Scammed by official taxi from FCO to Piazza Navona. How can I handle this better?

I found this that may explain a possible 60E https://www.rometoolkit.com/airport/fiumicino_airport_taxi.htm
If it doesn't cleanse the bad taste about the experience, then I am not sure how we can help. As this is your first post here, I cannot tell of this is your first time traveling internationally, or to Italy. You have mentioned it is a stressful trip already and so everything that is unexpected will be magnified. If you haven't travelled internationally, it will feel worse.
Corrupt - it is everywhere, even at home; but you may not see it within your day to day.
10E - the cost of 2 gelato. Would you miss foregoing 2 gelato in the course of your time? Just let it go. Did the taxi still get you where you needed to be in a safe manner? You most likely made that choice so that you didn't have the added stress or confusion of taking the train in, and then finding your hotel. Most likely still worth 60E for the convenience.
Feeling discouraged and suspect - that is harder, and we each process these emotions differently. I will fuss about it for a while, grab a glass of wine, have a sleep to deal with some of the jet lag...and maybe dtill grumble to myself. But then I see the art and all that I came to a place to see and my heart swells with the gratitude that I have the money and privelege to experience it.
I have a friend that writes down 5 good things a day. It is true that focusing on the positive means you have more positive experiences.

This kind of thing happens everywhere. We had a similar situation in Portugal with a taxi driver who agreed to drive us to a destination with a mutually agreed upon price, and when we got there, which was a small town on the coast, quite far from our home base, and after having a very pleasant conversation with him all the way there, he told us that he actually had to charge us double because it was a Saturday.
Don’t let it get you down. Most people are not out to scam everyone and you shouldn’t let this ruin your trip. Be glad it was only 10 euro!

Oh my. So sorry you are having difficulties on your trip.

I've not had this experience but I've not taken a taxi IN from the airport in Rome in recent memory.

I would reframe by looking at the money. It's 10E so about $10. In the scheme of things that for myself that is a coffee and piece of cake from Starbucks. In Rome that is an Aperol Spritz. Skip one and you are even. Go ahead and drink one in a lovely environment and skip coffee after you get home. This is a minor financial inconvenience on a trip that cost thousands.

I'll also add that it's easier to focus on the 10E than it may be to focus on what is going wrong with your travel companion and how the trip has gone sour. Do you both need to spend a day apart doing your own things to have a break? Hope you can right things for yourself. Remember you are responsible only for your own feelings. You can't control the feelings of another person. Sorry my retired social worker self has reared it's head! I hope you start feeling better about Rome and/or Italy. If not can you change plans or are you locked in?

STOP!
Breathe..............
Truly take a breathe and ask your travel partner, "How may we turn the tables on this journey?"
Relax, you both can get to a point of a fresh start.
WE have been been there and allowed super negative experience to impact our mentality...........
fortunate to have a partner who said, "Screw it, enough, buy some great wine and create a picnic and lets go sit in the sun for the afternoon." So lucky for we called an "audible" that refocused us on enjoying the journey we CHOSE to create.
You both can do this.
No, not everyone is corrupt.
Step back, assess, relax and then step forward.
Cameron Hewitt, RS travel writer, talks about "jams are fun".
You both are in a "jam", move forward and get out of the funk!

@MariaF

5 good things

This is actually very helpful to me to have practical ways to get over this. I brought a journal and I see that I need to use it to focus on the positives rather than the negatives. It is also true that 10€ is really a drop in the bucket, grand scheme of things, regardless of how it was lost. I'll swallow my pride and try to spin it humorously. I appreciate your comment.

Well, you ARE in Italy and we're still in Georgia. Hang in there and enjoy! There is an old Latin saying -- "Non illigitami carborundum". Will leave the translation to you.

