amor de cartagena trip

[bad40]

hello guys,
tomorrow i will begin an "amor de cartagena" tour. i will post daily reports for your review. luis will be my translator and fabiany will assist where necessary. thus far i have received numerous email addresses and a few replies. to date, mark has been helpful but it appears that luis will be determine whether the trip is a success or not. stay tuned........

[eldercunningham]

I just got back from Cartagena about 3 weeks ago. Marc was very helpful and very much interested in customer service. Tell Luis that Dane Cunningham said "Hola"! Luis will work hard for you but you got to feed him, ask him when you see him "tiene hambre?".......haaaaaaaaaaa! You have got to see the "Old City" at night, no trip to Cartagena is complete without it. Anyways have a safe trip.

[bad40]

TRIP REPORT

First although I could not obtain an exact street address for the apartment I rented from Mark, I was assured that every taxi/bus  driver would know where it was. After some wrangling at Barranquilla airport, a taxi driver ignored my instructions to be taken to Marsol and instead took me to a makeshift depot with small minibuses. After waiting for 30 minutes while the salespeople filled the bus, we were on our way.

Ninety minutes and one police checkpoint search/identification review later, I was within sight of Cartagena. The bus driver was good about stopping and asking people on the street for the location of the apartment. A few questions later I was there. Someone was there waiting for me to ensure I had access to the apartment.

Two hours later I met Luis. He was a very personable guy, but seemingly preoccupied. He was busy and later he indicated that he had four clients he dealing with. For this type of service, I felt this was too much but he was trying his best. Later that

Numerous times I attempted to contact women before the trip hoping to ensure that contact was made with them. To my dismay, many of the women were away for the Easter holidays and many of them could not be reached at all. One had moved to panama and one was in Manizales.

Day 1
Luis contacted a lady on my list. Due to his busy schedule, he assigned his brother Ishmael as my translator for the evening. Ish was a very personable guy, with a great sense of humour. Lady no.1 arrived at the apartment on time and we went to dinner in the old city. She was attractive and in a sense, elegant. I sent this lady an email prior to my trip but she did not respond. We had numerous questions for each other. As a matter of fact, I think she had more than I did. Very serious intentions, but still hurt from a previous relationship and as a result, very suspicious and distant. One positive though, her cell phone never wrang during our time together. Said our goodbyes and turned in for the evening.

Day 2 tomorrow.......

[bad40]

APARTMENT ASSESSMENT

NO HOT WATER, NO INTERNET, AIR CONDITIONING IN BEDROOM ONLY (LEAKING WATER CONSTANTLY). things that were promised per the cartagenacondos website but never received.

[bigstew33]

APARTMENT ASSESSMENT

NO HOT WATER, NO INTERNET, AIR CONDITIONING IN BEDROOM ONLY (LEAKING WATER CONSTANTLY). things that were promised per the cartagenacondos website but never received.

I guess nothing changes. guys that stayed there last year had those complaints along with other problems as well

[gringoman]

BAD40,  I am starting to feel for you.   
Long way to travel for these kinds of issues.

[EbonyPrince]

Hey Bad, I am sorry for the disappointment thus far on your trip.

I am interested in your stats as far as how many women that you contacted (prior to and during your trip) as opposed to how many you actually have met?

[markanthony7]

I don't usually post any more but I had to say this one thing about the apartment rental all our apartments with Cartagena Condos have high speed internet, hot water and are well maintained, we maitain a high level of quality that we will not comprimise period, this why we have been in the rental business for 6 years and have not fell off, the key is you must book in advance, likewise I explained that this was an alternate condo not associated with the guarantees with are regular rentals, we have about 6 condos in our program but you must give us proper notice so we can book in advance for you

