Holidays

Originally posted by Starrman
I love Europe, there's so much culture out there, so many totally different places which are nothing like you expect. I would also reccomend Romania and Czech, though stay away from Prague in the summer. These days it's full of beer drinking moorons from the UK on stag nights or football match trips. Apologies to the rest of the world for these wasters ...[text shortened]... 't even bother to ever find out about.

EDIT: 'Wristwatches' is still a mod word? Come on!

nice pics... liked the bridge perspective one.

On the back of your comments about Prague, for anyone interested in Czech whilst avoiding Prague, I highly recommend the town of Cesky Krumlov. A beautiful town to spend a week chilling. Get there before the tourism trade discovers it properly!

Originally posted by Starrman
That's my partner Catherine, she hates it and to be honest it doesn't do her justice. I think it's a great photo, but it doesn't look all that much like she normally does.

They are great pics, the Ansel Adams of Europe, eh!
BTW in Budapest, some of the resaurants will try to charge
literally thousands of bucks to your plastic if you don't ask in advance
how much a meal costs. Some people not knowing will go into a
cafe and order a meal then find out they owe $6,000 US for one meal.
And they get away with it! You bring in the cops, they say, you didn't
ask in advance...
I think you can just cancel the charge and get the hell out, they
would have a hell of a time ripping ME off but forewared is forearmed.

Originally posted by sonhouse

BTW in Budapest, some of the resaurants will try to charge
literally thousands of bucks to your plastic if you don't ask in advance
how much a meal costs. Some people not knowing will go into a
cafe and order a meal then find out they owe $6,000 US for one meal.
And they get away with it!

I'm not so sure this is the case. They (the customer) could take it up with their card issuer who may be able to reclaim the value of the transaction for them. Having signed the transaction slip (i.e. given authority), then it complicates things, but there may still be a chance of a refund. Would need to discuss it with the issuer.

Regardless, if anyone is so ignorant as to sign a transaction slip without looking at the amount (and when abroad doing some calculations around the exchange rate), they deserve all that's coming to them.

Originally posted by rhb
I'm not so sure this is the case. They (the customer) could take it up with their card issuer who may be able to reclaim the value of the transaction for them. Having signed the transaction slip (i.e. given authority), then it complicates things, but there may still be a chance of a refund. Would need to discuss it with the issuer.

Regardless, if anyone is s ...[text shortened]... road doing some calculations around the exchange rate), they deserve all that's coming to them.

The problem is if they didn't sign the bill, the thug owners call
the cops who then say, did you ask for the price beforehand?
well, no. End of discussion. Pay up. That still leaves you with the
possiblity of getting even by having Mastercharge or whatever to
cancel the transaction. That actually takes some time, arbitration
and so forth. But you might get out of it this way. Didn't anyone
see the 60 minute special on this issue? These are basically thugs
masquarading as a restaurant owner. They must have made a bunch
of money at it, a lot of cafe's in Budapest did the same thing.
I think it may have calmed down some now but it was rampant
ten years ago.

Originally posted by sonhouse
The problem is if they didn't sign the bill, the thug owners call
the cops who then say, did you ask for the price beforehand?
well, no. End of discussion. Pay up. That still leaves you with the
possiblity of getting even by having Mastercharge or whatever to
cancel the transaction. That actually takes some time, arbitration
and so forth. But you migh ...[text shortened]... id the same thing.
I think it may have calmed down some now but it was rampant
ten years ago.

Not a good advert for tourists then, and something that a quick read around the net shows the authorities allegedly stamped down on after it was raised ifor discussion in the Hungarian parliament.

Regardless of the time taken, it'd be worth pursuing with the card issuer if there is any chance you could get the money back.

[hands thread back to Starrman with apologies for brief hijack]