Buying a motorbike in Peru

Before I returned to Peru at the beginning of 2014 I decided to research motorbikes. I had decided that I needed something a bit bigger than the 150cc I had borrowed the previous year, so started looking on the internet for ideas - and soon realised that Peru has not really taken to internet commerce!
I started in classified ads, and soon found a vendor in Trujillo who appeared to be selling a few large bikes, some suitable for touring, at what appeared to be low prices (first warning, I guess!). Often vehicle adverts in Peru have the prices in US dollars (which is legal tender, and even cash machines will dispense them), and occasionally a price will show Peruvian Soles, but is in fact dollars (2.5x  greater!) so can catch out the unwary. However these adverts were showing dollars already and I decided to try and make contact. There was a "reply to advertiser" button, as well as an email address and a telephone number, so I tried that first - as expected no response! So I emailed (2 different adverts) and again, no response. As a last resort (as I was in Brazil) I tried phoning and my cell provider did not recognise the number!! So I made a mental note to try again once I arrived in February.
I had, in fact, experienced this lack of response to internet ads before, when apartment hunting - I must have contacted a dozen advertisers online and only one ever responded to me. It made me wonder why they went to the bother, and sometimes expense, of placing an online advert in the first place!
In my research I had spotted a rather nice looking 350cc bike - the Regal Raptor SPT350 - manufactured in Singapore, but the only dealership was in Lima, a long way from where I was in the North, and there were no agencies anywhere near. Despite the fact that they assured me I could get servicing done "anywhere" I was a little concerned that any warranty might be invalidated, and that I would be unable to find anyone suitable skilled while touring.
All imported bikes are very expensive in Peru, and they hold their secondhand values too, so I was finding myself priced out of the dedicated touring bike market, and also the "larger engined" market! There is a huge motorbike market in Peru, heavily skewed towards imported Chinese machines, and none bigger than 250cc, so I started researching this market, and decided I needed a trail bike, for my fishing trips, but that might be suitable for long distance cruising.
A problem I soon encountered was that fuel tank sizes were very small (at that stage I wasn't sure how easy it would be to find petrol stations while travelling in rural areas) - usually no bigger than 3 gallons, and these are US gallons, so 3.7 litres rather than the Imperial 4.5. The second problem was that most of these "trail" bikes had a maximum top speed no greater than 55 mph (88 kph), so touring was going to be very slow and tedious, and potentially dangerous on highways where you would be among the slowest moving traffic.
Armed with rudimentary knowledge I went to Avenida Peru in Trujillo, where all the bike shops are, and started asking questions. I started with Ronco (the same make as the 150cc I had used before), as I had seen one there the previous year, and it looked the part, but they had no technical data for it other than tank size (12 litres - 3.25 US gallons, or 2.7 Imp gallons), but "thought" it would do 120kph (75mph)! I visited various other companies, and they all had visually similar models (in fact at least one appeared identical other than brand name and stickers), and was even showed one that had a built-in MP3 player and speakers on the mirror stems! Technical data was again in short supply, with wild claims being made by the salesmen - most of which were seriously at odds with the data I had found from the manufacturers' websites!

Ronco Demolition 250

Eventually I decided on the Ronco Demolition 250, mainly because it was the best looking of the bunch, and I knew the shop and the mechanics from the previous year! At the prevailing exchange rate the bike was just under £1000 - on the road! This also included plates, registration and a crash helmet - oh, plus a small t-shirt, and a litre of oil for the first change!

I was expecting a long drawn out process to get the registration and paperwork done, especially since a foreigner is supposed to go to Immigration and get a document allowing him/her to sign contracts. But the shop simply gave me the receipt, and the (unsigned) sales contract and told me I had to go to a Notary and get it authenticated. I had no idea what the process was at the Notary, but went to reception and explained I was there about a bike purchase and they pointed me in the direction of an office at the back, where there was quite a queue. One of the two employees attending then went for lunch, and this delayed things further, but eventually after over 2 hours it was my turn - and I was in the wrong place!! This was for transfer of ownership from private sales, and all I needed was to go to the front desk and get my identity authenticated!!! They looked at my passport, checked it was me, signed the sales contract and then I had to pay a 15 soles fee, and was done!!

