Email us at:
pej@pejnron.com
ron@pejnron.com

Click the sun to see the weather in Buenos Aires!

• Caterer for an Parrilla / BBQ / Asado

From: BANewComers - Richard July 20, 2005

About catering don't know much... here's a place you can start: http://www.mercadofiesta.com.ar/ver.asp?r=4&c=17

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• Car Purchase

From: Sean, September 07, 2006

Re: We are tourists. We want to purchase a car. We have the easy papers (domocilio). Do we need a CUIL or CUIT? Or can we do it without? Thanks.

Historically speaking, you should just get a CDI (clave de identificaion ) from AFIP/DGI, at least, that’s what AFIP/DGI would like.

As a matter of current interest it would be good to see what your car dealer calls out for requirements and post it here if you can

From: tango_kiwi, August 10, 2006

Having just bought a new car. You need CUIT and DNI

From: Laura Zurro, August 11, 2006

Patricia, according to our dealer where we are considering buying, we only need our passport and our CDI nothing else. No Cuil or Cuit is neccessary. By the way if you don't buy from a dealer you might considr using the services of a reputable "gestores" who will take care of getting your car registered for you - much less headache for you.

From: Patricia Bennett, August 14, 2006

Success! Only needed passport and CDI.

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• Car Stereo Installation

From: carrie leigh porcel, August 30, 2006

I had a car stereo from the US installed at a place on Libertador, between Belgrano and Nuñez. If you drive from Recoleta towards Nuñez, go through the tunnel and then after that it is between 5 and 10 blocks, on the left hand side. I can't remember the name, but it has a pretty big sign, I think that the back ground is Black, a ton of stereos in the window display and an entrance for you car, right next to the store front. They did a good job installing my stereo and my husband's. I would go back if I ever needed to do the same thing again.

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• Cell Phones / Bringing a new cell phone into Argentina

We bought a cool new Nextel phone in the USA for a friend here. When we came back we did not have customs sign off on it, you know how they have on the customs form "Do you have a cell phone?" Well, we gave it to our friend who then tried to activate it. First problem was that custom's hadn't signed off on it. Next problem was the receipt was made out to Ron and not our friend. They said they could only setup the billing account in the name of the person who is on the receipt. Sigh...............

On our way back from Peru, we took the phone with us and had custom's sign off on it upon our arrival here. We didn't have to pay any taxes on the phone (price was about $290 USA), the custom's guy was very nice. Once home, Ron created a receipt on the computer with our friend's name listed. He took all that to Nextel and they activated it finally.

So............. if you're bringing in a phone that you want to activate here, you need to get a custom's signature. The custom's agent didn't even ask for our plane ticket, so we could have just driven out to the airport and walked up to the window. There is usually only one person in the custom's window and I have seen long lines in front of it, luckily both times we went there was no one waiting.

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• Cell Phone Information

From the BANewComers list: Shahrukh / March 23, 2005

Below is my posting from 18 months ago. The major change from that article's date is that GSM (International, not North American frequencies) is making inroads in a big way, and both Telecom's Personal and Telefonica's Unifon are offering it (along with others). In fact, they are pushing it, even though nationwide coverage with GSM is not at par with TDMA. If you have an unlocked GSM phone and don't plan to travel outside Gran Buenos Aires, Ezeiza, Mendoza, and major metropolitan cities (Cordoba, Rosario, ...) and heavily traveled areas, then go with GSM. Otherwise, you can buy a decent TDMA phone new for $150 pesos including $50 pesos credit. If you have a US TDMA phone (AT&T Wireless NON-GSM, or many former Cingular areas), bring it along and it will work with Telecom or Telefonica.

Also, the agency referred to at the end doesn't exist anymore (or not with the same level of service). I now recommend ABC Celulares (for Unifon only). Lavalle 835, Galería Paseo Lavalle, Loc. 34. Capital Federal. Frente al Bingo. 4328-2827 or Fernando at (15) 5798-4921.

For most people, prepaid (contract-less) service works out best. There is no charge for incoming calls (other than in peculiar circumstances such as when the caller is calling from an old coin phone that has no way to charge the caller). I currently recommend Telefonica Unifon (rather than Telecom's Personal Light which I was at the time of the original article), but that's as much circumstance and personal preference (and what equipment I happened to have a spare for at the time).

Shahrukh

Original article:
----------------
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 14:44:19 -0400  
From: Shahrukh Merchant <merchant@alum.mit.edu>
Subject: Cellular Phones in Buenos Aires

Someone asked about this recently. Here is the results of some research I did on this subject. If there is a FAQ for the BANewcomers list, the maintainer should feel free to add this article to it. Please send meany corrections or addenda.

Regards,

Shahrukh Merchant

CELLULAR PHONES IN BUENOS AIRES

Last updated Aug 2003 based on Mar 2003 information.

CONTENTS

Summary & Personal Recommendation
1. Major companies
2. Prepaid vs. contract
3. Systems and compatibility
4. Using your own cell phone
5. Dialing Bs.As. cell phones from outside Bs.As. & outside Argentina
6. More on Personal Light Prepaid
7. Contact info for Telecom Personal, Telefonica Unifon & One Agency

SUMMARY & PERSONAL RECOMMENDATION

For visitors (even longer-term ones), you can't go too far wrong with Telecom's Personal Light prepaid service. Compatible with TDMA cell phones in the US (bring your own!) and has all the standard features including voice mail. About $0.40 per minute peak, $0.20 off-peak.

