Anonymous wrote:For work, I have lived in both Slovakia and Ukraine, which share proximity and cultural mores with Poland. Yes, there is corruption, and yes, you can be scammed if not careful.

But I also lived in Pakistan and India for a few years, and the lies and scams in THAT region of the world are truly astounding. If someone in India or Pakistan is speaking to you, there is a high chance they are telling a lie/trying tondeceive/scam you, and the lack of shame when they are caught out is disgusting. Poland is squaky-clean honest in comparison. OP, don't ever go there.

+1

Let's not blame the OP. But everyone needs to be aware that outside of the US (and yes plenty of places inside) you need to have your guard up and be suspicious about everything.

Is it exhausting? Yes. I hate being Suspicious Sue all over my vacation, and I definitely travel LESS because of it and definitely to less sketchy places. Their loss.

I don't know why everyone is so harsh to OP. I travel a decent amount, a few countries a year, and use booking.com all the time, so I wouldn't consider than an amatuer mistake. (I admit I usually use it for hotels but once for an apt but that apt was very nice).

And the cab thing happens all over, but again, you usually CAN just trust a driver to take you where you need to go on an agreed-upon or metered price.

I get you, OP. I think you expected more from Poland. Unfortunately, there are unscrupulous people everywhere. We almost got scammed in Italy years ago. I think it's just a lesson to always be on guard when you travel, and used trusted sites and resources.

I think I would not do an airbnb in Poland. I've done airbnb in the UK with no issues (except one time the owner cancelled our reservation, and didn't refund us the loss in fx rate and fees), and once in Barcelona. but I don't think I'd do that in most other countries. Just too much hassle if something is not right.

When I take a taxi in foreign countries, I do look at the route on my phone just to make sure because you just never know.

I'm just a cautious person in general, and always verify.

I would still visit Poland, though.

Anonymous wrote:Pro tips:

1. Stay at a hotel…always.

2. Have your hotel concierge arrange a car service to/from hotel/airport. (They won’t scam the hotel since it’s their source of gigs.)

^^^
Foolproof ways to avoid problems.

I think this is key. When traveling I do not put trust in individual people at all. There are scammers everywhere (including in the US).

Anonymous wrote:

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.

That sounds like a stubhub problem. The should go under because the ticketmaster business model makes theirs unsustainable. The whole premise of stubhub is a reliable secondary market, but ticketmaster won't let them act as a middle man, so the reliable part isn't there

It’s also not a scam. A scam is never getting tickets or getting fake tickets. OP’s seller forgot or neglected to change the name of the ticket to hers. Some attendants check, most don’t- she got in with the ticket with an attendant who didn’t check so she was NOT scammed.

You sound like you are genuinely bad at traveling OP. It’s Poland, it’s just not this hard. I traveled to Europe with my kid for the TS concert too with no issues - you’re just not good at managing travel, quit blaming an entire country lol

You sound like a horrible traveler. Limit yourself to”easy” trips as you aren’t quite ready. All of these are your fault. Every single one is a newbie error.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP again. If you are to visit Poland, here is my advice:

- don’t
- if you do, don’t trust anyone/anything. Always be suspicious and verify
- only book in chain hotels
- don’t use guides, DYI it

I'm sorry everyone here is slamming you. I understand - this would really suck, OP. Everyone here is up on their high horse

Hi, OP!

Anonymous wrote:OP again. If you are to visit Poland, here is my advice:

- don’t
- if you do, don’t trust anyone/anything. Always be suspicious and verify
- only book in chain hotels
- don’t use guides, DYI it

I'm sorry everyone here is slamming you. I understand - this would really suck, OP. Everyone here is up on their high horse

Anonymous wrote:I would never pick Poland on the world map to travel. I have known some Polish coworkers in DMV, and they are not that nice.

How funny. I would never visit the USA. I had American coworkers and they weren’t nice. This sample group informs my opinion about the other 333 million citizens.

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.

That sounds like a stubhub problem. The should go under because the ticketmaster business model makes theirs unsustainable. The whole premise of stubhub is a reliable secondary market, but ticketmaster won't let them act as a middle man, so the reliable part isn't there

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry that this happened to you, OP.

I have spent a lot of time in Poland and LOVE it. Key is booking nice hotels or apartment hotels. Only take public transportation or Uber.

I enjoyed biking around Warsaw, listening to Chopin concerts, strolling in the beautiful Royal Baths Park, elegant little cafes where you can have cake and coffee, and hot chocolate that you can eat with a spoon!

There is a lot to love. I’m sorry that your experience was bad.

I studied abroad in Prague and took trips to Krakow and Warsaw staying in very crappy hotels and never got scammed. In general, I had a much easier time in central Europe and thought most people that I dealt with were great. Maybe OP had a problem because it was obvious she was there for cheap taylor swift tickets and the locals didn't appreciate it

Anonymous wrote:Where are you now OP and what are you doing?

Hopefully visiting the Warsaw Uprising museum

What made you choose Poland in the first place? Even cheaper TS tickets?

Where are you now OP and what are you doing?