The current weather in Culebra

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Transportation

Author: Leira (---.dynamic.centennialpr.net) Date:   06-01-09 11:31 I WANT TO SHARE THE LATEST EXPERIENCE ON CULEBRA ISLAND. I WENT OVER THERE ON FRIDAY MAY 29, 2009 I USE THE BUS TRANSPORTATION FROM WILLIE TRANSPORTATION AND HE ALSO WAS THE DRIVER. THE FEE WAS $3 TO GO AND $3 TO PICK US UP. HE OFFER US TO CHARGE ONLY $5.00 AND HE WILL PICK US AT 4 PM AT FLAMENCO BEACH, WE WHERE THERE AT 4 AND HE ALREADY LEFT. WE PREPAY THE TRIP AND HE GAVE US A CARD WITH HIS INFORMATION AND A NUMBER. WE CALL LIKE 10 TIMES, HE NEVER PICK UP, WE WAIT 30 MINUTES AND HE NEVER SHOW UP. THANKS TO FONTANEZ TRANSPORTATION WE GOT TO THE FERRY, WILLIE FINALLY ANSWER THE PHONE AND HE TOLD US THAT HIS BUS WAS BROKEN THAT HE CANT DO ANYTHING FOR US (AND HE HAS ANOTHER BUSES) AND HE CANT GIVE US THE MONEY BACK... SO MY FRIENDS DON'T USE WILLIE TRANSPORTATION, HE IS A BURGLAR... A GUY THAT WORKS AT CULEBRA TOLD US THAT IT WASN'T THE FIRST TIME HE DO THIS... SO PEOPLE PLEASE USE FONTANEZ TRANSPORTATION OR ANY OTHER EXCEPT WILLIE TRANSPORTATION. ***********SPANISH**************** QUIERO COMPARTIR LA EXPERIENCIA QUE TUVE EL PASADO 29 DE MAYO EN CULEBRA. HE IDO MAS DE 10 AÑOS A ESTA ISLA Y ES LA PRIMERA VEZ QUE SUCEDE ALGO ASI... UTILIZAMOS LA TRANSPORTACION DE WILLIE TRANSPORTATION, Y EL MISMO DUEÑO ERA EL CHOFER DE LA GUAGUA. LA TARIFA ERA DE $3 IDA Y $3 VUELTA. AL LLEGAR A FLAMENCO NOS DIJO Q SI PAGABAMOS POR ADELANTADO NOS DESCONTABA $1 Y NOS COBRARIA $5 Y TENIAMOS QUE ESTAR EN EL ESTACIONAMIENTO A LAS 4, ALLI ESTUVIMOS A LAS 4 EN PUNTO Y EL YA SE HABIA IDO. EL NOS HABIA DEJADO UNA TARJETA CON SU INFORMACION Y UN NUMERO ME IMAGINO QUE DE PASAJERO. PUES AL PERCATARNOS QUE NO ESTABA LO LLAMAMOS PERO NUNCA CONTESTO. ESPERAMOS 30 MINUTOS Y EL NUNCA APARECIO. GRACIAS A FONTANEZ TRANSPORTATION PUDIMOS LLEGAR A TIEMPO AL FERRY. DE CAMINO POR FIN PUDIMOS CONTACTAR A WILLIE Y NOS INDICO QUE LA GUAGUA SE LE HABIA ROTO Y QUE NO PODIA HACER NADA Y QUE NOSOTROS NO PODIAMOS ESPERAR PQ NOS PODIA DEJAR EL FERRY. MI GENTE LOS EXHORTO A QUE NUNCA UTILIZEN EL SERVICIO DE WILLIE, ES UN PILLO Y NO ES LA PRIMERA VEZ QUE HACE ALGO ASI Y ESTO ES DICHO POR UNA PERSONA QUE TRABAJA ALLI EN CULEBRA. EL LO QUE HACE ES APROVECHARSE DE LOS VISITANTES DE LA ISLA. NOS ROBO EL DINERO Y NOS OFRECIO UN SERVICIO QUE NUNCA NOS DIO. EL TIENE MAS GUAGUAS Y NO ENVIO NINGUNA A BUSCARNOS. UTILIZEN CUALQUIER SERVICIO DE GUAGUAS EXEPTO LA DE WILLIE. THANKS!! GRACIAS!!

