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Yesterday i got this idea to write and share a post about common tricks that shop owners use in order to get more money out of tourists. We the locals know about that stuff and we even have seen them happening before our eyes, so this post gonna include only real life cases that i or my close friends have experienced. I am also gonna share some ways to deal with that kind of things

In case you aren't one of my followers or a regular one that reads my posts let me tell you in sort that i am from Greece and i am located in it's capital Athens. Athens is one of the most tourist cities in the world with million of people visiting each year. Mainly people come to Athens in order to see the Acropolis and in general the country that gave birth to democracy.

Around Acropolis everything is amazing! There are some of the most famous streets with plenty of shops,restaurants and cafeterias. You can literally drink your coffee or have your dinner next to some ancient ruins. As you may imagine the streets are overcrowded and people from all around the world is in every corner. Some of the restaurant-cafeteria owners only care about making more money so they have found ways to trick and take advantage of their customers. Some of these ways are:

1) Different Menu-Different Prices

You probably are aware that most restaurants in a tourist area must have an English menu aside the one that is written in the nation's language. What you don't know is that although they have a menu in English, it is completely different from the native one. What i mean by this is that the prices are double even triple compared to other menu. For example a beer may cost 3-4 euros but in the English menu it can be found 7-10 euros. A friend of mine a year ago witnessed something like that and said immediately to the waiter. ''Ok now give me the Greek menu''

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How To Deal With This: Check fast the menu in English and memorize some keywords like the brand of the beer or a specific traditional food and then ask for the Greek or in general native menu. Another solution would be to have a local friend with you. If you don't have one don't worry, Greek people are amazing and you can easily befriend them, just talk to a random one. 

2) Limited Products On Menu

I have personally witnessed it this week. I was in the center of Athens with some relatives from abroad and some other native ones. As natural my relatives from abroad wanted to find a restaurant and try Souvlaki a traditional street Greek food. That's what we did and then the waiter brought us some English menu that had only a fraction of what it should have written. To give you the full picture it only contained ''pork-chicken portions'' which costed around 9-10 euros while souvlaki usually costs 2-2.5 euro. In other words they were trying to take advantage of the tourists by ''forcing'' them to buy the expensive dishes.

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This was the first time in my life seeing this tactic. As soon as i asked the waiter in Greek with a little bit of ironically attitude whether or not we can buy just a Souvlaki he replied ''Ahh You Are Greeks, Yes Yes You Can'' This ended up in the fastest service i have ever seen and in a free beer :P 

How To Deal With This: Again if you know a local it will help but in case you don't just ask about the dish you want and don't pay a lot of attention in the menu. Doing that will make them think that you are suspecting their scam and they may try and give you what you want. 

3) Forced Tips

In some countries giving tips to waiters is a must but in Greece it's different. It isn't a mandatory thing to do so you give tips only if you want because the waiter served you extremely well or helped you with something. It's entirely your decision as it's your decision the amount of money you wanna give 

How To Deal With This: If you see in the receipt any tips to be included then simply say "i don't pay" and if they try to be intimidate you then do the same and let them know that you gonna call the police. 

4) Paying Water

I have been in many countries and i know that the water isn't drinkable all the time. For that reason bottled water exists. In general Greece has a lot of drinkable water but in some areas and islands your only choice is bottled water. In Athens though the water is drinkable but in many restaurants they will provide you with bottled water that is going to be included in the receipt. If you don't open it and give it back it won't be charged but if you open it then as you can imagine it will. 

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How To Deal With This: When they bring you the bottled water ask them to take it back and give you water from the faucet. 

I hope i helped a bit the current and future tourists that are gonna read this post ( probably nobody :P ) and also enjoy your stay! To be fair most of the restaurants and cafeteria aren't like that and in general Greek people are very generous and kind to tourists. Just try and have a conversation with a random Greek and you will see!