got a good port scam?

[johno95]

In Nassau, we had just disembarked and were walking into the unrestricted area. a local woman approached my wife and quickly slipped a bracelet on her wrist. she welcomed my wife to Nassau, and said the bracelet was a welcoming gift.

 

the Bahamian woman then asked for a "donation." when my wife declined, the woman asked for the bracelet back.

[cruiserbryce]

we just politly refuse things like that to avoid uncomfortable situations...

[Keith1010]

This sort of thing can happen anywhere, including the USA.

 

Keith

[S&S Cruisers 1983]

The same thing happened to us in Nassau about 22 years ago. A young boy put a necklace around my neck and apparently said "free for small donation". I only heard the "free" part and said thank you and kept walking. My DH was upset because I did not give the boy any money. Apparently he heard the "for small donation" part that I missed. I still have the necklace!

[cruizinwithkids]

I had the necklace thing happen and the request for a small donation. I think I offered something like $3 as I only had $20's other than that. They told me my donation was good enough and took the necklace back.

 

Of course there was a lot of arguing back and forth first.:D

[#1TravelMom]

I have one. My daughter wanted her hair braided. She and her friend were 15 at the time. I can do cornrows myself, but my daughter wanted the experience of a local doing a few for her. I told her and her friend they could get 3 braids. The women quoted $2 each. I continued to shop just a few yards away and told them to find me when they were finished. About 10 minutes later, the girls came up behind me with at least 20 braids each and said they needed $100 dollars!!! She said she kept telling the woman to stop, but she kept saying, "many braids look better". I told the women there was no way I was paying for the braids.

 

Things got quite heated - I'm usually not confrontational. I told her to take the braids out or accept the $12 I agreed to. She got really mad and said they were calling the police. The police came and really scorned her. Apparently, this was common. He told them that the country relied on tourist dollars and scolded her in front of everyone. I felt really bad that they resort to this behavior to try to make a living. I think it would be awful to have to try to deceive people to make money.

[TravlGrl]

I have one. My daughter wanted her hair braided. She and her friend were 15 at the time. I can do cornrows myself, but my daughter wanted the experience of a local doing a few for her. I told her and her friend they could get 3 braids. The women quoted $2 each. I continued to shop just a few yards away and told them to find me when they were finished. About 10 minutes later, the girls came up behind me with at least 20 braids each and said they needed $100 dollars!!! She said she kept telling the woman to stop, but she kept saying, "many braids look better". I told the women there was no way I was paying for the braids.

 

Things got quite heated - I'm usually not confrontational. I told her to take the braids out or accept the $12 I agreed to. She got really mad and said they were calling the police. The police came and really scorned her. Apparently, this was common. He told them that the country relied on tourist dollars and scolded her in front of everyone. I felt really bad that they resort to this behavior to try to make a living. I think it would be awful to have to try to deceive people to make money.

 

Which country were you in?

[janetz]

Nassau is a pit. We don't even bother getting off the ship anymore. My girls hair was done so tight (I told the woman I would only pay a certain amount and I don't think she was happy) we ended up having to take it out the same night, it hurt her so bad. Be careful in Nassua.:cool:

[bearswife]

I was in Jamaica on the beach. A guy came up said welcome and put a bracelet on me that he made. Then he said he wanted money. I said I didnt want it. He said keep it but it would be nice for a donation. I gave him a buck and he was happy.

[smokester]

Someone in Nassau put a bracelet on DD (12) while walking, scared her to death!:eek: DH told the person to take it off, they refused, wanted a donation. My DH proceded to take the bracelet off & told them they could have it back or he would leave it on the ground. They were not too happy w/ him.

[deppong]

WE WERE in Nassau about 15 years ago with our family and my sister family. There were about 12 of us. We went for a carriage ride (2 carriages) around town. We saw the garbage dump the home for unwed mothers and a few state buildings. Then the driver asked if we would like him to take our picture with our camera. We said sure. He then proceded to want $10.00 for taking the picture. We said no and he wouldn't give us our camera back. we gave him the 10.00 but didn't give him a tip for the carriage ride.

