Here’s a Facebook posting from a friend who is in Italy with his family:
As we approached the city, we stopped to get fuel at a normal rest area with an Esso station. It was expensive – 1.609 Euros per liter, (I had previously never paid over 1.2) but Italy seemed to be that way at every station. My wife filled up the van while I went inside to buy ice cream for me and the kids. I bought three Magnum bars that came to 6.9 Euros total. I started to hand my Amex card to the guy on the left. The guy on the right signaled for me to give the card to him. I did, and he handed me a receipt, and then the guy on the left handed me another receipt. I walked out to the van, and my phone popped up an Amex “foreign transaction” alert for 69 Euros. I looked at the first receipt and it said 69 Euros. I went back inside, took the photos of the guys, and then demanded my 69 Euros back. They acted surprised, and like it was a mistake. I waited for the money. They asked me if cash was ok, and handed me 69 Euros from the register. I left.
I then asked my wife how much the fuel came to. She said 130 Euros. That seemed like a lot, even for 1.609 per liter. I did the math and they would have needed to put in 80.8 liters to come to that. The van has an 80 liter tank, and it was almost 1/4 full when we pulled in. I estimated that he overcharged us by almost 30 Euros. It was odd that the receipt had no details on it. I went to the guy who ran the pump, and asked for 30 Euros. I don’t understand Italian, but he was pretending nothing was wrong. I then went inside and talked to the guy who had ripped me off for the iced-creams, and he went into the fuel computer and eventually pulled out a transaction for pump 21 that was for 130 Euros and 80 liters and claimed that was mine. I didn’t accept it, as it was not possible to put 80 liters into my tank, and asked for my 30 Euros again. He then pulled out a second transaction that was for 106 Euros and 65 liters. That was as expected. He then called over someone who may have been a manager, and I showed him the two receipts. I then went to the guy who ran the pump again and asked for my money again, and said I would call the Police. The manager-looking guy asked him to cough up the money, and he gave me 24 Euros from his own wallet. We learned to pay by cash in Naples.
We drove away, and then had to pay a toll when entering the city. It was over 56 Euros – the largest toll I have ever heard of. This time, we used cash and handed 70 Euros. The toll booth attendant shorted us 10 Euros of change. I would not leave or let other cars behind me go until he gave me 10 Euros. I then got his attention and took his photo. Lesson number two – use only exact change when you pay in cash.
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I’m wondering what the Italian translation for “That American from Hell” is….
Good for your friend. Two things:
1) AMEX told me in May that they were ceasing foreign transaction fees as of 6/1.
2) We took a Med. cruise in May that included Florence, Rome, Naples, and Venice. When one of our cruise mates asked his Florence-based Italian friend for travel advice for Naples – his answer was, “Don’t go.” We had no issues, but clearly caution is the order of the day for Naples.
So he got his ice cream for free?
We hired a driver for our car trip in southern Italy. Better to enjoy the ride and leave the crazy traffic and twisty mountain roads to the locals.
At Italian motorway service stations there are pumps where you are served (and possibly robbed) and pumps where you serve yourself. The served pumps cost way more a liter than the others. Pick your pump – the one with the man waving to you is not the best choice.
Playing with the decimal points while charging twice is a new one on me – but all points to you and holding out for the cash – although I doubt that will discourage the robbery of the next foreign victim.
Personally I will do anything to avoid driving through Italy these days – cant see the “romance” for the disorganised mess myself.
Here is my experience when I was in China 2 years ago on business trip:
During one of my cab experience, I handed 100 yen for the trip and it was returned back to me as “no good” with no reason why. I handed a second 100 yen and the same. The driver finally accepted the 4th 100 yen. When I got back to the hotel, I gave 200 yen at the cafeteria and in a bit the wateriest returned it saying it was fake. Turned out, the cab driver tricked me into flipping the real ones to the fake ones. The hotel manager told me this is common in China especially with foreigners.
So, using cash may not be the answer.
