US tourists are ‘tricked’ into paying 44 euros for two ice creams in Rome
An American couple was deceived by paying 44 euros for two ice creams while on holiday in Rome.
Nicole Ann and her partner picked up the hefty bill while visiting the popular Piazza Navona in the Italian capital on Wednesday.
The couple visited Don Nino gelateria and ordered two scoops of ice cream for 12 euros each.
However, they bought two ice creams with three scoops for 12 euros each, which works out to four euros per scoop.
The lounge also added whipped cream for an extra two euros, a small pasta dish for three euros, and a small cannolo for five euros.
This came to a staggering 22 euros per ice cream. The tourists reluctantly paid the bill of 44 euros.
In a Facebook group for holidaymakers in Italy, a Florida woman spoke of the ‘tourist trap’ and how the dessert was ‘the worst ice cream I’ve ever had’.
Nicole Ann claimed that she only realized she had been scammed when she saw the receipt and that the ice cream shop gave the impression that the extras were free.
Nicole Ann and her partner picked up the hefty bill while visiting the popular Piazza Navona in the Italian capital on Wednesday.
The lounge added whipped cream for an extra two euros, a small pasta dish for three euros, and a small cannolo for five euros.
In Facebook comments, many tourists reported similar experiences and shared their disappointments.
One user commented: ‘This is a scam but it seems very common in tourist areas.’
‘Yes, I was there too and it was awful,’ wrote another.
‘You should always go a few blocks away from very touristy areas,’ one woman advised.
It comes after tourists were charged a £1.20 dishwashing fee after eating ice cream from a bowl while dining at a popular European holiday destination.
Two travelers from Lower Austria were vacationing near Vienna when they decided to visit an ice cream parlour.
The resort appeared popular, and one tourist named Wolfgang told Heute: ‘There was a huge queue.’
The couple entered the dessert shop and sat at a table before ordering an iced coffee and a bowl of ice cream.
But after they were done, Wolfgang took a closer look at the receipt and noticed that a third charge had been charged.
Popular Don Nino ice cream parlor based in Piazza Navona in Rome
The receipt showed £6 for drinks, £7.30 for dessert, plus a ‘glass charge’ charge of £1.20.
“I immediately stood up and asked the cashier if we had paid a deposit,” Wolfgang told the newspaper.
The answer astonished the tourist: “The same is true for us when it comes to dishwashing,” replied the salon employee.
Wolfgang said he questioned this, noting that it was usually included in the price.
The worker explained that the charge was added because the ice cream was served in a container that needed to be washed, but if it had been distributed in a paper cup there would have been no extra charge.
The owner of the ice cream parlor explained to the newspaper: ‘We do not have individual table prices, we just charge this additional fee; this is shown on the sign in front of the shop’.
However, the tourist said that he did not see any information about this fee in the restaurant and that the staff did not inform him about it when ordering.
‘This isn’t 70 cents, you just don’t treat customers like that!’ he said.
‘We will not visit this ice cream parlor again!’
