India: March 2005 Archives
We didn't have a chance to write about our last few days in India while we were still there so we're taking the opportunity now. We have a computer with high speed internet access in our room at the college we're teaching at so expect lots of updates during March!
The India guidebook we used warned us every other page to be on guard for touts, con-artists and scams directed at tourists but we never had any problems--until our last night. The night before we left Delhi we had a late dessert and Chai at a cafe and afterwards I wanted to call my parents. We stopped at a call shop just around the corner from our hotel. We were told it was 20 Rupees (about 50 cents) a minute because of the "superior" quality of the phone connection. I decided the price was reasonable since I hadn't spoken with my parents in a while. 33 minutes later I hung up the phone and was presented with a bill for over 800 Rupees when it should have been about Rs. 660. Unfortunately, I had already handed my money to the cashier before realizing the error. I asked for my change but was told I'd have to come back in 30 minutes when the manager would be there.
Disgruntled, Megan and I headed to our hotel to start packing because we had an early morning flight and a taxi would be picking us up at 6AM. At 11PM I returned to the shop and asked the manager for my balance. He assured me that the extra charges were correct and that I was "mistaken" about how long I talked. I asked him to show me on the receipt where the length of the call was listed. He said the time wasn't printed on the receipt - just the total cost. Two American tourists who were also in the shop said "Oh, don't worry, he's our friend. He's not trying to cheat you." I wasn't convinced and continued asking him to show me how the cost was calculated but he ignored my requests. Getting frustrated, I walked back to the hotel and asked the two night managers for their opinions. They both said that I was, without a doubt, getting cheated and that I should go back and tell the guy I'd call the police if he didn't give me my money.
I had a decision to make: go after this guy and threaten him with the police to get back what was equal to about 5 bucks or go back to our hotel room with my tail between my legs while trying to pretend that getting cheated didn't bother me. When Megan and I travel we like to keep in mind that we may be the only Americans some people may ever meet - unofficial "ambassadors" of sorts. Our interactions could shape how people think of the US and its citizens. Therefore, we always try to be polite, courteous and helpful. So, stomping into the call shop, angrily demanding my money back and threatening him with the police didn't appeal to me. But if this guy was ripping me off he was probably doing it to a lot of other people. I thought it might be an opportunity for me to learn something about handling a difficult situation so I decided to confront him once again.
With my adrenaline pumping I marched back to the shop rehearsing in my mind what I was going to say. I entered and calmly presented him with his choices--give me the money he owed me or deal with the police. Unfortunately, he wasn't scared (as our hotel managers promised he'd be) and simply told me to go ahead and call the police--he'd tell them the same thing he told me. He obviously wanted to see how far I'd take things. I jogged back to our hotel and told the managers what happened. They picked up the phone, dialed and stuck the receiver in my hand.
Delhi Police: "[Something in Hindi I couldn't understand]"
Hotel Managers: "Tell them you're American and that you're very mad. Tell them you're going to call your embassy you're so upset. Be strong!"
Me: "Ah, yes, hello. I'm an American tourist and I've been overcharged by a phone shop..."
Delhi Police: "...what do you want us to do about it?"
Me: "Uhhh...Well...I thought..."
One of the hotel managers grabbed the phone from me and started yelling into the receiver and waving his arms. He spoke in Hindi so I understood only a few words every now and then. Words like: "American," "embassy" and "police." The managers were more upset than I was and were saying that unless the police acted swiftly I'd contact the US Embassy which, according to them, would result in some kind of international crisis between India and America. Whatever was said worked because they reported triumphantly that the police would arrive in 15 minutes to save the day.
As we were waiting the hotel managers advised me to be harsh with the police when they arrived. "Tell them you're very mad and that they'd better follow you to the shop. Be strict with them so they know you're serious." I told them I'd rather not insult the very people sent to help me. "No, no...pretend you're mad at them! You will not get just 200 Rupees back, you will get 600 Rupees--you'll see!"
10 minutes later a police van pulled up with all its lights flashing carrying 3 armed officers. I thought it seemed a bit over the top for a simple complaint about a phone call and secretly wished I were back in my hotel room. The managers from the hotel immediately took over and explained the situation in Hindi to the senior officer. He didn't seem pleased to be bothered with such a trivial problem. Nonetheless, he accompanied me with another officer to the office. By now we'd attracted the attention of every person (and every cow) in the street and had quite a crowd of onlookers. We entered the shop and, throwing his clipboard down on the desk, the senior officer started yelling at the phone manager. The manager claimed he told us it'd cost 24 Rupees per minute and, miraculously, was able to push a few buttons on his register and found the exact length of my call despite not being able to do that for me when I requested it previously.
I argued back and forth with the manager in English and he argued with the police in Hindi. The hotel managers had also followed us to the phone shop and I asked them if they understood what was going on. They just looked at me blankly and didn't say a word. Only a few minutes before they were encouraging me fervently to "fight the corruption!" and "stand up for your rights!" but now they stood silent because they didn't want to criticize their neighbor publicly. It was 2:30AM at this point and I was physically and emotionally drained. The police persuaded the shop manager to refund me part of my money (75 Rupees or about $1.87) and I signed a two sentence statement to the police saying that I was "satisfied" with the outcome. I had left Megan in the hotel room 2 1/2 hours earlier and she had no idea of what was going on. Upon returning to our room Megan said she was beginning to seriously worry that maybe I'd been kidnapped, mugged or beaten up by the phone guy. It was a surreal experience and, after finishing our packing, we fell asleep at 3:30AM.
As if the drama from the night before wasn't enough--we had another altercation on the way to the airport. The taxi we hired for 6AM ran out of gas 5 minutes after we got in. Megan and I had to push the car for about 10 minutes until a friend of the driver showed up with his own car and used it to slowly push the taxi tug-boat style to a gas station. Because we'd paid a lot for the taxi service we were seriously ticked off and told the driver that we expected some money back. He laughed at us and said "No, no. Get in. We're going to the airport now." We stood at the gas station trying to tell him how wrong it was to treat customers this way. We asked him for his cell phone so we could call the hotel to explain the situation but he refused. He got into his taxi and started driving away so we quickly jumped in and sat in silence for the rest of the trip.
When we arrived at the airport 30 minutes later the driver started unloading our backpacks from the trunk. Megan jumped out and, confronting him one last time, said, "Either give us back some of our money now or let us call the hotel on your cell phone to ask them what should be done. If you don't do either of these things then we'll really be mad and we'll call the hotel from inside the airport and tell them how badly you treated us. The choice is yours." He took out a crumpled 50 Rupee note, stuffed it in Megan's hand and drove off grumbling to himself.
Looking back, Megan and I think we might have attracted these experiences to ourselves through our moods and thoughts. We were sad to be leaving India so soon and we were feeling the negative emotions associated with leaving a place and people that had become familiar to us. We were going to China - a country we knew little about where we didn't speak the language and was full of uncertainties. We've learned that in the future it's probably best to relax and keep our schedule simple a day or so before we travel someplace new. It should help us stay in a positive frame of mind and attract the right kinds of interactions and experiences.