Everyone's replies are very helpful and encouraging. I live in an area of the US a lot of tourists think is dangerous, so you'd think I would be the first one to step back and try to see positives. I should have mentioned in my post that yes it is my first time traveling internationally ever. Airports in general exhaust me, but the ones on this trip were particularly bad for me (nonsensical systems of navigating, overheated, triggering hot flashes)

I see a few people's points about fatigue. Maybe I'm forcing things too much and all I should be focusing on is catching up my sleep. Unfortunately, the amount of expense and bookings we made for Rome specifically makes it near impossible to change up, unless we are cool to lose $600 in guides/activities/admissions.

Glad I could offer something you can use. Hang in there.

I owe you a gelato for bringing this up.

Stress is a horrible thing. I know.

You guys can still have a great trip. I wish I were there.

Maybe you did get a Fiumcino taxi instead of one with the Rome coat of arms. If so they were perfectly correct to charge 60€.

It doesn't matter now, it was nobody's fault. When I'm tired I ama zombie.

Chill and have an absolutely wonderful vacation.

Any questions while you're there, pop back here. We'll help.

Oh this definately is the right place to vent! Sorry for your disappointment and feeling taken advantage of. People are all correct in the stress level and fatigue of international travel! And when people discourage you that travel as too dangerous….NO need to justify your desire to do this!

You can move on from this!! Last May in Athens…first day just after arrival….we were near the Acropolis. I had my cell phone stolen. I was slipping on rocks and either I would drop my phone or instead quickly stuck it in outside pocket of my safe crossbody bag. Well…there obviouly was a “pro” watching and snatched it. Bummer! We cancelled service which took time. But I HAVE traveled….and know better…know to not have phone exposed!! Kinda mad and….Beat myself up a bit…! I then told my husband I would be thankful I wasn’t hurt or injured. Would be fine w/o my phone and we will have a great trip. Which we did! It’s up to you to look at your present surroundings and just let it go! Do realize….stuff always happens when you travel…it’s how you handle it!? Best possible travel wishes!!

My first thought when I read your initial post was that you were probably still sleep-deprived, which does tend to turn fairly small problems into big ones. I'd try to remedy that by eating healthy food and having an early dinner for a day or two, to give yourselves an opportunity to catch up on your sleep. Tell yourselves that it will be better in the morning, because it will.

There are often issues with taxis, and they seem worse at airports, train stations, etc. Getting into a legal taxi isn't a 100% guarantee you won't encounter someone who'll try to take advantage of you. Crooked drivers are more likely to target foreigners. You can print out the information about fixed fares (in the local language) and show it to the driver when you get into the taxi, but there's nothing to stop the driver from claiming the rates have just gone up or there's an extra fee for something or other.

I'm sorry this happened to you when you were already tired and somewhat disoriented. But things go wrong at home all the time- how can we expect vacation to be any different? One time we got to our hotel in Chicago very late(with my inlaws) and they had given away the two rooms we had reserved. They finally gave us one room and I slept on the floor.

You should be aware that they may try to scam you by expecting large American-style tips, while Europeans usually just round up the bill or tip a FEW Euros, but not 20%.

Flying anywhere is quite stressful these days-TSA, cancellations and delays. It sounds like you need some serious adjustments to your(and your traveling companion's) expectations.

For perspective, there was a recent thread about "have you ever had a trip where things didn't go wrong". When I first responded, I couldn't think of anything except getting food poisoning in Venice and Russia. As time as gone on, I've remembered a few more, but still nothing serious and clearly I seldom think about them.

Getting into a legal taxi isn't a 100% guarantee you won't encounter someone who'll try to take advantage of you.

Exactly. I've learned when taking a flat rate trip to always confirm the price with the driver when getting into the cab. We took an official taxi from FCO a few years ago and I asked the driver how much it would be, expecting him to quote the flat rate. Instead he said "you pay meter" and so I replied "flat rate X euro?" whatever X was at the time, and he said yes. And that's what we paid.

As for the small corruption, happens too often. Every time the change has been wrong except once it is in favor of the store. And it's irritating, we try to be "good" travelers and out of courtesy learn a few phrases in the local language to do simple transactions thinking if we treat people honestly and with respect they'll reciprocate yet still stuff happens. I've adopted a habit of estimating the change we should get and counting before leaving, but it detracts a bit from the enjoyment of travel that you can't even buy a gelato without the chance of being shortchanged (which actually happened). The one time we got too much change at a restaurant I returned it after I realized what happened as we were walking away.

