The worst thing they sell in the DR are medicines. I have used antibiotics produced ,according to the label in central america with no effect, but as soon as I transfer to some antibiotics I have bought in Europe or in USA, my infection goes away at once. The same thing with anti histamins and with simple products like anti inflamatories and panadol . I know all this problem was highlighted in John Le Carre s book .The Constant Gardener .. and he said he was only writing about the tip of the iceberg and for me pharmacuticals are a very variable standard in the DR
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poor quality of goods being sold in d.r.???
they are selling stuff in Dominican pharmacies that are not even medicine. everybody knows that. there are no consumer protection agencies here which look out for the buyer. the whole society is based around the existence of a merchant class which owns the government, and which is immune to any recriminations from any legal entity. that is the reason why product labelling is comprehensively dishonest, where orange beverages can be labelled 100% orange juice, and such offenses can take place. the garbage sold as salami here would never pass muster in a country that protects its consumers, but that is the way it works here. i have seen and used cooking oil here which would not be allowed to feed farm animals in a place like the USA.
i recently bought Rica evaporated milk in the small boxed with the twist off cap. on all the last occasions, it has been inedible, and stinks to high heaven. no point in even trying to return it to the vendor. try melting their butter, and it just produces this bizarre foam on the surface, making me wonder what it is. i tried baking a pie crust using the local margerine, and the final product was as stiff as plastic. i wondered how that could be, but i did not take the risk of trying to eat it.
it is pathetic.
There are very few standards in the DR. Counterfeit medicines almost outnumber legitimate products. There is no quality control testing, efficacy review or licensing. As frank r pointed out (a point I contemplated making yesterday) the money available to spend by most consumers is limited. Prices with and without the taxes added are already high.
The DR unlike other larger economies is engaged in a retail model that emphasizes profits per item purchased rather than profits based the quantity of an item purchased over time. Also, back home, the availability of credit helps get consumers past the price point reality that drives purchasing decisions in less affluent countries.
Most people don't purchase a refrigerator frequently. We look at two similar models that will meet our needs and usually choose the one with the automatic ice/water dispenser in the door; the fact that the latter is only $500 more is usually not seen as a barrier to the purchase. Here in the DR, that extra cost for a quality name brand or convenience features is a really big hurdle for retailers to overcome in the totality of the consumer environment.
Locals definitely know and recognize that some brands are "higher quality". You hear the words "more quality" all the time. But faced with the reality that pants in this country don't come with deep pockets, price almost always trumps quality for the average third world consumer.
Medicines are the same. If Advil from whomever makes that product costs $1 per tablet and a generic product that may or may not contain the same amount of analgesic from India costs $0.25, the lesser cost product is what appears on the shelf. Sometimes next to the single package of name brand product that is only 60 days from its expiry date because it has sat there so long.
Consumers do not drive product demand in this country. Profit margins for retailers determine product availability, and most consumers are content for the time being choosing from what is available rather than what they have seen recently on the pages of Good Housekeeping or this month's edition of Fabulous Electronics.
This reality will change someday. In the meantime, I'm not giving up my Amazon account.
The DR unlike other larger economies is engaged in a retail model that emphasizes profits per item purchased rather than profits based the quantity of an item purchased over time. Also, back home, the availability of credit helps get consumers past the price point reality that drives purchasing decisions in less affluent countries.
Most people don't purchase a refrigerator frequently. We look at two similar models that will meet our needs and usually choose the one with the automatic ice/water dispenser in the door; the fact that the latter is only $500 more is usually not seen as a barrier to the purchase. Here in the DR, that extra cost for a quality name brand or convenience features is a really big hurdle for retailers to overcome in the totality of the consumer environment.
Locals definitely know and recognize that some brands are "higher quality". You hear the words "more quality" all the time. But faced with the reality that pants in this country don't come with deep pockets, price almost always trumps quality for the average third world consumer.
Medicines are the same. If Advil from whomever makes that product costs $1 per tablet and a generic product that may or may not contain the same amount of analgesic from India costs $0.25, the lesser cost product is what appears on the shelf. Sometimes next to the single package of name brand product that is only 60 days from its expiry date because it has sat there so long.
