Yellow Pages
Posted on March 22, 2007
Filed Under Montevideo, Services |
7 Comments
Remember the yellow pages? Remember the pre-internet days when it used to be the only way to locate a business or a service provider? Well, in Uruguay you’ll have the chance to relive that experience, because few small businesses have their own web sites. And also because the existing Montevideo web portals fail to capture a large part of the businesses you normally find in the yellow pages. So the best way to locate a small business in Montevideo is still through the páginas clasificadas.
I recommend you get a copy as soon as you get to Montevideo. But before you get too excited, let me temper your expectations a bit. The Montevideo yellow pages fit in one volume less that 2cm thick. In spite of its unimpressive heft, I think it is still worth getting one, even if just for the sections that are included as a bonus.
Here are the extras included with the yellow pages:
- Emergency numbers
- A quick look up of the numbers for all utility companies
- Instructions of what is required for a driver’s license, passport, birth certificates, national ID and voter registration.
- Addresses of all places where one can pay bills - Abitab, RedPagos, CorreoBanc
- Location of all ATMs for BanRed, REDBROU and Cabal
- Bus route itineraries
- A very nice tourist guide
- The yellow pages of course
- A list of independent professionals
- The blue pages of government phone numbers
- A guide to Montevideo
- An excellent map of Montevideo
- An index of Montevideo streets, where they can be found on the map, plus house numbers per street crossings
The Montevideo yellow pages can be accessed online, however the user interface is clumsy and it produces fewer listings than the paper version. Besides, it lacks all the other goodies. The yellow pages are produced by an independent company: Volt Directories SA.
If you ever lived in the US, you know that at least twice a year one or two three-inch thick phone books from competing companies are deposited on your doorstep, unless you sic your dog on them. That is not the case in Montevideo. Yellow pages are prized items only given to Antel clients and even then, just one per telephone number. Every year, you must bring the old phone book to an Abitab office where they will exchange it for a new one. But you MUST bring the old one.
Last time I was in Montevideo, I decided I wanted my own phone book. Not knowing where to start, I asked several people for information. Most were baffled as to why I would want such a thing if I didn’t even have a telephone. The typical answer was that you can only get it after you have a phone. Even Abitab could not help me, only if I had the old phone book. Grrr. After a while, I became obsessed with the idea.
So I went to the Antel office near the Punta Carretas mall and was told they did have them. I was expecting they would hand it to me and that would be all. Not! I was told it would cost me 120 pesos. Surprised, but not ready to die at the beach after swimming across the ocean, I took a number and waited my turn.
The procedure was typical of a monopoly. When my number was called, I was sent to a representative who politely asked me to sit down and explain my case. I gave her my sad story. She said they only had the 2004 edition, I said fine. She filled out a form by hand, after which I had to get in line again at a cashier to pay the fee. The cashier stamped the form and I headed back to the representative. Fortunately, I was first in line this time. She took my newly stamped receipt, stamped it a second time and handed it to me along with the phone book. I was happy. Bus fare, 60 cents, two-year old phone book, 5 dollars. Pleasure of unlocking the secrets, priceless.
Other posts in Montevideo- Ten Things I Love About Montevideo
- Furniture Moving and Delivery in Montevideo
- Real Estate Investment Risks in Uruguay
- Overview of Crime in Uruguay
- Observations about Dogs in Uruguay
- Where to Buy the Best Uruguayan Empanadas
- Fresh Fruits Available in Uruguay
- Description of the Arrival Process at the Carrasco Airport
- An Overview of the Laundry Services in Uruguay
- An Overview the Main Supermarkets in Uruguay
- Furniture Moving and Delivery in Montevideo
- Water and Sewer Costs in Uruguay
- Which ATM Cards Work in Uruguay?
- Uruguayan Links
- Links to Articles About Transportation in Uruguay
- Plug and Outlet Adaptors Used in Uruguay
- Cost of Electricity in Uruguay
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7 Responses to “Yellow Pages”
When I was visiting Montevideo last year, I asked the desk clerk at my hotel if they had a spare phone book that I could keep, and she handed me one (one or two years old). So that’s something else to try!
Good tip, unfortunately it did not work for me. The Apart Hotel I stayed in did not have any phone books and the front desk was not of much help when I asked where I could get one.
I agree that the yellow pages are better than the web for finding businesses, but as Brazzie mentions, they are far from complete. Sometimes you just have to visit in person to find the phone number.
Excellent point, sometimes the best way to find a business is to walk by it. For example, the lavadero I went to did not have a phone and therefore was not findable via the phone book. Also a good percentage of small businesses go under within a two year time frame. So the phone book will always contain a number of “dead links”
And you have to walk by when they’re open! Many of the tiny shops seem to completely disappear when they are closed — it looks like just another door on the street; no signs to show that it’s a business. (I thought I was losing it when several places I *knew* I’d seen “weren’t there” the next time I walked by!)
Shirley, I had a similar experience in La Paloma. I needed a taxi and was told to walk two blocks to a taxi dispatching central.
Six blocks later, I still couldn’t find it so I walked back. When I was close to where I had started, I saw a taxi pulling next to a place a had passed by, twice. When I walked to it again, I noticed there was NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that it was a business of any kind. It was an open door with a lady sitting on a chair tomando mate.
Not that I agree that you can easily find the information you want in Uruguay,or that the following services are complete or world-class, but these might help sometimes:
http://www.antel.com.uy/portal/hgxpp001.aspx?2,361,826,O,S,0,MNU;E;287;1;MNU;,
http://www.volt.com.uy/HomePage/HomePage.asp