amor de cartagena trip

[bad40]

Frankly i'm shocked by Mark's reaction/comments. We spoke at length about why I gave his agency an opportunity to prove that all the previous negative comments may have been of a personal nature... but yet again we must have completely misunderstood each other..

I am very unhappy about the fact that you mentioned the names of the ladies. I intentionally avoided this as I would not want to hurt their chances of meeting someone else if something went wrong between them and myself. Both of them are attractive women and I will not discuss my interaction with them. Your comments were unprofessional. A part of learning about each other is certainly allowing the women to see where you live, how you live, etc. I did invite one to visit me... our interaction and how we evolve will determine whether this actually happens or not. But i must say the fact that you mentioned it was petty.

You mentioned the other amenities of the apartment. My first impression was that the building was very old... one of the first generation resorts per the tourist destination development of Cartagena. It had not been painted in awhile. But someone must have noticed that because on the second day of my trip scaffolding and painters appeared. Plastic sheeting was everywhere... making leaving the building without being splattered with paint was an adventure. Glass in the elevators were not clean. Pool was full of Colombian kids all weekend...remember, easter weekend. No chance for a pool rendezvous with any of these ladies. That's probably why I never mentioned it. I intentionally refrained from mentioning this stuff because I know that you cant control when a developer will paint a building, or how efficient their maintenance staff will be. My focus was the hot water.. because you promised I would have it, you advertised it and it was within your control because your other apartment there had it. Same with the internet, you promised it, advertised it and the other apartment had it. Also I paid for it... I paid your advertised price for these amenities. With all of this talk, you have not mentioned whetehr or not it would be reasonable to expect a partial refund due to the absence of those amenities.

I do not appreciate your "ho hunt" remarks. Luis will tell you that although he suggested prepagos on a number of occasions as a way to makeup for his inability to contact more women. Luis can tell you that I was the only client there at the time to consistently refuse. He knows that I was there to find a special person.

My request of you (Mark) right now is to consider something. Put aside the personal stuff and determine if you really think you have been fair. Consider this...

Should I have been given the opportunity to meet more women to reassure myself that either andrea and sandra could be a potential mate, or should I only be given the opportunity to meet three women because per your judgment, that is all I needed?

Even Michael Bloomberg (stock trading terminals) and Bill Gates listen to customers and adapt. Being a business person myself, I would suggest that you separate the personal from the professional and listen to your customers. Although I havent used his agency, I met Jamie before and he isnt the most personable guy you will ever meet, but when he says he's going to do something, its done. You complain about a woman on his site.. she's gone. Your first impression personality is second to none. I actually believed you and in you. You have an opportunity in Cartagena, dont waste it.

This blog has been useful for me and I appreciate the work that the moderators do. However I would suggest the following. As my interest was peaked because the "Amor de Cartagena" ad was featured on this website, some due diligence exercise on your part to ensure that services advertised are as represented. Your customer base is more vulnerable than the average shopper because by the time he knows that the service is not good, he's in a country where he does not speak the language and its too late to change his mind.

[pablo]

I do not appreciate your "ho hunt" remarks. Luis will tell you that although he suggested prepagos on a number of occasions as a way to makeup for his inability to contact more women. Luis can tell you that I was the only client there at the time to consistently refuse. He knows that I was there to find a special person.

I find your comments concerning Luis, ADC's manager, offering you prepagos very disturbing.  ADC has two very distinct faces that they try to represent.  On one hand trying to appear to be a legitimate introduction agency that is cost effective with good customer service.  On the other, trying to accommodate the P4P crowd.   In reality they fall way short of their claims and promises. 

Any agency that offers or provides prepagos to their clients should reconsider even being in the business because they do a grave disservice to both their female membership and their male client base.  This is not the first time that I've heard about Luis assisting ADC customers in acquiring the services of prepagos.  I personally know a customer of ADC and he told me that Luis and him went through their female client base and he identified which women would be willing to accept money for sex!

Before this I used Mark's email services and was extremely dissatisfied with their customer service for various reasons.  One of the addresses I purchased from ADC however did result in a later meeting with this woman. She was in town for the weekend and wanted to meet me. I agreed and we went to dinner. During the meal the conversation eventually came around to ADC and her profile there. To my surprise, she had asked Luis to remove her profile because she felt that there was prostitution going on with certain female members of Mark's agency and she did not want to be associated with that.

