I consider myself an experienced and somewhat savvy traveler. I’ve read about the various tourist scams, and my family successfully avoided the friendship bracelet pushers in Paris and Rome. But on my recent cruise, I let my guard down a bit and I paid the price.
The $10 $40 $53 Necklace
On our port day in Cozumel, my daughter and I decided to skip a long excursion and just peruse some gift shops at the port. We’ve been to Cozumel several times before, but always at a different cruise port.
I saw this gift shop kiosk that looked interesting. It had a lot of colorful ceramic hanging art. The sign on the kiosk said “Nothing over $30”.
I decided that I wouldn’t be able to get one of those ceramic pieces home without breaking it. But, my daughter saw a necklace she liked. It was a heart on a black rope. I figured it would be maybe $10-$15 at most. We brought it to the cashier, and I handed over my credit card (a credit card that I don’t use much so that if it gets compromised it’s not a huge deal to shut it down for fraudulent charges).
The vendor took my credit card and started processing the sale. I asked how much the necklace was, and he said the necklace is $40. I was confused. “But your sign says nothing is over $30.” “Ah”, he replied. “But this is a special necklace, blah blah blah…”. Ok, he already had my credit card, so I figured I’d fork over the $40.
Next, he handed me the credit card machine to sign, and it said $880. Of course, I questioned this. He said, “That’s forty US dollars, but in pesos. The exchange rate is 22 and see I do the calculation and blah blah blah…”
At this point, I probably should have just said never mind, give me my card back, and forgot about the necklace. But, I didn’t. I figured I’d check my credit card statement online and make sure the charge was just $40.
When I checked my statement, the charge came through at $53. I felt like we got ripped off. The necklace wasn’t worth $40, and he was dishonest about the exchange rate. (Of course, I used a credit card with no foreign transaction fees). I suppose the vendor needed the money a lot more than I did.
What I did wrong
Getting charged $53 for a necklace that was maybe worth $10 is not a huge deal in the scheme of things. But, the whole interaction made me feel icky.
What I did wrong:
- I assumed the price range of something that wasn’t marked
- I gave my credit card before knowing the exact price
- I didn’t halt the transaction when I felt something was off
Paying by cash instead of credit card would have made more sense in this case. However, I was saving my remaining cash for some extra tips for the cruise.
I also should have bargained down the price. I’m not a big fan of bargaining. When I traveled in Guatemala, bargaining was the way for everything. I had a really hard time doing it, though, because I could see how poor the people were.
And, of course, I should have not handed a credit card to a vendor without agreeing on the price. Hindsight is 20/20.
Have you ever felt ripped off while traveling?
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
I think your reaction, of calm nonchalance and moving on to enjoy your vacation, is the best part of this story! Relax, chill, realize we all win some and we lose some, then move on to the next moment of life – such a refreshing, pleasant and hopeful approach. Thanks for sharing this!
@FrequentWanderer I have to work at staying calm sometimes!
Was in Mexico, agreed on a price for a purse. Gave card, they charged it 40% more than agreed to. I wouldn’t sign it and said to cancel the charge and forget the purchase.
They refused to cancel it or refund. I had to file a dispute. Was so unnecessary. But CC company didn’t ask any extra questions. Must happen often.
@Jason Ugh. I’m glad you could get the money back by filing a dispute.
We all have things happen and its what makes you an experiences traveler. Just don’t go look for the necklace on Temu to avoid further disappointment.
@DaninMCI I definitely won’t look up the price online! I was mad for a bit, but I decided I needed to move on quickly, get over it and learn from my mistakes.
Any time you go into a port, you need to know the exchange rate. And when the clerk said the price was $40, not $30, just stop there. You went on with something. And you almost always do better bartering with local currency. You need to get a debit card that doesn’t charge ATM fees. Schwab Bank has a checking account that lets you do this. ATMs are easy to find in Cozumel. And it sounds like you were in a shop right on the main drag. Those have ripoff prices anyway. Go on the side streets and haggle.
@Stephanie Yep! I really wan’t thinking. I’m blaming “vacation brain” LOL
As a blind traveler, I’m often asked if I fear people ripping me off. I have been, a few times, and only in Mexico. A taxi driver tried giving me back the wrong bills. The server at a bar moved the change to the far side of the receipt tray so that I wouldn’t realize the change was there… that sort of thing. Mind you, these are my own people. I would never cast skepticism over an entire country based on the actions of a few. I’m always interested in being treated the same as anyone else, and so I suppose getting ripped off equally should make me feel … included? 🙂 But I don’t feel bad bargaining with people when the situation warrants it. I work just as hard for my money as anyone else and deserve to enjoy fair trade. Experiences like yours make me not empathetic toward sketchy vendors and is exactly the sort of behavior that makes me not want to give them any business, economically disadvantaged or not. Charge what you’re going to charge, and let me make the decision to give you my money or not.
@Joe I agree, I like transparency in prices. It’s disappointing that people tried to rip you off.
Those rings they sell that are ” SS” with the blue swirly enamel and stone you can find on many websites for 3$ vs 50+ they ask for!
@Gina Yes, I’m sure. 🙁
You have to know what the exchange rate is, so that you have a good idea of what you are paying in the local currency. In your case, 30 USD is roughly 500 Mexican Pesos. Once you know that, never pay in US$ as you are subject to dynamic currency conversion. Always pay in the local currency so that the credit card company calculates the exchange rate, which will always be better than that of the merchant.
So in your case, if you would have known that 500 pesos is $30, you would have asked him how much it was in pesos and made sure to pay no more than 500 pesos and would have made sure he was charging you in pesos, not USD.
Does that make sense? He obviously did rip you off, no matter what, but this suggestion would have helped you avoid this as you would have seen on your receipt that he charged you the correct amount of pesos.