I went back to the bike shop and handed the papers back in - and they gave me the keys!! I asked about registration and plates, and they simply said I just need to show the bill of sale to prove ownership and tell them that the rest was on the way - but I did need to go and get SOAT, the compulsory third party insurance. So it was on my birthday, February 14, 2014, I walked into a bike shop at 10.00 am, and then rode away on a new bike at 4.00 pm (would have been quicker if I had known what I was doing at the Notary!!). Two weeks later they called to say the plates had arrived, and 5 days later the bike registration (like a credit card) was ready. Compared to Brazil it was a piece of cake!

Dealing with SKY

At the end of 2012 I decided, after living without TV for over 2 years, that I would take out a subscription to SKY. The website detailed all the available packages, and I decided upon one and the price shown included a 10% discount for paying by direct debit. I signed up online, and the first thing I discovered was that you could not pay from a bank account outside Brazil, so no discount, and monthly paper bills! They emailed me my initial bill (you only pay one month in advance) and I had to print it off and pay in any bank, or at the lottery office.

The men turned up to install my system late on 23rd December, the day after I paid, which both surprised me and pleased me, as I didn't expect to get it that fast! One man started drilling holes outside to erect the dish, while the other came inside and drilled a hole in my ceiling for the cable (from the dish) – or rather he asked me for a knife to make the hole, so I gave him a drill instead! The whole process was very quick, and after about 30 minutes they were trying to set up my TV. They had a box of tricks that told them the dish was pointed in the right direction and receiving a signal, but told me it would take around half an hour for the system to validate itself, so left but gave me a number to call if I still had problems an hour later. I left it 2 hours and still no picture so made the call – the office told me the men were on their way back there (some 90 miles away), but that they would come out the next day. I tried turning the TV on several times that night, and again the next morning, and finally, some 15 hours (a little more than 30 minutes!) after installation, the picture finally appeared, so I called and cancelled their visit.

My billing date was the 24th of the month, so I waited for the first bill to arrive – but as it hadn't arrived by the 23rd I called them to see what was happening. Of course, they blamed the postal service, but told me I could download a copy of the bill online, which I did, and duly paid by the 24th. The interesting thing is that before the due date you can pay the bill in any bank, or the lottery offices, but after that date the bill can only be paid in a branch of their bank – and my nearest one is 45 miles away!  In the following year only one bill actually arrived at my house before the 24th, so I had to print off a bill myself every month – it is available from the 12th so quite how it takes 12 days for the post to deliver it is a mystery!

In July I was going outside Brazil on holiday, and knew that I would not be at home on the 24th of the month, and as I was leaving on the 11th, the day before the bill appeared online, I would be unable to pay the bill in time. I hate being in arrears, but here you also get a fine and interest charged, even if just a day late, but the worst was having to travel 45 miles just to pay the bill.  So I contacted customer service by email and explained my predicament – No problem, they said, simply go into a lottery office and tell them you are paying in advance and they can accept the payment! So, I did, and they entered my account number in their system, and then told me that my account was up to date and nothing was owing! I explained the situation and they informed me that I could not pay in advance as their system would not allow it, since my account was not in arrears!

Back home I gain contacted customer service, this time via their online chat facility, and they told me it was not possible to pay in advance!  I pasted and copied the complete email I had received from them and asked what this meant then. There were a few minutes of inactivity, and then they asked why I had contacted customer service by email! I told them that their website gave three options – phone, email or online chat, so I had tried email first. They told me that I could pay the account after the 12th, when the bill became available online, but there was no way I could pay in advance! Though they did say that the bill would actually be available to pay at a lottery office on the 11th! I then emailed customer service again, and explained what I had experienced, and they again told me that the lottery office should accept a payment in advance, and that online chat had told me a load of rubbish!