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Re: MOBIL TRANSPORTATION

Author: Mort (---.tampabay.res.rr.com) Date:   06-02-09 11:12 I think it's always a risk to pre-pay. Usually it works out, but it's a calculated gamble. Fortunately, you only lost $5. Probably not worth all the time you spent calling him and posting a complaint on this board. On Culebra, there are lots of things that don't work perfectly. That's part of its charm. Visitors just have to take things in stride. My recommendation is: Next time you go to Culebra, bring along more patience and a sense of humor. When something doesn't meet your expectations, just laugh it off. It's best to to leave your heavy emotions at home. In Culebra, you'll be happiest if you just go with the flow and expect that there will be inconveniences and service breakdowns.

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Re: MOBIL TRANSPORTATION

Author: Geronimo (---.customer.broadstripe.net) Date:   06-02-09 11:28 Exactly. In the scheme of life, a $2 dollar loss is nothing. A roadside IED is something to get upset about.

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Re: MOBIL TRANSPORTATION

Author: Leira (---.dynamic.centennialpr.net) Date:   06-02-09 11:38 its not about the money, and for the record, it wasn't only $5 cause i wasn't alone. Its about the bad service. This comment was for all the people that are going to culebra, I'm telling this people not use this bus service because its not the first time that Willy Transport steal the passengers. Believe me i know how to have a really good time, and that day i enjoy my trip.

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Re: MOBIL TRANSPORTATION

Author: Geronimo (---.customer.broadstripe.net) Date:   06-02-09 12:17 Cheers. Live large!

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Re: Transportation

Author: Mort (---.tampabay.res.rr.com) Date:   06-02-09 15:01 Okay, Leira. You got your revenge on Willy. But I still think you have the wrong expectations for Culebra. If everyone posted a scathing review every time a Culebra business did something strange or when service was frustrating, this board would be full of nothing but complaints. You are a brand new poster to this board, so you aren't yet familiar with it. And it sounds like you might be new to Culebra, too. Our advice is to relax and to expect bumps in the road. It's.............. Culebra! (For what it's worth, the exact same thing happened to me one year ago with Fontanez. And I mean exactly.) Glad you had a good time on the rest of your trip!

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Re: Transportation

Author: Leira (---.dynamic.centennialpr.net) Date:   06-02-09 15:11 IVE BEEN GOING OVER THERE SINCE A WAS A KID... DON'T COMMENT IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO CONTRIBUTE. THIS IS NOT AGAINST YOU.

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Re: Transportation

Author: Mort (---.tampabay.res.rr.com) Date:   06-02-09 15:47 I'm curious, Leira... Why do you feel like your comments are a contribution and mine aren't? Just because you disagree with me? I have posted almost 500 times on this forum and have contributed quite a lot. You, on the other hand, had never posted before this. You made your point, and you have attacked Willy's as you saw fit. If you feel that is a valuable contribution to the board, then so be it. And I have made my point, which is that Culebra requires patience and a sense of humor, and that any local business can (and does) suffer some mishaps. Lord knows they make little enough money as it is. (Michael, I'd like to retract what I wrote about Fontanez. Can you erase that line? Otherwise, I'm guilty of the doing the exact same thing that I'm objecting to. It wasn't a good way to make my point.)

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Re: Transportation

Author: Arroz (---.direcpc.com) Date:   06-04-09 18:57 I don't think it fair to consider that one should include getting ripped off as part of their expectations of Culebra which is what it seems to me some of the responders are suggesting. "Yes" to having patience, "yes" to haivng a sense of humour, but "no" to criticizing someone who has a legitimate complaint and is warning others to avoid the probem. How many times they have or have not posted has nothing to do with the veracity or legitimacy of their complaint.

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Re: Transportation

Author: Michael (---.netvisao.pt) Date:   06-05-09 04:36 Mort, I think your experience just shows, that it can and will happen - people do forget, cars do break down. I know both of them and have serious doubts that they would try to cheat anyone on purpose. It's a small island and nobody really can afford to operate like that! We only heard one side of the original poster. We do not know how she approached Willie. If one is already ticked off, she might have accused instead of just trying to get her money back, it escalated ... Willie is a personal friend and I know him to be anything but cheap or unreliable (and I too have waited, but that IS the culture)! Maybe we have learned to pay the $3 on the way to Flamenco and then say, if offered the $5 roundtrip - deal, 'cool I will pay you the $2 when you pick me up at XY' or 'here's $2 now and I will give you the $3 on the way back, at XY' Enjoy Culebra! Michael

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Re: Transportation

Author: Arroz (---.direcpc.com) Date:   06-05-09 15:02 I have always wished I had the nerve to tear a $5 bill in half and tell the driver that I would give him/her the other half when they return.

