In resort countries, many residents make a living thanks to tourists. Some honestly rent a room by the sea, sell sweets and fruit on the beach, while others pick the pockets of stranded foreigners or try to cheat them out of money in some other way.
Prices
Cubans use two currencies – convertible cookies and non-convertible pesos. Their exchange rate is approximately as follows: 1 cuc = 28 pesos. Money bills look similar to each other and are marked with the same icons, which creates a favorable ground for the development of fraud with prices and money signs. Very often tourists, not understanding the intricacies of the Cuban economy, pay for cab rides or street food in cucas instead of pesos, and dishonest cab drivers and sellers shamelessly take the “wrong” money from them, thus getting superprofits.
Pesos
When you exchange your currency for pesos and cookies, compare the currency carefully and memorize the differences. Know that public transportation fares and street food are always in pesos, and don’t pay with cookies. Currency Exchange You are tired from your long flight and are looking for a currency exchange office at the airport. You count out, for example, €1000 and ask to exchange it for cookies. The cashier counts the money and says that you only gave €900. You write this mistake off as fatigue and give the cashier another €100, and then you get your cookies. You didn’t actually make a mistake in the calculation. It’s just that the cashier, having received the €1000, discreetly flicked one bill onto the floor. And when you leave, he will pick up the money and put it in his own pocket.
How to avoid being cheated?
Put the money out one bill at a time and count it out loud. Do not get distracted when exchanging currency. If you are sure that you are being cheated, go to the police without delay – exchange offices often have cameras and you can easily prove your case. But as a rule, it does not come to the police. As soon as you start to get indignant, the cashier will immediately “find” the “lost” bill on the floor and apologize.
Cafes
The following practice is widespread in Cuba: cafes have two entrances, one for locals and one for tourists. If you go in together with locals – you will eat not expensive and pay in pesos, if with the same foreigners – prepare to pay in cucas. There is another situation, when the entrance to the cafe is one, but the menus are different, and each copy is numbered with numbers: 1, 2, 3, etc. Accordingly, all menus have different prices. If you are brought a menu number 3, get ready to pay for a meal three times more expensive.
How to avoid being cheated?
Before entering a cafe, look around carefully. Go to the door where the locals go, and do not listen to advisers pointing to the entrance for foreign tourists. If they bring you a numbered menu, it’s better to eat at another establishment.
Cabs
Cuban cabs are not much different from cabs in other resort countries. Counters in cars are rare, and enterprising drivers will drive you on the streets around the hotel to get more money. It is very common for cab drivers, after taking foreigners to their destination, to claim that they have quoted a per-person fare. They then double or triple the amount, depending on the number of passengers. And quietly rejoice at how cleverly they have cheated tourists.
How to avoid deception?
The cost of the trip should be discussed in advance. Be sure to specify that it is the full amount of the trip, not the fare per passenger. Rent a car A foreign tourist driving a car is an easy prey for swindlers. This is used by everyone, starting with the car rental company, which attributes non-existent scratches on the hood after returning the car, and ending with gas station attendants who manage to “pour” more gasoline into the gas tank than it can hold.
