Where can I find a "concierge" service for foreigners?

Taiwan Where Can I Find...?
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I’ve previously seen a couple websites or Facebook pages where local Taiwanese fluent in English market themselves to foreigners for tasks involving research or communication in Chinese - stuff like apartment search, ecommerce, communication with third parties like doctors, etc.

I’m having trouble finding any of these websites now, though - has anyone heard of or hired a service like this? I have local friends who are willing to help me when my Chinese fails, but this is more about offloading a substantial task than asking a question or two.

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I don’t think this kind of service exists in Taiwan. If it does, it wouldn’t be a very sustainable business model because most Taiwanese are kind enough to do this for you for free.

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Someone told me I should do that, except I don’t think there’s any foreigners who will pay me to do that when they got taiwanese wives who will do that for them.

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I was looking into this a while ago and found this company, which looks pretty good. I haven’t tried them yet, but may in the future. I’d be very interested in hearing a review if you try them out.

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I vaguely recall a woman who advertised such a service on forumosa a few years back.

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I think she was a nurse offering to help foreign residents navigate the health system

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Amex Platinum concierge service is decent, up to a point, and when they can’t do something (e.g. apt search) they’ll make an effort to find somebody who can.

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I thought someone was offering services here recently and it looked fairly organized and professional.

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Interesting, I didn’t know about that. If you don’t mind sharing, what are some of the things you’ve used them for successfully?

Thanks! This isn’t exactly what I’m looking for but does have some substantial overlap. If I try them out I’ll let you know what my experience was like.

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From their webpage, they say that they can serve as your representative in some limited matters, like document authentication (example: Document Authentication by Straits Exchange Foundation - MONTORU翻訳会社).

Based on their willingness to represent you in limited matters, it may be possible if you submit a custom inquiry that they might be able to represent you in other matters as well, like going to government offices on your behalf to take care of paperwork.

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Mostly my wife, the most random shopping stuff or hotel and flight scheduling, except she never actually lets them make the purchases because she’s a deal hound. :smirk:

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