A chaotic Delhi street
As the taxi driver took us through the outskirts of Damascus, I could almost predict his words before they were delivered. He had collected us from the bus station, and being almost the only Europeans on the bus he had pounced on us and offered us a ride into town. Sure enough, the patter unfolded as planned: the hotel we had asked him to take us to is full (then rubbish, then expensive) and he knows a much better one for 10% of the price. “Very clean sir”. I smiled and politely told him that we had already paid in full for the hotel, but he continued selling us the virtues of the Hotel Magic. Eventually defeated, he dropped us by the hotel and after a brief disagreement on rates we parted with a smile.
This encounter will sound very familiar to many who read this. Particularly in Asia and Africa, the majority of taxi rides (in my experience) involve some element of hassle (although usually minor). It’s not only taxis. Local guides will offer to take you around a site for a low fee and then ask for treble the amount in a tip, usually telling a story of poverty and the struggle they have bringing up a large family. Maybe a rickshaw driver will take a long detour to your destination, via a craft centre or a “very good restaurant”. And waiters will add a little extra to the bill, hoping that it is not scrutinised and paid in cash.
It can be tiring and it can be annoying, and can take away from the impression we get of a place. After all, when planning our trip do we build into that dream the need to be ever vigilant with those who we meet and the constant attention from hawkers or beggars?
It is easy to snap at people, particularly if they are the last of many in a day to have tried to seperate you from your dollars. I have done it, and am ashamed to say so. A taxi driver who charged me $4 for a trip back to a hotel where it had been less than a dollar on the way out had me seeing red, and I ended up giving him $2 and slamming the door in anger. Similarly the guy in Damascus who expected us to pay $12 for a couple of colas and a few pistachio nuts. We agreed on around $5 but not before some hassle.
But if I try and put myself in the shoes of those drivers or guides, I think it’s easier to have some empathy with the motives for these often crude tactics. The very fact that we have come to visit the country is a perceived statement of our wealth. The association of tourists with money is a deep rooted and usually accurate one. The $2 that I held back from that taxi driver is more than a day’s income for some people; for us it takes a few minutes to earn.
With a bit of our “loose change” a man can make a real difference to his family. Does he see the inequality in our circumstances as fair? I probably wouldn’t if I were him. I just happen to be fortunate enough to have been raised in a relatively wealthy and stable country, while he has had to work extremely hard just to put bread on the family table. Would I have qualms about asking for a little more from a wealthy tourist to get something for my children in that situation? I doubt it.
I still don’t like being scammed and will resist someone trying to take advantage where I can. Each one of us who shells out money to a scammer or beggar to mollify our own guilt is only making life harder for those who follow. But if I can stop for a minute and think about why the person is trying to get a little extra from me, I might just be able to treat them with the dignity they deserve, even if not with the dollars they want. And surely that makes for a better travel experience for me too.
The ABC of trekking - what is and what's not cool
Hi Andy – enjoyed today’s post and can identify with the experince at both ends of the scale. I had a great time haggling over goods at a market on the side of the road in Nairobi a few years back; I then left feeling a little bit guilty at having paid so little for that man’s craft. On the other hand I still have a bad taste in my mouth to this day about the Hungarian policemen that took one of our party’s passport and wouldn’t return it until we had given him money for a driving offence… what that offence was I still have no idea!! – thanks for the coffee yesterday
Hi Martin, yes I guess corrupt policemen are one group where the understanding and sympathy need not apply. As for the haggling, there is usually some expectation of a bit of this. It’s no bad thing to engage in a bit of banter with a seller and get a little off. There’s a line to be drawn between friendly haggling and just being mean. If someone has made something by hand and is only asking for a dollar or two for it, that’s the time to ask if it worth trying to get another 10% off.
Good to meet up yesterday. Enjoyed the natter.
