UETA Duty Free

The WORST F******** SERVICE EVER! FIRST TIME HERE AND LAST TIME! Sorry but Maria and Karla go eat a f****** d@%*!! I was about to purchase 100 of liquor and decided not to purchase! Most disrespectful ppl working here! What happen to customer service? If I could I would give you NO STAR WHAT SO EVER! Never talk back to a customer especially with a f**** attitude! rather spend a couple more dollars where I get respect!

It’s like being in the duty free store at the airport except that you’re not in an airport, and you’re probably just on your way to Tijuana for whatever debauchery you had planned in Mexico. If you buy ANYTHING, you must either pay tax on it if you’re keeping it in the US, or allow them to put it on a little conveyor belt that shuttles it out across the border for you where you will receive your products DUTY FREE and ready to take to Mexico.
I’m sure everything in that store can be purchased in Mexico for a significantly cheaper price, but how much of it can you bring back to the US? Anyway, I was here to use the restroom as I was waiting for family to return from Mexico. The men’s rooms are relatively clean, indeed. Parking in the lot is $ 7, but is free for 2 hours if you’ve purchased an excess of $ 30 in goods. I was there for about three hours and only paid $ 7, so I guess it’s an all-​day thing. I can’t be sure.

CASH ONLY parking lot! After spending a night in Tijuana and shopping in their store (not meeting minimum parking credit requirement) I drove up the booth to pay and they said CASH only! This is 2011! What’s up with this? Terrible, now I have to park across the freeway and walk over, I don’t like carrying cash around there, they really need to change this horrible parking situation.

File this under «great deals in history»
1 bottle of Mc Callan 18yr Scotch — Regularly $ 135 — $ 150 msrp + Arnold’s cut — Ueta price…$ 99!
1 bottle of Johnny Walker Gold Label — Regularly $ 74 — $ 89 msrp + Ca. vig — Ueta price …$ 55!
1 bottle of Johnny Walker Green Label regularly $ 45 — $ 59 msrp + Sacramento extortion — Ueta price… wait for it…$ 25!!!
Would have paid $ 299 for three bottles of premium Scotch. At Ueta I paid $ 179!
That is a 40% savings.
What did I need to do for this honey of a deal you ask? The catch (and there is always a catch) is that 1: I had to buy all three bottles… no problem there since for all intents and purposes, I bleed whiskey. Those three bottles will be dry by January 1^st 2010. 2: The bottles must leave US territory. They literally escort you to the Mexican border, pat you on the butt and send you into Tijuana.
Fact: You can only bring back one bottle of liquor per U.S. law, per 30 day period back with you from Mexico…
It is a conundrum to be sure. You have some choices in this scenario.
Option 1: Consume 3 bottles of Scotch in Tijuana with friends and count your blessings. Not practical. That’s a lot of Scotch even for me.
Option 2: Keep them there, at a friends house. Visit them from time to time and drink them little by little.
Option 3: I guess drive there once a month and bring one every 30 days (that’s the law Jack!)
There’s not a bad option to chose from here. They have ridiculous deals here.
Holidays are a comin’ folks. Ho-​Ho-​ho.

See my review of Baja Duty Free for an example of Duty Free shopping.
I actually prefer this store over Baja Duty Free.
Sometimes, they offer killer deals, like %15 to 20% off already killer deals. That means you can get a bottle of Stoli for like…6 bucks?
Insane. (Of course, it needs to be consumed in Mexico… and by their escorting your nalga to the Mexico, they’ll make sure you do.)
I love the service here, the selection of fine liquors, and the SPEED at which they get you outta there. The slowness of Baja Duty Free had me shopping their less frequently and over here more.
This place is really my favorite Duty Free establishment in the San Ysidro area.