Consumers do not drive product demand in this country. Profit margins for retailers determine product availability, and most consumers are content for the time being choosing from what is available rather than what they have seen recently on the pages of Good Housekeeping or this month's edition of Fabulous Electronics.
This reality will change someday. In the meantime, I'm not giving up my Amazon account.
the major issue is not the differential quality of products. the problem is the deliberate misrepresentation of poor quality products by false and deceptive labeling and other representations. so, if you go to buy a generic version of Advil, they will tell you that it has the exact same active ingredients, wherein it really might be nothing more than chalk dust. in the DR, the word for peanut is mani. without careful reading and understanding, the ordinary buyer might easily be duped into believing that the oil called Manicero is really peanut oil, when in reality it is nothing like that. they get away with it, because nobody in the government agencies have the balls to confront dishonest merchants, who will simply make a phone call to their politico servants and have the inspector run out of town.
I was having this same conversation with a friend just a few nights ago. There are some things, as a First World person, "up with which one cannot put" in the DR. Things like band-aids. Safety pins. Batteries. Light bulbs. And why is there no Brillo---the one with the soap in it?
Sheets and towels are like cheesecloth, and the laundry soap is like battery acid. Not a good combination. Even things like foil and plastic wrap and plastic baggies seem flimsy and cheap-o.
I can't speak to the cooking oil issue, as I would never re-use cooking oil ever anywhere anyway. I avoid some of the food issues because I keep kosher and have to either make stuff from scratch (chicken broth, butter, etc.) or nurse along supplies from several trips to the US each year. I come with a 50-lb suitcase filled with frozen meat, which makes for great conversation at JFK.
For me, the worst is the milk. I really only use it in coffee or in cereal, but I can't get past the taste of the boxed stuff. I'm in the US now, and have plans to freeze and bring at least 3 half gallons of good old Hood 2%.
But the point another poster made about the disposable income gap of most Dominicans and the cost of importing quality goods is certainly valid. I worry the most about the ersatz medicines being sold to poor Dominicans who are forking over a lot of money for a necessary expense and are getting ripped off and not getting better.
Sheets and towels are like cheesecloth, and the laundry soap is like battery acid. Not a good combination. Even things like foil and plastic wrap and plastic baggies seem flimsy and cheap-o.
I can't speak to the cooking oil issue, as I would never re-use cooking oil ever anywhere anyway. I avoid some of the food issues because I keep kosher and have to either make stuff from scratch (chicken broth, butter, etc.) or nurse along supplies from several trips to the US each year. I come with a 50-lb suitcase filled with frozen meat, which makes for great conversation at JFK.
For me, the worst is the milk. I really only use it in coffee or in cereal, but I can't get past the taste of the boxed stuff. I'm in the US now, and have plans to freeze and bring at least 3 half gallons of good old Hood 2%.
But the point another poster made about the disposable income gap of most Dominicans and the cost of importing quality goods is certainly valid. I worry the most about the ersatz medicines being sold to poor Dominicans who are forking over a lot of money for a necessary expense and are getting ripped off and not getting better.
yes!!! i have no idea what it is with Band Aids here. there is no excuse for the fact that you cannot buy a decent bandage if you get a cut. i have been to the best pharmacies, and there is no such thing as a good bandage.
don?t get me started on that thing they call milk. i just threw out a large bottle of a punch i made last night, which calls for milk as an ingredient. it spoiled overnight. less that 12 hours.
I haven't had to buy band aids here because I learned my lesson in Mexico. I travel with a well stocked first-aid kit. On a vacation, I stepped on something sharp on the beach and got a small but relatively deep cut on my toe. In the small town where I was there were only two farmacias both had their store sign covered with political posters. Finally found the store. Band aids were sold individually. They did not understand the desire to purchase a box of the things. No elastoplast, just flimsy plastic strips with a small gauze pad with a dried drop of iodine in centre. I bought 20. Blew the guys mind. Due to the location of the cut and my desire to keep the wound dry, I know I would need to change the dressing frequently.
