Hidden charges. Sky-high prices. Bills so chaotic that even their own staff can’t read them: The sneaky, underhand tactics rogue bars and restaurants use to rip off British holidaymakers in Corfu
British holidaymakers are being ripped off by rogue bars and restaurants in Corfu using hidden charges, unclear prices and bills so chaotic that even their own staff cannot explain them.
An undercover Daily Mail investigation found tourists being charged for food they had not ordered, quoted one price only to be billed another – and pressured to pay up in cash.
Over three days in historic Corfu Town, we uncovered an extraordinary catalogue of questionable practices designed to squeeze unsuspecting visitors of every last euro, including:
- Chaotic handwritten bills that even restaurant staff struggled to decipher;
- Food and drinks charged above advertised prices; with one modest meal reaching an astonishing €74;
- Unwanted appetisers quietly added to the final total;
- Expensive ‘specials’ promoted without a clear price;
- €8 soft drinks, weak €14 cocktails and €12.50 ice creams;
- And meals of such dubious quality that their eye-watering prices appeared impossible to justify.
Little wonder then that one waitress, asked if tourists were being fleeced in Corfu, candidly replied: ‘All of them.’
For generations, picture-perfect Corfu has lured British visitors with its sun-drenched beaches, cobbled old town and famous Mediterranean hospitality.
But holidaymakers who have already spent thousands reaching the Greek island increasingly complain that they are seen not as valued guests – but as ‘walking wallets’ to be emptied before the flight home.
For many, the great Corfu rip-off begins within minutes of leaving the airport.
The island is notorious for steep taxi fares and drivers who conveniently ‘forget’ to start the meter. A four-minute and ten-second journey to our reporter’s hotel cost €17. The return trip was steeper still, at €20.
Then, there are the well-documented complaints surrounding some of the island’s less scrupulous hire car firms.
But we found that restaurants, bars and cafés appeared just as determined to wring every last cent from visitors.
The most troubling experience came at a cafe tucked among the tourist-trodden alleys of Corfu’s Old Town.
There, our reporter was handed a handwritten bill so illegible that even the waitress appeared unable to understand it.
Figures had been scrawled across the paper without clear itemisation, making it almost impossible to establish how the total had been calculated.
At The Corner restaurant, the sweaty owner was brusque when neither our reporter nor the waitress could understand the bill
At the end of the meal, our reporter was presented with this illegible, handwritten bill which seemed to include items that hadn’t been ordered
One of the items was this salad that arrived with bread and tzatziki – which the reporter presumed came complimentary but an extra €7.50 had been added to his bill at the end
Bread costing €2.50 and tzatziki priced at €5 had been added. A small lager was charged at €6.50 – despite being listed on the menu at €5 – and arrived flat.
Asked to explain the bill, the waitress stared at the jumble of numbers in bewilderment.
‘Bread… oh my God. I don’t understand all this,’ she said, pointing uncertainly at the scribbles. ‘There is salad, maybe?’
Unable to unravel it, she summoned her boss. He briskly recited what our reporter had ordered, then walked away before further questions could be asked.
The figures may have made sense to the apparent owner, an unkempt man in his 60s who smoked close to diners.
But they were clearly a deliberate ruse to trick customers – a tangle of figures that was impossible to audit for a Dutch family left questioning why their modest lunch had set them back €75.
The answer lay in three pita bread (€7.50) and tzatziki (€10) which were strategically placed on the table.
‘He gave us free appetisers and he put it on the bill,’ one of the group said. ‘We thought it was free.’
A woman in the party then said with a glum shrug of acceptance: ‘It’s holidays.’
The experience echoed a remarkable catalogue of criticism posted online. When the Daily Mail examined the restaurant’s Tripadvisor page, 40 of 44 reviewers had awarded it just one star.
Customers complained of illegible bills, aggressive staff and charges for items they said they had never ordered.
One visitor claimed to have been billed €13 for a single scoop of ice cream. Others alleged that prices inside differed from the cheaper offers displayed outside.