1. We were only notified of his travel just one week before he came and everything was booked solid not just condos with Cartagena Condos but everywhere in Cartagena!! because it was easter vacation and high season , when ever it is high season the rentals triple in rate!!, Fabiany searched diligently and the cheapest rate he could find was for $200 a day!!, I called my uncle Albert and they did some calling and we got him a beach front Ocean view condo, very clean for $50 a day !!! in peak season!!!, so he only paid $395 for the entire week and they gave me this rate because they know me well so we saved his trip from a financial disaster, we don't deserve to be criticized but commended for what we did on his behalf because given the circumstances we pulled a rabbit out of the hat, trust me on this one

2. If the AC leaked all you had to do was contact Albert or the maintenance people and they would have addressed the issue ( You have not because you ask not)

3. Also please be balanced in your report if you have something negative to say thats OK, you are just voicing your concern, but tell the good as well, for example, you did not talk about the other positive aspects about the condo it was not completely bad, even if you had an issue with the amenity of the hot water , you know it was very clean in good condition an located on the beach with a view when you give a partial report the readers get a skewed or contorted version of the facts, so tell the good and the bad

[bad40]

per the conversations i had with mark before my trip,
1. i indicated on many occasions that internet access was essential for me as to facilitate contact with my business.
2. he indicated that the apartment he reserved for me had no internet but he was sure that access could be obtained through the many wireless networks in the building. i found that all networks were security protected.
3. the cartagena condos website specifically states in capital letters that HOT WATER and internet also

http://www.cartagenacondos.com/info.htm

all of these however are moot points because during my last conversation with mark before the trip and a previous message, i asked if it would be better for me to postpone my trip due to the short notice, holiday week and the lack of response i had received from ladies,  his response was an emphatic "no" and that everything would be fine.

i am therefore at a loss regarding this post by mark. luis will that there was no hot water and that i had no internet. my choice to patronise mark was based upon fairness, ignoring previous negative posts about his operations in this blog.

per correspondence wit mark since my trip, he has indicated that he would speak with luis and determine if i would be compensated in any way. i have heard not receive a definitive answer in the regard. i will follow this with accounts of the remaining days of the trips to allow blog participants to form their own opinions.
 

[bad40]

Day 2
Ishmael arrives and i inform him about the lack of hot water and internet access. He tells me that i should inform Luis. He then, per my request, took me to the gym (bodytech) so i could sign-up for the week; very nice facility with almost every machine you could think of. As we only had one lady organised for the day, Ish suggested we visit the beach for a few before a scheduled meeting at 2:30 with another lady. The beach was full of tourists.. Colombians from Medellin, etc. for the holiday weekend. So many thongs I thought I was in Brazil. Then my first encounter with the predictable tardiness of the ladies; 2:30 became 3:30 then 4pm. Finally she arrives and she is beautiful but “very late”. It takes me awhile to get into it because she provides no apology. Then the questions… some interesting answers, we eat and agree to go dancing the next night. We return to the apartment and the conversation becomes more interesting. Luis had arranged a meeting with another lady for that evening but i elected to stay with this one, as it was already 9pm. Earlier Ish had asked me write a list of the women I wanted to meet on a pad that I left on the sofa. She began reading the list and thereafter the tone changed. I thought that these women were aware that the process involved meeting many women then choosing the most appropriate one for you. Anyway during the next four hours, her cellphone rings every 20 minutes. Aggravating to say the least. 

Status report to date:
No. of ladies for which contact info was requested: 57
No. of ladies for which contact info was received: 31 (after which luis indicated that i would receive no more); he was reasonable though.. he sent me one more the following week
No. of email sent: 26 (because some ladies only had phone numbers)
No. of women introduced to: 2

Email messages sent to ladies

[catz]

The arguing part of this topic has been moved to the Flame Room. This part is now reopened for posting.

Keep The Fighting In The Flame Room Topic!

Thank you.

