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Can you haggle in Italy at less formal places like a sidewalk vendor? Or a taxi? Is there any haggling at all like in Mexico?
I've haggled at street markets in Rome and Naples and in Sicily before, but I don't know about bargaining at vendors in touristy areas. In Mexico, yeah, I'm used to bargaining for everything. My take at the time was the guy raised the price when he saw two English speaking teenage tourists(we looked pretty young at the time) and just hoped we were gullible. We just didn't bother trying to bargain for bottle of water when there was a place down the street selling it for $1-$2.
In the early seventies our boss invited us for a weekend trip from Munich to Lago di Garda, (from Germany to Italy). First night out we had fabulous dinner, pizza and beer, probably the best meal I had in my life, and the bill came, in today's dollars, to maybe $ 800, for the eight of us.
We were taken for tourists, speaking German and Hungarian.
My boss had a calculator, asked for the menu, and within half a minute showed our waiter what the actual bill should be, about $ 200, give and take a few billion liras.
The waiter never apologized, simply shrugged, took the $ 200 and a small tip.
In the US the manager would have been called, the apologies would pour in, the waiter severely disciplined. How do I know? I worked as a busboy and waiter in our country for two years.
Now my wife wants to see the "old country", Spain and Italy next year, once I'm fully and completely retired from work. She hasn't been to Europe, not once.
If I had a choice, (what wishful thinking) I'd rather redo all the root canals I had in the last 67 years.
This is the greatest country, ever, and we don't even realize it.
Seriously though, how naive do you have to be to purchase something without checking the price?
Who would even consider that some clip shop is going to try to charge you $50 for ice cream? I wouldn't tolerate that kind of highway robbery here in Canada anymore than I would tolerate it in any other First World nation. Remember, someone can only take advantage of you with your permission.
Who would even consider that some clip shop is going to try to charge you $50 for ice cream? I wouldn't tolerate that kind of highway robbery here in Canada anymore than I would tolerate it in any other First World nation. Remember, someone can only take advantage of you with your permission.
Oh lord, I was well traveled and living in Spain at the time. I had already been to: Mexico(hundreds of times), Haiti, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, England, Switzerland, Germany, Portugal, and France. I am also a bilingual/bicultural person. Is that travel enough for you?
I never had that experience in any other country.
$10-15 euros for tap water and a tiny slice of old bread is a rip-off and I don't agree- I'm not a mind reader. If it would have been a decent charge, I wouldn't have minded actually. I would have understood.
You are right, people should choose carefully where they want to visit. I choose to never visit Rome again.
It's common practice in Portugal, so I'm really surprised you hadn't encountered it before.
Yes, they should check prices first, but it is clearly a tourist trap and they are NOT providing a valid service to society. Their consumers would not purchase there if they were aware of the other options, but they are preying on the ignorance of tourists.
Yes, they should check prices first, but it is clearly a tourist trap and they are NOT providing a valid service to society. Their consumers would not purchase there if they were aware of the other options, but they are preying on the ignorance of tourists.
Which goes back to my point that tourists who don't take a few minutes to educate themselves really can't complain when they are taken advantage of.
In the US the manager would have been called, the apologies would pour in, the waiter severely disciplined. How do I know? I worked as a busboy and waiter in our country for two years.
Well, they were scammers, nothing more than criminals. Normal people would have apologized, but those simply don't care. You won't return anyway. They don't want to earn money by providing top service and good food, they just want to rip people off.
Quote:
Originally Posted by annerk
Which goes back to my point that tourists who don't take a few minutes to educate themselves really can't complain when they are taken advantage of.
Personally, I would have left without paying the full price. If they really want to call the police, fine. Laws governing usury (?) or "laesio enormis" do exist in Italy. I mean, a service fee of €6 for some bread etc. would be fine with me, but €50 for ice cream?
Personally, I would have left without paying the full price. If they really want to call the police, fine. Laws governing usury (?) or "laesio enormis" do exist in Italy. I mean, a service fee of €6 for some bread etc. would be fine with me, but €50 for ice cream?
Well that's actually 13 euros per gelato. Anyway, that place is a scam:
51 reviews on TripAdvisor including 48 1-star reviews. Of course I wouldn't have checked TA if I had only wanted gelato.
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