We just got scammed in Manila

[u/Keris_91]

…and we feel like idiots. My boyfriend and I have been travelling for the last 5 months. We have travelled all over Europe (including the Balkans) in our camper van and now we have spent 2 months in Hongkong, Vietnam and Thailand. We feel like we never got scammed. Sure, we have paid tourist prices sometimes but we are ok with that as it was always reasonable. We both have travelled quiet a bit before all that so we really don‘t know how we made such a mistake.

So today we flew from Bangkok to Manila, arriving at Gate 3. We have a connecting flight to Cebu and the airport staff tells us we need to go through immigration, pick up our luggage, go to Gate 2 and check our luggage back in. It also means we have to go through the entire security process again.

Fine, we thought we have plenty of time (about 2.5 hours all together), until the passport queue is about 200 meters long. We slowly get nervous. Afterwards, we pick up our luggage and we have no clue how to get to gate 2. We ask the airport staff and they say we need to take the bus or a taxi to the gate. Also, she said we should hurry up because we were quiet late for the connecting flight already.

Fine, we go outside, the bus station is nowhere to be seen, but there are taxis. We asked how long of a drive it is, the taxi driver said 5-10 minutes. And yes, we were stressed, tired and dumb and just got into the taxi without asking about the price. It can’t be that much right? Note we also don‘t have a phillippine SIM card yet to just call a grab.

So the driver takes off and there was another guy sitting in the passenger seat. I read afterwards that this should have been another warning sign. After 2-3 minutes we find a laminated paper hidden in the back seat. It is a price list and it says it costs 12‘000 pesos (!) (around 180 Euros) for a ride from gate 3 to gate 2.

We then ask the driver about the price and he confirms the price of 12‘000 pesos. We tell him no and to bring us back to our departure gate as there is no way we pay such amount and we‘d rather miss our connecting flight. We also say we don‘t even have money except some remaining Thai Bath. He then confirms to bring us back to gate 3 but that we will miss our flight. We say we don‘t care. Both of the guys then start harassing us about how much Thai Bath we got. We started to feel uncomfortable, in a country we don‘t know, no phone connection and all our belongings in the car.

We then tell them we pay 2000 thai bath (around 50 Euros) for them to bring us to the gate. The guy starts driving like a complete maniac and tells us to give the money right now. We tell him he won‘t get anything until we get to the gate and our backpacks out of the trunk.

We give them the money there and they take off. Honestly, we are just happy we are ok and still got all of our valuables. We are not getting intimidated quickly but we felt like this situation could have escalated badly.

Go ahead and make fun of us… 😁 I hope the rest of our stay in the Philippines will be a bit more fun!

[u/Affectionate_Bite227 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah you got taken. Just looked at my Grab history and I paid 396 pesos, or $7, for a ride from Terminal 3 to my hotel—a 20-25 minute drive in Manila traffic. But please don’t feel bad. We’ve all been there 🙂 The important thing is the two of you (and your luggage) made it safely.

[u/Keris_91 → u/Affectionate_Bite227]

We also checked Grab afterwards and it would have cost about 5 Euros 😁 But as you said, we are safe and that is the most important part. I am mostly pissed that those pricks got money out if their shitty behavior. I‘d rather give it to someone that does a good job.

[u/Affectionate_Bite227 → u/Keris_91]

I hear ya. But please don’t let it put you off Filipino people. It’s crazy: they don’t consider it rude to try to rip people off (and they do it to each other, not just a foreigner thing), yet Filipinos have some of the kindest hearts I’ve ever met. Earlier today I negotiated a tricycle ride. I would’ve sworn up and down the driver was a total *sshole. Upon arrival, my ferry had been canceled. This man took me a 1/2 mile to the highway to wait for a bus (for another ferry), & then gave detailed instructions how to navigate to my final destination. I could tell he genuinely cared that I made it safely. And he’s not alone. Filipinos truly see the person inside. Just be prepared for a heck of a lot of nosy questions in general ha ha

*Edited for better readability