[AALee]

Am I , as the customer, supposed to carry 10, 20 and 50 peso notes at all times for the convience of the bars I decide to drink in? That cracked me up! (Total non-sarcastic mode.)

What works is you'll say you'll owe it to them until next time. Not your problem.

[Ltftujkg]

i asked what i asked because i know that SOME people think that they can rip off someone who doesn't look dominican

The economic situation is so deteriorated that usually there is never enough change when you pull out a 100, 500, or 1000 pesos bill...it happens nationwide, it has nothing do with tourists, it affects everyone.

[gSjQEEmq]

Whenever I am drinking in a bar in Sosua and I ask to pay my bill, they never have change. I don't understand this. I never attempt to pay with more than a 500 peso note. How can an establishment that is attempting to stay in buisness look back at the customer and say, " lo siento pero no tenemos cambio." ? Like this is a delimma I am supposed to solve. I just look back at them and say, " no hay problema, puedo esperar". Am I , as the customer, supposed to carry 10, 20 and 50 peso notes at all times for the convience of the bars I decide to drink in? I don't complain about much when I am down here but this is rediculous.
Larry

Thats funny Lars you dont usually ask for change........

[Goooooblin]

A little off topic but... if the banks are in such a shambles there, how do any of the locals do business with banks? Do many Dominicans have bank accounts or do they just hide their pesos in their casas? What do the upper class Dominicans (with serious dollars to worry about) do with their money... especially since many Dominicans can't leave the country easily, I can't imagine many have "off-shore" bank accounts?

[houkbsdov]

as an owner of a business there that i operated for 3 years, i understand the frustration. alot of business people are just too plain lazy to go every day to the bank to get change. i am sure that alot of small businesses don't even have bank accounts so they would not get change at a bank. i can tell you that i went to the bank every other day and on almost every ocassion they either didn't have 10's or 20's or 50's or 5's or all of the above. seriously. always waiting on the money truck from the capital. nothing's easy there when you have a business.

I do understand all you are saying but it just happens that some people do not like to carry small bills. I, for one, when on vacation, I will not carry small bills for the simple reason that if I carry 10 and 20 bills, I would be a sitting duck for anybody that would want to rob me. When and if I have to carry small bills, I would put them on both front pockets so I don't attract attention. Coins?, out of the question!!!!.

[Pheddytrourry]

Not even change of 100 pesos which ia about $2??

[Pheddytrourry]

I go to an internet cafe in Sosua where their only customers are tourists. I give the German lady a 100 peso note for my time and a coffee which is 70 pesos and she looks at me like I am nuts!

[Pheddytrourry]

They never seem to have change of a 50 or 100 peso note either. That SUCKS!

[houkbsdov]

That cracked me up! (Total non-sarcastic mode.)

What works is you'll say you'll owe to them until next time. Not your problem.

That would work fine.

[cwgwowcom]

Larry,

Those people are what I call "estafadores". Big time! That happened to me many times and I just tell them "if you don't have change well no tip". Especially taxi drivers and all of sudden they start digging in the deep holes in their pockets and the change comes. If a taxi fare from point A to point B costs 200 pesos and I give them 500 pesos I expect the change and if I feel like tipping that's my right but the minute that they try to pull a fast one I just tell them it's either you have change or you lower the fare! I don't care what the circumstance is. If one is in a business it's the establishment's responsibility to have change not the customer's. There's nothing foreign about this mentality. It's just the norm.

Once again I think it's "un juego mental y esperan poder ganar".

Whenever I am drinking in a bar in Sosua and I ask to pay my bill, they never have change. I don't understand this. I never attempt to pay with more than a 500 peso note. How can an establishment that is attempting to stay in buisness look back at the customer and say, " lo siento pero no tenemos cambio." ? Like this is a delimma I am supposed to solve. I just look back at them and say, " no hay problema, puedo esperar". Am I , as the customer, supposed to carry 10, 20 and 50 peso notes at all times for the convience of the bars I decide to drink in? I don't complain about much when I am down here but this is rediculous.
Larry

[leijggigf]

Larry, one thing I'm going to generalize here is that most dominicans are bad, and I mean terrible "entrepreneurs". I'm not going to explain here why I think that, but I'll tell you this: Your problem is very common nationwide and it can have two reasonsn. The fact is that here in DR, people at shops and mostly at any kind of business are very concerned about giving away their change just to the first people that shows asking for it, because they have the appreciation that if they don't have change they wont be able to please their custommers (what a contradiction!). In your specific case, and I'm sorry I have to say this, they can do this just because they want you to say to them "well, don't have change? never mind, keep the change as a tip" or something, because yes, you are gringo and yes, we tend to assume that you people swim in money. Again all this is very common here.