Even though she had requested her profile to be removed numerous times it fell on deaf ears. It was her opinion that they kept her profile prominently displayed because it was generating numerous email address sales. She then asked me if I could assist her in getting her profile removed which I agreed to do.

I sent an email both to Mark and Luis explaining the situation and requested that they remove her profile as she requested. I "Cc'd" a copy to her as well. I received a prompt reply back from her thanking me for contacting them on her behalf but it was no big surprise that I have not heard back from either Mark or Luis even after repeated emails. Her profile still remains on the web site against her wishes. 

I think that Mark should seriously consider why he is even in the introduction business.   

[bad40]

I want to be clear about something. Luis did not hand me a catalog with women and hourly or overnight prices when i arrived. For me it was a last resort thing.. and he did not specifically offer any women featured on the website in this regard. However, it was obvious that some of their clients seek this type of service either by choice or necesity.

I agree with Pablo.. prostituition should not be a part of any introduction service.

[bigstew33]

As I reported in my post about ADC having at least 2 Prepaids on his site.  I mentioned this several times before.  I even confronted MA about it when I emailed him.  He doesn't address it at all. 

[bad40]

A point of clarification... Luis is not nor have I asked him to assist me with a visa. He was merely translating a conversation. She may have asked for his assistance without my knowledge. After my experiences with Luis, I think he is a friendly guy but i dont know him well enough to ask for that kind of help.

[markanthony7]

Lets listen to the voice of sound and reason

#1 issue the apartment, the complex the Alta mar Del Cabrerro is only 10 years old , I refute your malicious accusation about the physical condition and age of the building by inviting everyone to visit my website at www.cartagenacondos.com, both the interior and exterior are in excellent condition, we would not have been around for 6 years in if what you said was true, likewise I explained to you that it was Easter weekend and all of are rentals were booked solid we had no vacancies, but we searched diligently and found you an (alternate) condo and I further explained it was nice but did not have the same amenities, you had already booked your flight prematurely and we saved you from a practical and financical disaster!!, plus we saved you a ton of money because it was high season and the lowest rate was $200 a day, again your report on the Ocean view condo was the epitome of all in gratitude period

#2 issue many of us go on these tours and lose focus of what are objective is, are objective is to find a significant other, not to meet 800 diffrent women! and thats exactly what transpired in Bad 40 case, even though he refuses to give our agency credit for it, we made it happen! period, or why would he be bringing her back on a visa?, that in it self is an addmission that his personal Latin introduction tour was a success and if he for one minute thought she was a prostitute I don't think he would he would even consider bringing her back on a visa, not only that he stated earlier that he actually met 2 beautiful young ladies he was compatable with but he selected one!, thats called effectiveness and quality in service, Latin Introduction is not about how many women you meet, its about meeting someone you are compatable with and Bad 40 did this twice in our agency with one visit!!!, as where he utilized other agencies and drew blanks!, after Bad 40 met 2 young ladies he found compatability with there was no need to continue to search and meet 40 other women because he was preoccupied with establishing a meaningful relationship with them and getting to know them personally, we made it happen! twice! or else why would he bringing her back on a fiance visa?,

#3 Bad 40 you reluctantly gave us a fair report , you stated issues you felt were negative about the service but you gave us no credit for the success you had on your trip , it was unfair and partial, you conveniently ignored the to central issues that you found not one but 2 lovely young ladies, this is very significant but you deliberately omitted these important issues to communicate a false and negative portrayal of our service, which in my opinion speaks volumes about your characther, there was no infraction about mentioning these young ladies identities in a positive light but you did try to malign the truth about your total experience with ADC and not give an accurate report and again, predicated in you own addmission of words is the fact that your trip was a success because you found a significant other for marriage and again it you felt she was a hooker you would not be sponsoring her on a visa, again this is demonstrative on ingrattitude and a malicious attitude

[markanthony7]

