An alleged tourist claimed on a social media platform that he was ripped off by a taxi driver who charged him 160 euros for a ride from Athens airport to the port of Piraeus. A ride that normally costs around 40 euros.
“I was a bit surprised to learn that he didn’t accept card payments and insisted on cash only. The total fare for the trip was €160. After we arrived, I asked him for a receipt to keep for my records. He handed me a printed receipt and wrote the details out,” the tourist wrote on Reddit, posted the handwritten receipt written in Greek and asked fellow users to help him translate the receipt text.
“I can’t read Greek, so I wasn’t sure what the receipt said beyond the date and amount. While he made me feel good during the ride, I’m now wondering if the fare seems reasonable or if I might have been scammed … any advice would be appreciated,” he continued.
Fellow users on Reddit were able to confirm to the tourist that he had indeed been overcharged – by more than €100 – and translated what the taxi driver wrote on the receipt. The fixed fare from Athens airport to Athens city center is about €40 and a bit more from midnight to 5 a.m. The ride in question took place at 11 p.m. on Friday night.
In the box for client’s name, the driver wrote “Stupid jerk,” using a seven-letter Greek profanity beginning with “M.” As for his own name, the driver entered “Thank you for being a fool.”
The outrageous incident was broadcast in a report by private Mega TV, falsely reporting the ride as from Athens Airport to the port of Piraeus, while the complaint spoke of Petralona-Koukaki, a distance of 3 to 4 km and the charge of maximum 5 euros..
However, a bit deeper digging on Reddit revealed that the user who complained was not a tourist at all and the receipt was fake!
New website ieidiseis.gr revealed on Thursday that Reddit user with name <greeknub666> is by no means a tourist and has a “history” of posts as troll as it can be seen from its posts.
In addition, there are reports in the comments section that the claim was fake.
Even this was a fake post on Reddit, we all know this scenario is REAL in Athens and happened to a lotvof REAL travellers in Athens!!!!