Almost got ripped off!
 

RANT=ON

Friggen 3rd world countries!

There is a very nice service station just outside the hotel. I wanted some bottled water and a couple of cokes for the room, so I don't have to pay mini-bar prices for them.

Here in Romania, they just changed the currency. They took the old stuff (Lei) and changed to to new stuff (New Lei or RON) and divided for 10,000.

So the chick at the cash register points at the amount and (in hand gestures) that I am not giving her enough. I am pretty sure the bill I'm giving her is equal to about $30 (100 RON). I just took this stuff out of an ATM, so I'm thinking that _MAYBE_ I took out $2 instead of $200 in local currancy.

So, I end up giving her 3x100 bills. I walk directly to the front desk and ask the clerk if these are new or old and describe what happened. "It is not possible. It should be no more than 20 new Lei.".

I immediately walk back and encounter one of the hotel staff who speaks english and I tell him what happened. We go together and she is, I can't tell by the words, but by her demener, she is saying it was a simple mistake. BULL****!!! She was only being like that because she was caught.

This is the only reason I hate going around new countries by myself. They always _TRY_ to rip you off.

RANT=OFF

On the other hand, what you were being taken for could have been like a month or two salary for her... not saying that it was right, but if you are considering it a $10 ripoff at whatever you earn, it may be more understandable if you put it in that perspective.

I don't believe that makes a case for dishonesty. If Red wanted to tip her the = of an American buck, then he can do that and probably get the best service around each time he goes to the counter. This woman is just a slut.

But, like a New York cabbie trying to take the long route and hiking the rates, shortchanging, overcharging or currency exchange deciet is not cool.

James, what the hell are you doing there anyway? I thought you went to TX from CA. Foreign enough right there for me.

I was in Germany with a buddy of mine. We has just arrived. He went into a cigar shop and bought a couple cubans. We are walking along and he has this quizzical look on his face. He asks me the exchange rate, then says, "Shhhhhhhiiiiiiiiitttttt". "What?", I ask. "I just payed $100 for 2 cigars." We went back the next day. No mistake. The stink sticks were $50 each.

It was about $40USD ripoff and I expect she makes around that much a week. I have put it in perspective. It just pisses me off that people will try this stuff. Oh well, at least I'm smart enough to know when I'm being ripped off and know what I need to do when it happens. This is why I usually have one of our local people with me. I'm on my own this weekend.

Milt, It's business. I'm building the project department for my company and running the first few projects to help me get the right perspective.

I've worked around the world quite a bit, so I can usually tell when a problem is happening. I can'r always fix it as easily as tonight, but I can usually tell when a problem happens.

When I was in Bombay (1980's) , the Taxi drivers would try to tell you the meter read in dollars. Yup, nice try...

From the looks of it, it's an $84 ripoff....

My math's right on this, right?



I feel redbeard's frustration though. No one likes to be ripped off.

Dude, I think you were ripped off more money....

if $30=100 Lei, you gave her 3-100 Lei, that's 90 bucks.
If the items cost around 20 Lei, that's around 6 bucks.

So if she kept all the 300 Lei (90 bucks) and the items cost 20 Lei (6 bucks), you got ripped for 84 buckaroos.....

Exchange rate is around 3 RON to 1 USD. She took 300 RON and gave me change as though I gave her 100 RON, and pocketed 200 RON. So, yep, it was closer to $60-70 bucks.

A good machinst makes $500 USD per month. A Store clerk makes about $120-150 USD/month. So, she was trying to make a quick 2 weeks pay.

As I say, this is why I usually don't try to go around by myself. Calling Bull**** on someone in a foriegn country is difficult when your language skills there are not so good. Romanian, while it is a romance lanuage (latin based) it is the farthest one from Latin. There is a very large influence the slavic tongues. Yes = "da", not "Si or Oui".

In Romania, everything is cheap and everything is possible...perhaps you should have arranged a 'trade' with her? Or her sister? Or her girlfriend?

All I can say is her sister would need to be much better looking...

OK...how about her brother????

similar thing happened to me in Paris. I hate the French

Like it's hard NOT to hate the French?

I travel the Caribbean (PR and the DR) quite alot and have only rarely had anyone try that. In PR they use USD so the problem is just being overcharged. In the DR they use the Dom Peso at 30 DP to 1USD. Believe it or not I've never been hustled in the DR. Guess they need the incoming dollars too much to risk any backlash. Though I hardly think the DR police would be sympathetic to me if I were ripped off.

It happens here as well. Ask a foreinger how much a cab from JFK to Manhatten cost them.

My Grandmother came over from Germany on her yearly visit. She's 80 years old so they take her off the plane in a wheelchair.

She goes to tip the guy and gives him a $100 and asks for change.

Guy claims she gave him a $1 not a $100. She calls BS gets out of wheelchair and pulls another skycap over. Guy 1 empties his pockets and he has a $100 that just so happens to match the sequence of $100's that Grandma picked up from the bank before she left Germany.

Guy claimed it was a mistake.

Yeah, but I can almost guaranty you that cab driver wasn't American. very few of the ones i've met are.
Chances are he learned to be a thief somewhere else.