Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
What would you do?
I was in Istanbul last month. I saw two people being scammed.
Here's the setup. Istanbul's tourist district is full of scammers. They prey on naïve Westerners who are good people, and thus believe that other people are good people too. On the first day, I was standing near
Hagia Sophia with my sister, looking lost. A scammer slithers up and says "The Mosque is closed. Where are you from?" My sister, a sweet and innocent person, answers honestly. "Seattle". The scammer is smooth. "I love the fish market. I used to drive a Penske truck near there for my carpet business." He's not letting us talk and he's trying to get us to do something. I'm not sure what. After a little back and forth I blurt out, implausibly, "we're busy", grab my sister and walk away to a stream of insults from the scammer.
I figured that he just wanted to charge us for an overpriced tour. Searching online, I realized it's worse. After giving you a "free" tour, they try to get you into their carpet or art shop. "I just need to pick something up. Please come in." Free food and tea is given, as well as a hard sell on an overpriced carpet. At this point, the tone changes, and people might feel forced to buy a carpet because of the "implications".
After our encounter, I was hyperaware of this sort of scam and I think I saw it happen twice.
The first time, I saw a tourist woman being led by a Turkish man. After following them for a couple blocks, they entered this ceramics shop. I kept walking.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Testi+seramik/
The next day, on nearly the exact same block, I saw another woman being led by a Turkish man. This time, the destination was an ATM machine. The woman withdrew some cash while the man stood back doing weird air punches. They headed the other way and were gone.
What, if anything, should I have done? I wasn't 100% sure that the women were being scammed. And, of course, by intervening I could have put my own safety at risk as well as the safety of the women.
In the United States, I would have called the police at a minimum. I might also ask the women if they needed help, or even just "accidentally" bump into them and strike a conversation. Here, I felt paralyzed. In the end, I wasn't worried for the women's safety. But I could see they were going to have a bad and very expensive day. I suppose I also felt disgusted at Turkish people for allowing this as well as disgust at the women for being so obvilious. Not sure there's a right answer here. I just want to see what people think.
While the threat of getting any physical harassment is quite low, you definitely did the right thing by just walking away. Scammy oriental bazaar carpet seller and "tour guide" is a stereotype that existed as long as Westerners became rich and started visiting the East. IMO the best Turkish comedy movie of all times literally has "scammy carpet seller gets abducted by aliens" as its plot. The opening scene where he is scamming Japanese tourists with fake wares is considered pretty hilarious by most people.
I have had similar interactions in Israel and multiple Arab countries. Unfortunately it seems almost inevitable when modern industry and commerce makes the institution of bazaars obsolete and a corrupted version of it survives solely due to tourist inflows. These people develop a good eye for the most gullible and loaded foreigners and spend their entire working life making good money from it.
The worst offenders tend to make the national news and the police usually does something about it if you were truly coerced. But this is definitely not a boundary you want to test as a foreigner and even if you can get restitution you still ruined your holiday.
Istanbul is typically right on the edge of modernized decent mega-city and third world shit-hole. If you intend to visit more third world destinations in the future it is a good training ground for not looking and acting too much like a credulous cash-cow tourist.
P.S. Also please don't eat any processed meat from any tourist street restaurant. Just check for very good google reviews online or walk a bit further to the side streets and find a place that doesn't have an English menu if you want an "authentic experience". I can't fathom how people still fall for this.
This makes sense. I was wondering how the business model of the bazaar could possibly work. Surely scamming and harassing every customer isn't a viable business strategy? But in a world where any real business has been disrupted, this is all that can survive. I suppose parallels exist in the United States. Mattress stores, for example, charge 5x what they should, but only need to sell to 1 customer a day to keep the lights on. Anyone comparing prices will just buy off Amazon, so better to charge 5x than 1.2x. You'll get the same number of sales either way.
Personally, I spent basically no money in Turkey. As a tourist, my motto is never buy what anyone is selling. I'll never go into a restaurant with someone outside roping in customers for example.
But I can see how this strategy would work on less well-traveled tourists, especially coming from places like America that have no immune system to barkers.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link