1. MAJOR COMPANIES

- CTI Movil (allegedly the only company that can be used in the subte)- Telefonica (Unifon)- Telecom (Personal)- BellSouth (Movicom)

In the latter three cases, the first name is the name of the company and in parentheses is the marketing name of their cellular service.

2. PREPAID VS. CONTRACT

All companies provide contract service (monthly fee includes certain number of minutes) but you have to have a permanent residence in Argentina and proof of employment. Prepaid service is a very good option anyway and many residents (yes, the employed ones too) use it too. If you are going to be away for months at a time, it's also better since you don't have to pay the monthly fee for the months you're gone.

However, as of this writing, only Telefonica and Telecom provide prepaid service. CTI Movil does not, and I am not sure about Movicom.

3. SYSTEMS AND COMPATIBILITY

South America joins North America in being the only major area of the world which does not use GSM as the primary cellular system. Just like in the US, there are incompatible combinations of TDMA and CDMA services, with old-fashioned analog in some areas. The good news for people coming from the US is that your US cell phone may work (see "Using your own cell phone" below).

But you should know that: Telefonica and Telecom use TDMA; CTI Movil and Movicom use CDMA.

Telecom also has some GSM (rest-of-world-compatible) deployed, but only in Buenos Aires, Ezeiza (airport) and some tourist areas like Mendoza and Iguazu. Maybe other companies do too, but at any rate it is not the primary system. Furthermore, at least as of this writing, Telecom's GSMwas only available to contract holders and not as a prepaid service.

[Owing to the wide deployment of Telefonica's and Telecom's offerings, and the lead that TDMA technology has in Argentina, I would recommend using a TDMA-based carrier. If you already have a CDMA-based cell phone with multiple NAMs, you may want to try and see if it works. But used cell phones can be bought so cheaply in the USA that I wouldn't go CDMA for that reason alone.]

4. USING YOUR OWN CELL PHONE

If you are coming from the US, the major cellular companies there use the following systems:

Verizon: CDMAAT&T Wireless: TDMA Cingular: TDMA (except GSM-1900 in some areas)Sprint PCS: CDMA

[I KNOW that AT&T Wireless TDMA phones will work just fine with Telecom's service, and am pretty sure with Telefonica too. If you have a cell phone that was used with AT&T Wireless or Cingular (non-GSM area),you should be able to get service activated with the Argentine carriers. If you don't have an extra one lying around, definitely buy one from E-Bay for $10-20 used before you leave the US (search "TDMA Cellular phone"); they will cost about 10 times that new without a contract and in Argentina maybe even with a contract, unless you buy a stolen one :-).]

One complication: The Argentine cellular companies, probably in an attempt to minimize the use of stolen cell phones, will insist on a factura (receipt) that proves ownership of your cell phone (it needs to have your name and the Electronic Serial No. or ESN of the phone on it).If you don't have one (who keeps these things around?), you can get around this by going to one of the agencies who deal with the company you want. No extra charge and the agencies don't care about such formalities. See Item 7 for one such agency that I used.

5. DIALING BS.AS. CELL PHONES FROM OUTSIDE BS.AS. & OUTSIDE ARGENTINA

This is not as intuitive as you would think. All cell phone numbers start with 15 so you would think that someone calling you from outside Argentina would simply dial +54 15 xxxx-xxxx. But that's NOT the case: you need to REPLACE 15 by 911, i.e., +54 911 xxxx-xxxx. Furthermore, to dial a Bs.As. cell phone from other cities in Argentina outside theBs.As. "zone" you need to ADD the Buenos Aires city code, i.e., (0)11 15xxxx-xxxx. Go figure.

6. MORE ON PERSONAL LIGHT PREPAID

Since Telecom's Personal Light service is the one I got after my research and recommend (based on price and acceptable service), I have some more information about this.

- Minimum recharge is $10 and you can buy cards for $10 or $20 at kiosks around town (scratch off the secret number and dial a particular sequence to charge). Cost is $0.40 peak, $0.20 off-peak. Time expires 30days after last charge. Voice-mail is included.


- If you charge with a greater amount AT ONE TIME the per-minute rate decreases (this is based on your last charge, so don't follow a $100charge with a $10 charge until the $100 is almost used up) and the expiration time increases.

- You can charge larger amounts than $20 at the Personal Office at Corrientes (see Item 7 below) or at ONE particular cell phone agency at Viamonte 731 called "Shopping Phone Power." You can pay cash or charge to an Argentina-issued credit-card. If you are doing so, ask to make a "Saldo Virtual" deposit rather than a cash deposit. The procedure is IDENTICAL to a cash deposit as far as I can tell, and you pay the same way, but by saying the magic words "Saldo Virtual" you get promotional extra minutes (15-30% depending on the promotion).

- If you leave Argentina and your money and/or time is used up, you will no longer be able to access the phone number and it will not accept voice-mail. However, they keep your number for 9 months after that so you can reinitialize it at that point. If you want to receive voice-mail while you are outside Argentina (which you pick up by calling your own number from any phone), you have to keep the account active by having someone pay at least the minimum amount for you at the Telecom office orViamonte 731 before your time expires. (As long as you never let it expire, the money keeps rolling forward too.)