Poor quality, low adhesion, but I had used all of the good one I brought with me. No choice. When I moved here, I cleaned off the shelf in the store at home. Unless I go all ginsu on myself, I shouldn't need more band aids for years.
I have my own sutures, hypodermic needles, antiseptic and dressings, I even have the instruments and compound to temporarily patch a filling that cracks or falls out. I have more aspirin, acetaminophen ibuprofen, codeine and antibiotics than I should ever need to take. I brought 1000 acetaminophen for ChickV which was all the concern last year at this time.
An ounce of prevention coupled with equal amounts of paranoia and hypochondria seems to work for me.
Being able to treat minor wounds immediately at home greatly reduces the chances of infection and keeps me from having to try and figure out just what the pharmacist here is trying to get me to buy and where it came from. I've only been to a farmacia once, and that was to source some Claritin.
Poor quality, low adhesion, but I had used all of the good one I brought with me. No choice. When I moved here, I cleaned off the shelf in the store at home. Unless I go all ginsu on myself, I shouldn't need more band aids for years.
I have my own sutures, hypodermic needles, antiseptic and dressings, I even have the instruments and compound to temporarily patch a filling that cracks or falls out. I have more aspirin, acetaminophen ibuprofen, codeine and antibiotics than I should ever need to take. I brought 1000 acetaminophen for ChickV which was all the concern last year at this time.
An ounce of prevention coupled with equal amounts of paranoia and hypochondria seems to work for me.
Being able to treat minor wounds immediately at home greatly reduces the chances of infection and keeps me from having to try and figure out just what the pharmacist here is trying to get me to buy and where it came from. I've only been to a farmacia once, and that was to source some Claritin.
I was prepared to walk down Pedro Clisante handing out Tylenol to the writhing masses infected with ChickV as a demonstration of my community spirit and support, but that need did not materialize.
I have been eating the Don Pedro Supremo Salami, is OK? Seems OK? Tell me its not total crap please...
Being a Govt Union Supporter Im surprised you didn't hand out parts of your tax payer paid pension... jaja
we buy lots of goods in america or europe. cosmetics, clothes, shoes, some meds, all is bought during vacations or shipped. now we also bring barrels of household stuff like cans, washing up powder and so on. the quality of only a part of the reason why we do it. there is also a question of price, choice and availability.
We may be related, haha. I have boxes and boxes of bandaids in DR, tubes and tubes of neosporin, etc. Gauze, peroxide, the whole 9 yards. We go to Sam's Club and buy the giant ibuprophen, benadryl, rash creams, etc. to take down.
I do it out of necessity of living in the middle of nowhere with no farmacia in town. I knew our caretaker was fascinated by my bandaids when he cut his leg [I happen to grab a box that had the antibiotic ointment already embedded in the bandage part], but I didn't realize why until I read your post.
People who say 'you can buy anything you need in DR' just don't understand the quality difference.
it is decent, tastewise, but i have no idea what is in it. just stay away from the ones which are not allowed into the USA because of fecal content which exceeds acceptable limits. the local press would not identify them, because the businessmen gave them their marching orders.
i had forgotten that there was such a thing as a Band Aid. all i ever see are those silly little things 1 inch long, half inch across, with no adhesive.
Mani + cero
Well, it says Manicero, thus clearly stating that it has zero peanut in it. :laugh: :bunny:
It's a sunflower oil, not so bad really.
donP
Well, it says Manicero, thus clearly stating that it has zero peanut in it. :laugh: :bunny:
It's a sunflower oil, not so bad really.
donP
Wow! This is very interesting. When I came down for vacation I bought along with me a book bag of medical supplies since I am in the medical field and my family thought I was crazy. I see that that I made a great decision on that. I loved the country even when I left off of the resort. I was interested in seeing if there a market for quality Healthcare and products and as I can see there are. Now I wonder how hard is it to get it started.
Dustbiter in the Making?
To get started what?
You mean you want to be another dustbiter? :cheeky:
donP
To get started what?
You mean you want to be another dustbiter? :cheeky:
donP