Holiday Restaurant rip-off??

NekoZombie

Having just got back from sunny Barcelona, I'm sporting a fantastic tan and, unfortunately, a very empty wallet. While we were on hols, we went to this fantastic restaurant; they owner was very welcoming, spoke to us in English etc. He took the menus off us and suggested he make us a couple of simple, light dishes, (a small taster menu of Catalan food - great I thought). We thought it was a fantastic idea, until we saw the bill, 140 euros!!!! As my budget for the whole holiday was £200 (280 Euros), I was completely gobsmacked. We had estimated it would be about 70 euros max. We paid (no tip) and almost ran out of there.

So now I'm wondering, is this a well known holiday con? Should I have ordered from the menu and ignored the Spanish owners charming ways? I'd be interested to know if anyone has any experience of this, and maybe some tips on how to cope in future.

I'm back in the U.K. and sadly, my budget is shot for this month.:eek::eek:

With no credit card I'm genuinely worried about making ends meet (I think I'd better get down to the Old Style boards...)

Triker

My thoughts are although you are on holiday and hopefully relaxed, always, always ask the price of food and drinks before you order.

We got stung from this same thing in Turkey and ended up paying a fortune for 2 beers in a club.:mad:

p-pincher

just wanted to say a big thanks. i've never experienced this before but as im going barcelona in a few weeks i now know what to look out for. Do you know the name of the resturant so i can avoid?

Lucy1982_2

I imagine it was. Not that it helps you now, but I am thinking of you. Friend had a similar experience in turkey, where they got chatting to a guy outside his shop, had a drink with him and then were shown into the shop and not allowed to leave until the had bought 3 boxes of Turkish Delight! He doesn't even like the stuff!!

Needless to say they were very scared and have stopped talking to locals on holiday unless they have to.

floss2

Thats £100! :eek:

No wonder your budget is shot now you're home!
Get over to the Old Style board for tips to feed a family on next to nothing

rog2

Ouch!!:eek: :eek: Once bitten - twice shy.

climbgirl

Lucy1982 wrote: »

I imagine it was. Not that it helps you now, but I am thinking of you. Friend had a similar experience in turkey, where they got chatting to a guy outside his shop, had a drink with him and then were shown into the shop and not allowed to leave until the had bought 3 boxes of Turkish Delight! He doesn't even like the stuff!!

Needless to say they were very scared and have stopped talking to locals on holiday unless they have to.

Did they physically stop them from leaving? I've experienced this a bit where you're taken to shops by taxi drivers or tour people or even just people you start talking to. I've never backed down though, I just refuse to buy anything and leave. It got a little scary in Israel when we thought we weren't going to be physically let out of the shop but when we threatened to report them to the police for holding us there they let us go.

We'd heard a story from one local about some americans who had paid $500 to be taken by a taxi driver into the west bank (well, to the border crossing anyway). If they'd asked around or read the guides, they'd have known the bus will take you there for about $2....and frankly, if they were that stupid they kind of deserved it. Ruins it for the rest of us though, once they know people can be ripped off like that, they'll try it on with everyone.

You have to be on your guard for rip-offs on holiday, always check the price of things no matter where you are and do your homework so you know if it's reasonable.

I think it's sad that they shy away from talking to locals though, I've had some awesome experiences that have started from just striking up conversations with locals - the best yet was a few nights camping in the Jordanian desert with the local bedouin! You just have to be on your guard.

NekoZombie

p-pincher wrote: »

just wanted to say a big thanks. i've never experienced this before but as im going barcelona in a few weeks i now know what to look out for. Do you know the name of the resturant so i can avoid?

Well, first things first. Barcelona is amazing - you'll have a great time. the restaurant is called BonnaNova - the food was great by the way - the best we ate the whole time we were there, but massively expensive and not budgeted for. I have a couple of booklet with discounts to various tourist sites - if you're interested I can send them to you so you can use them. They were given to us when we used the tourist bus- there are a few in there that I think you will definietly use, and every EURO counts.

If possible, also take two guide books. We found that one didn't tell you enough info - maybe borrow a copy from the library and make some photocopies of useful pages.

climbgirl

p-pincher wrote: »

just wanted to say a big thanks. i've never experienced this before but as im going barcelona in a few weeks i now know what to look out for. Do you know the name of the resturant so i can avoid?

Barcelona is a great city, there's loads of good restaurants around the place, some good budget ones too. Just make sure you order off the menu!

One other tip - watch your bag. Apparently pick-pockets are a big problem in Barcelona. I didn't have any trouble but watch your bag in crowded areas, watch out for anyone trying to distract you in any way. A couple of friends went last year and were really careless - someone threw flour on one of them, they both put their bags down to brush it off her, turned around and the bags were gone.

Not trying to alarm you, just be careful and take the usual travelling precautions - don't make yourself an easy mark!

elantan

neko i'm sorry that happened to you and i dont douubt it happens alot ...we went to cyprus this year and overspent by £1000 it was just much more expensive than we were led on to believe (and son was desperate to do agia napa) i totally sympathise with you but you can look on the positives a lesson learned and many warned of the same thanks to you (shame you had to go through it though)

Lucy1982_2

climbgirl wrote: »

Did they physically stop them from leaving? I've experienced this a bit where you're taken to shops by taxi drivers or tour people or even just people you start talking to. I've never backed down though, I just refuse to buy anything and leave. It got a little scary in Israel when we thought we weren't going to be physically let out of the shop but when we threatened to report them to the police for holding us there they let us go.

We'd heard a story from one local about some americans who had paid $500 to be taken by a taxi driver into the west bank (well, to the border crossing anyway). If they'd asked around or read the guides, they'd have known the bus will take you there for about $2....and frankly, if they were that stupid they kind of deserved it. Ruins it for the rest of us though, once they know people can be ripped off like that, they'll try it on with everyone.

You have to be on your guard for rip-offs on holiday, always check the price of things no matter where you are and do your homework so you know if it's reasonable.

I think it's sad that they shy away from talking to locals though, I've had some awesome experiences that have started from just striking up conversations with locals - the best yet was a few nights camping in the Jordanian desert with the local bedouin! You just have to be on your guard.

I don't think they were physically stopped, but apparently there were men stood at the door as if to stop them leaving. I don't think it helped that he stood there and said 'but i don't even like f*****g Turkish delight!!'

I just use the approach of saying 'no thank you' and walking on. But I lived aboard as a kid and that was what I was taught.