Living in Africa and having to continually deal with being ripped off wears one out, totally… no-one minds paying a fair price for anything, but when overpriced extortion goes on and on and just because one is white (not even a tourist), one is perceived as being rich, is utterly exhausting… it infuriates me… and if it becomes common knowledge that visiting a particular country is going to be a rip off, tourists will decrease… tourists generally dont like it and its a negative… many of those here in Kenya providing a service and trying to rip one off, often earn much more money than I do… they just stash it away and you would never know… until one day one discovers how much land and how many cows they own… dont be tricked by the old sympathy trick… (A, you dont need to publish this if you dont want to
I wont be offended…)
I wouldn’t censor you Tjitske (and in any case, you are now in the elite of non-moderated posters so your comment went live immediately). It must be annoying for you still being ripped off even though it’s your home. And like you say there is a definite consequence on the tourism industry as places get a bad name for getting conned. I suspect the people who carry out the scams are not interested in the long-term prosperity of their country, or at least don’t believe their actions will affect it.
I found that the only way to not have this happen is to become native. I know that is almost impossible with language barriers and if you are a tall white guy like me. But I got so good at blending in while I lived in Brazil that I had no troubles at all. Another good way to travel is to go to places that have little to no tourists then the people are less prepared to manipulate you. They are also in shock of seeing you and that distraction can give you the advantage.
Rhett out
Hi Rhett, I agree that in areas where people are less used to seeing tourists you are more likely to be greeted with hospitality than deceit. One of the best parts of visiting little explored destinations is that curiosity that you can find, something that fades as people get used to the flow of visitors. There’s less of those places out there, but there are still more than enough for us to see.
Thanks for posting.
Andy
Great post Andy, well balanced and written with restraint, which I know is hard to do sometimes. I’ve written on this topic several times on my blog (for instance, http://xrl.in/3mzp) and it’s difficult to stop it turning into a cuss-filled rant.
In Thailand it seems that this attitude is finally catching up to the scammers – when embassies start to officially warn their citizens off of buying stuff at the country’s main airport because of scams, you know it’s gotten out of hand. It’s as if these guys have no inkling of the concept of ’cause and effect’, and are seeing how it works firsthand. Unfortunately, the only way to combat it is by being very street smart, and by being a bit of a hardass, things which not everyone can (or is willing to) do.
At any rate, the more we write about it, the more word gets out.
Greg
I have to admit. It is pretty common in Asia. But hope that this will not deter people from visiting Asian countries. The best tip would be to do some research online so that you know roughly the fair price to pay. That would make bargaining easier and you would also be more confident that you are not overpaying or overbargaining!
This was always an interesting conundrum when we were on our RTW, particularly in parts of Asia and India. The thing that we found helped the absolute most was a big, warm smile. Trying to keep your head, even when it’s about to blow off, is key in these situations (I know that sometimes it’s just impossible, and if you’ve been traveling for a while or just had a bad day, you’re going to blow up sooner or later-it has and will happen to all of us). But smiling and firmly saying, “No, that’s not what we agreed on,” or “it’s not what’s fair” or ‘that’s not what it cost me yesterday for the same ride into town” is helpful. Particularly in SE Asia (at least in our experience), they respond much better to calm, smiling disagreements rather than loud voices and anger.
We’ve been targeted in most places on our way to the World Cup through West Africa. On the whole, we can understand it and we don’t blame the locals for trying it on. It’s good practice for our negotiation skills. What we can handle is when it’s happening with corrupt officials. What can you do when they are going to throw you out of or deny you entry to their country?
In Nigeria it destroyed our bank balance but the major issue was how frequent it was and what’s painful to see is how it’s considered the norm and seaps into daily operations…
Pull your socks up Nigeria. We’re glad to say though, it was only officials in one country out of the past 12 here that we’ve had issues with – West Africa is amazing and everybody should go.
I don’t think thieves deserve a lot of dignity. Yes, I can understand why people steal. But Donald Trump makes more in a few minutes than I make in a day–does that give me the right to add a couple of hundred bucks to his bill and pocket it if he came into my restaurant?
Stop making excuses for jerks. Yes, it’s one thing if you and your children are starving. But most of the people that rip me off are living pretty comfortably, they just think stealing from tourists doesn’t count. We shouldn’t excuse that sort of behavior.