7. CONTACT INFO FOR TELECOM PERSONAL, TELEFONICA UNIFON (& ONE AGENCY)

- Telecom's Personal office is at Corrientes 566 (at Florida, subte Florida).

- Telefonica Unifon office is just a block away from Telecom's Personal, also on Corrientes.

- One agency (of many, no doubt) that represents Unifon, Personal and Movicom (but not CTI Movil) is (noname) at Corrientes 1131, 5217-2746,4382-0251. Ask for Carina. (Will let you use your own cell phone without requiring proof of ownership.)

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• Cell Phones / Places to Buy

From: Sean, August 22, 2006

One option is to hook up with CTI on a monthly 1 year-minimum billed (no prepaid cards needed) plan to get the under $0.35 (peso) a minute deal - you will need a passport and maybe CDI – depending on the policy dejour. They may or may not ask you for a 6 month reasonable and refundable depost based on lack of local credit. Otherwise expect to pay over $0.50 a minute for on-the-spot plans using prepaid cards you buy at mini-markets, etc. – no 1 year contract needed.

Plus the cost of the phone no matter which way you go.

CTI has countless stores scattered through out the country and seem to be on every block of the big cities. www.cti.com.ar 

If you want to rent a phone, one option is www.phonerental.com.ar

CTI also has a plan for even small companies with as little as 3 users where most calls are FREE between the 3 phones – CUIT or CUIL #’s required.

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• Cell Phones - Receiving calls from the USA

From: Benjamin J. Schwartz, April 13, 2006

Try this: 011-54-911-XXXX-XXXX

From: Belliappa Pattada, April 13, 2006

for eg. if ur cell number is 15-6176 8990 here in BsAs, then they would have to dial 00-54-911-6176 8990 if they are calling from outside argentina. And from USA i had to dial 011-54-911-6176 8990. but from other countries u may not have to use the prefix 011.

From: Jvanka, April 13, 2006

011 54 9 11 + your number (omit the 15 of your number when use locally)

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• Cell Phones / Will my foreign cellphone work in Argentina? Locking / unlocking

From: Gaucho Gringo, August 29, 2006

You may get a reply, but the trend now in cell-phones is to actually bring your own phone and continue to use it, so you know exactly how to handle it, and keep your photos, ringtones, and certain numbers and messages in the phones´ memory.

When you get here you buy a cheap "tarjeta chip" i.e. phone-chip-card. (ALL this is ONLY valid if your current phone is chip-equipped)

This allows you to keep your original US or other country-of-origin cell-number, and even still re-use it when you travel back or visit there. Of course there must be some payment plan, that takes into consideration your prolonged absence and lack of use of the cell-system, so you could probably just pay a minumum "number maintenance fee" while you´re away, something to ask your current cellular company before coming down here.

So, with the cards, you would switch them between countries, but your phone is always your own, one-and-only.

This is also waaaay cheaper than paying roaming rates. When you store your new local numbers, you can save your local contacts only on the chip-card for each country and as you switch them you will see how these contacts actually appear and disappear according to the country you are in. However certain family or best friend numbers can be stored directly into the phone memory, so they will ALWAYS be available. no matter what card you insert.

Another problem with older non-chip units is they still may contain numbers and data that don´t concern you, or others, so this means before transfering a unit, the prior owner will want to delete their info, which they may be afraid will not fully erase, so they may be reluctant to hand over the phone.

Also this would mean you would still have that prior owners´ cell number, so you´ld be bombarded with calls coming in not meant for you. You can of course change the number of an older phone, but that implies an added service charge, higher than the cost for a new chip-card.

I guess I covered it all, but you still may want to get a second-hand unit, just wanted to let you know you may not actually need it.

From: TB W, August 30, 2006

The answer to both questions is yes--I have done both. I am using my cell phone here with an Argentine account, but you need to make sure it is "unlocked" before you bring it: getting it unlocked here is possible, but it is easier in the US--eBay lists companies which will unlock phones for less than U$S 10.

As to the Vonage box, I transferred my US cell number to the Vonage box before I left the US, and arranged for automatic payment through American Express--this is necessary since Vonage wants a US address and a US credit card when they set up the account. It also helped to iron out the kinks with the box and my service while I was still in the US. Once that is done, you can take the box anywhere and just plug it in. I talk to my children every day and to my friends in the US more than ever, all for less than U$S 30 per month, and anyone in the US can call me from a payphone. Some acquaintences didn't even know I had moved, and were surprised when I told them that the number they called was ringing in Buenos Aires--if you haven't done so already, make sure you list your cell on the "Do not Call" list for telemarketers, so that those calls don't follow you down here. Good Luck!

From: Gaucho Gringo, August 29, 2006

It depends on your cell-phone, the make and model. If it uses the removable chip, then it´s as easy as buying a cheap new chip here, with a fully operational local number.

The only problem is if your phone is "locked" meaning you need to "unlock" it to change companies, and numbers, etc. For other non-chip phones the process would depend on that particular model.

You are not clear either on the second part. Do you mean you want to continue to get your US calls to your current cell number, but answer them here in BA? If so you can transfer your current cell number to call Argentina at your new cell phone number. This actually will be quite cheaper than paying roaming charges and using your US number down here.

