WATCH OUT for These Sneaky SCAMS in Punta Cana Dominican Republic

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48 Replies to “WATCH OUT for These Sneaky SCAMS in Punta Cana Dominican Republic”

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  8. Im alwats on high alert here in the UK. Its good experience when im abroad. The motorbike/scooter one is big in London too. So many tourists fall victim to that.

    I just feel that a lot of criminals simply target Americans and Asians because they're known as big on carrying cash.

  9. Years ago the resort in Boca Chica sent a car to pick me up at the airport. Back then, a trip to Santo Domingo was twenty-five pesos, if I remember correctly. On the way to the hotel, the driver volunteered to drive me to the city for the modest sum of fifty DOLLARS!! I didn't even give him the courtesy of telling him to go to hell. When he offered me his number, I just said, "no gracias."

  14. Well its only a REAL fool that falls for traps or scams —- all over the world their is always scammers ready for the unsuspecting victims —- but if you are awake and not in your afternoon slumber you can spot them a mile away — and tell them in a very subtle way to move off (obviously using a different word)

  16. Love your videos I rewatch most of them more than once the closer it gets for my departure. I really appreciate you putting all the facts on here not just the great wonderful beautiful spectacular sites.😂

  23. Been to DR from Canada 3x. My experience is you will encounter aggressive people at the airport insistent on taking your bags for you for a fee – just be stern and even rude and decline the offer – they will eventually move on.

    I always make sure to book a package that includes transportation from the airport to the hotel (and back).

    At the resort you may encounter people trying to sell you stuff (usually on the beach) — if not interested just ignore them and if that doesn't work just be persistent that you are not interested. Don't make the mistake I made one time of making up a name and saying I will think about it as every day they saw me, called out that name and said want to buy. It was more annoying than anything.

    As others have said – don't bring anything with you that you are not willing to part with – and also don't be flashy with your money or expensive items (cameras, jewellery, etc). Stay as low key and invisible as possible.

  24. 1. First timer, stick to the resort, only take tours represented by the resort.
    2. Males of college age. STiCK to the resort, you will get rolled at a local bar and they are worthless anyway.
    3. Order drinks by brand, not rum and coke, bacardi and coke. Generic alchohol will make you sick and is unregulated.
    4. Keep cash on you in unique places. 20-30$ some in pocket, some in bag, some in a shoe. Never all together.
    5. Barter with people on the beach but don't be an ass. You don't need to pay face price but you don't need to bring them to min, they work hard, give them a little profit, it is still cheaper than you can get back home.
    6. Someone offering you something for free is never free. Don't commit to anything and only claim to spend what you think is worth it. If you get into a shop or deal to buy something, they will bring pressure and things can get very awkward quickly.
    7. Don't shop with cards on you. Low amounts of cash rule and if you find that one of a kind great deal, lock it in and come back with a card and maybe someone from the resort to make sure you don't get rolled, it works every time and you get a better deal. I was locked in a cigar hut with them serving me booze and smokes until I made a purchase, once I literally roll3d my pockets out and showed them I only had 30 in cash and no cards, they let me roll.
    7. Even with tours, ensure your bank can take the charge. Chartered a boat and my bank denied the fee. I was taken down an alley to a remote office, alone, where I was given a phone and a laptop to make my payment go through. Albeit awkward, they were not ripping me off, rather they were ensuring I was not getting a free charter and then running without paying. That happens too but was super awkward.
    8. The average DR citizen makes 200-300$ usd a month, the small amount in your pocket or your apple watch is a very clear sign that you are "rich" in some of their eyes. Just be aware and know that you might have a watch that represents many months of work and people can see that as am opportunity if you are rocking out with cheap booze and partying it up.

  26. Avoid the company "Go Excursions" . They will tell you anything necessary to take your money, whether or not it's true or you can do their trip is irrelevant to them. They care about nothing except taking your money.
    I wrote this review for the company "Go Excursions"
    Entitled– Avoid the company "Go Excursions" at all cost…