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Re: Transportation

Author: Arroz (---.direcpc.com) Date:   06-05-09 15:04 Sorry, that should have been when "he/she returns." Mixed up my singulars and plurals - can't have that on the forum.

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Re: Transportation

Author: Mort (---.tampabay.res.rr.com) Date:   06-05-09 15:09 Michael, well said. Arroz, of course people are within their rights to get upset when they receive bad service. Here's what I have a problem with: someone joining this board to post for the FIRST TIME EVER with the clear goal of harming or destroying a local business. I'm sorry, but that is not a contribution to the board --- it's merely using the board to get revenge on someone. It reminds me of a few months ago when a brand new poster wrote a scathing post about a local restaurant, accusing them of food poisoning. And that person posted the same identical thing on at least two boards (the other was TripAdvisor). That person had never posted prior to that, and has never posted since. So what is your opinion of these two posters, Arroz? You are a regular poster and everyone knows that you are a sincere contributor. Do you feel that these two posters were truly sincere contributors to the board? Or do you feel "used"? I fall into the latter category. There's a growing tactic in society of "using the Internet to anonymously get revenge" and it really bothers me. As wonderful as the Internet is in sharing and providing information, its anonymous nature has some very serious drawbacks.

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Re: Transportation

Author: Arroz (---.direcpc.com) Date:   06-05-09 17:09 Mort, I won’t talk about the rights or wrongs of the first posters complaint about the service (aside from the fact that he/she shouted which annoyed all of us). That being said, here’s my dos centavos, for what they’re worth. 1) I’m not sure why a person who had a problem would have to have posted previously for them to have the right to post about their problem. 2) When I lived in DC, many years ago, the restaurant critic for the Post only published reviews of bad restaurants. He left it up to the readers to find the good ones themselves. The reason given was that whenever the critic praised a restaurant it went downhill after hoards of people started eating there. Whether or not you agree with this approach, there is precedent for people posting negative reviews (and yes, I realize that the Post critic did already have credibility). 3) I agree with you about the misuse of the internet. However, I’m not sure why people are making the attribution that the sole reason for posting was “with the clear goal of harming or destroying a local business.” (Unless you know something which I don’t.)

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Re: Transportation

Author: Mort (---.tampabay.res.rr.com) Date:   06-05-09 17:34 Anyone who posts a scathingly negative review is doing harm to that business, whether it's intentional or not. But c'mon, it's almost always intentional. If you or MJ or Michael or Doug or Debbie or Jeannie, etc, were to post something extremely negative (which never happens... hmmm... maybe because they are good people?), then I would give them the benefit of the doubt. But when it's a "one-post wonder" who joins the board just to trash a local business, then there's a 99% chance that they did it simply to punish that business. It's ugly. I'm sorry, but that's the way I feel. The restaurant critic you described is, in my opinion, despicable.

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Re: Transportation

Author: Leira (24.171.227.---) Date:   06-06-09 10:35 OMG Mort do you have anything more to do or you just sit down on your computer to criticize all comments... I love Culebra, i go over there ALL YEARS, im not a bad person as you see it Im just warning people of what may happen if they accept this offer. Im just trying to help, I dont want this to happen again to any other person. Dont take this personal, its seems like you work for Willy or something like that. Im not harming anyone here, If you have the right to give your opinion I have the right to give mine. So please dont botther to answer again, cause I dont really care about your opinion. I know who I am, and I know what Im doing. So live your life as happy as I live mine... God bless you!! Arroz: Thanks for your support, I hope you understand that this is not to harm anyone its just to warn all tourist that read this and wants to have a good time on Culebra... Take care!!

