Dublin Tourist Traps & Scams

B.A._Baracus

A random thread as I randomly came across this New York Tourist Traps & Scams video on YouTube here:

It's an interesting watch but got me thinking, what Dublin scams & traps would tourists get over here?

Some are the same as New York such as:
- The Romanians over here 'giving' you a rose then the hand comes out looking for a fiver? (or what ever they bloody charge now)
- People always asking for Bus fare in City Centre.

What else tho? Off the top of my head:
- Overpriced drinks in Temple Bar.


Care to add?

Get Real

The lads in Temple Bar Square- think it's hold onto the bar for 100seconds. 10euro wins 50.

Queues of people to do it. Have seen it in Portugal and UK too. Not that expensive to buy the necessary equipment. The bar rotates ever so slowly and you lose grip. A good return on investment I'm sure.

gmisk

Do not get a taxi at the airport, far cheaper to get bus or an Uber.

I honestly don't think Dublin is the worst for ripping off people bar some of the places in Temple bar.

Masala

The lady with the baby who says her purse stolen and she has no money for nappies.... all said while crying her eyes out

Hurrache

The whole of Temple Bar really with it's extortionate plactic Paddy Whackery experience.

whisky_galore

Guinness Storehouse.

gmisk

gmisk wrote: »

Do not get a taxi at the airport, far cheaper to get bus or an Uber.

I honestly don't think Dublin is the worst for ripping off people bar some of the places in Temple bar.

Didn’t think that we had Ubers in Ireland?

ShatterAlan

gmisk wrote: »

Do not get a taxi at the airport, far cheaper to get bus or an Uber.

I honestly don't think Dublin is the worst for ripping off people bar some of the places in Temple bar.

Uber doesn't exist in Ireland.

Del2005

ShatterAlan wrote: »

Uber doesn't exist in Ireland.

Uber does exist in Ireland. They have to be a taxi and charge the fairs set out by the taxi regulator, but you can order using the Uber app.


Every city has tourist traps and scams, most are the same no matter what place you go.

dotsman

Uber has been Ireland for years. But not very popular. MyTaxi is far bigger.Depends on where you live, but I don't think taxis at the airport are too bad. Mytaxi/Uber are not going to be cheaper, as they still all charge the same rates.

On topic, for me the extremely amateur Wax Museum is a complete farce.

whisky_galore

dotsman wrote: »

On topic, for me the extremely amateur Wax Museum is a complete farce.

I don't know why people find wax museums interesting, unless they're really, really bad.

murpho999

Hurrache wrote: »

The whole of Temple Bar really with it's extortionate plactic Paddy Whackery experience.

This often gets mentioned but if I go there, I know i'm going to pay more , maybe about €1 a pint.
So for the night I'll pay €10- 12 extra to be in bars that can have good music and atmosphere.

When you go you see plenty of people enjoying themselves so it's not that bad and every city had a touristy area that you pay more.

Badly Drunk Boy

Get Real wrote: »

The lads in Temple Bar Square- think it's hold onto the bar for 100seconds. 10euro wins 50.

I thought you meant the actual bar of the Temple. Never witnessed that thing though...

Trigger Happy

Those horse and carriages at the top of grafton street.

John_Rambo

Trigger Happy wrote: »

Those horse and carriages at the top of grafton street.

Were you scammed by one?

Trigger Happy

John_Rambo wrote: »

Were you scammed by one?

No, I am not a tourist. But my elderly uncle and his wife were when on a trip to ireland last september. Charged them €50 for a 6 minute ride.

whisky_galore

John_Rambo wrote: »

Were you scammed by one?

Any of these old timey horse and carriage rides any city anywhere are rip off central.

I don't think Dublin is that bad for scams, being relatively wealthy and low degree of corruption compared to other countries we don't get things like real or fake cops setting up and scamming tourists, cops looking for bribes, attractions tickets and gemstone scams etc.

Pinch Flat

Trigger Happy wrote: »

Those horse and carriages at the top of grafton street.

Love their traditional attire. Track suit bottoms and a scruffy hoody. In the winter they wear north face puffer jackets.

Bobblehats

Pinch Flat wrote: »

Love their traditional attire. Track suit bottoms and a scruffy hoody. In the winter they wear north face puffer jackets.

Most of them operate out of the of the village I live you might call it a depot of sorts. At least they’re keeping it going, too many rickshaw peddlers. /pedallers

Real Life

Leprechaun Museum

Plasandrunt

The small grey haired lad who pretends he's deaf.

Always see him in the bookies

ShyMets

Plasandrunt wrote: »

The small grey haired lad who pretends he's deaf.

Always see him in the bookies

Haven't seen him around in while. He approached me a few years ago looking for money and got very aggrieved when I told him to bugger off.

whisky_galore

Not unique to Dublin but legalised Euronet Atm scam.

https://digg.com/video/euronet-atm-scam

Tacitus Kilgore

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

A random thread as I randomly came across this New York Tourist Traps & Scams video on YouTube here:



It's an interesting watch but got me thinking, what Dublin scams & traps would tourists get over here?