_____ happens.

Move on. You are in Rome. Think of the history. Forget this unfortunate moment.

And accept the X Files motto: trust no one.

You've received excellent advice regarding a number of aspects of visiting a foreign country. I noticed that expenses seem to be a major concern - is this primarily your concern, your traveling companions, or both?

If this is your first international trip, then it is indeed a "trip of a lifetime." You can make it the wonderful experience that you envisioned when you started planning it. Instead of lingering on the expense, focus on the experiences that you'll have, which will become memories once it's over.

If you need a mental and emotional reset, maybe indulge yourself with a few treats - whether an extra scoop of Gelato, a nice pastry with an espresso, or a glass of wine. And then adopt a flexible attitude that will allow you to roll with the punches - with Rome as crowded as has been reported, you will encounter minor frictions every time you leave your hotel.

I fell for it like an ignorant idiot.

I'd bet that close to everyone on this well traveled forum has fallen for something. And not just on their first international trip.

My Uber story was the ever so nice driver who I told I was Not in a hurry to get to the airport. He commented how he was getting me around the traffic.

When I got the bill, it included a 2nd charge, nearly doubling the price, for extra distance.

In my case, I was able to decline the Uber charge with a clear conscience as I'd been very clear that I was in no hurry.

Still, you get that feeling of having been taken.

And this wasn't my first international trip.

One day, after you've destressed from this mishap, you may enjoy reading this article from Cameron Hewitt, the well traveled author of some of the Rick Steves guidebooks:

Jams Are Fun: Making the Most of a Bad Situation

https://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2020/10/jams-are-fun/

In the article, he says:

"My wife’s Great Aunt Mildred was a remarkable soul. She traveled far and wide, at time when such a thing was unheard of for a single woman. And after seeing more of the planet than everyone else in her small Ohio hometown combined, she penned a travelogue about her experiences. The title: Jams Are Fun. What really stuck with Aunt Mildred wasn’t the castles and cathedrals; it wasn’t the museums and the monuments; it wasn’t the grand scenery and the fine meals. It was when trips went sideways — memorable snags in perfectly laid plans, which forced her to scramble for creative solutions."

Jams Are Fun has become my new favorite travel phrase, as I try to remind myself that it's (mostly) all about how I respond.

Perhaps you can start your own collection of Jams Are Fun travel stories!

Years ago, as a solo female traveller, I decided thar when arriving in a strange city overseas, I would prefer not to try and cope with taxis when tired and jet lagged. Coping with taxi ranks, queues and crowds is often not the best way to begin a trip as you have discovered. I always book a car and driver to pick me up as soon as I exit customs/immigration and I pay for it in advance. The cost is usually about €10 more than the taxi fare. For Rome I have used Rome Taxis, (not the same people who run the taxis) and been very pleased with their service. They make a point of door to door service. Another company I have used, not in Italy but it’s all over Europe, is Welcome Pickups.

I hope that a couple of nights decent sleep and some good food will help you get over this not so good start to your trip. Think about it, no one got hurt, nothing was stolen (apart from €10), you learned a valuable lesson and you are in Rome/Italy! Good luck with the rest of your journey and hope your companion chills out.

You've earned a gelato, a wonderful meal, and a Spritz. It never feels good to feel targeted. It's best to move on .

It may have happened to us early in the morning last Thursday in France where we live. We needed to get to a meeting place for a trip. Uber showed 15€. My husband ordered a taxi. We paid 30€. We saw 14.50 on the meter when we got in. We didn't bother questioning because it was a holiday in France at 7 am, so the charges could have been allowed. I had actually forgotten about it because it's over and our trip was fun. Possibly we were cheated, but maybe not.

