As if we need another black eye to our reputations, here comes another video that shows how some people would try to put a fast one over a tourist. Remember, tourism is one of the main industries that we derive income from – the number of people coming into our shore equates to a lot of dollars pouring in and it is tantamount that we really put our best foot forward in all instances. This is why our hospitality has been renowned for a long time.
But now comes this video that shows how some restaurant people were seen trying to pull a fast one over a Canadian tourist. The video clearly shows how they were trying to convince the Canadian to part ways with his money. Imagine, paying for a meal and a drink with your card and being charged with an incredible amount of over Can$ 3000! And since the charge wouldn’t go through, the scam was put into motion.
The manager (it seems he is the manager of the establishment) was trying to subtly coerce the Canadian into paying the bill by telling him that he would be going to jail if does not pay. Trying to find out if the guy would be quaking in his boots, eh? (It seems the guy has been through a lot of trips so he probably knows the drill). Probably, the manager is banking on the bad image of the Philippine jail system to scare the guy into settling for his wishes. Sorta backfired, right? The guy stood up for what he knew was right and gave them a hard time. However, the Canadian had shell out Can$1000 just so he can extricate himself from the situation. (Based from subsequent posts and replies in Kengo’s account)
It is not like the Canadian was trying to evade paying – he was trying to call his bank four times but he couldn’t get through to someone who can sort out the mess. He knew that if he let it go, let it slide, then he would have a hard time getting back a chunk pf the Can$ 3000 if he would get it at all. So he really was insistent that he would just go back the next day to settle the bill. It should have been an easy solution to pursue since they would be able to trace his whereabouts through the hotel – they can just tell the hotel to charge it to his bill upon checkout but they really had to have something extra, right?
He knew that these guys were also doing something wrong – detaining him illegally inside the office and getting is passport – which is also illegal. Still the scam became clear when the manager asked if someone would wire a predetermined amount through Western Union just so the bill would be settled. And we know, with WU, anyone can get the amount and simply vanish into thin air leaving you with nothing but an empty bag.
It is a good thing that the guy was able to videotape the exchange and upload it via social media because should there be an investigation, it would clearly show that the manager was trying to pull a fast one over him. So far, his video has become viral and the manager would surely be the one quaking in his boots right now especially if he anticipates investigators knocking on his door one of these days to formally charge him with a case.
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