Pablo your just a plain ignorant liar, period!, we don't advocate prostitution and Luis did not offer any of our women for paid sex, we have helped a multitude of people find a significant other and obtain visas, this is against the law and if we did something of this nature, I am sure Home Land Security or the CIA or FBI would have intervened by now, since we have been in business for 6 years now, an American conducting this sort of illegal prostitution from the US is a Federal offense called (human trafficking), I have had no one from either of these Federal agency contact me or warn me about my business conduct, therefore your comments are malicious lies and contorted, Pablo met a very nice young lady on our website, hit it of and got pissed because I would not remove her from our website because she was beautiful and he was jealous for, you have not been too our agency or used our agency so these malicious comments about prostitution are just that malicious comments with destructive intent and no credibility or integrity, I am finished with this trip report, I must get back to work with our clients and the release of ADC Spring 2008

[markanthony7]

One last final question that should not be over looked and ignored because thus seems to be the common practice of some, if Bad 40 experience was as bad or negative as he said it was, then this begs the question, then why is he seeking to bring a young lady he met from our agency back on a fiance visa??, that sounds inconsistent to me, this just flys in the face of everything he says IMO

There is no rhyme nor reason to this logic, except maybe there are people with hidden agendas at work, perhaps Government counter operatives or rival businesses that fear our continued growth and expansion? that are subversive and vacillate propaganda? maybe they would like you believe many of the falsehoods that are being posted?  something to think about, thanks gotta get back to work

[william3rd]

UHHHHHHH- WHO was it who said he is bringing one of your girls up  on a K1.

Was it that US immigration expert, Luis?

Mr. 40 says the opposite, doesnt he? on this page of posts. about 4 below, right?


None of your girls are coming on a visa that anybody knows of.

[markanthony7]

William , don't play with words you can not bring a young lady back unless she has a fiance visa, you are an immigration lawyer aren't you?, he is just trying to down play the experience and minimize the issue with a misnomer

[singlefather no more]

There is no rhyme nor reason to this logic, except maybe there are people with hidden agendas at work, perhaps Government counter operatives or rival businesses that fear our continued growth and expansion? that are subversive and vacillate propaganda? maybe they would like you believe many of the falsehoods that are being posted?  something to think about, thanks gotta get back to work

Mark , Thank you for the good laugh and luckily I did not spill my coffee on myself just all over my desk.. So Jamie has got CIA operatives working against you.. Man you are funny.. You should be in Hollywood.. This is funny [snip]... lol.. Mark seriously do you write this stuff yourself..

William3rd,

You are out in California.. What do you think does Mark have a potential career as a fiction writer or as a TV show writer ?

DT,

Mark has some hidden talent here c'mon you must have some contacts in show business for him.. We don't want him retiring and have to work for Luis..

Jamie,

You must be laughing your ass off reading this stuff all the time.. lmao

Mark,

So you blab out personal information about a client , mention girls names , trash a client.. Wow that is great customer service.. My hat goes off to you..

Street waif Luis or Dr. Detroit Luis,

Good to know that you have such great customer service skills.. So if you can't find a guy a potential wife then you get him a prepaygo..

bad40,

I feel for you man.. I am sorry you had a bad trip.. The only thing though is that you are responsible for going to ADC and there have been many threads warning about Mark and Dr. Detroit Luis..

The ads here are sold by google so I don't believe this site can control that..

Wiping the tears of laughter out of my eyes,

singlefather

..

[daytrader]

Yes SF, I thoroughly enjoy Mark's posts...I have come to think though that Mark is the "evil twin brother" of Catz...and this evil twin brother starts posting to prove to Catz that he really is a smart businessman and Catz should learn from him!

...Catz's evil twin brother is jealous of this Forum so he has set up this business in Colombia to try and out-do Catz, the "good" twin brother...just goes to show you that evil twin brothers usually have low self esteem.....

Have you been hiding your "evil twin brother" from us Catz??

DayTrader

[bad40]

Points of clarification:
Mark, please retract the statement regarding your notification that the apartment had less amenities; you stated it had no internet but had access to wireless networks in the building.. therefore internet... and no mention of the lack of hot water.

The premature booking of my flight; the booking (two days before departure date based upon my recollection) was the direct result of your assurance that I would be provided with the service advertised.
At no time did I say that any of the women I met were prostitutes. Read my posts objectively and retract your statement.

I have not used any other travel introduction service. Unless you can prove this .. retract.

I see that your misinformation is based upon the lack of knowledge.. not the ability to reason. In the Caribbean, fiance visas are not required... a simple invitation processed through the British embassy in Bogota suffices to obtain a visitor/tourist visa. American rules do not apply. Also I am not engaged... retract.