I have never used Vonage but if you transfer calls to it, and then want to answer them here, you better ask others if the process is fast enough not to lose most calls for people hanging up too early. If they don´t know they are being routed via the internet they won´t know they need to give it more time to connect and ring properly.

From: BANewComers - william thelen July 21, 2005

Some more info about using "foreign "cellulars in Argentina! The unlock question,..and changing sim-cards,..well,....that is not as much of an issue! Just be sure,..that the cellular you bring from another country, to Argentina,..is using the right frequency!!!! All GSM's here work on the 850 or 1900 Mhz band! So,..when you come for instance ,from Europe,...and bring a dual-band gsm,..you are out of luck,..cause those use the 900/1800 Mhz band! So make sure,...your cell uses the right frequency.......or well support Argentinian economy,..and buy one here!

From: BANewComers - Christian Rodriguez July 20, 2005

To my question about what is locking and unlocking on cellphones:

Sometimes you get a phone from the provider of the cellphone service. In that case, with the excuse that they are selling the phone at a lower cost than they should, they want to make sure you use that phone with them. They LOCK it to make sure the phone only works with that service provider (AT&T, T-mobile, whatever).

So, if you have one of those phones, you need to unlock it if you want to use it with another provider (and if you move from USA to here, you will definitely need to do that).

Some unlocking requires just a code or some keys being pressed, some others are more complicated than that.

From: BANewComers - Bob Hannan July 20, 2005

To my question about what is locking and unlocking on cellphones:

All US & Arg cell phones are locked by the carrier so that you can't just change the chip in your phone to switch carriers. In the US, the carrier has to let you unlock your phone after 3 or 6 months (seek=ms a fair, you own the phone they don't).  I unlocked my phone before coming down and got a new chip so I would have a local number.

From: BANewComers - Jvanka July 19, 2005

To my question about what is locking and unlocking on cellphones:

Cell phones can be use pretty much anywhere, the problem is when you are out of your country/region you pay international roaming. It is about USA $1 a minute when you use your US phone in Argentina. Now some phones are GSM meaning they use a card with your account info and contacts. This removable card/chip some places is sold at kiosk allowing you to get a new phone number in Buenos Aires and swapping your US chip for a ARG chip. Then you have a local number at a local rates.

When big companies figured this out they don't like the fact that you can use the same phone in other markets, better keep the business so they decided to "Lock" their phones making impossible to use other chips. Even if the intend of GSM phones was the convenience of swapping services. So now, if you want to unlock your phone there are services for that and also buying "unlocked" phones are more expensive.

Bottom line, if you travel a lot better get a GSM phone service with an unlocked phone.

From: BANewComers - Deby Novitz July 18, 2005

This is for the person who has the GSM cell. If your phone is locked they charge 75 pesos to unlock it here. There is a great website you can go to and for $5 you get the codes to unlock it yourself. I paid via paypal. I don't remember if you could pay direct via credit card.

http://www.thetravelinsider.info/roadwarriorcontent/unlockingfaq.htm

From: BANewComers - Jvanka July 18, 2005

If your phone is Unlock you will be able to use it in Argentina. Make sure it is unlock. If you purchased direct from T-mobile then unfortunately the phone most likely is LOCK . The only way to find out in US is by inserting a card-chip from another carrier like i.e. Cingular. If the phone works with a cingular card then is unlocked.

In the US go to a store where they have multiple carriers and ask about unlocking it, they may refer you or even doing in the shop. Or you can try on line services by searching over the web.

http://www.motounlocknow.com/vxxximei.htm

Another comment from the BANewComers list:

• If you have a GSM unlock phone from your country you can buy a gsm sim card in Personal for AR$ 30, they will open an account for you and verify if your phone is compatible with their system, then you can charge your phone with prepay cards (10 or 20 pesos) that you can buy in most of the kioskos in the city. There is only one Personal office selling gsm sim card and it is located in Avda. Corrientes N° 544/66 (and go to the 2nd floor.)

Otherwise you can buy prepay packages like the "personal light" including a phone an activation kit w/ some pre pay time. This service is pay as you go and there are other companies as well.

http://www.personal.com.ar/prodlight/prodlight_adquirir.htm

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• Centro Cultural Konex - Educational / Cultural / Foundation

An Argentine friend of mine told me about a foundation that may be of use to me (and hopefully you too). I have not checked it out but he loves it and is taking English classes there for a very cheap price.

http://www.centroculturalkonex.org/

It is on Av. Córdoba 1235 near Libertad.

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• Ceramic Tile

From: Paul, April 4, 2006

Please be careful when budgeting for floor tile repairs. One might plan to repair a floor using new, inexpensive calcareo tiles. The engineers society, INTI, tells me that most of the new ones are very poor quality.

I bought some from calcareo tiles from BALDOSONES D'ELIA. The finish started coming off within a few weeks of use. Any one who knew tiles would have known by looking at the back of these, that the finish would come off.

BALDOSONES D'ELIA offered to replace the tiles, but I wanted them to pay for the labour too. So, two years later all I have is a legal problem, but no refund nor proper tiles.

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• Certified Checks

Banco Piano sells certified checks. Address: San Martin 345/347, just half a block south of the corner of San Martin and Corrientes.  Telephone: 4321-9200. 
 
Apparently they have other branches, too, example, the Hotel Sheraton in Retiro, telephone: 4318-9000.
 
