6 ms·
I feel like you were expected to pay a gratuity several times in that process and they were baffled you didn't.
by EdwardDiego 3y ago
I feel like you were expected to pay a gratuity several times in that process and they were baffled you didn't.
- samstave 3y agoWho's an expat who knows sliding some cheese? Not this guy.
- Roritharr 3y agoI learned recently that you want a fixer that knows and bribes people where it's customary and expected. Going through lengthy processes deaf to the trigger phrases will make your life, which could be incredibly easy, unbearably hard in many countries.
- nimos 3y agoHonestly I don't think most people need a "fixer" - just any local friend. Either they will know the expected bribe amount or they can figure it out. Also you might be able to get them to do stuff for you where all of the sudden the bribe is 1/10 the amount because they are local. Maybe if you are doing more serious stuff like business or real estate it makes sense.
- mlinhares 3y agoIn specific countries, like Brazil, “fixer” is a real job (it’s called “despachante” there) and it’s supposedly someone that knows the bureaucracy and how to navigate it. Most of the time when you need to deal with a government agency you’d go through one of them. They don’t advertise that they’ll bribe people to get it done but that’s how it works.
- matheusmoreira 3y agoTheir services are well worth it, bribes or not. The less you interact with brazilian bureaucracy, the happier you are.
- gwd 3y agoIt is worth pointing out that (at least according to the corporate training I have to take every year) this is considered illegal by the US government for a US citizen to do even not on US soil; if the Feds get wind of it and feel like making a point they could throw you in jail, even with an intermediary "fixer".
- Roritharr 3y agoThat's why these services are usually provided by "expat services agencies" that do these things intransparently to your knowledge.
- brnt 3y agoIt's amazing how based on the label, people are fooled. At least people in Vietnam don't kid themselves and call a bribe a bribe.
- mcculley 3y agoOther common terms are “broker” or “agent”. I pay the agent. He deals with the local bureaucracy. He knows what things should cost.
- samstave 3y agoAKA; ...'eeeeyyyyy, IgottaGuy..."
- jawngee 3y agoI tried but they wouldn't accept it.
- aniforprez 3y agoI've dealt with this many times as a South Asian person and it is very possible they still do actually want money. Most people will not ask in a straightforward manner for money and when you offer to pay them, they act all offended. This is a stupid game that I have no idea how it started where they will pretend to not want the money but will still very obviously want it. This has stumped me, being mildly autistic, for the decades of my existence and also stumps foreigners a lot. I cannot proffer a solution. Sometimes asking works, most of the time it doesn't and the other party feels unhappy about it and then when you decide enough is enough and want to pay, another guessing game begins where you need to gauge what amount satisfies them. It's incredibly goddamn annoying and I wish they just told you they want a bribe or money instead of engaging with these weird, obtuse, coy behaviours and then I have to obsess over whether I made a faux pas by paying/not paying them
- Solvency 3y agoIt's their culture of saving face. The solution is extremely simple. You tell the person "I was told I had to pay this <X fee> to release my package but I don't know who or where I pay" while waving the cash around cluelessly. The person will 100% then offer to take it and "handle it from there" under the stupid guise of plausibility.
- aniforprez 3y agoI will try this next time. Thanks for the tip
- bethekind 3y agoAsian culture never ceases to confuse me. Nothing is ever straightforward. I tried giving a gift to some, as thanks for letting me sleep on their couch. They told me no no no. I asked my friends about it, they told me it's about face. Omg, I get that honor is a big thing, but it makes normal interactions way more complicated.
- appplication 3y agoMy friend does export/import into SEA. You don’t just have to know who/when to bribe, you have to have an insider set up already. They used to have a guy in customs who would take a monthly payment to forward all her packages through without a second look. He disappeared and then trying to find the next one took months. Nothing was getting through customs, and showing up at the office they would deny any attempts to bribe. It is definitely a very coded art finding the right person, price, and parameters to get something set up like that.
- Solvency 3y agoIt's always a guy with a gun. Fact of life. Border crossings? Find the guy with the biggest gun and bribe him. South America, Eastern Europe, etc. Import/exports have armed security too.
- failingslowly 3y agoI love this tip, but I sincerely hope I never have to use it.
- BossingAround 3y ago"Gratuity" is an amazing euphemism for corruption in a system :))
- EdwardDiego 3y agoHaha, yeah, I was thinking air-quotes when I typed it.