I have just returned from the Egypt and the Nile Contiki trip, and I need to warn everyone about a scam we ran into. It involves the waiters and managers on the cruise ship (in our case the M/S Carmen but they are mostly all owned by thee same company; Egypt Hotels).

When we ordered drinks on the boat, the waiter would write down our order, pass us the pad to sign for the order, then retrieve the pad, tear off a pink carbon copy receipt for us and go and get us the drink. The bill was to be paid at the end of the trip. When I came to pay for my bill at the end of the cruise I was shocked to find a list of bills that were much larger than anything I had signed for. I asked for their copy of the receipt which the management produced after much reluctance, which clearly showed that they had added drinks to the receipt AFTER I had signed my name at the bottom. For example, I ordered one beer. The receipt they produced had “1 x beer” written down and just under it in a different handwriting “2 x Heineken beer”. I never drink Heineken, and nobody else ordered with me, just the waiter and I were present, so I can be 100% sure that this was falsified on purpose. What is more, during that night, the waiters didn’t give us the pink receipts. This turned out to be because they were unable to forge our bills and add drinks if we had the pink receipts. I had been given 6 out of the 10 pink slips for the cruise. These pink slips I had tallied perfectly with the blue receipts they had kept for the drinks. But for the 4 bills that I wasn’t given a pink receipt for, I had had many beers and cokes added by the hotel afterwards.

When I noticed this had happened upon paying the bill, I asked around and soon enough, there were a number of people that had found their bills to be doctored. Different hand writing was used, cokes were added to people’s bills who were caffeine intolerant (impossible!), some bills were summarised as “3 x beer, 1 x beer” which doesn’t make sense as they would have just written “4 x beer”. I now discovered at least 6 other people extremely unhappy with the way their bills had been falsified. The management of the cruise ship was very hostile towards us, and our tour guide had disappeared. We argued for about 2 hours but things were getting more and more heated and we looked like getting stuck on the ship with the armed police present without any ability to speak Arabic and defend ourselves, it was a very scary and unpleasant experience. We were then basically forced to pay the inflated bills as otherwise we would be unable to carry on with our tour.
After that night, I asked around and found more people who had paid their bills but had secretly been suspicious of the high amount but hadn’t said anything. I believe that in total at the very least 10 people were scammed like this. I was charged 184 Egyptian pounds too much; other people were overcharged by different amounts. This was a horrible experience as I felt threatened and forced to pay for forged bills by people who had no respect or courtesy for us and were vicious and spiteful. The waiters were certainly involved, and I have good reason to believe that the management were also involved due to their complete lack of concern, insistence that we pay and unwillingness to investigate multiple reports of theft from on their ship.

PLEASE be aware of this forgery. Keep and ask for every single pink receipt that you can, tell all your fellow tour friends to do the same, then they can't scam you.

Finally, this trip was the most fun trip I have ever had, so do enjoy yourselfs, it is truly fantastic. I just need to make sure that Egypt hotels get punished for what they did you us and that nobody else gets treated like we did.

Nick

Nick,

I have passed your post along to one of the Contiki employees to get it passed along to the appropriate person in Contiki. It wouldn't hurt to put that in a letter and send it to Contiki direct too.

Just curious, who was your TM?

Hi cdm115, thanks very much for your response. I have indeed already sent a letter to Contiki and a letter to Egypt Hotels as well.

Our Tour Manager was Sherif Abdouelwaf. He was the nicest, most enthusiastic and fun guy ever, and totally made the trip for me with his knowledge and sense of humour. I was a bit surprised that he couldn't sort our problem out more favourably however. He did promise to take all the details and put it in his final report which i have requested a copy of.

Thanks for taking an interest and please keep me informed if you hear any more.

Cheers,
Nick

Sherif is a great TM, on at least 1 occasion I saw him arguing with the staff on our ship, so I know he was trying to have things done right for us. I suppose this is a hard situation due to to the lack of proof - even if it's obvious what is going on. Even with proof in a country where the police aren't totally legit, I'm sure it would be a tough sell. Hopefully, Contiki's corporate office can put pressure on the local company to ensure this doesn't happen again.

Thanks for the heads up so that others will know to be careful about this scam.

I was on the same tour as well with Nick, and I can 100% agree with Nick that this is how it happened, and that it happened to me as well. I would also suggest that when you sign that you cross out the empty space to the right side of the bill (this is where they add the extra drinks).

Sherif did argue with the manager but the manager was still unwilling to do anything except demand full payment.

That cruise ship I believe is a new one which is being used by the subagents. Usually they use MS Sapphire.Most people that I know of have had the Sapphire on their tour and have not had any problems.

