Luggage lugging scam at Venezia Lucia train station

I am sorry you feel you were overcharged but if you did not establish a price before letting him take your bags you were not cheated or scammed. Why would you assume he was working just for a 10€ tip? Yes he took advantage of you, but one should never accept help from a porter without first asking the price.

Especially since you arrived by water taxi, which they read as meaning you are a wealthy tourist who enjoys a bit of luxury and personal service.

Yes, I realize that. I just wanted to let other people know. There was actually no other way to get to the train station except water taxi because the ferries do not run so early in the morning and we had a 5 am train to catch. At least that it was the hotel told us.

Thanks for the warning. I don't use Porters and won't let anyone handle my luggage, so hopefully won't become a victim of this.

If fares were not visible and he did not tell you the price in advance, you should have refused to pay and call a cop.

The hotel or taxi driver should have told us about this scam

You suppose they are aware of it, but your post is the first one about porters scamming tourists this way.

Not asking the price because you think are free to pay what you want by tipping... sorry but it seems a bad joke about US tourists from the 50s. They decide the price of their work, not you. Porters have the obligation to let you decide if using their services, not to work on tips.

actually there is a 1N vaporetto which traces the route of the number 1 which runs (somewhat infrequently but to a timetable) all night.... for other folks in a similar situation....

f fares were not visible and he did not tell you the price in advance, you should have refused to pay and call a cop.

Easy when it's your own country, you're a native speaker, you understand the protocol and you're speaking in retrospect. OP may have thought this was part of the process and the porter worked with the taxis. And yes, I've heard of this happening in a train station already, where the traveler thought the person was being kind and neighborly but learned otherwise.
For example, I've often had someone offer to lift my suitcase onto the shelves in a train, so I'd be shocked if they demanded money afterwards.

Thanks for the warning, OP.

Easy when it's your own country, you're a native speaker

You are right, but I assumed that someone who could bargain a 15 € discount off the asked price had also the guts to call a cop.

The OP thinks he was scammed because he could not set the price of the service accordingly to his/her standards. I am telling future readers that he was scammed because all fares must be posted or agreed in advance. Just like restaurants: if they do not post the menu outside, they can't be trusted.

OP scammed himself by not asking the price!

Thanks for the reminder. I'll try not to act like a clueless American next time I'm in Europe.

If you have seen the movie
"Book Club, Part Two".... this is exactly what happens to the characters but in Rome!

I agree: you wouldn't get into a taxi or train without agreeing on a fare beforehand...same with porter services.
Do you think people should just work for tips only?
Look at it this way: at least you didn't have to shlep your bags yourselves.

I see a similar scam in BART stations. Scammers will insist on helping someone who looks confused standing in front of a ticket machine - and then demand a tip for their "services".

I think it is a bit rough expecting hotel staff or taxi operators to warn you.

Thanks for the info. Sorry this happened to you. I definitely would not have given he that amount.
I was pickpocket in Italy years ago and I trust nobody so I doubt I would have let him haul anything for me.

To those who suggested we call a police officer...we had already bought tix for a train that we were boarding.

To the one who asked why I took a water taxi to the train. We had checked out of our hotel in Venice and we were taking the train down to Naples, so the water taxi took us to the train station.

To those who wanted to know why we let the porter take our luggage. We assumed it was a service offered by the water taxi as he gave our luggage directly to the porter. There are no signs with prices that is why we assumed he is illegal and working for tips. How do I know he is illegal? He brought our luggage to a back entrance on the far corner of the train station as he is not allowed inside. So we still had to lug the luggage (which again is no big deal-we didn't use a porter in Newark or Venice airports).

I thought i was being nice about giving him a 10 euro tip for putting our luggage on his cart and walking the cart the 3 minutes to the train station.

Yes I agree I am an Americano stupido...just don't be me.

Not stupido - just taken advantage of.

Curious - which hotel? I'd love to know if your hotel was being straight with you about no suitable vaporetto...

We stayed at NH collection palazzo de dogi

THE WATER TAXI DRIVER HANDED THE LUGGAGE DIRECTLY TO THE PORTER!

Wow. Important info that needs to be in the original post. Just as I thought, it was presented as part of the service

from that hotel, at that time of the morning, the hotel - all the way up at Madonna del Orte - was right. Taxi is the way to go. That vaporetto stop has rare enough service in the middle of the day let alone in the middle of the night.

The number 1 Night service is nowhere near, a walk to the station at such an hour would be less than a lot of fun.

Thanks for the name.

I also agree now with the post just above.

Did you check out the ice house in the hotel garden? Most intriguing.