While we were planning our move to Ecuador, we did a LOT of research. We stayed up-to-date on many forums, asked lots of questions, and read as much information as possible. The one thing that I felt I needed was somebody in Ecuador to "hold my hand" so to speak, for the first few days. This is where my story turns into a bit of a nightmare.
Our first attempt was at finding a hotel/hostal to land for a few days. This proved to be very difficult. There are many in the Salinas area, and some have websites, but the communication gap left much to be desired. Those with contact information did not respond to emails as such and being a typical American, I had never called out of the US before. So next up was finding a Realtor to help us locate a rental.
We were contacted by a lady by the name of Janice Wilcox. She lived in Ballenita, which she said was a “beautiful little fishing village” very close to Salinas, our target area. She told me that on her property there was a casita for rent. The casita was described to be very nice with a full kitchen and bath, Internet and hot water (all things that I said I had to have).As we were gathering as much information as possible and trying to keep all of our options open we stayed in contact via email for about 4 months. Given a complete lack of other options we decided to stay on her property for a month. She pushed very hard for a 2 month contract but we pushed back stating we were uncomfortable and did not know if we wanted to stay there for any set length of time. She also needed $600 security deposit 1 month in advance. This should have been another warning sign, but again with lack of options we sent the money.
Janice informed me that her business partner was a realtor, and would love to show us some properties when we arrived. She then told me that her partner and her started a concierge business and had a website that she wanted me to look at. On the website, I noticed that she wanted to charge for things, such as gas money for driving to properties etc.. Things that should be free. I figured that this was kind of crazy, but since I didn't have to let them show me properties, I dismissed this. Another warning sign dismissed.
Janice also said that she would have a van service pick us up at the airport in Guyaquil , which was very important, as we had 9 large duffle bags, 6 backpacks, a stroller, and a car seat. And of course, our 6 week old little girl, I made this very clear to her.
The day comes for us to fly to Guyaquil. The flight was wonderful! We flew LAN and had a wonderful experience. Baby was perfect! We were scheduled to arrive at 12:10 in the afternoon. We arrived on time. Customs let us right through (FYI, it helps to have a baby! :) And we started looking for our driver.
We waited an hour. No driver. So we called our lady, and she says " I told him to be there at 1:30, I didn't think you would be done so quickly." It was 1:15 when we called. So we wait until 2pm. Still no driver. We called again. She called him and told us that he was stuck in traffic, just wait. He finally arrived at 2:50 pm. Please remember, I was waiting this entire time in an airport with a 6 week old baby and lots of luggage. So he took us to his "van". It was was an old little thing, smaller, but similar to a volkswagen. Our things BARELY fit. My husband literally had to sit on a piece of metal for what was supposed to be a 2 hour ride to Ballenita. So anyway, the driver could not find the house for about 35 minutes once we got there. Finally, after about 4 phone calls later, we get there. 3 hours later. You can imagine that we were not very happy. Welcome to Ballenita, “a beautiful little fishing village”. We were not to happy, but unhappy had yet to come.
What did we get for the privilege of sitting around waiting for hours and riding in a tiny uncomfortable and dirty van? The guy holding his hand out for $60 for the trip. No problem right? This seems fair, it was not a wonderful trip but the guy deserves to get paid. As I am expecting Janice to pay the man, she quickly turns to me and says you owe him $60. Now in my book when someone tells you that they will provide transportation it means they will pay for it, unless of course they tell you what your options are.
Next up was the casita. It looked nice from the outside, but this would not be a good story all was as promised. So we go inside. I am telling you right now this lady possesses some kind of (voodoo magic) photo shop skills. The only thing that I can come up with is she must have laid on the floor with a wide angle lense to take pictures. The casita was tiny. The kitchen was not a full kitchen, and there was no hot water. The Internet would not work for us. Mind you that it worked just fine on her laptop, but not either one of our laptops. We breathed in a little and decided to take showers. My husband had a nice cold shower. Hot water? Afterwards he found out from Janice you need to turn on the switch on the wall. So now it was time for my luke warm shower with a nice shock to boot, yeah a good one. Water and electricity don't mix. It was a complete nightmare.
We went to dinner with Janice where we met her friend Christine. We had a chance to look around the small fishing village, not at all what we were expecting. After about 30 minutes talking to these ladies my husband and I looked at each other and knew that we were being prepped for a non stop ride. We decided to jail break.
The very next morning, we got a taxi to the Salinas malecon. He dropped us off on Chipipe beach, which we absolutley fell in love with! It was everything that we had wanted. So we literally pounded the pavement, walking door to door to the Condo buildings, asking if there was anything for rent, in our broken spanish. We found 2 different condos in 2 buildings. We decided on a nice condo, with a breathtaking ocean view for $900 a month. And they let us move in that day.
One of the guards found us a truck, and for $10 he took us to get our things. We talked to Janice to let her know that we were not comfortable here and needed to move on. She understood and it was left that we would contact her in a few days to settle up.
So what was the problem you ask? We were promised things that were not up to par, yes. We had transportation issues, yes. We felt uncomfortable in our surroundings, yes. But all was overcome within 24 hours so this should be a happy ending. The problem was this. When we asked for our security deposit back we were told point blank there are no refunds. To further the insult we were told that the knowledge that Janice provided to our family was very much worth the price. So what does a horrible trip from the airport, a one night stay in a Ballenita, and um knowledge from Janice Wilcox cost. $660 ( $60 for transport, $30 for a one night stay, $570 for “knowledge”. Insults were free of charge I believe. Upon sharing our stories with a few people we were met with many a, “yes I have heard these stories before regarding Janice Wilcox”. The moral of this story: Do NOT rent site unseen. and please, do not pay for services that you know should be free!
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