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Re: Transportation

Author: Mort (---.tampabay.res.rr.com) Date:   06-06-09 15:02 Sorry, Leira, I still think you behaved badly in all this. If you would like to post on this board some other helpful information that is positive and isn't trashing someone, maybe I'll change my opinion of you. Yeah, yeah, I know... my opinion doesn't matter to you. But then again, if my opinion doesn't matter, why do you keep responding? Don't YOU have anything better to do? (smile) I'll quit posting in this particular thread if you do.

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Re: Transportation

Author: Arroz (---.direcpc.com) Date:   06-06-09 15:46 A question, for anyone to answer. If a person who has read this forum but never posted, encounters a problem in Culebra with a person or a location or a business, what should they do to tell and/or warn others about it?

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Re: Transportation

Author: Frank S. (---.nyc.res.rr.com) Date:   06-06-09 23:21 On Culebra, there are lots of things that don't work perfectly. That's part of its charm. Visitors just have to take things in stride. Im sorry Mort, but that's CRAP! its not charming to be robbed and disrespected like that. no matter where you are. when youre house gets broken into or your car gets robbed, is it charming? and to have that attitude only perpetuates to abuse. it may be ok for him to not show up because the van broke down, but its not ok or charming to say theres nothing he can do and wont give the $ back. fair is fair. and it is fair to warn others of the possibility of getting ripped off. that is ONE of the things that should be happening here. And wow, i cant believe how the ego get bruised here. and how easily the attacks and nasty tone starts. i guess its not all sunshine and lollipops on Culebra

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Re: Transportation

Author: charles h (---.cmdnnj.east.verizon.net) Date:   06-07-09 00:34 mort,are you a defense attorney?or maybe just a public(o) defender?in any case you really need to take your head out of your....er...the sand on this one.this woman and her friends were ripped off and they have every right to be angry. "part of it's charm"?"take things in stride" "more patience and a sense of humor"? "laugh it off" . mort,this is not a "service breakdown". he had the opportunity to refund their money and he refused.that makes him a thief.and if people don't stand up for what is right(you should try it sometime,it feels really good,even if you lose)they will continue to do this,which is wrong. "they make little as it is" comes off as somewhat smug and condecending.how do you know how much willy makes?by your logic anyone who is underpaid(by your standards) is justified to commit crime. laugh it off it's the "culebra way". i'm glad the REAL culebrense haven't taken that attitude(with regard to crime,overdevelopement,illegal building practices)or the place would look and feel like st. thomas. as for your "500 times posted",many(or most) of your responses are off topic and/or outdated.this forum seems to feed some kind of creepy fantasy you have about being an expert on a place you vacationed at a few times. this is ,after all, a "forum" (look up the definition) not a "positve comments only naive euniche love fest " peace to all (even you mort) yikes!!!

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Re: Transportation

Author: richard (---.hsd1.dc.comcast.net) Date:   06-07-09 01:26 reactions do escalate easily on the net (and much less here than on some forums I've seen), I think the lesson to be learned is Michael's advice of: "Maybe we have learned to pay the $3 on the way to Flamenco and then say, if offered the $5 roundtrip - deal, 'cool I will pay you the $2 when you pick me up at XY' or 'here's $2 now and I will give you the $3 on the way back, at XY'" sort of like college-age negotiations, half-up, rest on final delivery. (I can never hope to hold public office...)

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Re: Transportation

Author: Mort (---.tampabay.res.rr.com) Date:   06-07-09 09:47 I know I promised Leira that I wouldn't post again, but Willy is now being publicly named a "criminal", a "thief" and a "robber" by a variety of posters. Michael, you are friends with Willy. Would you be "willing" (no pun intended) to ask him his side of the story? Especially about refusing to refund the money ($2 per person)? I just find that too hard to believe, especially since Leira was on his/her way to the ferry during said incident, apparently leaving Willy a very small window to seek her out and return the $2 while struggling to handle a broken down van. I know that you're an exceedingly fair and honest man, Michael. If you find that Willy was indeed a criminal, you'll tell us, right? (This thread is a blast! I regret promising to Leira that I wouldn't post again. The debate is just too much fun, and the reactions are priceless. I guess I actually owe Leira some gratitude!)

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Re: Transportation

Author: charles h (---.cmdnnj.east.verizon.net) Date:   06-07-09 11:20 mort,you are a true gentleman and a damn good sport. for this i humbly salute you. yikes!!!

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