One furious visitor wrote: ‘The people who run this shabby place tarnish the reputation of this beautiful country with very nice, hospitable people.
‘Doesn’t even deserve one star. You’d better go next door.’
A couple of tourists peruse the plastic menu outside The Corner in the heart of Corfu’s Old Town – on Tripadvisor, 40 of 44 reviewers awarded the venue just one star
The owner, dressed in a green cotton T-shirt and drenched in sweat after a laborious day hassling tourists, delivered an enthusiastic description of the recommendation: a €22 fish
Our reporter returned to The Corner on his final evening after hearing further about hidden charges.
This time, the owner – his green cotton t-shirt drenched in sweat after a laborious day hassling passing tourists – delivered an enthusiastic description of the day’s recommendation.
‘Today I have very nice, good, fresh sea bass,’ he said. ‘Fantastic. From the Corfu sea. With vegetables – peppers, green bell pepper.’
Any reasonable diner would have assumed the vegetables were included with the €22 fish.
The eventual €74 bill told a very different story. The peppers appeared as a separate €9.50 dish. Bread and tzatziki had again been bolted on.
Three beers were charged at €6.50 each rather than the €5 advertised on the menu, while two scoops of sorbet added an extraordinary €12.50.
How did it come to €74? Well, three beers were charged at €6.50 each rather than the €5 advertised on the menu, while two scoops of sorbet were priced at an extraordinary €12.50
And any reasonable diner would assume the vegetables served without explanation alongside the €22 ‘catch of the day’ were included in the price – but this was not the case
The male staff member behind the counter was eager to take payment for the €74 bill before our reporter had the opportunity to properly look at it
When he was afforded the luxury of looking at the bill before paying, this is what the customer was presented with – a barely legible scribbled note that somehow came to €74
When challenged, the man insisted that the fish and vegetables were entirely separate dishes.
Then, rather incredibly presenting himself as magnanimous, he offered to remove the pepper charge.
‘I pay for the bell pepper,’ he said. ‘No problem.’
Asked to settle the bill, our reporter was presented with a card machine before having sight of the bill.
When one was shown upon request, it again was an illegible series of handwritten scribbles.
As he left The Corner, a waiter at a neighbouring restaurant remarked: ‘Next time, come here.’
Poring over the illegible scribbled bill, he told our reporter he should ‘go to the police’.
‘It’s terrible,’ he exclaimed apologetically. ‘You don’t pay this for food in England – even in London.’
He insisted the experience was ‘not normal’ – yet a growing number of British tourists visiting Greece might disagree.
Last year, we told of how British tourists in Rhodes were left paying more than €40 for a cocktail and more than €20 for a beer through underhand bar tricks.
In Corfu Town, our reporter was charged €14 for a tepid Aperol Spritz, which resembled more of a flat Irn-Bru than the famous Italian aperitif.
It was served at Piperitsa, another venue with poor Tripadvisor reviews complaining of high prices and disappointing food.
A €12 fish soup proved to be a watery broth filled with mushy carrots and potatoes, with only the faintest suggestion that a white fish had once been involved.
It was edible – and we endured worse elsewhere – but its quality hardly justified the price.
Bread placed on the table for dipping later appeared as another €2 charge, as did table water.
In another Corfu Town venue – Piperitsa – a €12 fish soup proved to be a watery broth filled with mushy carrots and potatoes, with only a faint suggestion white fish had been involved
The most revealing moment, however, came when a young waitress, a Corfiot student, openly acknowledged that tourists were treated as cash cows.
She said: ‘People here are not open-minded. They are so used to their daily lives and the tourists, and they just don’t do anything to pass the time and extend their knowledge.
‘People say, “We have money because of the tourists”, and I don’t like this mentality.’
Asked whether some holidaymakers were being ripped off, she answered immediately: ‘All of them. I’m going to be honest with you – all of them.
‘If you to go a bar, if you go to club, they steal money from you. They are not honest with you.