Holidays in Italy. Without speaking the language. You’re asking for whatever comes your way, especially if you decide to travel anywhere south of Florence. Full disclosure: I was born there, speak the language as my first language and I have travelled the place extensively, plenty of time south of Florence.
I have neighbors who are extensive travelers of Italy. Their single sentence description (we are southerners): “Crooked as a dog’s hind leg.”
Was in France last summer. I was flipping through a travel guide my mother had brought for a few minutes before heading out for the day. I happened upon a small section about safe traveling and scams where they described on common scam in which someone approaches you pretending to have found an old piece of jewlery. How silly. That very day, we’re enjoying a shady park bench near one of the museums and here comes a guy pretending to pick something from the ground(barren flat dirt), cradles it with both hands with amazement and approaches us. I was flabbergasted.
In Italy, there are guys at the train station who wear official looking vests who will walk right up and grab your luggage from you as if to graciously assist you. Once you’re at your destination, they hold out for tips and aren’t satisfied unless you hand them a mint. After we handed him a nice tip, he turns on the drama, starts panting out of nowhere and pointing to various body parts as if he’d just sustained injuries akin to hauling large granite blocks(the suitcases were wheeled).
I just spent three months in Italy, April-June. I did not drive and spent almost all my time in the tourist areas of Florence, Rome and Venice. I speak essentially zero Italian. I was traveling on my own, without a guide, and stayed in apartments I booked through Airbnb. I by and large found the Italians I encountered – especially those working in shops and restaurants – to be warm, friendly and helpful. I was never once overcharged, short-changed, cheated or anything like that. I have severe food allergies so anything food-related is always a major hassle for me, Italy was about as easy a place for me in that regard as anywhere I’ve traveled – much better than the US where I’m a native. I did hear negative things about the south of Italy and in my one venture south of Rome, to Pompeii, I very nearly got pick pocketed getting on a train in Naples. The very next day on the metro in Rome I nearly got pickpocketed again, however the other, Italian, passengers on the train saw what was happening and yelled at the thieves, possibly saving me from losing my wallet. In Naples I managed not to lose my wallet by sheer luck, the thieves on the train were quite skillful. I had been warned repeatedly about the Rome metro and Naples and had my wallet in my front pocket, but still was targeted and was lucky to keep it. Those were really the only negative experiences I had in three months. I took a bus from Florence to Sienna, I changed seats mid trip and my passport fell out of my pocket (my own carelessness) and another passenger, Italian I believe, returned it to me.
This article in the NYTimes http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/world/europe/romans-put-little-faith-in-mayor-as-their-ancient-city-degrades.html makes Rome seem like such an awful mess, which wasn’t my experience at all. I was expecting it to be dirty, overcrowded and chaotic, and while certainly not comparable to Singapore in cleanliness and organization, I can’t say it was any worse than Boston/Cambridge where I’m from. I’m now in London, which is definitely a notch or two better in those regards, but not shockingly so. The messy photo in the NYTimes article was from the Trastevere neighborhood, which is where I stayed for one month in May. There are huge crowds there every evening enjoying the nightlife, I never saw anything bad beyond the minimum you might expect from streets full of happy people.
The incidents the original poster described occurred while driving, since I never did that, my experience doesn’t contradict theirs.
@George A (#4)
minor nitpick: Yen is Japanese. Yuan is the Chinese currency (or RMB – renminbi)
Patrick O’Keefe,
You were the victim of FOUR pick pocket attempts yet you classify your trip as good??
Wow. Next time my wife complains about the lines, I’m gonna have her speak with you.
A relevant classic: http://www.vanityfair.com/unchanged/2012/05/naples-mob-paolo-di-lauro-italy
“….someone approaches you pretending to have found an old piece of jewelry”
That person is called a “ring-dropper”. The scam goes back at least to the middle of the 19th century though perhaps it is much older. Most people see thru it or just don’t want to engage, but I suppose that if you do it hundreds of times per day, you may get a few victims who are willing to buy the jewelry from you and a few is all you need.