the same payout agent). They do the sending a little differently: You go in to the store (usualy a ma and pa bakery, resturant or service business) and they have a dedicated telephone and a fax. You use the decidated phone to call them, they take down the information and fax the store operator your receipt then s/he (the store operator) confirms that you have paid and the money is on the way, then your lady picks it up just like I explained for Dolex. Try this number to ask for their locations: 888.307.2339

There are 10's if not 100's of these money sending companies, with 1000's of retail outlets. I haven't tried them all, but I've never had a problem with Dolex or AFEX. I hear that Denver has a lot of Mexicans, if that's so, ask one or two of them where they go to send money home and from whom they've received good service. Often a store  (particularly a ma and pa place) will be an agent for 4 or 5 of these companies, and have customers for each because some of them give better rates but only serve major cities and others serve even remote villages, some of them specialize in only Mexico, some of them give a great rate to Mexico but a terrible rate to Colombia, etc. Shop around, but next to Dolex, I think AFEX is as good as you will find, given the stipulation of your destination is a major city in Colombia.

[Pete E]

... in response to Message for Pete E , posted by Nico on Feb 7, 2003

Nick,
Dolex Dollar Exchange is a fairly new company,started out of Texas.We have 3 offices in San Jose so I would think Denver would have one but maybe they haven't got there yet.They only charge $1-$5 to wire the money,depending on the country.I have not figured out how they can make any money doing this.They can tell you the exact exchange rate ,it is 98 % or so of the listed exchange rate in the financial pages and as good as ATM's.Maybe they make it on that 2% or so that they pay under the official rate.
I used to use Moneygram but my wifes family was telling us about poor exchange rates and fees to get the money.I called moneygram and they could not tell me the exchange rate so I quit using them.Western Union could tell me the exchange rate,it was good but they charge about 10% to wire the money.
My wife(who works for Dolex) has a friend in Oklahoma who sends her checks and she deposits them and wires the money for her.Dolex accepts cash only.
There are offices in many latin cities where the money can be picked up.If you find a Dolex office they can tell you exactly where in each city.
For Steve from below.Is that hot looking Latina really from Mexico?Most of my wifes customers are from Mexico.They look at her,listen to her talk,and say where are you from?She does look good and is very personable.I think people come to her office because they like dealing with her.She has naturally curly hair but gets it straitened.One day she was there with it curly and someone was asking,where is that woman that usually works here?People from Colombia can usually guess she is Colombiana.One guy said,"I know you are from Colombia or Venizuela".A guy came in to wire money to his brother in Cali.My wife knew his brother.Small world.
My wife was at Stanford Hospital yesterday,waiting for me.A Colombian guy who works there recognized her as probably Colombian and talked to her.Maybe it was that Colombian bubble butt that you don't find on some other latinas.But perhaps other features.She looks latin but different than most Mexicans.Her family on her fathers side was from Italy and she has an Italian name.

Pete

[DallasSteve2]

... in response to Re: Message for Pete E , posted by Pete E on Feb 7, 2003

Pete

I think the lady at the Dolex window is Mexican because my wife asked her and that's what she said.  

I know what you mean though about some Colombianas being mistaken for Mexicana.  That happens to my wife a lot.  She has dark hair and slightly dark skin.  Some Colombianos used to call her India, because she looks like an Indian.  There are a lot of Mexican women here that have that appearance.

Steve

[Michael B]

... in response to Mexicana, posted by DallasSteve2 on Feb 10, 2003

So which Dolex do you go to? There's a young hottie working the one on Columbia Ave. in Dallas (yes, Dallas spells the street name with 'u', and coincidently, the building is right next to the 'Bogata Apartments', which looks a lot like a $300 a month roach trap) and a real friendly fourty-ish 'pelo chino' working the one on Beltline & Josey in Carrollton, the chino is definetly from Mexico, she's told me, I strongly suspect the younger one is too, but I've never asked.

[DallasSteve2]

... in response to Re: Mexicana, posted by Michael B on Feb 10, 2003

Michael

She was at the Dolex at Greenville and Park Lane across from the DART station, in the laundromat, not Michoacana, which also has one.  However, she's married to a gringo, according to my wife.  But then my wife's very jealous so she might be making that part up.  I saw her about 3 weeks ago so it's possible she might not still be there.

Steve

[DallasSteve2]

... in response to Message for Pete E , posted by Nico on Feb 7, 2003

I'm not Pete E, but I opened his message anyway.  I searched on Yahoo Yellow Pages and it did not find any Dolex near Denver.  Dolex has a 1-800 number, but I don't have it here at work and I couldn't find a homepage for Dolex.

I've used Dolex 3 times to send money to Colombia with no problems.  I wished I used it before when Western Union was raping me.  Dolex only charges about $5.  I don't know where they pick up in Colombia.  My wife sends the info to the recipient and they get the money somewhere.  I think in Cali they will go anywhere to get free money.

BTW, last time I was at Dolex there was a fine looking Mexicana behind the bullet-proof glass.

Steve