‘Or even with the shops here, maybe something is €30 and they will give it to you for €60 and say it’s 100 per cent cotton and most of the time, it is not.’
She also said younger visitors who had been drinking were especially vulnerable to being ripped off: ‘They take advantage of that. They take a lot of advantage.’
When a €2 charge was added for bread and another for water, we asked a young waitress asked whether some holidaymakers were being ripped off – she answered: ‘All of them.’
On Corfu Town’s elegant Liston promenade, the view was grand as the sun set. However, the bill at Pecorino Wine Bar was less impressive.
A €14 Greek salad appeared reasonable enough, but the €32 total included an extra charge for pitta bread – and an eye-watering €8 for a flat Coca-Cola.
When our reporter attempted to pay by card, having been shown the total on a waiter’s iPhone calculator, he was told it was impossible.
‘It’s only cash my friend because I’ve a problem with my terminal today – a big problem,’ the waiter said.
At Pecorino Wine Bar, on Corfu Town’s elegant Liston promenade, our reporter was prevented from keeping a receipt and was instead told to photograph the waiter’s notepad
Greek businesses are required to accept electronic payments, with the rules tightened as part of efforts to tackle tax evasion.
It is perfectly possible that the restaurant’s terminal had simply malfunctioned that evening – as it seemingly had on numerous other recent occasions, according to online reviews.
‘The staff kept lying the whole time that paying with card is not possible, trying to swindle out as much money as possible,’ claimed one diner. ‘Then they tried to destroy the receipt, because they’re trying to scam their guests.’
Another wrote: ‘The staff kept lying the whole time that paying with card is not possible, trying to swindle out as much money as possible. Then they tried to destroy the receipt, because they’re trying to scam their guests.’
Our reporter was also prevented from keeping a receipt and was instead told to photograph the waiter’s notepad.
Holidaymakers should note that Greek consumer rules allow customers to refuse payment where a business fails to issue a lawful receipt.
Corfu is filled with tavernas, bistros and cafes – many of which are run honestly and with hospitality at the forefront.
Yet the suspicion voiced repeatedly to the Daily Mail by holidaymakers in Corfu Town is that some businesses viewed them as easy targets.
Darren Sambrook, 54, and wife Kathryn, 57, had already decided against returning – despite being on the island for less than 24 hours.
Kathryn, a production worker, said: ‘It’s so expensive. When you go on holiday, you don’t expect to be paying more than back home.
‘It was €12.50 for a Malibu and Coke. But they can obviously get away with it.’
Civil servant Darren added: ‘We’re making the most of it, but we won’t be back. We’ve been rinsed, straight away.
‘We’ve travelled a lot – it’s not how it’s been when we’ve been to Spain or the Canary Islands. Here, we’re just treated like walking wallets.’
British holidaymakers – Darren Sambrook, his wife Kathryn and their friends, Donna and Martin Griffiths – certainly raised their eyebrows at some of the prices they were being asked to pay
Martin Griffiths, 60, and his wife Donna, 48, from Cannock, Staffordshire, were also shocked by the prices.
The couple, who run taxi firm M&D Travel, said basic holiday purchases appeared to cost far more than they remembered.
Martin said: ‘I’ve been looking for a belt today. There’s nothing under €25.
‘They’re more expensive than the shops back home. It’s just like they’re after every single penny.
‘It doesn’t make you feel valued. You feel like a target. It puts you on edge, thinking: “Am I being ripped off here?”‘
At the Gondola restaurant, a seafood platter was promoted on a blackboard without a visible price.
A sneaky tactic used in Corfu is putting the specials on a blackboard outside the restaurant to entice diners omitting prices, such as the seafood advertised outside the Gondola restaurant
It promised a mouth-watering array of fresh fruits de mer, yet there was no mention of the dish – or its cost – in the printed menu.
A waitress informed us that the mixed shellfish would cost €70 but insisted: ‘It’s worth it. Trust me, it’s worth it.’
