Cable costs? Water?

Anastacio

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Feb 22, 2010
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New landlord wants 975pesos per month for the cable already installed, this seems expensive to me for only 20 english speaking channels.
Anyone know anything?

Also, I am used to water rates but not sure of costs here, anyone tell me what the water rates are, the landlord is not making this clear to me.
 

Lambada

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Mar 4, 2004
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Just for comparison, in Puerto Plata for Telecable (Musa's outfit) we pay RD$600 per month for 2 televisions with 2 separate boxes. Approx 100 channels including German, French, Italian, Korean and some English but mostly Spanish.
 

Anastacio

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Feb 22, 2010
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That sounds more realistic, I wonder if it is possible to change over. I am useless at this kind of thing, I presume it is the same as satelite?
 

Bryanell

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Aug 9, 2005
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Also, I am used to water rates but not sure of costs here, anyone tell me what the water rates are, the landlord is not making this clear to me.

The cost of piped water depends on whether you have a meter or not and how much you use. I have a meter but rarely exceed the basic minimum consumption of 32 cubic meters, so I pay CAASD RDS232 a month with slight fluctuations for "meter maintenance" of RDS40 every few months, for a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, single storey house with a mature garden, maid's quarters and an extra room with its own entrance.
According to the monthly bill the basic cost per cubic meter is RD$6.

Like the electricity provider EDESUR, CAASD will cut you off pretty rapidly if you default on payment. They send the bill about 3 weeks before the final payment date and will charge you about RDS700 for reconnecting.
 

Lambada

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That sounds more realistic, I wonder if it is possible to change over. I am useless at this kind of thing, I presume it is the same as satelite?

No, for satellite you need a dish to receive signals. For cable it is wired via a receptor box etc - no dish becessary. As you can tell, I'm an amateur at this as well :cheeky:.
 

BushBaby

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Jan 1, 2002
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At RD $975 it seems the landlord is asking you to pay ALL the charges for the cable delivered to the house/apartments. If there are THREE TV's in the house/block then you should be paying a max of 1/3rd RD $975. If there are 5 ....... 1/5th!

Water for the whole household/apartments shouldn't be much more than RD $500 per month, Givide that by the number of rooms let/number of people in the house & you should end up with a max of RD $150/200 per month!

Are you actually living here already? What do the neighbours tell you local prices for these services are?

In reference to other questions you have posed in separate threads, are you employed by a foreign company or by a local Dominican one? How long have you been here & how long have you worked for your present employer? The answer to these will allow us to be more constructive in our responses. ~ Grahame.
 

Anastacio

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Feb 22, 2010
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I am not working at the moment, not officially anyway. I am planning a move from the centre of the city to somewhere a little more peaceful/comfortable. All my concerns come down to the experience that has made me decide to move in the first place, an incompetant, overpriced, cheating and absolutely useless at repairing problems kind of landlord.
I have taken in all the nightmares and including my own I would like to prepare myself for my next meeting tomorrow, just to be sure I get everything covered on the contract as far as costs and where I stand as far as repairs go. I did all my own on the existing property and this ended in disaster and absolutely no appreciation what so ever, so I now want to be assured if I have an issue then they will get someone else to fix it within a certain time. Also has to stick to a certain charge on electricity. The maintenence of the grounds and garbage seems expensive also at 1600pesos p/m, with around 6 separate hoes on the property seems alot.
And I want to combat this Cable issue as I am unhappy paying for others to use what I am paying for.
How to apply these issues to a Dominican landlord is something that I have problems with as I have been very unsuccessful in the past. I have rented from Americans and Canadians in the past and so an understanding has always been a breeze and comfortable experience. Dealing with Dominicans here in the Capital has been nothing less than a daily headache.
 

Lambada

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Anastacio, you need to do what BushBaby suggested & talk to your potential neighbours. If there are other apartments where you plan moving to, go and make friends first and then (after a decent interval) ask what they are paying. Don't start off with that question. When you do get round to asking, find out what they are paying for maintenance etc.

We can only give you ballpark figures, as has been done. You have the right to know what you will be charged for which utility etc but the way of going about it is to do the local homework first, then armed with that knowledge have your meeting with the landlord in a pleasant, firm but non-combative manner. Try to put past history with other landlords on one side.

The maintenence of the grounds and garbage seems expensive also at 1600pesos p/m, with around 6 separate hoes on the property seems alot.

There's some would say maintenance of 6 hoes for RD$1600 a month is a bargain..............:laugh: Not trying to pick up on a typo, just trying to get you in a more light-hearted mood...............
 

Anastacio

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Feb 22, 2010
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Ha Ha Ha, I had to read that 3 times before the penny dropped.

Yeh, I?ll take a walk by this afternoon, try to bump into the others staying there.
 

riravaga

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Feb 24, 2005
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Codetel in the places where they dont have fiber optic, or the person dont have landlines with them they put a Dish.