There weren't any problems in May with this aspect, but scams are prevalent all throughout the middle east, and also any 3rd world country.
People who are poor resort to this due to economic necessity

One good thing about Sherif is that he sort of "sheppards" the tour participants and gives them the full rundown of all possible scams that will be encountered.He also tries to keep the wolves at bay ( touts/vendors) that are constantly harrasing everyone once you exit the ship, bus.It really gets annoying at times but once they see that you are with a local it sort of reduces in intensity.

I kind of pity Sherif and I've seen him being shouted/ cursed by these vendors. But he can certainly hold his own as well and I'm sure he's used lots of arabic profanity to get the message accross.

Crew rates are different and hence the crew might not be as well paid and sort of resort to this.

My husband and I were also part of this group and had the same experience that Nick and Stacy have discussed. Be sure to get all pink slips from the staff. There were 2 occasions that we had to call the waiter back to get the receipt. Hopefully others will read our posts and not have this incident repeat itself.

This aside....as Nick has stated above the tour was amazing and Sherif was great!

Liz

Hey kinda a off-topic question, but since most of you have been on this tour in the last little while, was wondering if you could tell me how secure you felt on the tour? was there any security type problems? or times when you felt un-easy? im planning on doing this trip in March, my family is a bit worried about it based on everything that has gone on and is still going on in that area of the world, so any words from someone who was in the country within the past little while would be very welcome, Thanks in advance!

I was in Cairo independently prior to this tour and spent 3 days around various parts of the city and there is a high security presence. Even in the surburban areas there are armed patrol guards around. So if its terrorism you're concerned about the Egyptian government has placed this as a very high priority after the 1997 toursits executions at Luxor temple.Its a pity India has not followed in doing so.

The real things that you really need be sort of concerned about are the scams,very high chance of food poisoning, weather conditions in March as its Khamsin sandstorm season.

These scams actually start right at the airport with the taxi touts and will be encountered right throughout the country.You just have to use your personal judgement and common sense.
The touts for taxis can ask anything from USD 50-100 for a ride in a local taxi.The local taxi system is run by real cowboys who decide what they like to charge for the day.They tend to hoon around in thier really old french made cars 60's vintage and look for tourists to scam.

The proper rate is only USD25 for a limosine(modern Western standard car). That's the entire vehicle not per person rate. Prior to entering any taxi definitely ensure that you have small USD denomination and definitely set the price. They like using the old trick of I' don't have any change so can I keep the rest.

Also buying stuff is severly overpriced if you're going to touristy areas like the Khan el Khalili markets. If you're a souvenir shopper its probably better to go to Fustad /Heliopolis area as these are middle class surburbs where locals go for their shopping. You really need to bargain quite hard for most things that you buy.The vendors also like to push hard for a sale so its good to be a little thick skinned as well and just tell them you're browsing.

Pay in cash and don't even bother to use your credit card as they would even be tempted to add additional costs.

Egyptians will not snatch and grab, mug you directly but will certainly see you as a walking cash register and will try to sell you stuff at severly inflated prices.That's their angle.

Markups at the Giza plateau are insanely high so don't even bother buying or even bowsing the souvenir stalls there. The first obvious signs of the tourist " shake down" is no price tags on anything displayed - That should indicate that its up to vendor to decide what they like to charge. Even if there is a price tag its always overpriced.

Another commonly encoutered scam which is evident there are locals offering you stuff like postcards, magnets, trinkets,scarves, traditional headgear telling you its free hoping that you take it off them and then turning around and asking you for a ridiculous sum. Nothing is for free in a 3rd world country.

Some even pretend to do toursits a favour by taking photos or showing you good photo locations and then turn around and ask for anything from 1USD to 5USD and sort of hold your camera for ransom.

This is a really poor 3rd world country whereby most working adult people are only making around the 10-15USD per day so they sort of have to resort to these kind of shonky things.

I've sort of sussed out all these tricks that they employ, and these are commonly well worn tricks which are employed all throughout the middle east, SEA, and also certain parts of Eastern Europe/ Balkan region.They are all very similiar tricks, to make toursits part with a lot of the $.

Although I must say scamsters in Egypt are amongst one of the most cunning that I encountered in all my travels.Their "academy of scamsters "are certainly one of the best in the world.Its the survival of the fittest in those countries. Outwit , outlast , outplay your toursits of their $.

Apart from these nuisances , Egypt is certainly a country worthwhile visiting. Check these videos out:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=frWR_aRtf_w
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=GMEVPWwXHEA
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=qbuObCv0m2w

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Praha335Ci,

I agree with everything Praha said. Egypt is a fantastic place, but you do have to deal with pushy people to see it.

Kids are in on the scams too. I had a kid give me a flower (probably a weed he pulled out of the ground), isn't that sweet? Then the little bugger wanted money for it. I figured i was stupid enough to take it so i game him some money, but that's the kind of thing you have to be aware of at all times.

