Taylor Swift trip. I hate Poland. Everyone tries to scam you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of scammers in Poland, but the worst scammers are in Greece—they take it to the next level.

I’m a seasoned traveler and savvy person, and now that I’m older and well equipped to throw money at problems, I tend to opt for mainstream hotels and private drivers, guides, etc. arranged through a concierge. It’s just easier to not have to worry about getting screwed.

I call BS. You do not sound seasoned or savvy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You booked accommodation on Airbnb, a site with no quality control.

You took a taxi without looking at your destination on a map. (Too cheap to pay for a data plan?)

You booked tickets on Stubhub, a site with no quality control. (Sensing a pattern here.)

Op, POLAND is not your problem. If you’re going through life with a due diligence strategy of “Other people are responsible for giving me what I want,” then what you get is… this. This is all on you, ducky.

Actually,

1. I do have a data plan on my phone. It didn’t occur to me that I needed to micromanage the taxi driver.

2. Stubhub has very good customer service. They issued us another set of tickets after I complained.

We ended up seating in our original seats. They were legit. It was some bs Polish bureaucracy.

Also, forgot to mention, all the guide tours we had were really bad. Don’t hire tours, do it yourself with audio guides.

What?!



If that's your take on taxi drivers it's a wonder you made it home.

Good grief.

.

+1. Let me guess. When you Uber, you don’t send your location to a third party (esp when traveling alone), or enable route deviation safeguards? That’s a bad idea— well, really anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of scammers in Poland, but the worst scammers are in Greece—they take it to the next level.

I’m a seasoned traveler and savvy person, and now that I’m older and well equipped to throw money at problems, I tend to opt for mainstream hotels and private drivers, guides, etc. arranged through a concierge. It’s just easier to not have to worry about getting screwed.

I call BS. You do not sound seasoned or savvy.

Bless your heart!

ICYMI: staying in an Airbnb and using Uber or public transportation doesn’t make you a better traveler or more worldly.

The reality is that tourists are an easy target. You can mitigate the risk by staying in mainstream hotels and using private transportation, etc. arranged by the concierge. Anyone they recommend has been vetted and has a financial interest in not burning that bridge.

I’ve also been pleasantly surprised to discover that a concierge can get better prices from a trusted local. Again: tourists flying solo are easy targets.

[Anonymous]

Booking.com? I mean, come on. This website barely even pretends to be legit, this was a foreseeable error.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of scam artists in Warsaw. But it is nothing compared to many third world countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, or even other countries in the EU like Romania, Bulgaria, and parts of Italy and France. We won't talk about Russia.

As for taxi drivers, I always called a cab using one of the services. Never use one of the unofficial airport taxis. If you get into any taxi and don't see the ID certificate with the driver's picture and name, get out. The scam drivers always have it covered up.

I have worked extensively in these two, and Romania is nothing like Poland. I've found Poland to be much closer to the way OP describes it. Never a problem in Romania. FWIW, I'm American now, but also a dual German citizen (and speak more than just German and English). I do not enjoy working in Poland or with the Poles. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of scammers in Poland, but the worst scammers are in Greece—they take it to the next level.

I’m a seasoned traveler and savvy person, and now that I’m older and well equipped to throw money at problems, I tend to opt for mainstream hotels and private drivers, guides, etc. arranged through a concierge. It’s just easier to not have to worry about getting screwed.

I call BS. You do not sound seasoned or savvy.

Bless your heart!

ICYMI: staying in an Airbnb and using Uber or public transportation doesn’t make you a better traveler or more worldly.

The reality is that tourists are an easy target. You can mitigate the risk by staying in mainstream hotels and using private transportation, etc. arranged by the concierge. Anyone they recommend has been vetted and has a financial interest in not burning that bridge.

I’ve also been pleasantly surprised to discover that a concierge can get better prices from a trusted local. Again: tourists flying solo are easy targets.

Hotel? Concierge? Trusted local? What are you, like 100 years old?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of scam artists in Warsaw. But it is nothing compared to many third world countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, or even other countries in the EU like Romania, Bulgaria, and parts of Italy and France. We won't talk about Russia.

As for taxi drivers, I always called a cab using one of the services. Never use one of the unofficial airport taxis. If you get into any taxi and don't see the ID certificate with the driver's picture and name, get out. The scam drivers always have it covered up.

I have worked extensively in these two, and Romania is nothing like Poland. I've found Poland to be much closer to the way OP describes it. Never a problem in Romania. FWIW, I'm American now, but also a dual German citizen (and speak more than just German and English). I do not enjoy working in Poland or with the Poles. YMMV.

I’m an American living in Germany and find traveling to Poland to be a breath of fresh air.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of scam artists in Warsaw. But it is nothing compared to many third world countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, or even other countries in the EU like Romania, Bulgaria, and parts of Italy and France. We won't talk about Russia.

As for taxi drivers, I always called a cab using one of the services. Never use one of the unofficial airport taxis. If you get into any taxi and don't see the ID certificate with the driver's picture and name, get out. The scam drivers always have it covered up.

I have worked extensively in these two, and Romania is nothing like Poland. I've found Poland to be much closer to the way OP describes it. Never a problem in Romania. FWIW, I'm American now, but also a dual German citizen (and speak more than just German and English). I do not enjoy working in Poland or with the Poles. YMMV.

I remember traveling in Poland in the late 90s. The Germans I encountered treated the Poles as lesser beings. If you aren’t getting a warm welcome there, I’d say look to your fellow Germans and their behavior first.

[Anonymous]

You have posted multiple times about your booking.com experience. It was bad, we get it. But at this point you need to let it go and realize that booking.com is just an aggregator/booking platform, it is not AirBnB. I use it for hotel bookings sometimes (and they also own priceline, kayak, even opentable) but would never book an apartment/house through them in any country including the US.

