Heavy enough title for you? One thing I’ve learned since living in Mexico as an expat.. Never… trust.. a Mexican in Mexico. This is not based on race this is purely based on culture and mindset. Women especially are targets for street harassment, assault, and femicides here. Things I cover heavily weekly on The Metal Mindset Podcast. Most Mexican’s from what I have learned do not pay attention to details and come from extreme poverty. If you’re not part of the family blood line here you’re a bigger target for corruption/fraud. In a country that’s minimum wage is $5 a day the scarcity complex is a fault-line running rampantly throughout society. So much so that if you’re an expat you’re guaranteed to get ripped off at some point. From home rentals to your internet there are scams around every corner and nothing is regulated. This week we’re going to cover the following:
1. Beware Of TotalPlay Internet It’s a TotalFraud!
2. My Top 3 West Coast Winter Looks Of The Week
Beware Of Totalplay Internet It’s a Totalfraud!
My experience with this internet provider started out shady and ended up a total pain in the ass. I moved to Playas de Tijuana 2 years ago. I am on a business visa which I renew every 6 months. Although I could apply for a resident card I don’t see the point when I work online from home and don’t need to conduct any business in Mexico (Or anywhere for that matter). I was constantly being swindled when grocery shopping by a Totalplay representative to switch to their service. I had internet included in my rent. I didn’t need to switch but they sold me on their fiber optic 150 mbps plan. I do work online, I create a lot of video/audio content weekly therefore it made sense to upgrade my plan to make sure my work ran smoothly. As I was planning to move I figured I may as well give a new service a try.
Then the problems began. I was dealing with a representative named Claudia at this time who worked at the Totalplay booth in Soriana (Whom has since be transferred to several different locations. I think she works in a parallel Totalplay Universe now? Not sure). She told me to send her my ID via Whatsapp with my moving date to set the installation date up. I did all this weeks in advance to make sure things would run smoothly to have internet in my new apartment. 2 days before I was set to move Claudia sends me a messages stating that Totalplay is refusing to process my installation because I am a Canadian on business here and I need to be a Mexican Citizen to have service.
At this point I was already pissed off that they waited only 2 days before I moved to deny me service. I had sent in all my personal information they requested 2 weeks in advance to avoid delays like this. Moving is stressful enough. When Claudia explained that I could not get the service under my name she told me to wait a few hours while she worked on something. A few hours later I get another message from her stating that she can set up service at my new address under a different name. She claimed she had a Mexican friend who lets her set up accounts when people have problems under her name. So everything would be set up as planned it would just not be in my name and I would pay the bill as though I was this person named Martha Patricia. I said… “Fuck it! So long as I have service I don’t care whose name is on my account at this point. This has already been a colossal waste of my time”. Exact words.
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| Hard at work at the Totalplay booth in Walmart |
Flash forward 2 years later when it’s time to move.I was not (at least the woman whose name was on my bill was not) on contract with Totalfraud. I mean Totalplay.. I paid all my bills, was not on a contract and I was ready for a change. My new apartment comes with internet included. Not only that but when I questioned Totalplay about taking my service with me they do not offer service in this area of Playas. Since Claudia now works in purgatory.. I mean.. Some other Totalplay location I was now dealing with a new representative. This guy’s name is Rodrigo and I came to know him after Claudio left her stable at Soriana. I prefer going in person to these booths to talk to a person to being on hold on a 1-800 line that is constantly busy and no one speaks English. I asked the rep to assist me in cancelling my services with Totalplay and gave them 2 weeks notice that I was planning to move on Nov.15th.2019. Rodrigo at Walmart said there would be no problem and that I could return the modem to him at the booth when I moved. There are no physical Totalplay stores in existence (another red flag). The booths are for sales/inquiries only. You can’t pay your bill there, you can’t do much but talk to the rep and hope they give you the correct information (which they never do as they watch tv all day, eat fast food, have bad teeth and only know how to set up service to get their commissions. Money not customer focused).
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| The current growing balance (in pesos) on my previous apartments account after cancelling Totalplay services |
I moved on Nov.15th and handed in my modem to good ‘ol Rodrigo at the Walmart Totalplay booth as instructed. He called into Totalplay to make sure the service got cancelled and the account closed while I was there. I don’t speak enough Spanish to deal with call centers here. Even if you speak Spanish fluently the people in call centers barely speak Spanish themselves. Most speak this language called… “Marbles in my mouth while waiting to die“. Yes, that’s a language known around the world but is heavily spoken in places like Mexico.
2 weeks later I receive an electronic bill of $100 from Totalplay as though my services had never been cancelled and twice as much as what my normal bill was. Here is how everything went down after I moved in the Whatsapp exchanges below with the Totalplay Rep.
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| The new bill and my first inquiry to the Totalplay rep |
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| More negligence |
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| 3 days of watching TV eating Doritos at work ignoring my time sensitive inquires |
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| Again, more negligence. “Check it” is the equivalent to “Do Nothing” |
In the end I gave up on trying. I own my own small business and I would never treat a client in this manner if there where ever any issues with billing. If someone wishes to cancel their account and their not under a contract it needs to be done so swiftly. From what I can gather Totalplay will continue billing this Martha Patricia woman on the account into infinity. I was able to get through their customer service line yesterday with my friendly neighbor who speaks Spanish. Even though this bill isn’t even in my name (legally not even my responsibility to pay… ever) I hate loose ends. We got through and the rep told us that the call made to cancel on Nov.15.2019 was received. However it was not done correctly by the Totalplay rep. For that reason they will continue billing this account until the current balance is paid. This is how Totalplay/Totalfraud runs their business.
Total Look Cost: $16
