Day 84: The Solar Panel Contract's Small Print
At home in Hermosillo, Griselda (A) reads through the contract her mother-in-law Hermelinda (B) signed for solar panels, after the company billed her for installation; Profeco is Mexico's consumer protection agency.
How to study this lesson 3 steps
- Read the situation under the title. It says who is talking and how they know each other, which decides how politely they speak.
- Read the dialogue line by line with its translation, until every line makes sense. Point at (or tap) a Spanish word to see what it means.
- Spend at least 30 minutes listening to native Spanish, for example from the Resources page. It doesn't matter if you don't understand it yet.
Dialogue
Audio recordings are on the way. For now, each lesson is the dialogue with its English translation.
Keys: E hide English · ← → previous / next day · point at a word to see its meaning
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A
Ya leí el contrato completo, suegra, y en ningún lado dice que la instalación sea gratuita.
I've read the whole contract now, and nowhere does it say the installation is free.
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B
¿Cómo que no? El muchacho me juró aquí mismo, en esa silla, que no me cobrarían ni un peso.
What do you mean, it doesn't? The young man swore to me right here, in that chair, that they wouldn't charge me a peso.
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A
Pues fue el vendedor quien se lo prometió, no el contrato: es en esta cláusula donde estipula que se cobra aparte.
Well, it was the salesman who promised you that, not the contract: it's this clause that stipulates installation costs extra.
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B
Ay, mija, esas letritas ni con lentes las leo. Confié en su palabra, como se hacía antes.
Oh, honey, I can't read that tiny print even with my glasses on. I trusted his word, the way people used to.
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A
¿Y no le dejó nada por escrito? En caso de que tenga algún mensaje suyo, nos servirá muchísimo.
And didn't he leave you anything in writing? If you happen to have a message from him, it'll help us enormously.
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B
Me mandó la cotización por WhatsApp, y la guardé: fue tu hijo quien me enseñó a hacer capturas.
He sent me the quote on WhatsApp, and I kept it: it was your son who taught me to take screenshots.
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A
¡Aquí está! “Instalación incluida, sin costo adicional”, y hasta con el nombre del vendedor.
Here it is! “Installation included, at no extra cost,” and with the salesman's name on it, too.
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B
¿Y eso de qué sirve, si lo que firmé dice otra cosa? Ya no quiero pleitos a mi edad.
And what good is that, if what I signed says something else? I don't want any fights at my age.
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A
Sirve de mucho: lo ofrecido por escrito también los obliga. Mañana, en la Profeco, esta captura hablará por usted.
Plenty of good: what's offered in writing binds them too. Tomorrow, at Profeco, this screenshot will do the talking for you.
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