The certified check for the FBI "Good Conduct Clearance" is for US$18. Banco Piano charges an additional US$10 for the service. 

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• Chauffer / Driver

From: Richard, August 13, 2006

The best way to go is to get a "cuenta corriente" (account) with an agency and make sure they give you a discount. The cost of hiring a chauffer outright, including salary, insurance, and social coverage, is relatively high in Argentina. Hiring someone to work "en negro" (under the table) is too big of a liablity risk.

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• Children / Toddler / Things to do

From: lexy5612b, August 16, 2006

Re: Does anyone have any tips on being in the city with a toddler, fun things to do, restaurants/places that are especially child-friendly, or any other advice?

One is the planetarium in Palermo, there's also a Zoo there. Another thing, is the Abasto mall. There are weekend events for kids all the time. Check the site. Unicenter also has a play area for kids, that's about 20 minutes from BA. Also, there are many parks with swings and carousels. Just today, I was on Las Heras and Cantilo (by a big church, almost near El cemetario de la Recoleta) and I saw kids riding a carousel and playing on swings in a park. There's also el museo de los niños. I think I have a kid's guide for Buenos Aires, so if you don't mind, we could meet, and I could give it to you :)

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• Children - Traveling with them - Keep your expired passport!

From: Frances Perry, July 31, 2006

I’m married to an Argentine (14 years and counting) and have two Argentine children (ages 11 and 8). I had official travel documents – permits to travel solo and / or together with my kids – written up using my US Passport rather than DNI (which I had at the time but didn’t think of the importance of using one over the other.) Since then I have had to show my old expired passport to the emigration officials each time I leave the country with my children. Also, as my husband and I were married in the US and not Argentina, we must show the same legal document to prove that the children are ours each time we leave the country together with the kids. Once again I need to show my expired passport as my current one has a new number that does not correspond to the one on the legal document. Argentine emigration officials would not allow us to leave Argentina without this expired passport, so yes it is a requirement for our travel. ALSO country visas can be valid pass the expiration date of the passport. 

For example my 5 year Brazil visa was still good even though my US passport had expired prior to my Brazil visa. Same thing with my husband’s 10 year US visa in his expired Argentine passport. Another example of how an expired passport can be used even if not required. Hope this clears the issue up for you. - Frances

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• Chocolate Store

Ron is chocolaholic and we found the best chocolates just a block from our house (how convenient!)

El Viejo Oso (The Old Bear) - 3 branches

Debenedetti 602 - Local 10 - La Lucila 4794-5778

Arcos 2057 - 4787-4362

Montevideo 1594 - 4811-0211

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• Clothes / Big and Tall Sizes

From: Albert Esther, September 07, 2006

Regarding clothes for tall men: I am a cruiser class gringo (6'2", 240 lbs) and generally can not find off the shelf clothes that fit in BA. There is a Big and Tall shop for men on Santa Fe in Palermo (I think close to Ortiz). It has nice clothes, but the prices are higher than in the U.S. for many, if not most, items.

From: Nat, September 07, 2006

Reading this message an image came to my mind: "a swede man trying to buy a pair of troussers in a regular japanese store... In Argentina is not that easy to find clothes for people who´s bigger or taller than the average, even though there was an attempt of legislation about it... But there are few store specialized in bigger sizes ( I have a friend from Switzerland who visit me for a month and he was desperate to find a pair of trousser... he is 2.02 cm). Here goes a link with some stores: http://www.indextar.com/ba/buenos-aires-shopping-sizes-for-big-and-tall--c412  Remember, in Argentina big sizes are "talles grandes" or "talles especiales", that includes tall and big people, over the 46 trousser / skip size.

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• Complaints / Discrimination for Tourists

DEFENSORíA DEL TURISTA

• If visiting the city and you suffer some abuse type or discrimination, please contact The Tourists Defender's office, telephone is 4302 7816. Or you can go to their offices in Av. Pedro of Mendoza 1835 (Museum of Fine arts "Benito Quinquela Martin") in the neighborhood of La Boca, Monday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm. 

http://www.bue.gov.ar/servicios/?menu_id=67&info=cits

• Also, Comisarìa del turista, Corrientes and 25 de Mayo,2 blocks away from Correo central

From: BANewComers, Karin Hosenfeld July 17, 2005

My Argentine husband says that you should contact the ombudsman http://www.defensor.gov.ar/index-en.php of Argentina. He says they are specifically there for people who were taken advantage of and will fight for you. (Kind of like the "Attorney General" position in the US). The link I posted is in English.

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• Computers / Electronics

New stuff:

www.garbarino.com.ar
www.fravega.com.ar

New and used stuff:

www.mercadolibre.com.ar
www.segundamano.com.ar
www.deremate.com.ar
buenosaires.craigslist.org/

From BANewComers: Jvanka August 25, 2005

you can access online merchants at yahoo Argentina, not quite sure all of them show prices:
http://ar.shopping.yahoo.com/index.php also www.Altocity.com includes prices and shipping charges options

From BANewComers: Christian Rodriguez August 25, 2005

for computer parts, Id just go to Galeria Jardin (Florida & Lavalle intersection) and walk around there and see what the prices are. Galeria Jardin is the place to go to buy computers (to buy a clone computer) or computer parts. Its a mall that has almost all stores dedicated to computer stuff. You can get a good list here:

www.datasoft.com.ar

From: Bob Stapp, April 05, 2006

Fravega http://www.fravega.com/

From: Laura Zurro, April 05, 2006

deremate.com.ar

falabella.com

http://www.rodo.com.ar/productos/default.asp?idcat=28

mercadolibre.com

From: Sean, April 5, 2006

www.Fallabella.com.ar They are upper crusty though – not surprised if they jack on a good dose of profit over and above what the government already does on electronics.

