We had two incidents on our last day in Chile: a taxi driver who set the meter on fast-forward and then palmed two 10k peso notes right before our eyes...and then, our hotel, La Foresta, tried to scam us with an additional, much-inflated bill (we had already paid in full via Hotels.com). The first was not a lot of money, and we did have the satisfaction of doing our civic duty and reporting the matter, at some length, to the Carabineros. We expect nothing to come of it. No sooner had we finished with the police and gotten back to the hotel, the smiling desk clerk told us we owed another $277, since Hotels.com does not pay the full costs of the room. At length, with our "fully paid" receipt in hand (on iPhone), we said no way and then spent the night fretting about what might happen. Next morning, a different clerk was on duty, and he checked us out with no further ado. Vicki has reported the matter to Hotels.com, although we expect nothing to come of that either. Nearly eight years of incident-free travel, scores of taxis and dozens of hotels...and then two incidents in one afternoon! We'll be far more wary with taxi drivers. And always have a receipt for the hotel.
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| The taxi driver did not like being photographed |
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| Tried to pop the lid before I could his license number |
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| And makes his get-away |
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| Our room at La Foresta |
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| Nice, and a great location in Santiago |
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These pix taken to show we didn't trash the
room; once you've been messed with, you begin
to wonder what will happen next |
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