Getting ripped off in Poland! Is it normal? or should it be tolerated?

You probably were ripped off you just didnt know about it.

if I paid the price on the menu then all is good :) I actually felt more ripped off last time I was in Spain with the way prices have gone.


He does bloody not tell me what to think, maybe my wording was unjust, I sould have said "in my experience" but I've only ever been a tourist, I would expect things are totally different when living in a country.

No you didn't but you said:

I do not understand the business mentality here.. I can't help but read it as "here" is something unique, when it's not. You should said simply: I do not understand the business mentality and that's what I addressed.

Look at all those sweatshop enterprises. Nike started in Europe and US and a pair of decent shoes were at about $100. They moved their factories to Vietnam where they pay around $0.50 a day (or is it an hour?) and the prices is even higher now. That is just business mentality.

There surely is discrepancy. When I went to the US for the first time I brought with me a pair of boots. It cost me $0.50 in Poland. The same pair of boots (literally, since these were imported to the US) cost $65 in the US in 1987. Do you think Americans were being ripped off?

So many issues there where do I start. You are telling me a pair of boots cost 50 cents in Poland? And they sold for 65 dollars in the US. What Polish boots were/are sold in the US?

Today I was asked:''Is this room reserved for a foreigner or for Greek?''
-Why?
-Because if it is for foreigner,it will cost more.We have different prices.''

Or in taxi:''How much does it cost?
-Are you a tourist?
-No.
-Then you pay the normal price.
-Why?
-There is touristic price for tourists.(40% more).''

Yes, in 1987 :)


Yes, they were.

Screwing foreigners is the name of the game.
You buy a T-Shirt with Eiffel Tower logo on it for $20 (cheap). The French laugh at you. You buy a T-Shirt with some Polish logos, Poles laugh at you. All merchants have a laugh. I had some too.

Years ago I was sending jeans to Poland where they were sold for $30 (cheap). I bought them in NYC for $2 a pair - wholesale. The same jeans would cost $30 in a NYC "discount" store.

Again, the objective of business is not to be ethical but to make money. As much as possible. Ask any banker.

Of course...but some cultures are much more rude and unethical about it. In the US people are not charged more for a hotel room based on nationality. Everyone pays the same. You cannot say cultures are all the same.

Perhaps not a hotel room, but for decades the US used the the status of a "privileged nation" (not sure if it's still in force). Foreign exporters would be charged varying amounts on the same kind of good depending on the country of origin. Rude enough?

Ahhhhh....

Well I disagree but it didnt take long for the "well the US does this"...that argument holds no water because lets say for the sake or argument it is true (which I dont agree it is).....but if it were. Does the US doing something make it ok for another place to do it or do it worse or more? This is a common retort here.

When foreigners go to the USA they do not pay more for the same things than natives. Many other countries DO charge foreigners more. This is not an opinion it is a fact. This is wrong (now that is my opinion but I think most agree)

Hmmm.

Resident tuition fees in an average US university.

Non-Resident fees for the same.

You don;t even have to be a foreigner. All it takes is be from a different state.

Not at all the same thing. That has to do with the taxes paid in a region.

OK, you win.
As a penalty though, you will have to pay prices higher than those paid by Poles ;)

Of course you'll get ripped off. What else would you expect from church-going Polish Catholics? How else would they fund their chain-smoking, lard & vodka splurges?

I think it's the same in many places. If they see you are tired and not too focussed on your change or the total price of the goods, they will chance it sometimes. Take an interest in the price, look alert and you will minimise the risk.

Ha! You should check out some third world countries! Some places, if you don't bring the chief a pound of kava, you might be paying with your own head!

Joking aside, I think it's acceptable that natives find ways to live cheaper, and make money off foreigners. When I travel, I tend to latch on to a native for local knowledge and especially discounts.

"You want how much for a 15 year old car that I can buy in UK for 5x LESS?"

er Hello, yes The Motherland of Poland is a rip, Big time!

(not vodka or beer tho:)))))

its normal and should be tolerated

where? Not where I live. Maybe around Chicago, I couldn't discuss that one.

well, USA is country of foreigners, so it's different... but I can think of some examples where locals get their stuff cheaper than visitors.

I was getting riped off in Greece and Italy. They used to create such thing like "coperta" or something similar.
Example:

Dish : 10 euro
drink ; 5 euro

Bill : 18-19 euro...

coperta 20-30 % or 2/3 euro.

In Polnad you pay for what you order, and you give the tip if you want.

yep, foreigners and we are now Americans, so what are you trying to say?


Go on, I'm interested to find out. I don't know any. All I can say, I was never ripped off anywhere in the US.

1000% TRUE. Anyone who buys at these huge real estate overinflated bubbled prices is a total idiot

Becouse in England is crisis now... the same is in USA

I thought about buying house in Florida or California but flights to USA are expensive.

oh, crap... Here it goes: like, when you go to cop a lid, and the dealer knows you're not from around there, he's likely to slip you some worthless sh*t... ya know what I'm sayin'?

I know what you're saying but it never happened to me or anyone I know.

matteroftaste
ok.. here is another one: you think a foreigner.. in NY lets say, never got taken for a long way around town in a taxi?

Don't you read newspapers.

I'm talking about being ripped off at a store or pub and you're bringing the whole politics in it, lol. Besides even if you do, there's nothing for you guys to thrive on, lol

It happens in your countries too.


NYC (and some other big cities) is a jungle and most of the cab drivers can't even speak English right so this is not a great example at all.

Therefore the topic is not as fascinating as one might thing. In just points to an age old fact - some people cheat.

Well, if you put it that way, I know quite a few other countries where it happens much more than in the US.