Are there any common ripoffs and scams we should be aware of in Italy? When are we supposed to bargain? Grazie?

Did not have any incidents of ripoffs or scams. But you can bargain with the street vendors selling shoes and clothes. I'm referring to the ones we saw on Via Cola di Rienzo. I'm not sure about the markets though.

The typical scam that I have heard about and witnessed in Rome involves kids (gypsies) approaching tourists (several kids) and shaking newspapers in your face to distract you and then some of them will pick your pockets or mug you.<BR><BR> If you even see the kids coming up to you, say VERY loudly No – Police – help – etc. and stomp your feet and swing your arms – you may look like a nut, but you will not be mugged by kids.<BR><BR>Don't be afraid to deck a 12-year old kid who is trying to mug you.

Chuck,<BR>When I got the the Naples train station I knew that I had to go downstairs to catch the circumvensia to Sorrento. These men that work for the train (they kept pointing to a train logo on their jackets and saying don't worry we work for the train) were calling out to people going to Sorrento. They led me to the circumvensia station, telling me that a cab was too expensive and to watch out for pick pockets. I don't doubt that a cab would be too expensive. However when we got to the circumvensia station I gave them a tip, but they insisted that they should get 20 Euros for their helpful advice.<BR>I talked to some other people in Sorrento who had the same experience. <BR>I would have had to pretty much yell at them to get them not to help me, they were so insistent. I should have just pretended I wasn't going to Sorrento.<BR>

Watch out for those dancing Mickys!

Chuck<BR>Anybody who offers to help you in the Naples train station is trying to rip you off. There are false baggage handlers, we had an old guy try to tell us we needed a taxi to get to the right train station when leaving the Circumvesuviana when we didn't. Know where you're going and ignore them.<BR>The other common ripoff is padding the restaurant bill--on Capri the waiter scribbled a bunch of meaningless figures on a scrap of paper and then immediately crumpled it up. I should have asked for a better accounting.

Check your restaurant receipts carefully--not only the items ordered but the totals as well. We noticed this time a number of discrepancies and when questioned the bill disappeared and we never received a copy, which by Italian law you are supposed to get. M.

I would be very wary of anyone offering you unsolicited assistance in Naples (or anywhere for that matter).

We visited Vatican April 20th this yr. We were going to walk back to Piazza Navona (where our hotel was), but saw some horse & buggies right there. We asked how much to take us to P.Navona. "Johnny" said 30Euro. (and I positively confirmed the price bfr accepting) <BR><BR>He took us on a lovely ride to our destination, then said "That'll be 180 Euro." We were saying, "No, you said 30, and we asked you a couple times to make sure." He kept saying "No, no." We tried to give him the 40Euro (we'd even planned to give him a nice tip), but he kept pushing my hand back and saying "No! 180!" He grabbed my friend's arm and said "I'll call police." We threw the 40 on the seat of his buggy and said "Call 'em!"<BR><BR>Lesson learned: Beware of the buggy drivers.....at least one named "Johnny" waiting outside St. Peter's square. We concluded it was an obvious scam they had going.<BR><BR>Laura

Last year in Rome a taxi driver picked us up with about 40,000 lira on the meter and then argued with me aggressively and insistently about why it was there. He got completely bogged down in traffic (Rome had just beaten Parma for the national soccer championship), so, like Laura, I put on the seat a reasonable amount of money as my wife and I vacated the taxi in the middle of the street a few blocks from our actual destination.

One other thing that we suspected was a scam, but don't know for sure....We took hotel's (Venice-Europa/Regina) water shuttle to airport. The shuttle driver asked if we needed a porter to help us w/our bags (from dock to tix gate). Since we had 7 bags, we said sure. Porter loaded up bags, walked w/us to tix counter (only 30-40 steps away, as it turned out), then said "20 Euro." That seemed so ridiculously high, that I turned to the Europa/Regina rep who walked w/us (they're there @ dock to assist hotel guests), and he just shrugged shoulders + said something like "that's what they charge." <BR><BR>Well, since hotel rep did assist us by getting thru tix line (knew the 1st class counter tix agent), we gave him a tip. We thought about it later, and suspect they all probably work together.<BR><BR>Lesson learned: From dock in Venice, *always just grab a cart, pass on porter.<BR>(Such sm. distance from dock to counter)<BR><BR>Laura

Count your change carefully if you give a bill over 5 or 10 Euro. (I didn't want to insult anyone by counting when paying only a dollar or two) <BR><BR>I got shortchanged 2Euro by the "friendly" ticket agent in Venice. He asked where we we staying as he handed my change back - I was too groggy from the 20+ hour trip and didn't count my change. It was a good lesson for the rest of my trip.

Good advice being given here. Many receipts were wrong that I was presented with and many bills were improperly added. Not to mention that the change given was often incorrect as well. In one restaurant they tried to short change me by 20 dollars. For my laundry they tried to take an extra 15 dollars. No, it's not alot but it got to be kind of a habit. I guess they assumed that we didn't know how to add or subtract money in their country. Everyone seems to know how to handle money and makes it a point of knowing the exchange rates.<BR>I did not let them just run and drop the bill. I went over it with them before handing them my money after the first few times. This helped alot.<BR>I had a similar experience to a previous poster with a taxi driver and also decided to drop my money and get out and walk.