NationStates Jolt Archive

He had heard Rome was expensive but nothing prepared the Hong Kong tourist for a €990 (NZ$1,960) beer.

The unwary visitor received the bumper bar bill for a drink sipped near Rome's most famous street, Via Veneto, where beers usually cost as much as €10 (NZ$20), Rome mayor's office said.

The tourist, who was travelling alone, was invited to the bar by a tout who served him a beer and then said it would cost him €990. He bartered it down to €490, but the bar owner ended up taking €990 off his credit card anyway.

"When the bill arrived I thought it was safer to pay it. I was scared something could happen to me if I didn't," the man, whose name was withdrawn, told Rome mayor's office that is investigating the crime.

The tourist, who is from Hong Kong but lives in Germany and has a British passport, tried to report the fraud to the police but said he could not make himself understood because no one spoke English.

Tourists to Rome have surged in the past five years -- visitors were up 60 percent in April compared with a year ago -- but the unwary can find the Eternal City's charms obscured by the fight to get a fair price.

Most visitors have tales of rip offs by bar, restaurant and hotel owners but they often pale beside stories of taxi drivers who can charge hundreds of euros for trips from the airport and then dump those who refuse to pay by the side of the motorway.

http://xtramsn.co.nz/lifestyles/0,,12600-5730915,00.html
I remember when the price of a Pizza went up.:(
Crazy Italians.

hah, thats not cool... damn opportunists are everywhere...

reminds me of a story i heard about a family who dined at the savoy in london a few years back. when ordering a bottle of wine the waiter insisted that they'd made the wrong choice for their chosen meals, and would be far better off with a different vintage. they were expecting an expensive meal, of course, but assumed the alternative wine would be of roughly equal value to the one they had wanted, and accepted. hence their surprise when the bill came up with a bottle of the waiter's choice at over £2,000 a bottle :eek:
IIRC they refused to pay and got away with it :D

hah, thats not cool... damn opportunists are everywhere...

reminds me of a story i heard about a family who dined at the savoy in london a few years back. when ordering a bottle of wine the waiter insisted that they'd made the wrong choice for their chosen meals, and would be far better off with a different vintage. they were expecting an expensive meal, of course, but assumed the alternative wine would be of roughly equal value to the one they had wanted, and accepted. hence their surprise when the bill came up with a bottle of the waiter's choice at over £2,000 a bottle :eek:
IIRC they refused to pay and got away with it :D
As they should.
Do you remeember the Pizza fiasco of last year or the year before?

We need to ask the Pope to ask the world to stop the exploitation of beer drinkers eh?

Do you remeember the Pizza fiasco of last year or the year before?
at the Savoy? no... ;)

what pizzza fiasco?

Reminds me of the expose a Japanese English language newspaper ran on Hong Kong - it turns out that quite a few restaurants were charging quite different prices on their Chinese, English, and Japanese menus....

-hmm- I bet it was just a mistake. I believe the beer cost 9.90€

Or perhaps it was an intentional mistake.

-hmm- I bet it was just a mistake. I believe the beer cost 9.90€

Or perhaps it was an intentional mistake.

Given the Italians I've met...I bet the second one ;) :D

This is akin to surging gas prices. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! THE WORLD IS A GREEDY EVIL BUNCH WAITING TO TERRORIZE THE GOOD PEOPLE!!!!!!!!! ONLY JESUS CAN SAVE US!!!!!!!!!!!!! Any way, 950 Euros for a beer? My mom says back when she was young, you could have 10$, fill up on gas, get some snacks, some dope, and STILL have enough to go to the movies! Including XL Coke and popcorn. Someone's gettin' greedy...............:mad:

then there was the case of the guy in albuquerque (coulda been anywhere in the US, who remembers) who was having a big fight with his wife and bought rounds for everyone in the strip club. they even had him talk to someone at his credit card company to make sure he was OKing the charge.

he still fought the several thousand dollar bill when it came the next month.

This is akin to surging gas prices. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! THE WORLD IS A GREEDY EVIL BUNCH WAITING TO TERRORIZE THE GOOD PEOPLE!!!!!!!!! ONLY JESUS CAN SAVE US!!!!!!!!!!!!! Any way, 950 Euros for a beer? My mom says back when she was young, you could have 10$, fill up on gas, get some snacks, some dope, and STILL have enough to go to the movies! Including XL Coke and popcorn. Someone's gettin' greedy...............:mad:

Your mom was using dope?

Your mom was using dope?
While she was pregnant?

at the Savoy? no... ;)

what pizzza fiasco?
It might have been When Pope John Paul II died, The Price of a Pizza tripled or something...

or it could have been another time...

In any case Boo Exploitative capitilism!

Another good reason to be a non-pizza-eating teetotaler! ;) (... sort of.)

While she was pregnant?
That would explain some things...

It might have been When Pope John Paul II died, The Price of a Pizza tripled or something...

or it could have been another time...

In any case Boo Exploitative capitilism!
When I was in Italy (about 6 years ago, now), pizzas from street stalls were only about £1 (€1.50/$1.80). It's not so bad if prices triple.

When I was in Italy (about 6 years ago, now), pizzas from street stalls were only about £1 (€1.50/$1.80). It's not so bad if prices triple.
I like Rome.

And I like pizza.

And the pizza is still in general not too expensive in Rome. And it is still tasty.

Mmm... Pizza prosciutto crudo :fluffle: