I know that all of us who have spent some time in cuba (particulary la Habana) have been through feelings of frustration, comedy and despair at some of the pranksters in the Cuban tourist and service industry - for those who havnt been, dont worry, they are almost always funny in restrospect, and are usually pretty harmless in the grand scale of life- but incredibly frustrating at the time all the same (i have travelled quite abit, and there is none of the desperation of most latin american countries)
la golf bar (i think this is the name)- a pizzeria along the malecon, we ask for two 1.50 cuc pizzas, which arrive after about an hours waiting around buying drinks (see what they did there? lol)- the bill comes, im not an economist but inflation does not rise 1000% in a matter of minutes, not even in cuba,lol- the pizza's are 3 cuc each instead of 1.50, i ask why the price rise? i am told that they added extra cheese to the base of the pizza, which is hillarious as the pizzas were wafer thin, and i dont even like cheese anyway- so guys remember, try and keep the menu, or make a point of the price before you order! it does sound petty in retrospect, but at the time it can be abit frustrating-
another one- we walk into a restaurant (this particular one is down near the docks, i dont recall the name), to be whisked to a table- after taking awhile to deciptor the menu, my spanish is ok, but im not a fast reader- we ask for the chicken, 'sorry sir, not today', the pork? 'lo siento, no es possible', and this goes on, it turns out the only thing they do have is the lobster, which also happens to be the most expensive dish on the menu,lol, what a coincidence i thought to myself- so there is a restuarant where the only thing on the menu is lobster, why didnt they just tell us that instead of giving us a full menu,lol, anyway as much as we admired his wit, we left-
and who else has been accosted by a restaurant worker trying to tempt you into his/her restaurant by telling you 'hello sir, this is the MOST EXPENSIVE restaurant in havana', as if by it being the most expensive restaurant, you will be tempted to go in,lol- these cubans just havent grasped this capitalism game have they?
feel free to share equally as amusing stories, youve got to love cuba- cuba es cuba
Bill padding is pretty common, except for paladars. I don't recall ever having a problem in a paladar and I've eaten hundreds of times in those.
I can understand someone trying to add a drink or two, to a party of 5 that have been drinking all night but, probably the same restaurant on the Malecon you mentioned.... a few years ago, my gf and I order 2 burgers, 1 fry and 2 cokes. The bill comes back on a scrap of paper with a total on it. Of course it was padded (3 burgers, 2 fries)... "disculpame"... blah blah... the total is corrected. I go to pay, bill was around $3.80 or something. I hand over a $5. Apparently they don't have $1.20 in change. OOOOOKKKKK..... I say, "no problem... go next door and get change, I'll wait"... when magically $1.20 appears. Of course, no tip was left. Never did go back there.
The waiter(s) at Casa de la Musica on Galiano always tries to screw me on a bottle of rum and 4 cokes. I would never have known unless this Mexican I met and his jinetera gf had not been with us the first time I went there, just after it had opened. When the waiter mentioned the price to me I knew somwething was wrong. The Mexican's gf de jour asked me what was wrong. I mentioned the price to her (I didn't order, yet) and she said, no that was wrong, it should be $XX and proceeded to leave the table and go to the bar. She came back and said everything was ok, and the waiter did the "i quited you the prcie for 7 year old, not 3 year old....blah...blah...blah". The subsequent X times I was there, different waiter(s) every time, they try the same crap. I don't ask the prcie, just hand over $xx and ignore their bewildered faces. Haven't had a problem....lol
I haven't been at that CdlM in about 1.5 years. I assume nothing has changed except the drink prices. I have never had a problem at the other CdlM in Playa and leave a generous tip.
The above is pretty routine, as any frequent traveller can attest to.
The last 3 trips down, on checkout of my hotel, they tried to pull the missing towel scam.....at Libra...it was 20 CUC...for a TOWEL, well I refused to pay on all 3 occasions, just ask for the manager, then the towel count seems to be correct....LOL
A couple of trips ago- and this was partly down to my own foolishness, but was quite amusing anyway. Having just arrived in la habana, and whilst showing a friend of mine around the plaza de la cathedral area, we had the misfortune to bump into a jovial little character called Carlos, who offered to show us to a nearby cheap restuarant, so feeling open minded and hungry we indulged him.. he then took us a dodgy looking restaurant clearly operated by his friend/relative/co-con artist sidekick the waiter, having promised us that the meal would cost more than 10 cuc each, it turned out it was 24 cuc each, aswell as paying for his meal (who we didnt invite to eat with us,lol)- i should have became suspicious when he asked for the t-shirt my friend happened to be wearing at the time and was quite serious in wanting to swap my friends t-shirt for his string vest; following this, we wanted to show us a bar, so still feeling open minded, and keen to meet some locals, we agreed- we were taken to a house, not a bar, but definetly a house, carlos assured us that this was the very house where the famous cuban film 'fresa y chocolate' was filmed, by the sound of it, he was single handedly responsible for the films production..lol-
we were given mojitos by another guy, whos house it probably was, and who claimed to be a top barman at the hotel ingleterre, who was having a day off.. the mojitos were practically plied down our throats.. having not even asked for anything, having wanted to leave, we declared this intention.. but were told to hang on, because carlos the con man wanted us to meet his cousin who spoke good english, although he'd been happily talking away in english for ages.. when we really became bored of the jovial banter, having got up to leave i was presented a bill for 12 cuc (in a house, i ask u!), the guys claimed each mojito was 6 cuc, despite some shouting and bad tempers, id had enough of the whole con and threatened to call the police, at which point we left generously leaving a 2 cuc on the way out- although it was obviously a well rehearsed routine used many times on unsuspecting tourists, and we shouldnt have given them anything at all, carlos obviously thought it was his lucky day
In 1997, one of the best prepared meals I have ever had in Cuba came about in a similar fashion... pssst... I know a great restaurant, follow me. So we did. Ended up going into a 3 story, entering through the lane, up through someones apartment and, finally, and surprisingly, into a small but well run restaurant being operated out of someone's apartment. 4 or 5 tables, with 3 occupied by other tourists. Air conditioning, Crystal beer, you name it. Lobster was $12. Overpricerd at that time but I understand the pssst guy needs to make a living also. I wish I had remembered where it was since the food and service was first rate.
It was my first trip and I did know better but what the heck....
#1: Padding in Casa de la Musica on Galiano is still very common.
You order a Bucanero. Waiter says 2 CUC. You give him 2 CUC . Waiter puts your 2 CUC in the cash-register.
Then he quickly takes out the change and puts it discrete, out of sight, for his own use beside the register.
Lots of the same crap in other places too.
Last month when I was there I was amazed at the lengths some would go to realize such a small sum. Sometimes I make a fuss sometimes I can't be bothered, but these days I rarely get scammed unbeknownst to me. This time, after standing in line at the Banco for CUCs for a long time, the cashier made a point of giving me the coin change in as small denoms as possible. I counted the bills but did not count the 5 & 10 centavos and once out I did and sure enough she had skimmed I think .25 off. I think this speaks volumes about the situation there.
Another time a store clerk as charmingly as can be imagined removed the price tag from the large bag of Serrano and then promptly added a CUC to the price. That time I was too tired to make a scene and force her to go back to the other room and get another bag to check the price, that one annoyed me!
I've noticed several scams where workers are skimming the gov't take, which I think is hilarious, but am not going to post the details. It's like the DVD ban, I take it up as challenge to get as many down as I can. So far batting 500.
One reason why it is so flagerant is that most tourists couldn't be bothered, too shy, etc... to stand up to the bs. It encourages the type of behavior. I don't let anyone get away with robbing me. It's the principal. I figure I am doing all tourists a favor.
Ya, I know... they're poor and have hungry mouths to feed.
I doubt that any of the workers scamming tourists have any hungry mouths to feed, not that many other cubans may have. Gres you're probably absolutely right; was it worth my effort to count my nickles and rag at the bank clerk? not for the quarter, but for the principle. Obviously, there is not enough repurcussions from the employer (state) or likelyhood of getting caught. This is something cuba(ns) will have to address if they ever hope to move forward.
It is amazing how unflappable they can be in the face of opposition too. In December in Havana (vieja) my son and I were walking in hustler central, and got accosted by a milk scammer. In a loud voice I explained to my son what the scam was, what the facts were and the scammer just kept going. I kept telling my son what was true and not, but kept going along with it, right to the store, even "bought" some milk, continuing to explain in a loud voice that the milk would be back in the back door of the store before we were out the front, the clerk looked like he could throttle me! But they kept it up, I shouldn't have done it, but I guarantee my son will never fall for it on his own. If I had have tried to explain it, his eyes would have glazed over and never heard a word.
I find that it grows wearisome, and even, by the end of a trip, I resent paying fair prices because my guard has been up so long it just becomes habit to feel you're getting ripped.
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