What arrived upon our paper tablecloth was anything but – a heap of deep-fried seafood; rubbery squid, tightly shut mussels, oven chips and a mountain of tough whitebait.
There was no recognisable shrimp saganaki – speciality Greek prawns in tomato and feta – as advertised, nor grilled calamari.
‘If you wanted it grilled, you should have asked,’ the waitress later insisted.
A small glass of white wine cost another €9 – twice the price at a neighbouring restaurant.
Even a bottle of water, desperately needed to counter the ferociously salty seafood, added another euro.
One online reviewer described a similarly miserable experience.
Inside the Gondola there was still no mention of the special or its cost on the printed menu, laminated making it easy to wipe off a price using a felt tip and replace it with a higher one
The waitress informed our reporter that the €70 shellfish was ‘worth it’ – but it was a heap of deep-fried seafood, rubbery squid, tightly-shut mussels, oven chips and tough whitebait
‘We ordered a plate of mixed seafood and it was very disappointing,’ they wrote.
‘The calamari was gum-like, the fried potatoes were rock solid and the taste could get a serious improvement. Would not recommend.
‘Also the lady serving was sticking her hands in my plate to take out an unopened shell.’
Across the island, business owners complained of falling visitor numbers, quieter streets and empty tables during the crucial summer season.
Yet our investigation found that a minority appeared determined to rinse every possible cent from those who still came.
One venue disclosed a €3 cover charge only in small print inside its menu, not on the prominent boards used to lure diners from the street.
One customer dubbed the hidden fee as a ‘knife and fork charge’. In other cases, prices were not clearly stated until after the food had arrived.
At Cofineta, another centrally located café, the atmosphere turned hostile when our reporter attempted to replace an unpalatable drink.
After asking a waitress to swap a sickly off-menu shandy concoction for a small beer, he was told he would have to pay for both.
When our reporter dined at At Cofineta and was served a ‘sickly’ off menu shandy, he complained and asked for a small beer – but the waitress said he’d have to pay for both drinks
Her boss then summoned him over. ‘What’s your problem, my friend?’ he demanded, rising confrontationally from his seat.
Our reporter made clear that the waitress was not at fault – but the drink was not as had been suggested.
We were told that was our fault – for not knowing what we were ordering. And to take the hint that we were not welcome any longer.
Online reviews described similarly ugly encounters.
One customer said staff had initially been ‘kind, helpful and welcoming’ when their party complained about food they could not eat.
But when they requested a discount, they claimed the chef shouted at them, demanded full payment and threatened to call the police.
The confrontation at Cofineta lasted only minutes, but exposed one of the most powerful weapons available to unscrupulous businesses: most holidaymakers simply do not want a scene.
They are in an unfamiliar country, perhaps travelling with children, and may decide that swallowing an extra charge is easier than risking an ugly confrontation.
There was, however, one small piece of good news for British visitors to Corfu.
One of the island’s most notorious venues could not be tested – because it had closed after years of extraordinarily poor feedback.
Before shutting its doors, Cafe Bar Spilia had accumulated a Tripadvisor rating of just 1.2 out of five.
Of its 93 reviews, 89 had placed it in the lowest ‘terrible’ category.
For generations, Corfu has attracted British visitors – but holidaymakers increasingly complain that they are seen not as valued guests and instead as ‘walking wallets’
Customers repeatedly claimed they had not been shown menus or price lists before ordering – only to be confronted with staggering bills for ordinary coffees, beers and cocktails.
One review last year of the ‘absolute tourist trap’ raged: ‘They don’t provide menus unless you specifically request one, and it quickly became clear why.
‘Their prices are outrageous, more than double what you’d expect to pay. It’s obvious they’re preying on cruise ship passengers who might not know local pricing.
‘We were charged a ridiculous €7.50 for an apple juice and €10 for a small bottle of beer. When we questioned the bill, the staff insulted us, implying we couldn’t afford it.’