From: Peter Winterble, April 5, 2006

www.fravega.com.ar

I've purchased several things and they seem okay price-wise and etc... shops all over the city.

From: Walcott, April 5, 2006

The neighborhood around Parana & Corrientes is where all the cool shops with guy things are.

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• Computer Repair

From: Kara Bauer, August 16, 2006

There is an Apple store on Ayacucho between Arenales & Santa Fe. Maybe they can help.

From: Justin Martindale, August 16, 2006

There is an Apple store on Ayacucho between Avenida Santa Fé and Arenales. I have an Applecare Protection insurance and they accepted that. (As it turned out, there was nothing wrong with the computer, just the operator.)

From: Gaucho Gringo, August 16, 2006

Galeria Jardin on Florida street 537 between Viamonte and Tucuman is FULL of computer stores. If they don´t have it, they can tell you where to get it, but hard-drives are abundant. Prices are good but can vary 20-30% between stores. Go well before 7:30pm when they start to close.

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• Cosmetic Surgery

From: Roxanne Piper Davis, June 11, 2003

Lipo

As many of you know, I had lipo done on my legs about six weeks ago. Dr. Carlos Van Thienen of Clinica Van Thienen performed the surgery and I am thrilled with the results. Before I had the surgery, I had a really, really tough time finding people to speak with regarding plastic surgery performed by Dr. VT. There are dozens of you out there (I can already hear the giggling over the internet connection!), but many of you are not “public” so I was not able to contact you without revealing that someone had mentioned your name.

Soooooooo. . .if any of you out there are considering lipo but would like to speak to someone about it first, feel free to phone me. (Again, I won’t be able to respond to e-mails, so please call.) I’ll be happy to answer any of your questions, provide you with the gory details, tell you what it cost for my procedure, and whatever else you want to know.

If you would rather contact the Clinica Van Thienen directly, you can call them at 4742-9003.

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• Cost of Living - What things cost in July 2004

From: Peter J. Macay, July 2004

Someone posted a message on what things cost here, and what it would cost to live here comfortably. This got my wheels cranking and I thought I would give my experience on what it costs to live here at this point and time in history.

In January 2002 Argentina went off a 10 year peg of 1 Peso = 1 USA dollar, the currency devalued to a current value of about 2.9 Pesos = 1 USA dollar, however, prices haven’t gone up that much in restaurants or for clothes (some would argue with me on this. I think of it this way, a meal in a good restaurant here is in pesos about what you would pay in a fine restaurant in California in dollars, about $16 to $25 Pesos, however, in USA dollars the cost to you is about $5.50 to $8.60.  However, in many local restaurants you can get great dinners for 7 Pesos or $2.40 USA. You can see Argentina is a great bargain right now.

Like any city in the world, prices vary by neighborhood and "tu cara", (your face) and how you dress, believe me, once I open my mouth to speak, prices go UP.  People even look at my clothes and start speaking to me in English before I ever open my mouth.  Argentine friends groan when I tell them what I pay for things.  An Argentine friend of mine spit wine across the table when I told her what I paid for our dining room light!

Ron and I, in my opinion, are both frugal, by frugal I mean we watch what we spend money on, compare prices and look for values, we spend money on things that matter to us, like sushi and vacations.  We don't have a car, you don't really need one if you live in the city, buses here are cheap, safe and fast, taxis are EVERYWHERE and very cheap also.  The subway is also cheap, safe and faster then buses, but there are only 5 lines so it doesn't cover the city really well like in Paris.  Another thing to remember is Argentines are VERY frugal, they will act like you're ripping their heart out no matter what they charge, it seems to be part of their national heritage, to get the most money from anyone they can and avoid paying any taxes, it's not that you're a foreigner, they do the same thing to their brother or sister, (Please no offense to my Argentine friends, but I think you will agree this stereotype is true!)

That said, just to give you some numbers, here's some info from our Excel budget (That's Ron's job, I just spend it, he tracks it)

Like anywhere bargains can be found, we happen to live in an expensive part of the city so you have to search or travel further for real bargains.  Basmati rice for 22 pesos a box is NOT an option for me, it's a necessity, I could NOT LIVE without it.  For me, trying to budget myself, I always want to budget on the high end, so that if I can get things cheaper, I have money left over, instead of budgeting for something lower and then not being able to find things that inexpensively.  That's why I quoted the clothes prices as what you see in the stores on Sante Fe, that's "regular" store prices, not discount prices.

I was surprised when I looked at Ron's spreadsheet and I saw how much we spend on groceries, eating in restaurants and deliveries, many of my friends don't earn 700 pesos a month at their jobs, and that's what we're spending on groceries and restaurant meals alone!

Pete’s List for What things Cost in Buenos Aires / Circa July 2004

Everything below is in pesos, to get USA dollar amounts, for this date and time divide all figures by 2.90, http://www.dolarhoy.com.ar or http://www.dolarsi.com to check on current exchange rates.

