Quote from Splinter

These taxes almost double the original price, although i suppose one way around it would be to pay with a non-Argie card.

You can use your Transferwise debit card, then! But it will converted at the official rate and potentially exposing your non-Argie account abroad.

I have used the card here during the Macri era when the blue was the same as the official rate. It was just too easy to swipe a card and buy whatever I fancied instead of restraining myself from buying because I had no enough cash on me. Now those days are goooooneeee!

(the exchange rate was also worse)

Do you need a Tv plan to have Netflix? We just have a internet plan and I have my Netflix subscription with my netflix US, which is about 15 USD a month. 605 ARS sounds like a dream, even with the shady taxes and inflated price.

But in Argentina, making money is actually seen negatively, unlike in the United States.

Argentina is a country that created their national identity into whining because they are poor (it is the Capitalists' fault, whether domestic or foreign), where getting subsidies from the State is considered a right to all, and consider getting money for free an achievement.

When talking to colleagues, nobody seemed concerned in thriving, just to have enough to pay the bills and get by. Nobody had ambitions to grow bigger, start a company, and nobody talked about their professional achievement (important or big job they did). And these were business meetings. They looked at me like I was crazy.

Quote from Semigoodlooking

It would be a good quality if it didn't permeate through the whole culture as a general apathy to progress. Any form of progression or reform is frowned upon here, making it impossible for anything to get better.

When we commissioned the new kitchen cabinets, I had two very specific requests: 1) that the door hinges opened more than 90 degrees (we have a narrow kitchen, I am a clumsy person and I am always afraid to know my head against them) 2) that the drawers had soft closing hinges, so that I don't need to accompany the drawer to close it while I have my hands dirty when cooking.

The carpenter's wife said that it was physically impossible to get a door opening to more than 90 degrees and at the same time close against the cabinet. I pulled out my phone, showed her that on Mercadolibre they sold these hinges, and the husband agreed they'd put those.

The carpenter's wife said that the soft close drawers were more expensive like to discourage me from choosing them. How many times do we make the kitchen cabinets in our lifetime?! I want the best I can afford.

So they quoted for those 'upgraded hinges' separately, added that for uniformity we should put the same door hinges on all cabinets (some are next to the wall and it doesn't make sense). We agreed to pay the extra for all the fancy hinges and paid.

When they installed the kitchen, there were no fancy hinges and the drawers didn't soft close - they just close. I don't know if the downgrades was my husband or the carpenters. We aren't talking an expensive upgrade - maybe 50 USD, it is a small kitchen. When they installed it, I told them that was not a soft closing drawer - it was a closing drawer. The wife said that's a soft close - that's what the hardware store told them and that's all you can get in Argentina.

I told them I wanted and paid for all fancy hinges and the soft close. They said 'we can't remember, it's been too long'. Luckily, it was a voice message conversation on whatsapp and my husband found a voice message where the wife said we should have all fancy hinges for uniformity and that they would put them.

At that point, they had their back to the wall... However they started asking if we could buy the fancy hinges because they could not find them... while in Mercadolibre they are sill available. I told my husband it was a slick move to have us pay AGAIN for the hinges.

So we asked them t forget about the hinges and come rotate the cabinet doors (yes, they managed to make all doors opening in the wrong direction compared to the drawings we gave them - also witnessed by Whatsapp messages). After postponing the date to fix the furniture 3 times (this was in the last 6 months), of course at 9 PM of the day before the date, they were finally going to come... but they didn't really want to.

So, on Saturday at 9 AM, when they were due at 10AM, they said "obviously, this is a paid visit".

WTF?! At that point, my husband listed all the wrong stuff they did: the hinges, the color used to paint the kitchen which was not the one we brought them (they lost the paint can during the pandemic!!), the continuous delays, the doors opening in the wrong direction, the missing carved line on one cabinet door the delivery which we paid twice....

Twice, because when we confirmed the order and went to give them the money, I made it clear that I wanted a hassle free job and that I would have ordered the kitchen only if they had come to install it (some carpenters won't to that!!!!! - only in Argentina!!) and I wanted an 'all included' price.

They delivered a piece of the kitchen cabinet at 10 PM after 4 weeks of delays and lies on missed appointments (we had sold the old one the first time they had announced they'd be coming in 3 days with the new kitchen) - they had to bring the rest the next morning. Of course, the next morning their minivan broke down.

So we told them to hire a flete... and they asked us to pay!!!

Now, last week they wanted us to pay for their "third visit" because they count the day they came with the flete to deliver the rest of the furniture as EXTRA.

So, I am being punished for having ordered too much?

Now I am really tempted to write a thorough review on the internet, but they know our address.

We have been trying to hire another carpenter for one month now. Most don't even reply. Some say they'll send in a quote and never send it. The truth is nobody wants to work in this F***UP country.