Some are the same as New York such as:
- The Romanians over here 'giving' you a rose then the hand comes out looking for a fiver? (or what ever they bloody charge now)
- People always asking for Bus fare in City Centre.

What else tho? Off the top of my head:
- Overpriced drinks in Temple Bar.


Care to add?

*Roma

unhappys10

Tacitus Kilgore wrote: »

*Roma

Yeh they aren't even Romanian.

frozenfrozen

there was a young guy who used to give his phone / macbook as collateral on a loan of money but they would be stolen or something.

I read about him on here after actually meeting him, tried the whole thing but said something like he found the phone and the owner was coming to pick it up and they were paying a reward of 80 euros or something and to give him 50 and you got the phone and could keep the rest as he was in a hurry.

anacc

whisky_galore wrote: »

Not unique to Dublin but legalised Euronet Atm scam.

https://digg.com/video/euronet-atm-scam

Wow, didn't realise digg still exists!

Masala

Are the 'Lock-hards' still operating on top of O'Connell Street??

Pintman Paddy Losty

I'd really advise most tourists to skip Dublin to be honest. It's a festering hole of a city. Junkies everywhere. Obnoxious locals and a total lack of culture. The city and the locals have more in common with English cities like Bristol and Sheffield than they do with true Gaels.


There's far more for tourists (and Irish people) in places like West Cork, Kerry, West Clare and Connemara.

Tacitus Kilgore

Pintman Paddy Losty wrote: »

I'd really advise most tourists to skip Dublin to be honest. It's a festering hole of a city. Junkies everywhere. Obnoxious locals and a total lack of culture. The city and the locals have more in common with English cities like Bristol and Sheffield than they do with true Gaels.


There's far more for tourists (and Irish people) in places like West Cork, Kerry, West Clare and Connemara.

None of those are cities though, some people like cities.

sabat

Anything masquerading as an official state institution by misuse of the word 'national' ie National Wax Museum, National Leprechaun Museum, National Womens Council of Ireland...

Beechwoodspark

Every so often in city centre I’ve seen a small fella maybe 5,3 in height around 50 yrs old who goes around pointing at his ears and then demanding money off ppl. I think he is indicating he’s deaf and therefore ppl should give him money ?!

He targets women in particular and from watching him over the years he tries to unpleasantly intimidate them into handing over a few euro. He scurries off when challenged.

Usual stomping ground is O’Connell bridge, the quays, Nassau st dawson st

Beechwoodspark

Plasandrunt wrote: »

The small grey haired lad who pretends he's deaf.

Always see him in the bookies

Just seeing this now- same guy I would think

L1011

Masala wrote: »

Are the 'Lock-hards' still operating on top of O'Connell Street??

There's no on street parking left for them to do it at

murpho999

Pintman Paddy Losty wrote: »

I'd really advise most tourists to skip Dublin to be honest. It's a festering hole of a city. Junkies everywhere. Obnoxious locals and a total lack of culture. The city and the locals have more in common with English cities like Bristol and Sheffield than they do with true Gaels.


There's far more for tourists (and Irish people) in places like West Cork, Kerry, West Clare and Connemara.

Wow, do you generalise much.

How can there be more irish people in places like West Cork and Kerry compared to the most populated part of the country?

There's not junkies everywhere as you claim and I've been in Dublin with plenty of tourists (had foreign family visitors over) and they all love going to Dublin for pubs, museums, Phoenix Park, architecture etc.

It's only your blinkered hatred of Dublin that shows in your post.

whisky_galore

Pintman Paddy Losty wrote: »

I'd really advise most tourists to skip Dublin to be honest. It's a festering hole of a city. Junkies everywhere. Obnoxious locals and a total lack of culture. The city and the locals have more in common with English cities like Bristol and Sheffield than they do with true Gaels.


There's far more for tourists (and Irish people) in places like West Cork, Kerry, West Clare and Connemara.

Do you measure peoples' heads to determine if they are "true Gaels"?

Beechwoodspark

About five years ago near the national gallery an Indian guy in a turban out of nowhere stopped me and insisted in engaging in conversation.

I was wary and stood well back from him in case he was a pickpocket or something

long story short he went through his “routine” and asked me to think of my favorite color and a number

He somehow wrote them onto a small piece of paper which he handed to me - not quite sure how he did it but it was some sleight of hand type of effort

He wasn’t overly impressed when I said wow that’s great and walked off while he demanded money for this “trick” - he wanted 20 euro I think!

murpho999

whisky_galore wrote: »

Not unique to Dublin but legalised Euronet Atm scam.

https://digg.com/video/euronet-atm-scam

Yes, but I don't get why people use them nowadays.

Cash on its way out and it's easy just to pay with bankcard or phone nowadays and just avoid it everywhere.

Pintman Paddy Losty

murpho999 wrote: »

Wow, do you generalise much.

How can there be more irish people in places like West Cork and Kerry compared to the most populated part of the country?

There's not junkies everywhere as you claim and I've been in Dublin with plenty of tourists (had foreign family visitors over) and they all love going to Dublin for pubs, museums, Phoenix Park, architecture etc.