So I resigned myself to having my account in arrears and having to make the 90 mile round trip to pay the bill upon my return. However I was in Salvador (Brazil’s third city) on the morning of the 11th, so thought I would see if things were any better there. I found a lottery office and explained what I wanted to do, but again my number came up saying nothing was owing so the payment could not be made! The teller was very helpful though, and told me that I could leave it till I got back and pay then. I explained that, apart from a fine and interest (though both are very small), I did not wish to have to travel the 45 miles to the bank to pay. Why would I do that, she asked, as I could still pay at the lottery? Yet the bill state, in large letters, that after the due date the payment will only be accepted at the bank! Despite her assurances that this was not the case I decided not to test it out – I had previously seen others having to queue in banks to pay overdue bills rather than being able to pay them at other payment points. In the end I asked a friend if they minded paying the bill for me while I was away – they just needed to go in after the 12th (and before the 24th!) and give the account number, which they duly did.

So, fast forward 12 months after installation and I want to cancel my subscription at the end of January 2013 – I will have had the system over 12 months so have completed my obligation to them, and should be able to cancel without any problems. I want to keep viewing till 23rd January, which means that I have to pay the January bill, due on 24th December, but am not sure what else they need so resort to email again. It is mid-November, so I have not yet paid for December (which is not yet due), but I explain that intend to pay the one for January as well, and ask them how I go about cancelling. By return they tell me that I have succeeded in cancelling my subscription, but that as I have not yet paid 12 instalments there will be an early release fee! I immediately replied, and asked if they actually read my email, as I specifically said I wanted to keep the contract till the end of January, but was simply asking HOW to cancel. Their response to this was that I had to wait till after I had paid the January bill before I could cancel.

December 24th I go online, and on their website is the facility to cancel a contract, so I start following the instructions (“Can we offer you a different package?” What?), till I come to the “verify your address details” page – “click here if they are correct”, click … “please enter a fixed line telephone number to proceed”. I don’t have one (and since they have my details already without a landline number they obviously know this!), so enter my mobile phone number … “that is a mobile number, we need a fixed line number”. OK, so here I get devious – I know the four number prefix all local numbers have so enter that followed by 9999, click. Yes, I am on the next page – “You have successfully cancelled your contract – your viewing will end on December 31st”!! What? Noooooo! Then I see that this page has 2 buttons – “click here to confirm cancellation”, and “click here to stop cancellation”, so I chose the second one. I have paid up till 23rd January so what are they playing about at with December 31st?

Back to the email … I send them an email saying that as I have paid till the 23rd January I wish to cancel from that date. I get a response by return, which is amazing for Brazil, saying that my online cancellation has already gone through and someone will be in contact by phone to arrange collection of the dish and the receiver! But I clicked to stop cancellation … ? So I go back online to check my details, and guess what the contact phone number is they will be calling to arrange collection? Yes, the made up one! Next week I will try contacting them again and ask why they haven’t arranged collection and see what happens. I do love the simple life here in Brazil!

As I will be leaving for Peru the day after cancellation I am concerned as to how they will collect the equipment - the decoder and the satellite dish - so I contact them again and explain everything. Don't worry, they tell me, as you will be coming back in 6 months we can leave it and collect it then - if you don't wish to renew your contract. So off I go happy that I have sorted it all out.

A month later the friend who is house-sitting for me informs me a bill has arrived for SKY for February! I email then and explain the account has been cancelled from the end of January, and receive a reply that it was an error and to ignore it. Three months later I get another message from my friend - a final demand bill has arrived from SKY! Again I email them (from Peru) and they say it is because the equipment was not returned. I copy them the correspondence I had about that, and explain I will be back in 2 months and will return the equipment then, and all seems well.

When I get home I find another bill has come from SKY in the meanwhile, but not a full month, so that simply goes in the bin! I contact them to tell them I am back and they are welcome to collect the equipment at their convenience as I will not be renewing (you can only renew for 12 months in any case I and I am only in Brazil 6 months at a time), and a few days later a man arrives to collect.

