Costa Rica Ticabus Scam?

I had a guest who crossed at Penas Blancas from Nicaragua to Costa Rica with Ticabus. He was already aware of the $2 exit fee. However at the Nicaraguan side, the "official" who collected the Ticabus travelers' passports asked for $5. My guest didn't comply, but since he was the only one out of 22 riders who didn't, he agreed to pay the $5 to avoid problems.
I've crossed the border both by foot and by Ticabus and it was $2 (plus this thread supports that.) Before I write an irate message to Ticabus, does anyone else know of this incident happening as well?? Maybe at another border?

FYI: I posted this in another forum, but they had closed the topic.

Maybe the $3 upcharge was the fee for the handler with the passports...

Wow, a whole $3. I was scammed out of $4k in Costa Rica last year. Maybe I should post a warning about, do not participate in street carnivals in San Jose...

I´ was wondering if there was a TICA border scam going on when I took TICA from Honduras into Nicaragua.
On the bus, he first claimed I needed to pay US18. This was then reduced to US15 after discussion with some other (foreign) passengers. In the end, I dealt with immigration myself, and was charged US12 by Nicaraguan immigration, and was unable to get an official receipt for the charge.

Like Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, border scams, by both officials, handlers and touts, are common place in poor developing countries where foreign backpackers traverse. You can fight it all day long and argue, or pay.

Of course there are plenty of border "scams" (bribes, payoffs), that are accepted as common practice in less developed countries, but its unusual that its associated with an large international bus company. I wonder if Ticabus is aware of it, or probably they are aware of it and support it.
What was the $4K scam, or do you just mean a pickpocketing? Are you referring to the Dia de Independencia festival that happened today the 15th?

Well, I am referring to the start of my vacation last year in Costa Rica. It was the first day of arrival. I was in Heredia at the park near the bus stop. There was a seemingly innocent street carnival selling some food, offering some games, playing some music, etc. In the US I am used to the typical throw the ring on the bottle or throw the darts at the balloons that they have at the usual fairgrounds. Usually you'll win a stuffed animal or something. Maybe waste $20 on a stuffed animal or something. Not really a big deal.

So, it's first day of vacation. I am thinking, sure, why not, I'll play a few games...

OK, so I looked around and started playing. My spanish is pretty good so I understood the rules pretty well. Throw the rings on the little pegs. The goal is to move the bottles full of sand from one stand to another stand. When all the bottles are moved from one stand to another, you win some cash prize only when all the bottles are moved. I am thinking, OK, why not. So there are some number combinations where you win different "benefits" (e.g. double the bottles won) or move more bottles.

You have about 10 rings. You throw them all at this table full of pegs. Each peg has a number. The value you get after adding all the pegs together results in a sum that has a certain meaning. (e.g. a value between 48 and 62 means you get to move 3 sand-filled bottles)... all pretty standard. There were a total of 40 bottles to move. The guy running the stand did the counting, very quickly as I remember...

Well, here's the main catch... the first throw is 500 colones (about $1). Well, each next throw doubles+ in cost (e.g. the next 10 rings cost 1,000 colones) compared to the cost of the previous throw.... Fast forward to 1/2 hour later and some really crappy decisions... I had ONE BOTTLE remaining and the cost of the next throw was $2,000 dollars. I was out of cash and getting to that point costed me $4,000. Yes, +US dollars, not colones. All the details in between are insignificant. Don't play that game with the little pegs with numbers and small rings...

Yes, it was stupid of me. No, I have not gambled before or after that event.

Ludwip, you have to be joking, why would you start off with a 500 colones throw, which is $1 usd about, and then its switches to USD and by the 10th ring is $4,000 USD???

If the game just stayed at the 500 colones doubling per throw-

2nd ring is 1000C or $2USD
3rd ring is 2000C or $4USD
4th ring is 4000C or $8USD
5th ring is 8000C or $16 USD
6th ring is 16,000C or $32USD
7th ring 32KC or $64USD
8th ring is 64K/C or $128USD
9th ring is 128K/C or $256USD
10th ring is 256K/C or $512 USD

There is a sucker in every crowd buddy...

No wonder paying bribes to cops is fodder for you, it all mkaes sense now...LOL

I'm curious as to what the prize would have been had you payed the 2k and won. A stuffed bear from the top shelf?

Ludwip would of been better off his first day going to the Hotel Del Rey, getting the top floor suite, and 6 hookers at the bar, a steak dinner, and still have $3000 left over to play Roulette and put it all on Even/Red.

Hotel Rey would have been a great alternative. Yes, hindsight is a great thing after the event is over. Like I said, it was the first day of vacation and I wasn't really thinking.

To answer #8, if I would have won the final bottle, it was around a 4 fold earnings. Meaning I would have gotten $16k dollars (4 times whatever I put in). Like I said, I haven't gambled before that point and I don't plan on ever gambling again...

For #7, yes, you did the math so I must have been around the 12th throw or so. And yes, bribing a cop with $20 isn't really a big deal anymore... I am not recommending it, it's just not a big deal.