[bad40]

Day 3
It starts slow. I call Ish at 12:30 and he is busy. Luis shows up at 1:30pm asking me what the plan is. I again request hot water.. Luis looks at the water heater and does the shoulder shrug. At this point i know that my first hot shower of this trip will be in Medellin after I leave Cartagena. To this point I do not believe that any previous planning was done for my trip with the ladies. The apartment was arranged.. an itinerary of ladies with a schedule was not done and that was the objective of the trip. I am disappointed so far (I sent Mark an email expressing my dissatisfaction.. a short note with no details... cant remember if it was day 3 or 4). I meet the lady that was arranged for the previous evening in the late afternoon. Fabiany will be my translator for the evening. We all go to a very nice restaurant in Bocagrande… excellent food and good conversation. Fabiany does well as a host.
then a large group with other clients spent a few minutes in cafe del mar in the old city...nice atmosphere, lit torches, go-go dancers, huge video screen but cold, wind is whipping off the ocean. early evening.

status report changes:
introduced to one more lady
total is now 3 in three days

day 4 tomorrow......

[capt_jim]

I think it is just difficult to set up meetings in general. I think the problem is if all the communication has to go through the agency, it creates a bottleneck, even if the agency is being very helpful they are dealing with a lot of guys and a lot of girls.

Meeting women directly through the internet cuts down on this somewhat. You get the chance to prepare them a bit, you can tell them "I'm going to be there - , can we get together?" And you can go back and forth a bit, and they can find time when they can see you. This is pretty time consuming and the agency is going to have trouble setting up a lot of meetings unless they have one person devoted to you full time.

In my experience, it's a time consuming process, and you need a lot of patience.

[bad40]

Day 4
Trip to one of the Rosario Islands with one of the ladies, another client and his friend and Fabiany. Long hot day, food was ok. Trip back took longer than expected because one of the outboard engines broke down. we have to board another boat about two miles out in 5 - 6 foot swells.... interesting! luis bails out early in the morning...


Day 5
This starts off slow also. During the last few days my constant request has been internet access and periodically I had access to one of the other clients apartment to check my messages. That client was leaving today so I thought Luis would transfer me into this one… that had internet and hot water. No luck as he says a new client is expected… apartment is booked.
Now some confusion. Luis meets a new lady in the lobby but promptly dismisses her for reasons I would understand later. I call Ish to obtain the number of one of the ladies I previously met. He misunderstands me and gives me a number for a woman I haven’t met yet (the lady that is being dismissed by Luis as we speak). I send her a text… “the wrong woman”. I contact her and she comes to the apartment. To be polite I let her in… She looks like she has a drug problem and starts ranting about being saved and Jesus Christ. She looks and smells horrible. After five minutes Luis shows up and quickly gets rid of her and tells me of his efforts to ensure I never saw her. We trade stories he understands.

Luis has his folder with what i believe are applications the women have filled out with pertinet information about themselves. He flips through them and from the numerous sheets.. there is only one woman he can contact who will be appropriate. i disagree, she was not on any of my lists to this point.. not my type. here there is a meeting of the minds... luis realistically has no further women he can offer for a date on this night... at that point i tell him i will be leaving two days prior to my scheduled departure date. he is dissappointed but understands. luis takes me to the airport to book a ticket to medellin... all flights full but i get a seat out of barranquilla. during this exercise luis contacts the second lady i met who is now in monteria with her family. she agrees to return to cartagena early and spend a few hours with me before i leave the next day.

we return to the apartment and luis arranges for the third lady i met to meet us for dinner. food was a great... a nice little native place next to the apartment. luis, another client and the lady... nice conversation. then the lady and luis leave.

Day 6
Luis arrives early and assist me with reserving a bus ride to barranquilla. The lady arrives a little late from Monteria and we have about two hours together before i leave.

THE END

Please provide me with some feedback on whether i received value for money, bearing in mind that in total the difference bewteen Jamie and Mark is only $500.

[markanthony7]

Correct me if I am wrong , from what I heard you were acquainted with at least several very beautiful young women , 2 of whom you are still in contact with and bringing back with you by visa, #1 Sandra Padilla on gallery #1, #2  Andrea Denise Iguaran on gallery #3, out of curiosity how come you never discussed them? or at the very least minimized your acquaintance with them?, I am curious?