One more point: from what we're reading Rome is full of visitors right now, making sightseeing more difficult than usual due to lines and crowds. So take time to go slowly, enjoy a gelato, a Spritz, a walk in a garden, some good pasta

Edit: yes, we were scammed by the FCO taxi driver in Rome last month. He told us it was 55 due to our suitcases " like taxis in Paris." We told him we had no change. He laughed because he knew he was scamming.

@markcw
It was a significant expense to do this trip. With the lodging in Rome and all the guides it's actually more like $2500. The trip in total is approx 9k because we will be staying in Florence a week as well. So, it is a struggle to roll with the punches considering how much money has gone into the trip so far. I'm not really sure how people (who aren't very wealthy I guess) handle it so much better when you mess up or someone else messes up, or something you paid for doesn't go well or doesn't end up being the experience you paid for, when so much money was spent. I'm getting the sense that one needs to be prepared to waste a lot of their money to shrug these things off. Because right now it feels like I made an expensive mistake.

I know at a certain point, I can't control someone else's emotions. Their mindset affects me, though, and vice versa. We just can't seem to let the issues go and move past without getting into some kind of negative emotional state. Maybe I do need to just accept that this trip will not meet the expectations of a $9,000-$10,000 trip and consider it a loss, so that whatever else happens doesn't compound the issue. Stop forcing things to meet any expectation. I'm struggling to articulate what I mean here, so I hope it makes sense.

It’s sounds like you are feeling overwhelmed by your situation and maybe traveling with someone who is not helping with their attitude either? Is it also possible that you tend to struggle/have anxiety with spending larger amounts of money anyway for big projects etc? You had high expectations and not seeing past them? Are things just looking impossible right now to find joy in this trip?
We are not trying to minimize your negative feelings. Sounds very real and not sure getting a drink Is the answer. You may be feeling exhaustion and jet leg/time difference and some emotional issues are blocking these new experiences. Just sorry for you and your feeling so let down.
Do you have a phone plan you could call somewhat who is supportive. A good friend that knows you well…counselor…a pastor? You are not alone in this. We are all supporting you!

To add I wanted to say how important to have a good travel partner. Sometimes we don’t know someone’s true colors until you travel with them. Don’t allow their offputting behavior to send you down this negative direction. Hope you can overcome t this struggle.

@all2alb

I would say yes I struggle with financial anxiety because of this trip. Even though we'd been planning for 3 years to get here,things had to be pushed back because there was always something else or emergencies that needed more money. Then of course with how bad prices have been going up everywhere,this trip definitely ended up way for expensive than I wanted. Some of the cost was specifically to lessen our stress. Admittedly we had higher class of airfare because I know how easily we both get stressed out by airlines/airports. I tried booking hotels vs airbnb because Airbnbs felt too independent and I knew it would cause stress having to source a lot of the services hotels provide with the cost of your room. It didn't seem to make much difference ultimately, and maybe that's a lesson i need to take about who to travel with. Hard pill to swallow.

I wish I could give you a big hug right now, and perhaps your traveling companion as well.

It would be awesome if you could swing some of the suggestions made by others: extra sleep, a good meal, some quiet time for self-care, and a reset button. The reset button may be doing all of three of these before embracing tomorrow. Travel is an adventure - sometimes below expectations and sometimes above - but still an adventure. My spouse and I long ago stopped calling our trips "vacations" and started calling them "adventures" because, no matter how much we plan, unexpected things will happen.

Several people have shared stories of unfortunate incidences on their trips, so know you're not alone. Many such things have happened to us as well, including having my husband's work phone stolen in Santiago airport and dealing with the police when we barely spoke any Spanish, four of us missing a tour in Venice due to incorrect information, and more. But I can also share that we've had many fortunate incidences that were unexpected blessings. One such example was many years ago at the end of a long day in England. We finally arrived at our B&B around 9:30, way later than planned, and asked our innkeeper if there was anywhere nearby to get some food as their kitchen closed at 9:00. She said everything nearby was also closed. After seeing how tired we were, she offered to "make us something simple", to which we gratefully agreed. Anything would have been great at that point. We came back down to the dining area after dropping off our luggage and freshening up, and waiting on the table was a spread of shrimp scampi, vegetables, rolls, and a slice of cake each. We were gobsmacked! Scampi?!? I tell you few meals have ever tasted so good. Even more amazing was the next morning when we settled up our bill: she charged us 13.50 pounds for the meal - for BOTH of us. We still marvel at that all these years later.