[SheriNtexas]

It was my first cruise, and in Cozumel I did the highlights and shopping (can't remember the official name). Our bus stopped at this small group of souvinir stands that were beside a very small mayan ruin of some kind. I went in one of the shops, looked around, and bought a shot glass. My FIRST mistake was NOT having the exact change for it, all I had was a $20. He rang it up and said it will be $4. I handed him the $20, and he said, "If you give me a $1 I will give you $15 back, so I did. As he was wrapping the glass, I was thinking, "HEY, WAIT A MINUTE, he is cheating me! He is charging me more than what he told me!" I told him that he was charging me the wrong amount, so he gave me my $1 back. As i was sitting on the bus and we were leaving, I was thinking how great I WAS, catching this guy trying to cheat me. Well, i kept thinking about it, and realized that by giving me my $1 back, he still charged me $5 instead of $4 for that stupid shot glass!!:eek: :eek: :mad: :o So make sure you have some small bills to pay for small purchases like that! I imagine it was not the FIRST time he had done something like that to someone who had a $20!:(

[linda_22003]

The bracelet trick is a popular scam in Paris as well; we had an apartment in Montmartre last spring, and the scammers swarm in front of Sacre Coeur. They are very aggressive, verbally and physically. Fortunately I knew about this trick in advance, and I can speak French just as loudly and rudely as the 'vendors' do.

[NCTribeFan]

I've never had any of these things happen. My DD has a thick, luxurious mane of hair and I've told her from the 1st time we cruised (when she was 15) that there was NO WAY she was getting ANY braids (not good for the hair at all).

 

We just say "no thank you" and keep walking.

 

Of course, I did have a man come up to us, while we were standing in a group outside a shop in MoBay, waiting for our excursion bus, and offer me a little ganga!

 

Why me? Why the white, middle-aged female with a 16-year-old? :eek:

[stowaway2k]

Also in Nassau... :rolleyes:

 

I had rented a scooter for the day, at $50.00 which isn't too bad.

 

Then the man said he would show me to my scooter and give me the keys.

We walked about 10 feet away, he pointed to my scooter, and then asked for a $15.00 tip before handing the keys over.

I asked "A tip for what? I just paid you $50.00 cash"

He said "for the services of showing you to your scooter"

I said "We walked 10 feet, I could have seen it from the counter"

He said "I need $15.00 service charge for the keys"

"So the $50.00 doesn't include the keys?"

 

Obviously my choice then was to hand over the bribe if I wanted to use the scooter that I had already paid for, or flush the $50.00 down the drain. He had me with his scam, and he knew it.

 

The big one though was when I returned the scooter, he had the balls to demand a $10.00 tip for parking the scooter.

I told him I didn't care what he did with the scooter, he wasn't getting another cent from me.

[cruiser1163]

When I was in Nassau I had booked the Yellow Bird Party Boat excursion. I got off the ship wearing my swim trunks, sunglasses and flip flops. It was pretty obvious that I did not have any money on me.

 

When we were waiting to board the yellow boat a woman walked up behind me and asked if I wanted a necklace. It was actually very nice and if I had some money on me I would have paid for it. However, I did not have any money so I told her "no thanks, I don't have any money." She said, "It's ok, they are free". She proceeded to put it around my neck and then said, "Would you like to make a donation for the children?" I told her, "I'm really sorry, but I told you I didn't have any money." After I said this she took the necklace off and tried to "sell" it to somebody else.

[heatherandfred]

I've never had any of these things happen. My DD has a thick, luxurious mane of hair and I've told her from the 1st time we cruised (when she was 15) that there was NO WAY she was getting ANY braids (not good for the hair at all).

 

We just say "no thank you" and keep walking.

 

Of course, I did have a man come up to us, while we were standing in a group outside a shop in MoBay, waiting for our excursion bus, and offer me a little ganga!

 

Why me? Why the white, middle-aged female with a 16-year-old? :eek:

 

My parents were visiting the Bahamas several years ago. They were accosted by a local who attempted to sell them ganga. My mother flew off into a rage and was screaming "Why are you trying to sell to ME?" My father told her to calm down and keep walking and ignore him. It happens to people of all races/creeds. BTW, my parents are 75 and 74 respectively.

[jp2001]

I'm sorry, but what is a ganga?

I must be stupid

[linda_22003]

I'm sorry, but what is a ganga?

I must be stupid

 

It was misspelled. The poster meant "ganja", which is slang for marijuana.

[iheartbda]

Friend of mine was approached by a man who wanted to "sell" his sister as the friend stood there with his wife and children.

[geoherb]

In Jamaica, we had a young man who asked if we wanted him to be our tour guide. We said no thanks. But he followed us and was talking about the various buildings and things. We told him again that we did not want a tour guide. He kept it up. We finally went into a nice shop and stayed for about 15 minutes. He gave up.

 

I kept imaging what would have happened had we not gone into that shop--of the guy's cousin (a policeman) coming from around the corner and making us pay our "tour guide" for his services.