My partner and I are coming to the end of a week long visit to Istanbul and can honestly say that it is one of the most interesting locations we have ever been to. So much culture, so many impressive landmarks and views, excellent food and the local guides we have booked on a couple of the days have been amazing.
Despite all of the above, I have no plan to return to Istanbul any time soon. Whilst I appreciate that I can only comment on my personal experience, I have found the attitude towards tourists in this city nothing short of aggressive. I’m not talking about the pressure selling within the bazaars, which I was actually looking forward to, but just the general disdain on the faces of taxi drivers (when you can actually get one to stop) and local restaurant staff.
The general feeling I have at the end of this week is that tourists here are nothing more than an opportunity for a scam. Out of the 30 or so taxis we have taken around the city during our stay, only 2 have actually used the meter without us having to ask and as soon as you do ask, you are immediately bombarded with excuses as to why you will have to pay more. If it’s not traffic (which is constant at any time of the day), it’s ‘a bad route’ or ‘theres been an accident’ or ‘I don’t like driving to this place’.
We have stayed for the last three nights in the Bestiktas area of Instanbul, where admittedly traffic is pretty bad. Our most frequent spot to get a taxi to is Taksim Square as it’s a good starting point for shopping and food etc, but the taxi fare from our hotel has varied from 50 lira to 400 lira every single time, despite always taking around 20 minutes and only showing as around 45 lira on the meter. It’s not about the cost to us, its just that there doesn’t seem to be any kind of control, it just seems to be ‘how much can I screw out of this tourist and get away with it?”.
The same goes for a lot of the local restaurants. If you don’t have a booking and just walk in (even if it is near empty) the expression on the faces of the staff is nearly always annoyance. We were then subject to a lot of muttering, before being handed a menu full of stickers taped over the local price. On peeling back the stickers, it’s plain to see that we are being charged treble the amount we should be, but the annoying thing is, it’s not even made up for with good service. Aside from a few exceptions, service here has been absolutely terrible. Sulky faces, absolutely no attempt to communicate in any way (just to note, we always try to learn a few phrases wherever we travel, so we can at least be polite) and a rolling of the eyes even if a tip is left at the end.
We are fully aware that we are tourists to another country. We don’t expect specialist treatment and we also expect to pay a little more than the locals. The difference we have experienced here in Istanbul is the open hostility and the perception that taxi drivers and restaurant staff are ‘getting one over on us’ because we’re foreign. The problem is, they’re not getting one over on us, because we know exactly what they are doing. So instead of us leaving a larger tip for good service, they instead make a few extra lira by overcharging for meals and taxi fares, which just leaves a bitter taste.
Like everything, I’m sure there are others who have had a great experience here in Istanbul, but for us, we will leave with a view that a lot of the hospitality staff here would much rather make a couple of extra lira than offer a basic level of politeness and manners
Submitted April 10, 2023 at 04:38AM by Turtles2507 https://ift.tt/EVbMh3B
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