• Prices are going up, but I think you can still get a nice modest 1 bedroom in a good part of town for 1,000 pesos a month.  An Argentine friend negotiated a 5 year lease for 800 pesos a month on a HUGE 2 bedroom apartment, in fantastic shape in a great, safe part of the city.  I have a friend paying 250 pesos a month for a small one room studio right around the corner from us in Recoleta, but he's been there several years.
• Of course there are still places that rent for 250 pesos a month, but usually in an undesirable part of town, again, there are always exceptions to any rule.
• We purchased an apartment in an expensive part of town and we pay about 400 pesos a month for home owners association dues for a 125 square meter (that's about 1,200 square feet), that includes our heat, hot water, 24 hour security, a garage, garbage, and maintenance of our building.
• My friend who lives in not such a nice part of town pays 60 pesos a month for his expenses for a small 35 square meter studio.
• Even if you rent, you have to ask about who pays the expenses and what's included (like water, gas, heating of the apartment, etc), some owners make the renter pay them, some have it included in the rent.
• Movies in the newest, most comfortable cinemas are 11.50 pesos for admission, 6.50 for seniors, however, there are lots of theatres showing movies that are a few months old for 4 pesos for a double feature. 
• Food prices have been going up, but in general the cost in restaurants is pretty stable from before the crisis.  We just had dinner in our favorite neighborhood mom and pop restaurant for 55 pesos for 2 people, that included appetizers, salad, a bottle of wine, 2 entrees and a free little shot of lemon liquor (we were too stuffed to order dessert), there are lots of "fast food" parrilla places where you can get a choripan sandwich (a wonderful sausage sandwich big enough for a meal) for 1.50 pesos for lunch.
• Lunch specials for 7-8 pesos in nice "regular" neighborhood restaurants are everywhere, this includes an entree, dessert, salad and some sort of drink, usually served on a white linen tablecloth  by someone wearing a little bow tie and crisp white shirt (Argentines have a lot of class and style).
• Buses cost 75 to 80 centavos depending on how far you are going, they don't do transfers here so every time you need to change lines you have to pay again.  However, the bus system is great here and you usually don't have to change lines unless you're going really far.
• Taxis start at 1.44 pesos when you sit down, a 20 minute trip to most parts of the city cost around 8 pesos.  Tipping is not expected in a cab.
• People LOVE live entertainment here, there are cafe / restaurant / bookstore places EVERYWHERE where you might pay 5 pesos cover charge to see some live music for 1.5 - 3 hours, a great way to sit and let your late Argentine meal digest while you enjoy some music while sipping some inexpensive champagne.
• Good red table wines in the supermarket can be found for 8-12 pesos, pay 15 and you'll be saying "OH MY GOD IS THIS GOOD!!!!"
• Restaurants are starting to raise what they charge for wines, in the supermarket it cost 8 pesos and you'll pay 12 in the restaurant, but I still think the markup percentage is much less then what the USA does.
• In the past, tipping in restaurants was not expected, that's rapidly changing, especially if you don't speak fluent Spanish, but 5 - 10% is considered good.
• You can have a single cup of coffee delivered, I AM NOT making this up.  They deliver anything here, usually there is no minimum amount, you can have your groceries delivered for free so you don't have to lug them home, we usually tip the kid 1 or 2 pesos and they are very pleased.  We have our cat litter delivered as it's so heavy and the kid arrives on roller blades!
• Don't forget private medical insurance, Ron pays 404 pesos a month, I pay 248.  However, this is at one of the private hospitals that is considered one of the best, Ron had some surgery and was in there for 4 days and we paid 6 pesos for the bottled water he drank.  There are companies that charge much less, make sure you know the deductibles you need to pay to compare different plans.  An Argentine friend pays 150 for a plan that he thinks is amazing in that they cover everything.
• In general, prescription drugs are much less expensive here then in the USA
• Ron had his prescription eye glasses replaced for 300 pesos (they used his old frames)
• I had my teeth cleaned for 65 pesos
• Some dental work was 50 pesos per tooth
• Teeth molds to have my teeth whitened 120 pesos
• Bleaching agent was 250 pesos
• We paid 30 pesos each to see the violinist Joshua Bell perform at the Colón theatre, their premier opera house, Ron was in heaven.
• Clothes are about the same "amounts" as in the USA except of course here they're in pesos, so think 35 pesos for a pair of slacks, shoes for 80 pesos, coats for 125 pesos.  There are of course discount cloth stores where you can get TShirts or gym shorts for 5 pesos or you can go to Patio Bullrich (an expensive mall) and pay 300 pesos for a silk tie.
• 3 HUGE rib eye steaks in the supermarket are less then 9 pesos.
• Our favorite gin is 6.99 pesos for a 750ml bottle, AND IT'S GOOD GIN!!!!!!!!  Goes great with Paseo de los Torros Pomelo lite (a grapefruit drink), try it, you'll like it, very refreshing!
• We have sushi delivered for 56.50 pesos that is enough to stuff 2 sushi lovers and have the gyozo left over for lunch the next day.
• "Scuzi" (a pretty good chain restaurant) delivers 2 delicious dinners with spicy toasted bread for 22 pesos.
• "Rigolleto" (a very good yuppie restaurant) delivers full meals for 9.50 pesos including salad, bread, entree, dessert and drink.
• "Crazy Cheese" (I love the name) is a hole in the wall place that delivers a whole rotisserie chicken for 13 pesos, it used to cost 8 pesos and you got 2 beers with it but after the crisis in 2001 you only got one beer, then no beer, then the price started going up.
• Gas for our stove is 17 pesos every 2 months, our heat and hot water is covered in our home owners expenses
• Fibertel cable modem service for the computer is 105 pesos every month
• If you don't use the computer a lot, http://www.internetgratis.com.ar is free internet service or use the PCs at any locotorio (businesses that offer telephones, fax and copying services) for 1.50 pesos an hour.
• Cable TV is 56 pesos a month, this is with no "pay" channels but just basic service of about 35 channels
• Water is 69 pesos for 2 months, they don't use water meters here, it's based on the square footage of your apartment
• Electricity 64 pesos for 2 months
• Telephone 65 pesos every 2 months, this is for basic service and does not include long distance
• I like to cook so we eat at home a lot, for the first 6 months of this year we've averaged 707 pesos a month for groceries for 2 people.  I must admit I don't scrimp on grocery items, we eat a lot of salmon and fish which is a little pricey here, we buy imported basmati rice for 22 pesos a box (Argentines faint when they see we paid this for a box of "rice"), brie cheeses, cheap caviar, etc.
• 1 hour massages are 30-40 pesos (I get one a week)
• 1 hour yoga class 10 pesos
• I pay 580 pesos a year for a gym membership
• Music CDs are 16-24 pesos, there are street vendors who sell illegal copies on the street for 6 pesos, but I don't like to support illegal copying of things.  These illegal vendors are totally ignored by the police, it is acceptable I guess.
• You can buy designer rip-off underwear on the street for 3 pesos, REALLY!
• If you buy batteries, make sure they say Duracell, NOT DuraBle, boy was I pissed on these cleverly disguised rip-offs that look identical but only last about 15 minutes (Duracell's last 6 hours)
• Maids are very common here, I think they earn between 5 and 7.50 pesos an hour (I wouldn't know, Ron won't let me get one)  An Argentine friend gasped in disbelief when I said I didn't have a maid, she said, "They are the pillars of our society, without them we would crumble!"
• Lots of things are imported, cameras, appliances, digital cams, watches, batteries and razors for shaving, so they will cost the same in pesos as in dollars in the USA, lots of my friends can't listen to their Walkmans anymore because they can't afford the batteries.
• A really great milanesa (fried steak) sandwich big enough to feed two people is 4 pesos.
• The best bet is to get some Argentine friends and ask them where they shop for things.

