Just wrote this after 8 years in Chile and it�s a bit negative. So I should say there are plenty of positive things about Chile, and I�ve had many good experiences with companies, for example with hotels and restaurants. I suppose it�s a bit more useful to write about negative things to be wary of, rather than positive things you don�t need to worry about!
Most of my experience is central Chile, especially Region Metropolitana. If a few people that live here could reply and comment on 1-2 things that you agree with, and 1-2 things where you've had different experiences, that will make the article more useful for people.
1. If you are from a developed country such as US, UK lower your standards and expectations a little. Things here are slightly worse, at least compared to your preconceived notions of what�s right.
Apology, Argument
2. Don�t expect an apology if companies screw up. Just tell yourself on day 1 in Chile that 9 times out of 10 people and companies don�t apologise and make your peace with that. If someone stands mutely and doesn�t continue to argue with you and appears to be effectively conceding the point, consider that as an apology or as close as you are going to get.
3. People don�t say no. If you ask for something, and you don�t get a straight answer or the answer is along the lines of �don�t know� or �maybe� or �we�ll see� follow up or ask again- once only. If the second time is the same, consider the lack of a yes to be a no. They don�t like to say no, perhaps because it seems impolite to them. They will just make excuses until you go away or give up.
4. People here are polite. Shouting and humiliating people makes you rude and disrespectful. You may think you are winning, and perhaps you are, but they will be polite to your face but sometimes screw you behind your back. You may never ever know or realize.
5. Keep a sense of perspective. Most front-line workers are doing this job for US$400-500/month. How much effort would you make if that were your salary?
Charges, Ripoffs
6. Phone, utility and other bills are per month not per quarter. Not a monthly direct debit, I mean an actual bill to perhaps manually pay each month. Paying online either on the company�s website or within your bank is almost always best.
7. Companies will sometimes increase the price without notifying you in advance. If your cell phone bill one day is 11,500 instead of 10,000 with no explanation or notification, just pay it. This is normal. If they go from 40,000 to 60,000 for no reason, suggest considering ending your relationship with the company.
8. Some companies deliberately don�t send you a bill or don�t send you reminders at least until lots of interest and fines are owed for non-payment. At this point, they chase you a lot more because the interest and fines is where the profit is. If this happens, I suggest end your relationship with the company, while negotiating to not pay part or all of the unfair fines/interest but just the original amount. To try and avoid this happening, sign up for payments online somehow and try to pay before the bills arrive by setting a reminder to monitor once a week all outstanding payment. Don�t expect them to send you a bill. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don�t.
9. Sometimes in medical establishments, you have to sign a blank cheque. They make you a sign a statement saying �I agree to pay x� and leave x blank. They may have given you a quote of say 2,000,000 for an operation but the blank cheque is incase there are unexpected complications. You may have to fight extremely hard if you want to stop this and request a manager. If you go somewhere else to avoid it, the same thing may happen again. My gut feeling is that them actually ripping you off and charging way more than the quote is rare.
10. If you fight really hard with companies you can often win if you value your time and mental health less than money. This will also benefit society a tiny amount. Every time they rip you off and you pay you make ripping off customers more profitable, so they will do it more. Every time you fight, you make ripping off less profitable.
11. If they are charging the wrong amount and you refuse to pay, the consequences may not be that severe. You probably won�t be taken to court or get in trouble with the police. But there�s a risk you might find it harder to get credit(?). I don�t know for a fact, but I suspect the country is fairly soft on people that don�t pay debts. You are not going to get debt collectors banging on your door because your phone bill is a few months overdue.
Then again, I could be wrong.
Companies to Avoid
12. ISAPREs are poor. My nightmare experiences were Banmedica and Colmena but I wouldn�t be surprised if the others are almost as bad. I think the whole system is rotten. If you are rich and earning foreign currency or retiring on 6-figure savings, consider risking paying all medical out of pocket to avoid having to deal with the ISAPREs. However, for most people, there�s no good choice.
13. Movistar is a contender for the worst customer service in Chile based on my personal case, that of many neighbours, and even just the fact that it�s hard to stand in a Movistar store for 5 minutes without seeing someone come in to complain. Product quality variable. Don�t even consider using any of the products of this company unless they are the only fibre optic cable to your location.
14. Fallebella Seguros is one of the worst companies I�ve ever dealt with. Paris and Ripley are better.
15. For hardware stores, the little local store never seems to have what I want. If I go to Sodimac or Easy I can often get at least 4 of the 5 things I want right away.
16. When a company provides mediocre or slightly bad service, don�t change to another company. Mediocre service is the norm, so there�s no point changing until things get really bad.
17. Not from personal experience, but maestros for building houses have an extremely bad reputation. Tread mega carefully with who you choose, or just don�t build a house.
18. Don�t avoid companies just because they have a gmail, no website, no business cards. Plenty of responsible business people are in that exact situation, at least for small business. Call them up or meet face to face and judge for yourself.
Communications
19. Get whatsapp. Not having it just makes you hard to deal with.
20. When someone says they will call you, they will consider their duty to have been successfully discharged if they give you a call, even if you don�t answer. They usually don�t leave a message unless maybe you have had prior contact in whatsapp. So if someone says �we will call you on Tuesday� what they often mean is �we will call you once, not leave a message, and not try again�. Make a note to call them back on Wednesday. This one is probably partly my fault since I get so many spam calls I sometimes don�t answer unknown numbers.
21. People will ask you for your name first, without telling you who they are or why they are calling first. Instead of �this is Maria from Movistar, is this Dan� it is just �is this Dan?�. This is annoying, but it is so ubiquitous fighting it is like trying to push back the incoming tide.
22. Punctuality is fairly poor. If someone says they will be there at 15.00 and they arrive at 15.15, you should be pleased, not annoyed. At least they arrived the same day they said.
23. Tradesman who are busy will not return your calls of whatsapps messages from time to time. It�s your responsibility to try a second time. Then after that give up and try someone else. Don�t ditch people who don�t reply the first time or you�ll end up with no-one left. To be fair where I�m from in the UK is just as bad on this point.
24. Business addresses are sometimes just a person�s house, especially in small towns and rural areas. Even if they are an actual business, in small towns and rural areas there might be no sign or possible way to identify that it is a business. Just ring the bell or knock or ask around if the address looks correct. This doesn�t happen much in a city or big town.
25. Whatsapp generally gets faster responses then an email.
26. Use facebook to find and possibly communicate with small business. In developing countries (I include Chile as developing in this context), facebook is the internet. Many companies here made their own websites, but facebook took over years ago and killed them off.
27. Big businesses are fairly poor at communicating internally and leaving notes on the system. For call centres, expect to have to explain the history of the situation again and again on most calls.
28. Get in a whatsapp group for your street/apartment/condominio/parcela and use that to discuss good/bad companies, get recommendations etc.
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