By P. T. Freeman
Returning to the Caribbean after a trip to South East Asia, I had an overnight connection in Cancun, Mexico. After going through passport control (Migracion) and customs (Aduana) I exited the customs facility with a luggage cart that had my bags on it. Immediately after that, I encountered a sign stating "No Luggage Carts Beyond This Point." Just beyond that was an army of porters blocking the passageway.
Evidently, the porters were strategically positioned to enforce the "no luggage cart" rule. Most passengers complied, but others, including myself, did not. Obviously, this is a racket designed to create work for the porters so they could earn tips.
While I appreciate the challenges of living and working in a country like Mexico, I strongly object to "make work" policies that exist at the expense of airline passengers. Why should passengers should be required to remove their bags from a cart and forced to hire a porter to carry them approximately 30 remaining meters?
Faced with this situation, I followed the path of non-compliance, and retained my baggage cart. Four porters immediately confronted me. They demanded that I remove my baggage from the cart. When I refused, two porters became confrontational and I became confrontational in return. I retained my cart as long as possible and refused to allow the porters to transport my bags. They cursed at me as I was leaving, to which I responded with a big smile.
The point of this story is that when you arrive in Cancun or any other airport, you shouldn't be forced to use porter services. While I use porters on occasion, this should be optional, not required. Incidentally when I voluntarily use porter services, I tip generously.
Perhaps if enough people follow the practice that I did, eventually the airport authority will prohibit such strong-arm tactics!
(P.T. Freeman is a pseudonym for a friend and business associate who is a former U.S. citizen.)
Returning to the Caribbean after a trip to South East Asia, I had an overnight connection in Cancun, Mexico. After going through passport control (Migracion) and customs (Aduana) I exited the customs facility with a luggage cart that had my bags on it. Immediately after that, I encountered a sign stating "No Luggage Carts Beyond This Point." Just beyond that was an army of porters blocking the passageway.
Evidently, the porters were strategically positioned to enforce the "no luggage cart" rule. Most passengers complied, but others, including myself, did not. Obviously, this is a racket designed to create work for the porters so they could earn tips.
While I appreciate the challenges of living and working in a country like Mexico, I strongly object to "make work" policies that exist at the expense of airline passengers. Why should passengers should be required to remove their bags from a cart and forced to hire a porter to carry them approximately 30 remaining meters?
Faced with this situation, I followed the path of non-compliance, and retained my baggage cart. Four porters immediately confronted me. They demanded that I remove my baggage from the cart. When I refused, two porters became confrontational and I became confrontational in return. I retained my cart as long as possible and refused to allow the porters to transport my bags. They cursed at me as I was leaving, to which I responded with a big smile.
The point of this story is that when you arrive in Cancun or any other airport, you shouldn't be forced to use porter services. While I use porters on occasion, this should be optional, not required. Incidentally when I voluntarily use porter services, I tip generously.
Perhaps if enough people follow the practice that I did, eventually the airport authority will prohibit such strong-arm tactics!
(P.T. Freeman is a pseudonym for a friend and business associate who is a former U.S. citizen.)
I had another issue concerning the airport in Cancun. The ADO buses stopped running at 8pm forcing me to take a taxi at 300 pesos per person, while the buses charge 100pesos per person..I live and work in Mexico and this is the 1st time I've seen this. They are making it more expensive to leave the airport, all because of the decrease in tourism. If they keep this up the decline in tourism will get worse, as I have many clients who have had the same experiences.
Posted by: Frank | August 13, 2010 at 01:50 PM
We were in Cancun on Wednesday the 11th and were involved in a nasty confrontation with immigration. Seems more and more that they don't want Americans there or something, not sure what the deal is, but what we encountered there was uncalled for and unnecessary. It involved a "broken" passport (cover had come apart from pages). The same individual and passport in our party was there in May and passed through without any instance. They would not allow entry into the country.
Posted by: Mike | August 16, 2010 at 04:04 PM