5 Most Unreliable Services in Brazil

No. 1 - TELEPHONE service (fixed and mobile) is the all-time champion of complaints with PROCON (Brazil's Consumer Protection Agency). In many cities fixed telephones are out of service for many hours as the result of theft of telephone wires and cables. Mobile service complaints range from extremely poor coverage and weak signals, unexplained and unwarranted charges, credits that simply lose their validity (pre-paid cellular phones), lack of customer service and rude attendants.

No. 2 - INTERNET, not far behind telephone service in terms of complaints. Internet that is down for hours at a time and in some places this happens on an almost daily basis and velocity that is far less than what the customer has contracted for. Sad to say the rules imposed by ANATEL only require 1/3 of the velocity that each package is supposed to have.

No. 3 - POSTAL SERVICE, Regular mail service anywhere in Brazil is appalling. Even sending a letter to another country by Registered Mail can take upwards of a month to arrive at its destination. I recently sent two envelopes Registered Mail to Canada, it took one full month. In fact, it took 10 days just to get from the post office in Macaé - RJ where I posted the envelopes to the state distribution center in Rio de Janeiro from where it was routed to Canada. You're virtually forced to use the much more expensive SEDEX or SEDEX 10 service for important and time-sensitive correspondence. Also there is absolutely no consistency in delivery, just this year alone I've had 3 government checks from Canada simply disappear in the mail. The only thing I can do is request a replacement check (you guessed it - by mail of course!) and wait this can take up to 5 months or more. Parcel post is risky at best, theft of small parcels (especially from major chain stores) is alarmingly frequent because postal workers know they usually contain cellular phones, laptop computers and other electronics that are easily sold on the black market. Robbers also target postal vehicles for the electronic equipment that they often carry too. If your sensitive documents and negotiable instruments just happen to be in that vehicle, kiss them goodbye because chances are likely they'll never be seen again.

No. 4 - ELECTRICITY, the infrastructure for electric distribution is precarious at best in Brazil. No matter what city you're in, you need only to look above you on the power poles to see the varitable "birds nest" of wires hanging everywhere. Every year in Brazil numerous people are seriously injured and killed by electrical discharges from metal power poles, wire fences that have come in contact with live wires, etc. Power outages are so common in Brazil that every family has a supply of candles ready to be used at a moment's notice. Ususally even at the first sign of rain or a storm power will go out.

No. 5 - WATER, Last but not least is the undependable and spotty supply of piped water in most Brazilian cities. In most cities tap water is not even fit for human consumption unless you heavily filter or purify it first. As if that's not bad enough interruptions of the water supply are extremely common. Since most buildings have a water box (caixa de água) through which the city water supply enters the home, consumers don't even know that water service has been interrupted until the water box runs dry and the flow of water comes to an abrupt stop (usually right in the middle of your shower). This winter has been one of the driest in recent history and São Paulo's reservoir system has virtually dried up completely. This has produced rotating outages and fears of water rationing for the past several months.