The gentleman that I originally spoke to was gone when we arrived, we were met by a grumpy driver that charged us $40.00 we didn't expect to pay as it was advertised that transportation was provided. We paid and arrived about 1:30 am and were escorted to a room by the absent owners wife, we did not get the king size bed that was advertised, we didn't have goose down on the bed either. We didn't have knobs on our wardrobe until 2 weeks into our stay, but my inventive husband made duct tape tabs we used to open the flush doors. We paid 750.00 plus vat for our room for a month and 900.00 for our visa facilitation to a man that was manning the office and the owners wife took me to the mall to get the other 600.00 so our total was 1500.00 for the visa facilitation. Now I know that there are others that are much less expensive but when I was researching I was comparing her price to lawyers in Quito that were charging 2500.00
I approached the woman who was the owners wife, our facilitator, many times asking for her to start looking at our paperwork. Time and time again she was leaving to go to Quito or Cuenca and during our time there she actually went to America to see her husband. I was getting worried that our visas would not be done on time.. we moved a month later to a house very close, she came over and even then when I presented our paperwork, she was putting out a fire that someone who also had not been taken care of.. I knew we were in trouble. I felt so damn stupid that I didn't make a fire for her to put out too. I was always thinking that we were next. One year and 7 months later, we requested a refund as we were doing the work ourselves and since she had not completed our work.
We finally did our paperwork ourselves and yesterday asked for our money back, she arrived the next day telling me that she didn't remember me paying her or her helper. Today he wrote to us saying that I paid for the room, not the facilitation.. well,, I did and I am so upset and depressed.
I lived through the month at their hotel with flies you would not believe in the house during meals, with dogs running loose and barking at all hours. Trying to catch the facilitator, trying to not roll off the queen size bed that had a double as a base, paid $5.00 for each load of laundry, when no one else did and paid $75.00 for another day because we could not check into our house until 3 pm due to our new landlord was not out of his house yet,, but again,, no one else did that either. I was above board and helped cook the weekend evening meals when her sister was sick.
I am sad,, it seems that there are so many people here just waiting for the opportunity to take your money, when we helped people it was with an open heart. My heart has taken a beating this year my trust in people has bottomed out. I have the person telling me that if I contact her again, she will call the police. I am disheartened in people and feel like everyone wants a piece of you when all we wanted was what we paid for.
