Get ready for less imported products!

[Nicole_Ramirez]

I would rather pay more for the occasional electronics purchase than having to worry about hospital bill for thousands of $$$ (like in the US) if I one day have to go to the hospital. It's all about what's important to you.

Example, about 10 years ago, I had an allergy attack while living in New York, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't breathe. I called 911 and was taken by ambulance about 15 blocks to the emergency room at St. Lukes Roosevelt Hospital. I was there about 4 hours waiting, was given an oxygen mask and a shot of benadryl along with having my vital signs taken. I was then sent home. Total bill $3,500 U$D. The ambulance alone was $600 U$D. I tried to get my insurance to cover this but they wouldn't because they said I needed pre-approval to go to the emergency room and they only cover the cost of emergency room visits if I end up getting admitted to the hospital. I tried to fight this and even had my employer get involved, but had no luck. I went to the hospital billing department and what they were able to do for me is let me pay off the bill in 7 monthly payments. So while again it's not perfect here I would rather pay more for some luxuries but have peace of mind and $0 expense for what is a lot more important.

I 100% percent agree with you on this. The insurance problem was one of the main factors in us deciding to move.

 

[French jurist]

There are 25 kids in my child's class, and almost all of those parents travel to the US or Europe once a year to do their clothing shopping for themselves and their children. I was so surprised when people told me that they do that instead of buying stuff here, but apparently many of our neighbors and friends do this too. In fact, when I first arrived, they were the ones telling me not to buy clothes and shoes for my son here and to stock up when we visited home.

I agree 100%.
In France, in a city called Troyes (150 km SE of Paris), there are hundreds of outlets (many clothing manufacturers there) with amazing prices.
All the best brands are there (Kenzo, Givenchy, and many many others) and you can buy a Kenzo suit unsold from the year before for like 150/170 $ (same price as a cheap suit here... Quality & design being indeed a bit different ).
For those who will visit France, it's definitely a place to go to spend a whole day (plus there's an excellent restaurant there, with an outstanding wine cellar & reasonable prices).


As for imports : there's something really weird = At Jumbo, the spinach or broccolis produced in Argentina cost the same as the "Bonduelle" brand which is made of vegetables produced in France (10 times better, also a better quality control I guess, etc.). Some people are making fortunes out of this.

 

[Johnny]

I would rather pay more for the occasional electronics purchase than having to worry about hospital bill for thousands of $$$ (like in the US) if I one day have to go to the hospital. It's all about what's important to you.

Example, about 10 years ago, I had an allergy attack while living in New York, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't breathe. I called 911 and was taken by ambulance about 15 blocks to the emergency room at St. Lukes Roosevelt Hospital. I was there about 4 hours waiting, was given an oxygen mask and a shot of benadryl along with having my vital signs taken. I was then sent home. Total bill $3,500 U$D. The ambulance alone was $600 U$D. I tried to get my insurance to cover this but they wouldn't because they said I needed pre-approval to go to the emergency room and they only cover the cost of emergency room visits if I end up getting admitted to the hospital. I tried to fight this and even had my employer get involved, but had no luck. I went to the hospital billing department and what they were able to do for me is let me pay off the bill in 7 monthly payments. So while again it's not perfect here I would rather pay more for some luxuries but have peace of mind and $0 expense for what is a lot more important.

Amen. It helps to take a step back and look at the big picture, not necessarily on a big "screen". I'd like to see cheaper appliances and I like big ass television screens as well, but it all more than evens out. The health care cost hazards in the states alone just about make up for all the inconveniences one faces in Argentina.

 

[John.St]

I would imagine Argentina could easily be a 1rst world country if they got their act together.

Absolutely.

I really like las argentinas (the men too ) and Argentina, but I could (almost) cry, when I think of what could have been without all the mismanagement I observe.

 

[steveinbsas]

If it's true, the scary part of this is that it took a while to be implemented. (There were threads about it about a year ago).

Let's hope the same thing doesn't apply to enforcing last year's decreto regarding tourist visas.

The two have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

I was only referring to the time it takes to start enforcing a new decreto.

Perhaps the permatourists have been lulled into a false sense of security because migraciones has been slow to enforce the new decreto...


What I wonder about is why vendors would order the goods that are now being held up at customs if there was a change in the law or have they been blind-sided?. Did they simply ignore the "ban on imports" that we heard about last year. Did they think it would not be enforced or is this something else entirely? I read here that the "ban on imports" applied to "food" (and perhaps other agricultural products), but never read or heard anything about new restrictions on electronics. In the past year the selection of imported foods has decreased, but they are certainly still available.

Perhaps its simply a backlog at customs because vendors are importing and selling more foreign made appliances than ever.

 

[El Duderino]

Sorry to be off-topic, but what would change with the new decreto?

 

[steveinbsas]

Sorry to be off-topic, but what would change with the new decreto?

Basically, that foreign tourists would only be allowed to be in Argentina a maximum of 180 days per year and going to Uruguay would not result in getting another visa once the 180 day limit is reached.

If you enter the words "perma tourist" in the search box you will find threads like this: Just a reassurance for Visa Runners to Colonia

 

[jayjane]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2p5svFJ9cQ

I feel sorry for the poor rich people

Funny video but it hardly applies to us. We are young, just starting out and far from rich but, also not poor. Been living in a place without much furniture and mostly borrowed everything including cooking supplies here for a while. We are rich in friends though and had a lot of amazing people gift us nice things which are no longer in stock so we can´t actually get them.

 

[jayjane]

I would rather pay more for the occasional electronics purchase than having to worry about hospital bill for thousands of $$$ (like in the US) if I one day have to go to the hospital. It's all about what's important to you.

I do agree that health care in the U.S. is deplorable and that the hospital bills here are much less. I was recently in the hospital here for pneumonia. The doctors were very knowledgeable but the were some things lacking and the process was incredibly slow. I had some allergies to the medicine and 3 doctors had to sign off on changes in the treatment before anything could be done. They also weren´t always on top of what was going on. Luckily, I had someone with me checking on things. At least the bill is nothing compared to the prices in the U.S.

But, I don´t follow your last sentence in the quote above. Just because I am upset about this situation doesn´t mean that I find stuff to be more important than health. It obviously isn´t. I find Argentina to be a place of great potential but one of the things holding the country back is a kind of complacency or, comparison of completely unrelated things whenever problems arise. After being here for a little while I am guilty of doing this myself at times. In fact I think I did at the store the other day when my husband was starting to get really frustrated. ¨Hey, they don´t have the stuff our friends so generously parted with their hard-earned pesos to buy us but, at least the ice cream is fantastic and way better than back home. Let´s take a break and go get some.¨

 

[PhilipDT]

But hey! $10 steak!

I'm back in the states and I just swung by costco to buy some razor blades and I noticed that the NY strip is about 8 pesos / kg cheaper than bife de chorizo in buenos aires.

So, cheap steak is a no....