Otherwise I felt quite safe in Egypt, just use your usual common sense - if it doesn't feel right then it probably isn't right.

The little fellas are certainly in on it and are 1 of the sneakiest 1's around.They learn from about age 8 onwards.

Even the Doctors are in on it. There were 2 people who were in Cairo a few days prior to the tour and fell severly ill - severe food poisoning till the point of high fever and total immobilisation and needed medical attention. So they called the reception and organised for a call out doctor who cured them to the expense of USD 300 for a drip and injection.

On the streets the little 1's tend to "hunt for the lost tourist" Offering again "FREE" guidance for places and at the end of this FREE guide turn around and ask for some insane ammount.It first starts off with conversations of "where are you from; how long are you staying; is this your first time in Egypt- all the generic questions to size up the tourists' naivity and size up their wallets.

Certainly don't wear expensive designer clothes , jewellery in that country as it only says "look I'm a cashed up tourist, please come harrass me"

On this tour there usually is a ride around Luxor on a Horse and buggy ride and frequently they use kids as the driver. Now these kids have sort of been tuned to tell all the sob stories that they are orphans etc, sole bread winner for their family (all BS or in the case of Egypt Camel/Donkey S.)and will boldly ask for tips, even though Sherif has already tipped the stable owner generously as well.

They can be bold and tell you that they need USD25 for food per person etc which again is all BS!!. The average family can eat very comfortably with EGP 70-80 per day or around the USD15 mark for all 3 meals.

Also buying stuff like silver, gold jewellery is kind of risky as its all sold by weight and the owners use the old trick of the tampered biased scale, paint plating.They even tried this on me and I'm a metallurgist by training.Typical souvenirs like your name engraved in Silver Egyptian characters should only cost from USD 12-13 local price, but the ship will charge from USD25 and above.They can even charge 1USD for the necklace that should be included.

The local price for Egyptian perfume which is sold by weight is around the 1.5 to 2 EGP per gram.Ask the vendor what their rate per gram if your interested , so if they quote something in excess of that its another angle to milk you.They also try to sell you the nicely decorated bottle(10 USD+) which is actually a complementary accesory for locals.

Lapis Lazuli is of a well crafted standard though and is certainly worthwhile considering.

All very good advice from Praha.

On the safety front, I felt perfectly safe there. There were armed tourism police everywhere and the likelihood of a terrorist attack is extremely low anyway. I'd definitely visit Egypt, its a lovely place and the Contiki tour was the perfect way to visit it.

I was affected by this M/S Carman scam as well, and Nick/Stacy/Liz pretty much said it all. Don't let the waiters pressure you into signing quickly - sometimes they reach to take the pen back before you've even finished signing your name. Double-check all items on your bill and resolve any discrepancies there and then, before signing your name. Get copies for EVERYTHING, and it's probably a good idea to take it easy during the belly dance party. This is where they saw that many of us were drinking and saw us as easy targets to scam extra drinks. I was just surprised when the manager told me that I was a guest in his country and therefore he would not accomodate my complaint. Just a reminder that we weren't in Kansas anymore.
This being the only slight glitch to an otherwise wonderful trip, don't let this give you a bad impression. Sherif is fun, energetic, knowledgable, friendly, and professional. The situation was really out of his control, and he really made the trip a great experience for us.

Another scam to watch for is the minibar in the hotel and also on the cruise ship. They will sort of do a quick check at the end of the cruise hotel stay and may even try to tick additional costs onto it.Check what they tick off.
The cabin boys might even try to hand over additional costs.
The other is the overnight train whereby if you order some drinks additional costs may be added on as well.
If you like to have a drink , its probably best to bring as much duty free from your home country and minimise buying overpriced drinks at the hotel/cruise ship.There is also the opportunity to buy drinks at Luxor at a duty free shop as well.

A trick which I have used on any manager of a service provider in a 3rd world country on a "power trip" is to take their name card and also note time/date of incident in front of them. Usually they become very accomodating afterwards.

I'm sorry to report I have more to add to this. We are now fairly certain that nothing that we posted on the M/S Carmen ever arrived. It has been over two weeks now, and various postcards and letters to multiple destinations and coutries haven't arrived. I can only conclude that the bunch of crooks that run the M/S Carmen couldn't even be bothered to post the letters in their post box in the reception on the ship. Probably steamed the stamps off them or something equally sad. I am so annoyed with them now.

It should also be mentioned that someone had 200 Egyptian pounds missing from their room on the boat. They were unwilling to report it as they couldn't be sure that they hadn't just lost it, but now it just seems to add to the wealth of circumstantial evidence against the crew of the M/S Carmen.