Men giving unwanted help in Milan central station - what are they up to?

I have encountered this at Termini in Rome a couple times. They "help" you and then give you the please tip me hands. I tell them sorry, I don't speak Italian and go about my day.

Most are just trying to get a tip. Some may be trying to pickpocket you but most are just after an easy tip. Just tell them no thanks and they should go away. If they don't tell them you'll call the police if they don't leave you alone.

Donna

i had this happen to me this past spring while i was buying my ticket to varenna. this nice gentleman comes over and starts pressing buttons for me, ever so kindley without asking. he completes everything and i get my ticket and he holds out his hand, i shake his hand and walked away leaving him looking dumbfounded and me with a slight smile knowing that i showed him

If you look preplexed when you get off the train in Milan, and someone comes up and ask may they help you, and you ask where .... hotel is, they will not tell you. They will get a hand cart, load your luggage without you telling them to and head towards the hotel in question. Once there, they expect a generous tip.

We also encountered this in Termini but we were very grateful for the help because we truly were perplexed and confused in terms of where to go. A young man saw the confused look on our faces and took all of our luggage and showed us to our train and loaded the luggage onto the train for us. Before he could reach out his hand to ask for a tip, my husband gave him 3-4 euros and thanked him. We unfortunately travel with 4 pieces of luggage and I could offer no help in terms of lifting the luggage on/off the trains so I think my husband was grateful for the help. I think their only motive is to collect tip money.

The Grafitti Wall has a whole section on scams; you'll find your answer there.

These individuals seem to frequent all of the main stations in Italy. I've encountered the helpful and persistent "baggage porters" in Naples as well, and they always expect a tip.

Another situation I've experienced on a couple of occasions, is the individual that walks through the rail cars prior to departure, placing a card with a "hard luck story" on the seat. He walks back to collect the card before the train leaves, assuming that passengers will leave a donation.

Regarding the people "helping" travellers to buy tickets, I've had problems with them in Rome as well. I try to make it clear that I don't need or want any help with the tickets, but they persist. I WILL NOT give these people money, as I'm quite capable of buying tickets on my own.

These dudes are up to no good. Shoo them away, especially when they are looking over your shoulder during a financial transaction. You don't want any help or "gifts" from strangers. An official employee of the train system won't lift a finger to help you because it's "not in their job description".

Case in point, an elderly California couple were drugged and robbed at one of the outlying Rome train stations a year or so ago after they were offered a Cappuccino by a stranger. The man ended up staggering onto the tracks and was run over by a train. A lesson learned the hard way.

Don't accept their "help" unless you want it, like the poster with 4 pieces of luggage. This happened to me in San Francisco, where a friend and I were buying tickets for BART and a woman came up to us and asked if we needed help figuring out the machines. She showed us what to do and then as soon as we got our tickets, she gave us a story about how she needed some change so she could buy a ticket for herself. Of course I felt obligated to help her out, but right after I gave her some change I realized that this is what she does all day.

Many 'helpers' (PARIS!) 'help' you figure out those darned French ticket machines [hint - click the button for 'English' ;-)], but WAIT! "YOUR credit card or cash doesn't work in this machine! (uh-huh...) I'll use MY credit card (because it's French-issued) and buy your 7-day pass (carnet, or whatever) - you just GIVE ME THE CASH." He cancels the original transaction, and takes your €20, €80 or whatever for your 'pass' or 'carnet' and instead buys you a single ticket or a stack of EXPIRED tickets...What a helpful guy! Welcome to Paris :-(

Know what you're doing, and don't accept candy/help from strangers.

I think THIS is Rick Steves' forte - travel skills. Unfortunately, in the last several years (the "RS' Europe" years) his shows are much more travelog and much less 'this is how even YOU can travel in Europe'. I guess that's what his books are for...

Something similar happened in the Metro in Milan a few days ago. We were having trouble figuring out how to access the English option on the automatic ticket machine. This guy appeared out of nowhere, pressed all the right buttons, put our money in and got us our tickets.
Then he asked for 1 Euro to buy a ticket for himself. My husband told him he was sorry, he had nothing smaller than a 2 Euro coin and... the guy gave him CHANGE! At the time I was kind of annoyed, but now I think it was really pretty funny.

Happened to us recently in Milan. No problem and did not ask for tip. He bought his own ticket afterwards so I think he just wanted to use the machine and not wait for us. I was suspectious and checked everything - wait where's my wallet - just kidding.

Very common and it seems in general they are simply looking for a "tip" for "helping." They can be very persistent even for travel veterans. The best thing to do it you can't shoo them away is be very alert and then walk away without giving them anything.

No! E 'semplice. Just say that. And wave them off.