Bureaucracy 2

When I first visited Brazil I came as a tourist, and from the UK that meant that I didn’t require a physical visa, but could visit for 90 days (renewable for a further 90 days) without any problems. After I decided that I wanted to live over here I soon realised getting permanent residence would be difficult, so started by volunteering at a local NGO (charity) and applied for a 2 year volunteer visa in England. The process was not that difficult, but has to be done in person at the Brazilian consulate in London, and entailed a few visits (mainly because the charity didn’t supply me with everything I needed at first), and before I got the visa I had already returned to Brazil as a tourist, and started settling down – bought a house and a car – though I returned to England, twice, to try and expedite the visa. In the end once all the correct paperwork was submitted, it was quite a fast and straightforward process, and eventually I returned to Brazil, entering on a 12 month (they would not issue the 2 year, but rather a one year renewable to two!) volunteer visa, with the warning that I had to register with the Federal Police here within 30 days.

It is virtually impossible to find out in advance what the requirements are for any application process here so I went to the Federal Police with an open mind. They gave me an application form with a list of documents I needed, some of which had to be “authorised” by a notary. The FP offices for foreigners is at the airport in Salvador, but there are no notaries anywhere nearby so I had to head into Salvador to get this done. Finding a notary is not difficult, but I had to take a ticket and queue, which took 3 hours! I also needed some photos taken so got these done too on my way back. The PF checked all the documents and then told me to come back in 120 days to collect my ID card! They also gave me an application form to renew my volunteer visa the following year, with a list of required documentation.

The following June I got together all the documents listed on their form, however I was unable to make the required payment for the renewal. To make “official” payments you have to generate an invoice and then take this to a bank, however the number given on the form was not recognised by the invoice generator, and an internet search gave no clue as to what to do. So I went in anyway and explained that I was unable to make the payment, to be told that it had changed and they gave me a new number – fortunately they also printed off the invoice so I went and paid at the bank in the airport, and was soon back at their desk, with my form and all the documents … and disaster! The requirements had changed! There was a new form with an even bigger list of required documents!

I must admit that I flipped! Probably not a good idea when you are in the offices of the people who can deport you, but I was so angry! Their website (I had checked) gave no indication that the rules had changed, and so I was standing there missing a load of necessary paperwork (mainly from the charity!), and the principal of the charity was at the time in England for an unspecified amount of time! This meant that getting her signature on any documents (like a new offer of posting) was going to be very hard. On top of this I was close to the application deadline so was pretty sure there was no way I could re-apply in time. I must admit they were very helpful, despite my outburst against them (or maybe because of it!), and told me not to worry about the deadline – as long as I got the paperwork in before my visa expired (usual application deadline is 30 days before) it would be OK, and if it looked unlikely that I could then I should call them and they would see what they could do.

I did manage to get everything back in time – just – but that was not without some problems too (an officer of the charity signed the documents, but their signatures had to be notarised as well), and managed to get my visa extension. But when I went back to the PF they gave me another application form – to renew my ID card. I was not expecting this, but fortunately I had extra copies of some of the documents, plus additional photos with me, so there were no real dramas in the end – though I again had to return in another 120 days to collect the ID card! Why they could not have given me all the forms at once, or even have a foreigner’s package with everything in one place (or even have the information readily available on their website), is beyond me.

Many tourists who go to Brazil every year overstay their tourist visas, and to some extent I cannot say I blame them as renewal is such a complicated process, though it is not something I would do or condone. They just drop off the radar, work (which is not permitted as a tourist, so therefore they also do not pay any taxes!), and stay illegally in Brazil. If they get caught, which is highly unlikely as the PF have better things to do than look for tourists overstaying, or it is noticed when you try and leave the country, you have to pay a small fine, and that is it – you can return again at any time with no sanction. Every three or four years Brazil has an amnesty, and illegals can turn themselves in and, as long as there is no criminal record, they are “rewarded” with permanent residence – so if you do everything by the book you can get at best a 2 year volunteer visa, during which you give 2 years of your time (unpaid) to a Brazilian charity, and then have to leave returning for 6 months a year as a tourist, or you do it all illegally and get the right to permanent residence! Bureaucracy has gone mad!

Dealing with bureaucracy 1

I chose to move to Brazil, and I have no regrets about it – I have a much better standard of living now that I would have back in England, but Brazilian bureaucracy at times drives me nuts!