It's only your blinkered hatred of Dublin that shows in your post.

Obviously your family are going to say they enjoyed it. They're not going to say "Murpho, didn't really enjoy being harassed by a plague of zombies and shelling out 7 quid for a sh1t pint of guinness" or "The true blue salt o' de eearth Dublin humour on display in Dublin pubs was invasive and obnoxious"


Any objective and non-biased bystander will admit that a delicious open crab sandwich and a pint of Murphy's by the sea and clean air in West Cork, far surpasses a greasy "one and one" from a chipper in Dublin. The people are also much friendlier and laid back. As I said, Dubs, and other inhabitants of the pale, have more in common with the English than the rest of Ireland.

Beechwoodspark

Is the craic of ppl getting on dart and putting small packets of tissues on every table then aggressively demanding money if any passengers take the tissues still going on?

punisher5112

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Is the craic of ppl getting on dart and putting small packets of tissues on every table then aggressively demanding money if any passengers take the tissues still going on?

Roma gypsies do this, they also do it with air freshener, candles etc....
They go through carriages playing an instrument that it took the 60 years to learn one time, off time at that....

Woke Hogan

Pintman Paddy Losty wrote: »

I'd really advise most tourists to skip Dublin to be honest. It's a festering hole of a city. Junkies everywhere. Obnoxious locals and a total lack of culture. The city and the locals have more in common with English cities like Bristol and Sheffield than they do with true Gaels.


There's far more for tourists (and Irish people) in places like West Cork, Kerry, West Clare and Connemara.

I agree with this 100%.

Whenever I'm speaking with people abroad and they ask me questions about visiting Ireland, I always make it clear that natives of Dublin wouldn't be considered truly Irish by many people from "down de country" and that a person from Dublin would have more in common with someone from Britain.

I go on to explain that "Dubs" are generally culturally British rather than Irish in their practices, similarly to how Russians in Latvia are still considered Russian despite having lived there for generations. I usually cite examples like how fans of Dublin GAA appropriate habits from soccer into their match attendance by singing etc, their use of English slang such as "mate" or "bloke" or their dependency on "chippers" and love for Brendan O Carroll.

My best advice for most of these people is to research the best places to visit outside of Dublin and drive there directly from the airport. There are also great express buses to other towns that they can take which only stop briefly in Dublin city centre so it's extra convenient for them to avoid Dublin altogether. I visited Russia during the Soviet Union era and I would rather live there than Dublin.

Spanish Eyes

Plasandrunt wrote: »

The small grey haired lad who pretends he's deaf.

Always see him in the bookies

Yep a scammer if ever I saw one. Was always around Davy Byrnes and the Bailey (money talks ha ha).

I am partially deaf myself, so would always say to him, hey didn't know being deaf meant you need to beg. Chancer.

Rubberchikken

Who'd be stupid enough to fall for any scam?
The cynic in me keeps me immune from the chancers out there

punisher5112

Laptop in a bag or tablet, turns out to be water bottles.
The guy that's late for a flight and has loads of real leather (I mean knock off) costs and he can't bring them with him, all while in a rental car and usually has his passport on the passenger seat
...

Roma gypsies taken over the city and will hunt you down for money.

whisky_galore

murpho999 wrote: »

Yes, but I don't get why people use them nowadays.

Cash on its way out and it's easy just to pay with bankcard or phone nowadays and just avoid it everywhere.

It's not gone yet.

unhappys10

whisky_galore wrote: »

It's not gone yet.

Just about, I couldn't tell you the last time I had or used actual cash.

EmmetSpiceland

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

Every so often in city centre I’ve seen a small fella maybe 5,3 in height around 50 yrs old who goes around pointing at his ears and then demanding money off ppl. I think he is indicating he’s deaf and therefore ppl should give him money ?!

He targets women in particular and from watching him over the years he tries to unpleasantly intimidate them into handing over a few euro. He scurries off when challenged.

Usual stomping ground is O’Connell bridge, the quays, Nassau st dawson st

I don’t know if what that lad does would be considered a “scam”.

Anyone begging, whether through direct request or made up “sob story”, for a couple of quid aren’t exactly high flying grifters.

whisky_galore

unhappys10 wrote: »

Just about, I couldn't tell you the last time I had or used actual cash.

Good for you.

Woke Hogan

The denizens of the capital love to blame the foreign bogeyman for all of their social ills. Meanwhile the very witty populace of the inner city were moved out to "de flats" of Ballymun because they made a dog's dinner of their original home, before turning "the 'Mun" into a dump of its own.

They're very quick to be looking for "fess-sill-ih-tees" for themselves and caterwauling about being looked down at for being "working class" but then the entire Roma and black communities are blamed for the few bad apples in their bunch.

I would recommend that the "send 'em back" merchants of boards.ie think about it seriously for a few minutes and maybe consider that maybe a lack of "fess-sill-ih-tees" across the board is to blame, rather than some sort of inherent badness in immigrants to Dublin.

unhappys10

whisky_galore wrote: »

Good for you.

Get with the times. Oul farts like yourself carrying cash are dinosaurs about to become extinct.