Concentrating on your spring profiles is good idea as I have paid for an entire year of access to those addresses and it is late. Based upon my memory of conversation with Fabiany and Luis, they only had one or two women confirmed for this new addition. I hope they have made significant progress since then.

Singelfather..
Yes I take responsibility for my choices. This blog has provided me with useful guidance and this trip report is my way of contributing.. giving back and hopefully provind others with more information with which to make their decisions. Also to try and help Mark with objective comments about his business that I hoped he would accept as constructive criticism. It seems that was not the result.

I understand that Google books the ads but I'm sure you consider my point reasonable... appearance here is almost a passive endorsement by the experts... the administrators.

Jamie

I dont think Jamie has to say a word here. This report is a good adertisement for him and its not even about his service.

[catz]

My Evil Twin's name is Skippy and no, he's not hiding just off terrorizing puppies in Alaska at the moment...

Yes SF, I thoroughly enjoy Mark's posts...I have come to think though that Mark is the "evil twin brother" of Catz...and this evil twin brother starts posting to prove to Catz that he really is a smart businessman and Catz should learn from him!

...Catz's evil twin brother is jealous of this Forum so he has set up this business in Colombia to try and out-do Catz, the "good" twin brother...just goes to show you that evil twin brothers usually have low self esteem.....

Have you been hiding your "evil twin brother" from us Catz??

DayTrader

[catz]

I understand that Google books the ads but I'm sure you consider my point reasonable... appearance here is almost a passive endorsement by the experts... the administrators.

Just as an FYI - Because of the very tricky legal implications in allowing Advertisement A but not allowing Advertisement B it was decided early on to keep it open to anyone who wanted to use it with the exception of pornography (or related) sites. Google does serve up a goodly part of the ads and they are, supposedly, based on the content of the pages that they are being viewed on.

We do not condone or disparage any of the advertisers as they are simply a way to pay for this site.

[markanthony7]

1. Bad 40 the issue and bottom line is you are inviting her to come to the Carribbean to be with you to further the relationship, this means she is at very least a significant other to you at this point but you failed to disclose this in your trip report as to conceal the fact  that your trip was a success, likewise you said you went to Medellin, where is this trip report???, if you did go it must have not been that fruitful; because your immediate plan is to bring a young lady from our agency for a serious relationship

2. Again Bad 40 I don't have any problem with you voicing negative issues with the trip or our service but I personally feel it is wrong to communicate half truths to put a negative slant on your report an d mislead readers, the fact that you found a lady and have compatability with her is very, very, very significant but you deliberately elected to omit this fact which IMO is crucial and important to other people seeking to find love and romance or help in a destitute situation, tell the whole story not selective issues you attempt to magnify and important issue you minimize and conceal

[bad40]

Mark,

Since you are fixated upon this lady, would you agree that if I elect not to have her visit... I will be entitled to a refund?

Here endeth the trip report. Mark... all the best.

[bigstew33]

you can forget about a refund.  that joker has your money, and he has no honor

[markanthony7]

Bigstew you used our e-mail and telephone service you did not get may relpies because you made the mistake of attaching your photo to your Bio, I told you sometimes it works better when you try to meet the ladies in person if you physical appearance is not impressive but you wanted to do things your way, I did not want to disclose this to you but I am tired of your sqawking

[Grimjack]

1. Bad 40 the issue and bottom line is you are inviting her to come to the Carribbean to be with you to further the relationship, this means she is at very least a significant other to you at this point but you failed to disclose this in your trip report as to conceal the fact  that your trip was a success, likewise you said you went to Medellin, where is this trip report???, if you did go it must have not been that fruitful; because your immediate plan is to bring a young lady from our agency for a serious relationship

2. Again Bad 40 I don't have any problem with you voicing negative issues with the trip or our service but I personally feel it is wrong to communicate half truths to put a negative slant on your report an d mislead readers, the fact that you found a lady and have compatability with her is very, very, very significant but you deliberately elected to omit this fact which IMO is crucial and important to other people seeking to find love and romance or help in a destitute situation, tell the whole story not selective issues you attempt to magnify and important issue you minimize and conceal

MA- I was not going to comment in this thread as I have never utilized your services. However your continued use of Bad40 meeting someone, inspite of your agency's performance, as a success story is truly astounding. What you really need to focus on is how would Bad40's trip have been better if your agency had done what it said it was going to do? How many other, possibly better, candidates would he have met? How would his mood have changed the citas he did have if he hadn't been pre-occupied with not having hot water or no internet service?

