GypsySpirit This AirBnB I stayed at was one hour from Rome so unless you take the train, the taxi will be really expensive if they even want to go that far. This host picked me up but the way there cost me 80 euros and the way back he raised it to 100 euros. I was not happy about that.
There are a lot of elderly people living in this village. Italy has had a problem the last two decades of young people leaving the villages to go work in the major cities on more modern, including tech, jobs. Traveling to different countries even after this trip I’ve learned this is a worldwide phenomena. Young people are leaving home more than ever to start their lives somewhere else with the new tech jobs or new careers that were not available to their parents.
Back to the place I’m referring to here, my first stop in Italy that kicked off my summer travels- it’s a place that will definitely take you back to medieval times. A good place if you want/need some quiet and reading, meditating, detoxing, and hiking can be your only past times. Also, if you’re ok buying food at the market and making some or most of your meals. Otherwise, you will be eating lots of sandwiches at the coffee bar because there are only 3 restaurants in this village and their hours are very strange. One of the restaurants is only open on weekends and another one is not very good food. The best restaurant that is farm-to-table from the owners’ farms only opens Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
When I was ready to leave the place earlier than planned, because I was ready to go explore in Rome where I initially had a hard time finding a place to stay, the host changed his cancellation policy from being able to get unused nights refunded to not giving a refund at all. He then proceeded to tell me he didn’t receive my cancellation request and to send it again. When I was about to do that it’s when I saw that he changed the cancellation policy. Had I sent the request again I would’ve been agreeing to the new policy- HA!
Don’t think so buddy! I contacted AirBnB support for help and sent them a screenshot. I have this habit of taking screenshots of everything all the time. It’s saved me more times than I can count. AirBnB forced him to honor the original cancellation policy for my stay.
Booking my transport back to Rome with him was like pulling teeth. He wouldn’t confirm when it would happen per my request. I kept my calm. By the time he was picking me up the cancellation/refund had not yet been resolved. He then asked me to just settle the transport fee with the remainder of the stay. At this point he thought AirBnB would not be approving my refund for the unused nights. Had I agreed to that he would be getting paid $182 for my transport back to Rome, not 100 euros as he had told me. Which, remember, it was 20 euros more than when he picked me up at the airport. Just plain taking advantage. I guess finding out that I’m a business woman made him think he could get more from me. Little did I know this would be a theme the more I traveled.
I refused to let him keep the remaining nights. Plus Airbnb was already working on it and I already knew they would side with me by their responses. I mean, you can’t change your policy in the middle of a booking. That’s not ethical at all. I paid him the 100 euro cash for the ride back to Rome without complaining. The way I see it is you’re trying to scam me but you’re revealing so much about who you are and 20 euros won’t kill me. to Rome. He wasn’t happy about it all but he pretended it didn’t bother him or that he made me wait more days than necessary to take me back. It worked out for me because usually the further out you book a new hotel the better unless you find last-minute deals. Peak season was starting soon so stays were already limited.
It’s unbelievable the amount of scams in Europe because as one girl in Greece said to my son “All Americans are rich right?” Need I say more? lol
The scams from taxis were plentiful and downright shameful. Here’s one of them through the app:
The others were charging more than the meter on display right in front of my FACE! Others were of them refusing to accept cards and asking for only cash knowing well that this illegal. Locals confirmed this fact. I later found out from a client that Uber was in Italy at one point. However, the taxi union was pissed about it and went on strike against it. I don’t remember if the client said it was the President or whoever that told them something like “ok, you don’t want Uber but the tourists want Uber because you keep scamming them.”
So there’s that.
I’ve always said it. There’s those that work hard for what they have and there’s those who just want to ride other people’s success and be leeches because they think that those that have built a good life for themselves made it appear out of thin air. They don’t even stop to think the hard work, the sweat-blood-and-tears it took for one to get to where we are. Especially a divorced woman who raised four children by herself while building a business. All odds against me and having Tom Dick and John telling me I can’t do it or I don’t deserve it. You would think these men having mothers and sisters would show more respect. I told the one that tried to charge me double the fare that was on the meter and in cash, after I sought out the help of the Villa’s concierge, “you shouldn’t do that to women.” He said something in italian that I’m sure was cursing me out. I was satisfied that I let him know- I’m not the one.
Tourists scams are everywhere and I will post in here every single one I encounter. I already wrote about the car rental scam I came across in Puerto Rico.