2. Its similar to the issue I had with your report about the condo, you talked about the issues you did not like, the hot water, internet and I understand your concern fair enough but nothing was mentioned in your report about the physical trappings of the new modern complex, the beautiful Ocean view, the glass elevators, swimming pool, beach right across the street right next to the Old City and we got this for you at the rate of $50 a day at high season in Cartagena!!!!, the only thing available was at $200 a day!!!, we did this at your request at the last minute you decided to come, I don't feel your report was complete and fair and you only discussed negative issues but not what was beneficial and advantageous to you, we did the best we could to help you on short notice and I personal feel you are being vindicative and malicious,  I have no problem if you have a beef or concern or an issue or two here or there but tell the whole truth not a half truth and a slanted one, I refuse to post anymore on this topic and yeah if we hooked you up with a significant other than thats priceless and worth its wait in gold, how can you place a price on a relationshiop with a beautiful woman you met through are agency? answer you cant but you conveniently ignore these facts altoughgether and there is no comparison in price to Jamie's agency period, if we got the job done and you and her are happy! as I said before we don't navigate massive "Ho hunts" we "match make" and thats just what we did on your behalf and did a damn good job just like we always do, as to the condo issue this IMO , this is the epitome of all ingratitude THE END

[fathertime]

Please provide me with some feedback on whether i received value for money, bearing in mind that in total the difference bewteen Jamie and Mark is only $500.

Based on your entire report, you totally got ripped off and bent over!  The boat breaking down is a familiar story, I forgot who the other Amor de Cartagena client was who was told to get in the water and 'push the boat' after it broke down.  Amor de Cartagena provided you with way too much dead time and false leads.  I question why they continue to have all those babes on the website if 90% of them are available only to stand up men and give them false hopes (based on the reports).  Interesting story about the woman who looked and smelled a drug addict, those type of woman should be booted from agencies and purged from the website, IMMEDIATELY if not sooner. 
Since you have said the difference between Mark's services and Jamie's is only 500 dollars I would say you would be 10X's better served going with Jamie.  None of this BS occurs with his agency. 

Great move to take off early for Medellin, too bad you didn't repack your bags after the first day!  Your experience with this agency is not typical of all agencies, so don't let your bad experience with Amor De Cartagena get you down!

Fathertime! 

[bigstew33]

Correct me if I am wrong , from what I heard you were acquainted with at least several very beautiful young women , 2 of whom you are still in contact with and bringing back with you by visa, #1 Sandra Padilla on gallery #1, #2  Andrea Denise Iguaran on gallery #3, out of curiosity how come you never discussed them? or at the very least minimized your acquaintance with them?, I am curious?

2. Its similar to the issue I had with your report about the condo, you talked about the issues you did not like, the hot water, internet and I understand your concern fair enough but nothing was mentioned in your report about the physical trappings of the new modern complex, the beautiful Ocean view, the glass elevators, swimming pool, beach right across the street right next to the Old City and we got this for you at the rate of $50 a day at high season in Cartagena!!!!, the only thing available was at $200 a day!!!, we did this at your request at the last minute you decided to come, I don't feel your report was complete and fair and you only discussed negative issues but not what was beneficial and advantageous to you, we did the best we could to help you on short notice and I personal feel you are being vindicative and malicious,  I have no problem if you have a beef or concern or an issue or two here or there but tell the whole truth not a half truth and a slanted one, I refuse to post anymore on this topic and yeah if we hooked you up with a significant other than thats priceless and worth its wait in gold, how can you place a price on a relationshiop with a beautiful woman you met through are agency? answer you cant but you conveniently ignore these facts altoughgether and there is no comparison in price to Jamie's agency period, if we got the job done and you and her are happy! as I said before we don't navigate massive "Ho hunts" we "match make" and thats just what we did on your behalf and did a damn good job just like we always do, as to the condo issue this IMO , this is the epitome of all ingratitude THE END

Gee I don't know maybe he was expecting AC that worked properly, Hot water, and Internet.  Who cares what the rest of the place is like.  Glass elevators blah blah blah.  I guess in your mind this was another satisfied customer of yours.  If that place rents $50 during high season, what is it for low season $2? 