[bestonline]

In Puerto Plata we never have that problem....When the merchants do not have any change they just give us the differance in CHIKLETS.

Gringo

I have a feeling that's what CD owners will be paid in from the Central Bank.

[SallyIsNice5]

It's Their way of making an extra buck. They have change

Then why do they always leave and come back in a few minutes? I realize some people are just hoping for the tip but most really do not have change of 500 peso notes.
Larry

[ThzinChang]

Or maybe the problem is, that for every 100 customers the average colmado or business owner is serving, their clientele consists of 98 dominicanos, {85 of which receive maybe RD$1200 or RD$1500 a WEEK,} and 2 gringos who thoughtlessly forget where the hell they are, and just have a big fat wad of $500 and $1000 notes in their pocket.

I think in the same situation I would worry more about keeping the 98 dominicanos happy, because some gringos can sometimes just be too damn fussy or impatient.

What would an American say if a dominicano customer in Bumfuq, Ohio tried to pay a bill for $25, with quarters? Same general reaction probably, in reverse.

[StitsVobsaith]

If it is food for the goose it is food for the gander! Screw 'em.

I agree that it is poor business practice (I was not sure how to spell entrepreneurship) not to have change.

And nowadays, with everyone carrying thousand and two thousand peso bills, it just makes sense to have a bunch of change during business hours.

Unfortunately, I can remember when the DR had real change. Their change, like the US, was silver, their pennies were copper, of course, but the 10-50¢ pieces were silver. SIGH!!

HB

[SallyIsNice5]

Whenever I am drinking in a bar in Sosua and I ask to pay my bill, they never have change. I don't understand this. I never attempt to pay with more than a 500 peso note. How can an establishment that is attempting to stay in buisness look back at the customer and say, " lo siento pero no tenemos cambio." ? Like this is a delimma I am supposed to solve. I just look back at them and say, " no hay problema, puedo esperar". Am I , as the customer, supposed to carry 10, 20 and 50 peso notes at all times for the convience of the bars I decide to drink in? I don't complain about much when I am down here but this is rediculous.
Larry

[StitsVobsaith]

there are tens of thousands of Dominicans that have bank accounts. Most of the major businesses will direct deposit your paycheck. Debit cards abound.
Plastic is very popular.

Just like you are doing in Canada or in the States, we change checks, deposit checks and cash and manage to work.

But we are just 400,000 or 800,000 people. The vast majority of individuals live on a cash only basis. The colmaditos where Jan hangs out, the colmadones where CCCCC buys his beer, most of the smaller, neighborhood stores operate on a cash basis. But above that level, in the city, there is normal financial instruments in play. In the countryside, you would be surprised at the number of people that operate with banks. After all Banco Popular has what? About RD$35 billion in activos.?????????? It's got to come from someplace....

No, we might be backward, but you'd be surprised at what goes on....


HB

[houkbsdov]

Whenever I am drinking in a bar in Sosua and I ask to pay my bill, they never have change. I don't understand this. I never attempt to pay with more than a 500 peso note. How can an establishment that is attempting to stay in buisness look back at the customer and say, " lo siento pero no tenemos cambio." ? Like this is a delimma I am supposed to solve. I just look back at them and say, " no hay problema, puedo esperar". Am I , as the customer, supposed to carry 10, 20 and 50 peso notes at all times for the convience of the bars I decide to drink in? I don't complain about much when I am down here but this is rediculous.
Larry

The same darn thing happened to me 2 times while I bought food for my brother at a restaurant near where he is staying. The first time I paid with 500 pesos and I was told that they had no change. I had to call Elena so she could give me change. The second time that happened, I told the lady "this is a restaurant, for God's sake, it's not my problem if you do not have change, if you don't have it, go get some because I will not get change and if I have to get the change, I will not come back and pay you". Man, she flew out of the restaurant and got change. It amazes me that they look at you like if you are a moron, like telling us "shame on you for not carrying 10 and 20 pesos all the time".

[Ltftujkg]

do they do this only to the people who "look foreign"?

i liked the idea of you owing to them till the next time hehe.

[Fdmnrnba]

They see you coming Larry. Next time ask if they have change for 500 before you order or you'll move on. It works.