The fact that he met someone does not mean you did a good job. In a service oriented business such as yours it amazes me that you are unwilling to listen to your customers in an attempt to improve your business model. I have been to Cartagena and I would like to go back someday, but I would never use your agency to facilitate a trip......

[dennislevy]

This is just too good to pass up.

Mark, never, never tell a male customer that his physical appearance is "unimpressive!" 

Yo0u can suggest to him that he should target an older age range or that he can possibly spend his time more wisely by dating ladies more "motivated" to meet decent men or good guys".   

But don't ever tell him his appearance is "unimpressive."

Hot water is not an "amenity", for an American customer it is a requirement.  and I have been to Colombia, so I know that it is not always avaialble."  But from what I understand, the other apartments) in the building had hot water, but the apartment you rented to bad40 did not.  So this wasn't a hot water issue, it was a maintenance issue and if you didn't check out the apartment, or have someone show up to fix the problem that is your rreponsility

The agency business (and I am an agency customer) is also a hospitality business and a customer satisfaction business--and yes, you have to sometimes plow part of your revenue back to insure customer satisfaction.

I've talked with a lot of American men who went to Colombia, on this board, at agencies in Bogota, and I know big stew, we spent a couple of hours on the phone talking. Almost all American men have one thing in common, they don't like bull[snip].

So, cut the bull[snip].
   
dennislevy
     

[markanthony7]

Grim jack ,Well good you can use Jamie and pay $1,475 or AFA and pay $2,400 you make the choice, evidently you did not read my prior post where I explained to him that we were booked and had no available apartments left and at his request I found him an alternate condo and I explained that the amenities were a little less than condos in our association, secondly the issue about hot water in the Carribbean is being over dramatized IMO, its hot as an oven and humid in Cartagena, thats why 95 % of the apartments don't have hot water anyway because it is not necessary, the water is luke warm anyway because of the weather, but ethically, anyway I apprised him of the situation and you are continuing to ignore that he came 2 days notice and we pulled a rabbit out of the hat and saved the day!, if he would have been with AFA or some one else he would have been SOL "[snip] out of luck", we saved him a ton of money and an ill planned vacation that would have been a disaster if he did not know me but we got on the phone and changed the water into wine got him a good condo at an excellent discount rate, the problem is he and you likewise don't understand how vastly rates change in Cartagena in the holiday seasons, they triple!!!, if you understood this which apparently neither of you do, you offer me an apology, have an attitude of gratitude and thank us for saving him from a debacle he created by waiting to the last minute to decide to come and blame the self induced issues on our service

[soltero]

Bigstew you used our e-mail and telephone service you did not get may relpies because you made the mistake of attaching your photo to your Bio, I told you sometimes it works better when you try to meet the ladies in person if you physical appearance is not impressive but you wanted to do things your way, I did not want to disclose this to you but I am tired of your sqawking

Mark is all about spilling people's personal business isn't he? While both comical and sad, would someone please put a cork in this guy? There is NO WAY I would ever use the services of some guy who keeps a diary of what I have going on and then tries to put his tainted spin on it later.

For shame, Mark Anthony...you better hope that none of the people even thinking about using your services never find this thread. You would have looked bad enough without trying to defend yourself, but after your defense, I am surprised no one is alerting the authorities to your business dealings...

[Ray]

This is the most hilarious thread I’ve read in a long time!

Why would anyone be foolish enough to use MA’s agency after seeing this dude in action first-hand?

MA’s business philosophy: The customer is always wrong.

Give this guy your money and then watch as he publicly insults his customers, calling them malicious liars, accuses them of being Satan, and even suggests that they are subversive government propaganda operatives (?) or that they are too ugly to succeed…

Amazing, simply amazing!

Mark, check yourself into a mental hospital before you hurt yourself…

[markanthony7]

Soletro I am not concerned about your opinion of us, in my opinion you are flattering yourself because it really does not matter what you think or say or whether you plan to use our service or recommend or not recommend it, this might suprise you but we have been around 6 years we were here before you knew of us and we will have a greater presence after you have know us, its not about what this forum thinks , its about internet marketing