After I read the article in the newspaper about those Japanese tourists calling the police in a Pisa restaurant because they were charged 260€ for some pasta, I visited Pisa for the first time.
I wanted to see the Leaning Tower and spend a night there and I did not even think about that whole pasta-police-260€uro thing at all. But the next day, after I saw the tower, went to a Chinese restaurant and spent the night for 40€ in a small hotel, something happened again to me while I am traveling Italy.
The day I arrived in Pisa I had a cappuccino in a coffee bar across the Piazza off the train station. (Bar Nuova Cofer, Piazza Stazione 23, Pisa, Italy) I paid 1.10€, which is ok. The next morning, before I wanted to take the train, I went there again, but this time with my two backpacks, because I was on the way to take the train. I stood at the same spot at the bar, ordered the cappuccino the same way, and had to pay 2€uro!
Hmm. I looked at that lady and told here in my broken Italian and then in English, that it is very surprising that the price of a cappuccino went up 90€cents overnight. I told her what I had paid just 16 hours earlier. The answer struck me like a punch from a kangaroo. “I am sorry that you had to pay 1.10€ yesterday, it was a mistake.
NO! The mistake was that 16 hours earlier the guy at the bar thought I was Italian and today I walked in like a tourist. 90 cents (1.30$US) is a joke. It is the thought of doing with us tourists what they want.
This wasn´t the first time this happened. In Florence me and some friends went out for dinner, and the price of a tomato-mozzarella salad changed from 4.50€ on the menu to 7.40€ on the bill.
So, my advice to you all out there, no matter if you are just having a cappuccino in a bar or if you are having a nice dinner in a restaurant in Italy, decide what you would like to order, tell the waiter what you want, and let him tell you before you have dinner, what you will pay. If he looks a bit stupid, just say, that we tourist are learning how to avoid and handle rip-offs in Italy. It might sound stupid, but that way, you will save some of your hard earned money.
Posted by backpackernews on 2008-05-02 11:44:27 | Rating: | Views: 95
Do you honestly think it helps to say "we are tourists and dont want to be ripped off"?? I dont think so. You were a guest in a foreign land. Your ways may be different. Italy is a land that likes to haggle and bargain. Perhaps you could have insisted you pay less cuz the service was not to your liking? That might work better. But, also, might it be wise to see a menu and be aware of the prices? If the price changes too greatly from the written menu, then you could argue it. Is that so hard? Greeks are nicer:) But, dont ruin the ruins, k?
well thank you for your input on my blog. having traveled 137 countries around the globe and being in italy for about 7 times (14months at all) i think that italy deserves it to try and rip-off people visting. and the people visiting deserve doing all against it. italy is not an african, asian or arabic country. it is part of the EU and in the G7. so bargaining is only at the markets where you buy leather goods and else, not in restaurants, hostels or hotels. you always need to remember and keep in mind what country you are in, what the country shows to the world and what it asks for. italian mentality is different, true, but it does not give the right to screw the rest of the world. tourism, politics, economy etc etc.
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