When I arrived here I decided I would need a car – I had owned a car since I was 21 so it seemed logical to get one, plus I live 250 miles from a large city and bus travel is the only other way to get there (OK, there are flights, but only twice a week). I looked online at classified ads to get a feel for price and availability, and decided that my best bet would be to go to a proper car dealer rather than buy privately – mainly as I did not know the procedures for registration, etc. I eventually bought one and the dealer registered it for me, but at that stage I did not have a proper address where I lived (I was staying in temporary rented accommodation) so, although it was in my name, the address was the dealership – apparently not as unusual as it may sound! The dealer told me that this would not be a problem and I could change it either once I had a permanent address, or when it came up for renewal – every year motorists have to pay a “licence” fee, which included third party insurance, the month of renewal is dictated by the last digit of your number plate! The renewal fee can be paid in one lump sum, up to a couple of months after the due date as far as I can tell, which entitles you to a discount, or in instalments.

Anyway my renewal was due when I was out of the country trying to arrange my volunteer visa, so I went to the dealer and asked if he could hold on to the renewal papers when they arrived and I would sort it out upon my return. Simple? Not so! When I got back I went to see him and, of course, nothing had arrived. No problem, he tells me, you just have to go to any bank and they have ATM machines that will print out a copy of the renewal document, you then pay at the bank and all is well. I asked about changing my address details and was told I had to go to DETRAN (department of transport headquarters) and it was easy to do there. So I found a bank, printed off and paid the renewal, and then headed to DETRAN. And there the fun started!

I had already checked what documentation I needed to take with me – proof of residency, ID, and car papers – so I went in the main entrance, took a ticket and waited for my number to be called. The wait there was not too long and I explained my situation, and was sent outside round to another window, where I presented all the papers and explained the situation (I must add here that I am fluent on Portuguese, which helps enormously!). I was given an application form, and told I had to go back upstairs to find the Xerox (copying department!) office as they needed copies of everything. So, off I go, get everything copied, fill in the form and go back to the window. A different man was there and he took one look at the paperwork, and literally threw it all back at me – telling me it was useless! Apparently an address change can only be done in your home district (250 miles away!), and, surprisingly, not at the regional headquarters! I explained that it was his colleague, who had looked at all my papers, including my address details, who had told me to come back, but he was equally abusive the second time around.

So after my return home I went looking for the local DETRAN office – very few buildings have signs so not an easy task, but I found out where it was, though every time I passed it was closed. Eventually I asked the shop next door (no idea what they do as no name or sign on their door either!) to be told the DETRAN employee was away in Salvador for training, so Seabra (a town some 40 miles away) was dealing with all enquiries. At the time I was volunteering Monday-Friday so asked if it was OK to take a day off to resolve this, and headed to Seabra. On arrival at the offices there I was directed upstairs to see one man, then he sent me downstairs again to see someone else, who told me I needed various documents. I showed him that I already had everything, duly copied, and then he informed me that the computer system (Brazil-wide) was down, and he had no idea when it would be up and running again!!

A week later I was back again – having taken another day off from the charity – and the system was back online, and here the bureaucracy really gets crazy!  After filling the form in I had to go and make a payment at a bank (to try and stomp out corruption and bribery almost all payments are made electronically in banks and the receipt then taken back to the relevant department), and their system was down so payments could not be made! However this was very temporary and 20 minutes later I was back at DETRAN. Now I had to go across the road to a number plate manufacturer and order a new plate (for my town – the plates here all have state and town details), pay for it, and bring back proof I had paid. I duly did that, and came back again – next the car had to be examined to see that the chassis and engine numbers tallied with the documentation. I kid you not, but this involves rubbing the numbers (much as you would do a brass rubbing) on to a piece of paper with a pencil. That done I had to take the car to the number plate shop to get the new plate fitted, then come back again – this time for them to fit a security tag to the plate so it could not be tampered with. This was the last stage so now my car was legally registered to my home address, and I went back inside to be told I had to come back 4 days later to pick the new paperwork up!! No, they would not post it to me, but I had to come in person, which meant another day away from the charity! So something that could be done online in the UK (and probably in most Western countries), had almost driven me to distraction!