    I wanted to go snorkeling in the Caribbean. Sounds fairly simple considering we're staying at a resort in The Dominican Republic. When I spoke to the man at the tour desk of "Destination Services" we were extremely specific about our desires in a snorkeling trip. Most important was the water was calm and there was a reef to snorkel on / over. Also extremely important was I am not physically able to traverse a ladder of any kind. Snorkeling boats have full size drop down staircases that drop down into the water, getting on and off the boat is easy if the boat is equipped with one of these. My asks were so specific and carefully worded that the man at the "Destination Services" desk actually called "Go Excursions" and put them on speakerphone asked them each question / concern that I asked for. Each and every question was answered "yes", "absolutely", "of course".. Friday morning we go to the meet spot. The bus was late. Mechanical troubles. The troubles were with the AC, it wasn't working. The driver "thought" he fixed it. A half hour into the trip, it was quite apparent that he didn't fix the ac, it wasn't working. After all on the bus wasn't feeling well due to the no ac and the diesel exhaust fumes permeating the interior of the bus, he pulled over and tried to fix the ac again. It worked for 2 minutes a little, then stopped working altogether again. You wouldn't believe the relief just to get off the bus when we go to the boat. Get on the boat on a gang plank. No problem. A long ride and we get to the destination off a beach. Rough water, this is absolutely not a snorkeling spot. I tried. Getting off the boat to snorkel on the steel round rung ladder was almost impossible, but through some pain, I did it. Very rough water, no reef, poor visibility. There's just no way this is where we're to snorkel, but it is. I saw a group of young, strong, capable people make their way somewhere about 75 to 100 meters from the boat, i don't know if that was a better spot to snorkel, I do know I would have drowned trying to get there, that's how rough the water was. Through much more difficulty I managed to get back on the boat on the metal round rung ladder that I was expressly told wasn't on this boat. Now a boat to boat transfer to get to the beach. This you must time with the boats sever movements in the rough water, I did it without a problem. I certainly wouldn't be doing this if I were "Go Excursions" as it was a great risk for someone getting hurt. Get off the dingy on the shore, how, the dingy beached bow in, the bow is high, two men tilted the entire dingy over as much as there weight would and I rolled off and out into the surf / sand. The beach, rough, its the same spot where the big boat is, same rough, no visibility, no reef. No snorkeling. Spend some time on the beach. Now, I am truly concerned, how in the world are they going to get me back into the dingy to get back to the bigger boat to go home. On a steel round rung ladder hung off the side of the dingy. Now this isn't funny. I'm on vacation, I really don't want to get hurt. Getting up this ladder and into the dingy was far past difficult, extremely painful, I'm not overstating this, I was bleeding from my knee by the time I rolled off the top of the ladder into the boat. There'd be no way to come anywhere near justifying this if it weren't for the speakerphone phone call to verify none of this was how this excursion was. Taking that phone call into account "Go Excursions" 100% deserves legal action taken against them. In my humble opinion They go to this extreme saying anything necessary to take peoples money because most folks won't ever come back and we all know legal action is just too expensive to be worth it. And here we are, leaving a review on Google. How much crap like this will we have to go through before we remember to read the google reviews and heed them BEFORE giving money to a crooked establishment like this.. I'm going to see if I can find another site to post this review on. Protect yourself..

    This was the worst excursion we've ever had of any kind anywhere. We were so careful to ask all the correct questions. The seller of our excursion actually called
    Go Excursions and put them on speaker right in front of us to accurately answer our questions. Each and every answer given was the opposite of the reality of our excursion. The answers were out and out lies again and again. They cared about not a single thing except taking your money. My wife and I have traveled extensively, we've gone on many excursions of every sort all over the Caribbean. Never have we dealt with complete and utter dishonesty on this level. I'm so mad at myself for not checking reviews BEFORE you hand over money.

    I just saw that "Go Excursions" responded to my review, this is their response..

    We are very sorry that you have not been able to fully enjoy the experience, we are going to take action with this issue, your opinion is valuable…

    I'd like to respond.

    GO Excursions,
    I don't care exactly who has written this response with your company.
    If you carefully read what I wrote you can easily see that this response as well as everything else a client is told about your excursions is a total, complete 100% lie.
    PLEASE, read what I wrote above.
    What happened to me was in no way a mistake.
    What happened to me was not only easily avoidable, i was concerned enough to ask all of the questions before booking the trip with you. Not 1 single answer you gave was truthful. Each and every question had a truthful negative reality, in which case I wouldn't have booked the trip with you. To ensure I booked the trip with you, you simply lied. again and again and again. The biggest and most consequential was my distinctly telling you I cannot use a metal rung ladder. Does your boat have a drop down staircase. There is no way in this universe that you did anything but 100% knowingly lie to get the booking. Who cares what happens to the people, we'll never see them again, they're on vacation.
    Go Excursions, you should be ashamed of yourself. It is because of you I will second guess leaving the US again for my next vacation. There are just way too many other places in the Caribbean that are within the US.

  31. We experienced the beach photo scam. Our son, daughter in law and granddaughter agreed to pose with a parrot on the beach for $10. During the picture taking a guy with a little monkey came up and put the monkey on my son for a picture, then demanded $40 each for parrot man and himself or he would call the police. My son laughed and said “ you do that! I’ll wait here”. The guy walked off on a huff . We face him the stink eye every time we saw him with his little monkey. He was very aggressive so be careful!

  34. Shoes… in vacation?
    Who the fk will travel in vacation with shoes on?
    I have a pair of snickers and flipflops. No need to polish them, at the beach I go bare foot.

  35. Every things you said happened to me When I went on vacation to New York thank you to remind me no to go back on vacation to USA 🇺🇸 next time li will go to the moon 🌚 because this happens everywhere !😮😮😮😮

  36. I was really hoping for a relaxing vacation. I thought the resort beaches wouldn’t allow people like that. I don’t want to be turning someone away every few minutes while I’m trying to relax. I really hope it’s not too bad when I go.

  47. The best is to avoid going to the dominican republic. It's full of crooks. Haitians and Dominicans are robbing tourists. They assault you and steal everything you have. Don't go there. It's not worth it, especially if you are white and even worse a white woman. AVOID AT ALL COST !!! BAD PEOPLE AND DANGEROUS TOO.

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