I really wish I could understand your thinking.  You have many people complaining about your service.  Customer has to be right at least once.  If you took a real  good look at your agency then I would support you, until then

Peace out

[markanthony7]

I wasn't going to respond but I guess you want to ignore the part where he found a significant other and potential wife through our agency and likewise by Luis advocacy he is presently assisting him acquiring a visa, I think the only thing that has become obvious and exposed is your ignorance, acrimony and malicious attitude (in lieu of the fact that neither of you have utilized our agency) but I guess an agency that helps a person find a soul mate and companionship is  not a good agency, enough with the foolishness, we are working diligently for the release of Amor De Cartagena Spring Edition 2008, this is more constructive than going back and about nonsense, Yeah he went to Medillin but elected to come right back to Cartagena where he found love and an agency that actually works!THE END

[william3rd]

Do we get to select the ending now? There seems to be two.

Or is the MA ending the director's cut?

Luis has expanded his skills to do visas now? WOW!!!! From street waif to immigration consultant.

BTW- what is the name of that Cartagena agency that really works?

[bigstew33]

likewise by Luis advocacy he is presently assisting him acquiring a visa, I think the only thing that has become obvious and exposed is your ignorance, acrimony and malicious attitude (in lieu of the fact that neither of you have utilized our agency)

Help my jaw has fallen and it can't get up.  Luis involved in Visas?  He can't send you a requested list of contact information.  Yeah I haven't used your agency but, Lord knows I tried to 2 times.   

[singlefather no more]

MarkA,

So what happened to that woman from your agency that was stranded in New Jersey ? Did she find a new guy yet or were you able to help find her a job or a place to stay ?

singlefather


..

[catz]

MarkA,

So what happened to that woman from your agency that was stranded in New Jersey ? Did she find a new guy yet or were you able to help find her a job or a place to stay ?

singlefather..

We do not need to go there again. Remember: This is Bad40's TR. Not a place to start rehashing old arguments.

Thank you

[jm21-2]

Luis has expanded his skills to do visas now? WOW!!!! From street waif to immigration consultant.

That one had me cracking up. MA's attitude towards visas leaves a bit to be desired.

Oh, was just looking at the ADC site to compare prices between it and Jamie's and he lists the price for his services as "donations." HMMM. Jamie's agency is about $1000 more though for the full service (ADC $395, Jamie $1475).

[fathertime]

I don't believe a thing you say about a "visa" being processed.  If BAD40 was so interested in one of your woman why was it he eagerly packing his bags early for Medellin.  Another point, why would he consider using 'the street waif' Luis for Visa paperwork when time after time it has been shown that Luis can't find his ass with both hands & a flashlight.  If Bad was so happy with your service, why would he choose to write all this negative stuff here?  Until I hear differently I am concluding that he is just another unsatisfied customer!  I think you should begin "culling"bp your database of unavailable women immediately and quit lying to everybody about how great you and your service is.  

Fathertime!

[chizz]

In a nutshell Bad, you didn't get your money's worth. What Mark fails to realize is that  true happiness has no price. As much as he keeps harping on "golden boy's" prices, he fails to realize noone complains because Jamie follows through with what he says he will do. You can charge someone 1 dollar or 10,000 dollars, if they can afford to pay it, and get what they are promised then everyone's happy. However, if someone is promised something and paid 395.00 and don't get what they are promised then that is the agency's fault. I'm sorry you trip didn't go the way you hoped it would, but with all the info on ADC on here and other places, you shouldn't be shocked or surprised. Hope your next trip goes better.
Chizz