I don’t snap over a few dollars. But when I’m being taken for 10′s or 100′s of dollars in a transaction, it’s a slightly different story. Like the taxi driver in Santiago trying to convince me that 50000 pesos was a “fantastic” deal to a hotel that was less than 5 minutes drive away. I know I can get a private transfer from the hotel for 2000 pesos. The guy then gets aggressive with me and swears at me when I point that out and mention it’s not my first time in the city…In spanish. I actually find that the “scams” are less annoying than the fact that they automatically assume you’re a total idiot.
Having travelled around the world i see everything in what everyone has written and been in every situation.
Alot of the time it depends on your own mood for the day or what has happened before the situation.
One good tip i can advise only were possible is… once in Sri Lanka myself and my gf were being approached by a guide/tout, i was in good mood and once he started to speak to us in ENGLISH i started to speak in gobbly goook with the odd eeerrr sorryyy my Ingalish is not good and my gf trying to keep a straight face joined in, he looked confused and soon gave up.
My point is, some places you are approached every 20 mins and it can get annoying , this way they give up and it can be fun at the same time without getting into an argument, just looked confused and utter eerrrr ssoooorrriiee !
I totally agree. You can’t understand someone until you first walk a mile in his shoes. Life is survival for many people in the world. They have children to feed and will do anything they can to do that. I understand why many travelers do get scammed. i always try to think of this to ease my anger and frustration. We once had $100 US nimbly stolen from my husband’s money belt by some small children selling coca cola in Cambodia. Once we realized it was gone, we immediately allowed ourselves to feel, instead of anger, a sense of gratitude that the money, relatively small to us, may have gone to feed a family for a month. Change your perception, change your life
I do not enjoy attempted scams. It’s hassle. Unpleasant. And it riles me. Not so that I’m vile to the person involved, but it leaves a bad sensation for a while afterwards.
But much of what you describe just sounds like par for the course. With big prices, now I’ve been doing it for a while, I can genuinely keep it all at open laughing level. Having even a little of the local language — even just the numbers — helps immensely. And, to be honest, if you agree fares before you go anywhere — and get out if the meter’s fast, eg — you shouldn’t really encounter too much trouble.
I also don’t object to (for example) paying slightly more than the local price on a bus or a train, something I’ve seen a lot of travellers get ludicrously arsey about, given they’ll spend five times the difference on a beer without blinking, and the money, as Caz says, makes a difference to their lives.
I expect to pay a bit more than the local price for most stuff unless I’ve got a local haggling for me. I kind of see this as a wealth tax at source, quite an effective redistribution: so I’d let an extra on the bill slide through (though, I have to say, not a $12 bill like the one you itemise above — to be honest, though, where there’s no menu I will always check prices verbally unless I’ve been in several identical places and know the prices.
I also just shrug off the “hotel full” shit — I get out, pay the agreed or metered fare, and talk to the hotel myself.
As a Westerner — as anyone who is lucky enough to be able to travel outside the country of their birth — my disposable income exceeds these guys’ by factors of ten and I am immensely privileged to be there. My Macbook, for example, costs more than a pedicab driver in Manila earns in a year.
So I guess, the query is, what do we mean by scams here?
I’ve had a couple of very challenging ones in Vietnam. A woman refusing to let me on a boat which was in front of me and insisting that it had already left — then that it was full, then that the police were on board — so my son and I had to pay $20 US to take two buses and a fast boat with her. This was hassle. It was unpleasant. It raised my blood pressure, and it would have fucked up my day.
As, for that matter, did the cab driver who put us on the phone to what he insisted was our hotel, took us there, where they continued to insist, against all evidence of signage and address, that this was where we were going.
And, you know what, I’ve done the put the money down and storm off thing. Also in Vietnam. I gave a guy an address for the other half of a return trip. He quoted me the price I’d agreed before. He then took me to the wrong address. When he took me to the right one, he wanted triple the money. So I gave him the right money and walked off.
I respect the creativity and skill involved in delivering advanced scams. But I do still sometimes let it fuck up my day. And, to be honest, I wish I didn’t…