Sound interesting to you? Want to live here? We’re not here because it’s cheap, but it sure is a nice perk at the moment!

From: Peter J. Macay, May 31, 2006

YIKES! Ouch! 
 
We received our Hospital Alemán bills today for full medical coverage.
 
Ron's went from 483.50 to 522.00
Mine went from 295.00 to 318.50
 
Both an 8% increase in ONE month, I guess they need to pay for that new extension they're building.
 
One year ago - June 2005
443.50 - Ron
273.50 - Pete
 
An increase of 17.7% increase in one year for Ron
An increase of 16.4% increase in one year for Pete
 
Oct 2000 when we first obtained the coverage
This is before the crisis when it was 1 USA $ = 1 Arg Peso
214.00 - Ron
112.00 - Pete
 
143.9% in almost 6 years or 23.9% increase a year
184.3% increase, or 30.7% increase per year
 
Hmmmm, maybe we should start comparing medical plans.
 
YIKES! Ouch! We just ordered Chinese delivery and it was 74.50. Hmmmmm, maybe we should start comparing chinese delivery joints. Hmmmmpth!

From: Philip McDonald, June 01, 2006

While the increase in your medical subscription is high, it is not as high as you think.

In Peso terms, the average annual increase over the six year period (2000 - 20006) is just 16% for Ron and 19% for Pete. This is taking compounding into account.

So order another Chinese and get a bottle of champagne to celebrate.

From: Peter J. Macay, June 2, 2006

Cost of Living
	Prices in Pesos
	2003	2004	2006	% increase per year
Favorite Neighborhood Parrilla Delivery
2 morcilla	$   3.00		$   5.00		22%
2 chorizo	$   4.00		$   5.00		8%
1 mollejas	$   10.00		$   17.00		23%
1 bife de chorizo	$   10.00		$   18.00		27%
1/2 pollo deshuesado	$   8.00		$   13.00		21%
1 papa fritas	$   2.50		$   4.50		27%
Movie Tickets - Gen Adm		$11.50	$   14.75		14%
Movie Tickets - Senior		$ 6.50	$   9.75		25%
Buses		$   0.75	$   0.75		0%
Taxis / meter starts at		$   1.44	$   1.98		19%
Medical Insurance - Ron		$ 404.00	$  522.00		15%
Medical Insurance - Pete		$ 248.00	$  318.50		14%
3 bife de chorizo steaks in supermarket		$   9.00	$   12.00		17%
Gas / every 2 months		$  17.00	$   16.63		-1%
Fibertel Internet		$ 105.00	$  140.00		17%
Fibertel cable TV / no premium channels		$  56.00	$   65.90		9%
Water / every 2 months		$  69.00	$   64.71		-3%
Electricity / every 2 months		$  64.00	$   91.51		21%
Telephone / every 2 months