Tourists of and from all over world, it is very difficult to avoid the interaction with touts and scammers whose sole motive is to fool new people in the country. These cheats always keep looking for new techniques, ways of stealing money and making fool of others without giving any suspicion. We have written this article as an awareness alarm to help tourists avoid becoming part of any kind of travel scam.
Ways to avoid scams:
1) Collect all the information beforehand: Almost all the reputable businesses and years old companies have a website of their own citing all the required information. Also you can easily find their participation and visibility on other forum websites, travel review websites like Trip Advisor. Search for what other tourists have got to share about the same firm, check the response and bad reviews if any. There are many businesses which has got no online presence in that case it is advisable to ask about it before making any payment. People with several years experience always care about their reputation in the market whereas touts will only talk about money.
2) Do the Documentation & Advance Planning: You should gather all the important and required information about the travel agency before making any payment. When you are planning for a trip, do all the research about the place, hotels, driver, cars, guide, food and write it down on piece of paper, keep it handy all the time. This home work will prove helpful in many ways, not only you can cut down cost of not so important things but also you would get better picture of what you want, can ask for upgrades and better facilities.
3) Do not rely on taxi drivers, guides for Information: Most of the business personals offer to pay a very significant amount of their sales to whoever brings clients. Some small portion of commission is fine to give but in some cases tourists get fooled and end up paying hefty amount. Also keep in mind that if any driver gives you discounted rates and ask to join him to his friend’s showroom then just say a no. If you want to go then check for reasonable price and bargain hard.
4) Be aware of Bluffs: Sometime it happens, touts try posing as some government officer in order to fleece money from people. This scenario is very rare but if in case you meet such cheat just ask him about his ID. They will get offended and scold you that you are doing something illegal, threaten you with police arrest or so. Do not get panic, just contact nearby police person or local people.