Hampi scam

So here it is, to quote directly from my travelling buddy’s Google review. I give her full credit for taking needed measures to get most of our money back:

SUMA TRAVELS

“Crook who charged me and my friend double for a bus and flight to Mumbai. He also works in partnership with a tuktuk driver named Ravi “King of Rock City” as he calls himself on his tuktuk. He lives in Hosapete but preys on tourists on the overnight bus which stops there first. He speaks perfect English and tells you he will meet you in Hampi.

Scammer: Ravi of Hosapete
Sure enough he is there and takes us to Suma Travels. There the owner Raghu told us the only way to get to Old Goa is by overnight bus or taxi. He then books our flight to Mumbai and bus ticket. We paid my credit card but we’re told he had to give us the tickets the next day.

The crime scene: Suma Travels office in Hampi
We then checked the airfare online and discovered that we were charged double. We went back to Suma Travel office and told Raghu we knew what he did and demanded our money back.

Scammer: Raghu.

Raghu claimed to having to pay taxes and commissions, so I upped the anti to threatening to involve the police. He paid back 7000 rupees but booked a non refundable bus ticket so he basically got away with 2500 rupees since he charged us 1000 rupees for his agency fee and 2% for using our credit card.

The next morning we happened to pass by the office and saw the same tuktuk driver in front of Suma Travels office. A young French boy was on his calculator (probably in disbelief of the price he was quoted)! We told him we were cheated so be careful. I then took pictures of the crooks to upload.

AVOID this place completely. It doesn’t deserve one star but that’s not an option here.”

……..

So there you have it.

It was a pain but fortunately we met Hamena, an official Hampi guide, with whom we had a fantastic three days walking, biking, tuk tucking through the amazing living archeological site.