Hungary - Restaurants ripping off tourists

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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T/I: 10:35:16 For some tourists, eating out in Budapest is an experience they won't forget. They've had to pay a small fortune for their meal - sometimes their dining experience has cost more than their entire holiday. They've become the victims of rip-off restaurants. Some have had to fork out outrageous sums of money for a meal. The American embassy in Budapest has received so many complaints, it's produced a list of restaurants to avoid. The list, which is available to tourists, has also been published in several local newspapers. But for some it's too late. A Danish couple was charged 6,000 US dollars for a meal in the Halaszcsarda restaurant, which has since been closed by the authorities. Some restaurants are ripping-off tourists by either producing English menus without price lists or menus which have been changed during eating. Cheap menus are often shown at the start of the meal, but when customers pay, they discover the menu prices are different. Some restaurants are even double charging credit cards. The Hungarian government has been forced to take serious measures to stop the problem. It is now temporarily closing down problem restaurants for three months. After that time, they can reopen on probation, but if they are involved in any more cases of wrongdoing, the owner will lose his/her licence to run the restaurant. SHOWS: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY. RECENT WS Budapest; WS downtown area; VS people walking in main tourist area; tourists looking at restaurant menu; WS people eating outside cafe; WS Halaszcsarda restaurant closed down; sign; padlocks; SOT Susan Elbow, Press attache, US embassy, in English: "Basically we had more and more American citizens coming into to us and filling out very detailed sworn statements saying they had had terrible experiences at these restaurants. Primarily overcharging but in some cases the overcharging was so excessive and then when they disputed the bill they were threatened either verbally or in some cases physically. The problem to us seemed to be escalating"; CU US embassy list of "black-banned" restaurants; MS police and customs officials entering restaurant; WS restaurant; MS truck with wooden panels for closing down shops; CU timber in back of truck; WS exterior Eva cafe- closed down by public notary Judit Xantus; SOT Judit Xantus, Public Notary, in Hungarian: "I think the government decided to impose order at restaurants because foreign tourists have been bombarding the Hungarian Foreign Ministry with complaints. We had no other means to stop the wrong-doing at restaurants other than to close them." Women looking at menu outside restaurant; man trying to hand out leaflets about a restaurant; VS people eating at restaurants; CU menu; WS people eating; 3.05 You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/57e541df9ce4e6187ab140bbbe163fbe Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork