A pair of British tourists were left in disbelief after they were charged more than £500 for two drinks and some snacks while on holiday in Greece. The mum and her 19-year-old daughter refused to pay the eye-watering bill, but were stopped by staff members from leaving the restaurant on the island of Mykonos.
The mum said they had ordered two cocktails and a portion of crab legs, while sitting in some deck chairs for a few hours. But when the bill came, they had been charged an astonishing €520, as well as a €78 tip, reports The Mirror.
Complaining about the huge bill to their travel agent, she acknowledged they had used the deck chairs for a few hours, but was still dumfounded as to how it cost so much, reports The Sun. But she discovered it happens to locals all the time and has now pledged to file a police report. You can read all our travel news here.
The woman told her travel agent: “We spent a beautiful day at the beach but please, warn your future customers that the restaurant-bar we visited, charged us €600 for two cocktails and a portion of crab legs. While we knew that the bill would not exceed €200, suddenly they asked us to pay €600!"
Greece is heavily dependent on the tourism, with one in four people working in the travel industry. This is not the first time tourists have been caught out and swindled by locals. Unsuspecting tourists, especially when unable to speak the language, can be taken advantage of.
In 2019, a tourist at a Mykonos restaurant was left fuming after being charged €591 (£503) for just six pieces of calamari. That same year, a group of British tourists were charged €82 (£70) for eight soft drinks after visiting a restaurant in Rhodes. In 2017 a British tourist claimed he and his elderly parents were tricked into running up a massive £463 lunch bill after dining on lobster and oysters at a restaurant in Venice.
Luke Tang, 40, and his 70-year-old parents were shocked when they saw how much they were being charged for their food - and claim they had not even ordered lots of the items on the bill. The university lecturer said the waiters in the restaurant, Trattoria Casanova, kept bringing them dishes that they had not asked for and failed to tell them the cost. To get more stories like this sent straight to your inbox everyday, sign up for the WalesOnline newsletter here.