[Anonymous]

I was on a commuter bus in NJ once and the new driver took a different route leaving several of us in an unfortunate position. We got off and had to get an Uber. I don't know what sort of government conspiracy this was, but watch out in the US as well. They'll try to scam you too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was on a commuter bus in NJ once and the new driver took a different route leaving several of us in an unfortunate position. We got off and had to get an Uber. I don't know what sort of government conspiracy this was, but watch out in the US as well. They'll try to scam you too.

Wow. That bus driver was really trying to scam you. I hope he was arrested and charged to the fullest extent of the law. After OP’s harrowing tale, I’m surprised they are still alive to post here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of scam artists in Warsaw. But it is nothing compared to many third world countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, or even other countries in the EU like Romania, Bulgaria, and parts of Italy and France. We won't talk about Russia.

As for taxi drivers, I always called a cab using one of the services. Never use one of the unofficial airport taxis. If you get into any taxi and don't see the ID certificate with the driver's picture and name, get out. The scam drivers always have it covered up.

I have worked extensively in these two, and Romania is nothing like Poland. I've found Poland to be much closer to the way OP describes it. Never a problem in Romania. FWIW, I'm American now, but also a dual German citizen (and speak more than just German and English). I do not enjoy working in Poland or with the Poles. YMMV.

Not at all surprising coming from you, German. Yesterday was the 80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, which saw the mass slaughter of 200,000 of our civilians by the Nazi Germans and the systematic deportation of the survivors and total destruction of Warsaw. And that’s on top of the millions of additional Poles
(including Polish Jews) that you mercilessly slaughtered. So suffice it to say that we don’t trust you either!!

^^PS, let’s also not forget the official governmental Romanian collaboration with the Nazi Germans, so it’s no wonder you feel more at home there!!

Two previous posters certainly taking it to a whole new level for nastiness on a travel forum. I shouldn’t be surprised but I am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of scam artists in Warsaw. But it is nothing compared to many third world countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, or even other countries in the EU like Romania, Bulgaria, and parts of Italy and France. We won't talk about Russia.

As for taxi drivers, I always called a cab using one of the services. Never use one of the unofficial airport taxis. If you get into any taxi and don't see the ID certificate with the driver's picture and name, get out. The scam drivers always have it covered up.

I have worked extensively in these two, and Romania is nothing like Poland. I've found Poland to be much closer to the way OP describes it. Never a problem in Romania. FWIW, I'm American now, but also a dual German citizen (and speak more than just German and English). I do not enjoy working in Poland or with the Poles. YMMV.

Not at all surprising coming from you, German. Yesterday was the 80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, which saw the mass slaughter of 200,000 of our civilians by the Nazi Germans and the systematic deportation of the survivors and total destruction of Warsaw. And that’s on top of the millions of additional Poles
(including Polish Jews) that you mercilessly slaughtered. So suffice it to say that we don’t trust you either!!

^^PS, let’s also not forget the official governmental Romanian collaboration with the Nazi Germans, so it’s no wonder you feel more at home there!!

Two previous posters certainly taking it to a whole new level for nastiness on a travel forum. I shouldn’t be surprised but I am.

Why should you be? If you’re the German PP, you sort of started it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve traveled all over the world and in many underdeveloped countries.

I have never encountered so much scamming as I did in Poland.

They scammed us by renting out an apartment on Booking.com full of bed bugs and no access to kitchen.

Taxi driver scammed us by dropping us off at a wrong location and telling us our destination is around the corner.

We almost got scammed with Taylor Swift concert tickets too. There was at least a hundred of people who bought tickets on Stubhub and although their names were on the tickets , the name inside QR code didn’t match and they would not let them in.

We got lucky by chance. They denied us the first time, but we tried again and they didn’t check our names the second time. Stubhub is going to be so screwed by Polish concerts.

I’m never coming back. I thought it was a developed European country because they are part of EU. Wrong.

There was a separate line outside the arena for repurchased tickets with incorrect names. We were told about it right away. It was long, but it existed and there was a process for dealing with it, and it was stressful but ultimately not a big deal and we were still inside with plenty of time. I was there with friends and one of our tickets had another friend’s name on it and had been transferred to us when plans changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a lot of scam artists in Warsaw. But it is nothing compared to many third world countries in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, or even other countries in the EU like Romania, Bulgaria, and parts of Italy and France. We won't talk about Russia.

As for taxi drivers, I always called a cab using one of the services. Never use one of the unofficial airport taxis. If you get into any taxi and don't see the ID certificate with the driver's picture and name, get out. The scam drivers always have it covered up.

I have worked extensively in these two, and Romania is nothing like Poland. I've found Poland to be much closer to the way OP describes it. Never a problem in Romania. FWIW, I'm American now, but also a dual German citizen (and speak more than just German and English). I do not enjoy working in Poland or with the Poles. YMMV.

Not at all surprising coming from you, German. Yesterday was the 80th Anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising, which saw the mass slaughter of 200,000 of our civilians by the Nazi Germans and the systematic deportation of the survivors and total destruction of Warsaw. And that’s on top of the millions of additional Poles
(including Polish Jews) that you mercilessly slaughtered. So suffice it to say that we don’t trust you either!!

^^PS, let’s also not forget the official governmental Romanian collaboration with the Nazi Germans, so it’s no wonder you feel more at home there!!

Two previous posters certainly taking it to a whole new level for nastiness on a travel forum. I shouldn’t be surprised but I am.

Why should you be? If you’re the German PP, you sort of started it.

Not German PP. Are you 5 years old? You started it - wahhh!