Ever been scammed in miami??? (rental, high school, salary)

[SARAHSELLAR]

we have, tell your tale....

[doggiebus]

What happened? A guy putting in our fence tried to scam us by putting the wrong posts in, luckily the guy helping my husband spotted it and they fixed it. You have to be careful sadly and watch/check/get second and third opinions on things here if you don't know the person doing the work.

[Caleb Longstreet]

I have written numerous posts on south florida. Scamming is a ecomic pillar in south florida. Similar to vegas and other tell em your marketing cities....contraxtors will pull every shortcut known to man to compete on price....like I have said before, you have to fight the pool guy, the lawn guy, the paint guy, the fence guy, the car repair guy, etc...etc...

It never ends down there.

[Thomas Jefferson]

Originally Posted by SARAHSELLAR

we have, tell your tale....

Sarah, just the fact of living in Miami is a beautiful SCAM. Just look at the statistics, the average salary in Miami is one of the lowest in the country but rent is one of the highest. But everybody is driving beamers and looking good. One of the reasons working and dating in Miami is so difficult. Nobody is what they look on the outside. You have McDonalds's workers; nothing against them, driving Hummers and Beamers, living in 700-dollars studios waiting for the next guy to pay her rent or phone bill. That’s a psychological scam! But, either way, I love Miami and the good for me outweigh the bad. In my experience, the average person will be always exposed to these scams in Miami:

1. Rent scams and the always troublesome deposit.
2. Car related issues. You better know something about cars because then you are going to get financially raped by mechanics, body shops, towing companies, and other professional scammers.
3. Relationships. It is a constantly changing and challenging game. I remember once I was in Blue Martini talking with a beautiful 26-years-old Venezuelan woman and thinking, wow, this is it, this girl is totally perfect, good general education, average look, but definitely a good person to be around with. But after two hours in wonderful land, she turned around and told me, hey, I like you, for two hundred dollars you can do to me whatever you want to me. There I was, in shock, a solid 9 in my book, and offering prostitution services; again nothing against it. What a f!@# SCAM. That’s when I realized that the rules of the game in Miami are totally different. Nothing is what it seems, a surprise will always be at the end of the road. Even for the most common and mundane tasks.

These are the problems, the solutions:
1. Trust no one. Sorry, of course you have to trust, no person should be an island. But do it in small steps and always knowing that the other side/s, a person or your company, is doing the same too. You do not want to be the only hanging the bad news.
2. Trust no one when it comes to time. Time in Miami really follows Einstein’s time definition, “Time is relative.”
3. When it comes to business relationships or transaction, you should have everything in writing even if the person you are dealing with is a friend or relative.
4. Don’t get depressed if you were scammed, learn the lesson, take a cruise to the Caribbean and you will get back as a new person.

Happy New Year!

[WINTERFRONT]

That's why I'm never falling in love here in da 305...

I was scammed many times when I was in High School; nothing that made loose thousands of dollars, though, if that's what you mean.

Oh, my first computer in Miami came out to be a piece of s#it. That was back in 2000 though.

[doggiebus]

Sadly what TJ said is the best advice to living/surviving in South Florida. Living in South Florida and vacationing are two different things. To live in South Florida you have to have a tough shell, and you have to watch everything... If not you will not survive here. People will take advantage of you fast. I am suspicious of everyone till I get to know them, that is just how it is in Miami. Which is sad.

[SARAHSELLAR]

finding out the hard way!

[xS☺B☺s]

I've had people from Miami send me scam mail and try phone scams on me when I lived in New England. One has to be wary of anything that comes from 305 or 33xxx unless it has "Have it Your Way" printed on the wrapper.

[boxus]

Never because I have not done anything that would expose me to it. But I here it around the office at work, mostly in the form of housing repairs/improvements. There is a guy at work now in the middle of recovering from a rental scam.

[Loops778]

What type of rental scams?