Please talk to each other, care for each other, care for yourself, and know you are about to experience a wonderful adventure. I can't tell you to forget about the money because that's not realistic. I can ask that you try to move it down the list while you're there, well below fun, beauty, and wonder. All the best to you both!

littlechichend,

I'm sorry you are feeling so low so early in your trip. Hopefully, you can catch up on sleep, eat a delicious and nutritious meal and you and your traveling partner can decide to start again to enjoy your trip.

On a trip over 30 years ago I changed money at a place in Amsterdam. I don't recall the amount I changed. What stuck with me was that I paid an exorbitant fee amount. I am a frugal person and was appalled. It took me a while to realize "these things happen" and life goes on. I should have asked about the fee before I started the transaction and I did not. I am human and humans make mistakes.

Please forgive yourself for being human. It is your first international trip. There is a learning curve. And I'm not convinced you really did anything wrong. It sounds as though you did your research and proceeded based on what you thought was the best process for finding a cab. Perhaps there really is an extra fee on certain days. If not it is the taxi driver who should be feeling bad (probably isn't) not you and your traveling partner. If 10 Euros is all you lost on this trip that's not too bad. And may that be all you lose for the remainder of your vacation.

I hope by the time you read this you and your travel partner are in a better place in dealing with your trip and each other. If not try to make the best of a bad situation.

All the best,
Traveler Girl

At the time, my husband named one of our trips to Italy "The Disaster Trip," and now we don't even remember which trip it was or what exactly were all the things that happened to deserve the name. All the good far outweighed the bad.

Please update us on how the rest of your trip goes-hopefully once you start seeing the $10,000 sites and eat a lot of gelato, you'll enjoy your trip,

Perspective. In the grand scheme of things, 10 € is a total nothing burger.
Someone compared it to 2 gelatos. It's that or couple cups of coffee.
It's certainly not worthy of a meltdown. Quite obviously there is a bit more to this than all of this self-flagellation.
Trips never go perfectly. Costs are almost always more than you expect them to be. There will always be some kind of problem with a travel partner. As was noted, **** happens.
Brace yourself Effie. How will you handle real problem? What happens if someone steals your passport, luggage and all of your cash? Do you have the temperament to handle it? What if you get sick and land in a hospital? There are so many things that we encounter when we travel.
Keeping things in proper perspective is absolutely essential if you want to enjoy the experience.

@Mack

I'm trying to see past the tone of your response and find the helpful pieces. There's not much to look into as far as background for the spat. Air travel is a stressful experience for us to begin with and it wore us down. It was very up at times and then very down. It's our first international trip. Perhaps you have been fortunate enough to have done it many many times, so you have it down pat. I have not and do not.

Yeah I consider these real problems. I'm sorry if that confounds you. Someone always has it worse. People who are stressed and upset from their trip can come to others for help and feel bad. There's someone out there with lost luggage, or stolen wallet, or canceled flights. It doesn't mean my problem isn't a real problem. Not that I should have to explain this to you, I'm sure you understand.

Unlike what you may believe, I actually think people are capable of changing their temperament to grow as a person. I do put a ton of pressure and high expectations on something I spend this much time and money on. I agree it's not a good trait for traveling in a fun and manageable way. I posted because I know frequent travelers tend to have an easier time dealing with the unexpected and would be able to offer practical advice so that maybe I can develop more of those habits. I am not going to post just to self-flagellate as you put it, but rather to get advice since that is an appropriate use of the forum. So far, I've been able to do several of those things, and it has helped. The biggest struggle is the money aspect, but people here have helped me realize the bulk of the expense merely got us here, so as long as I do something here that is a unique experience to Rome then the trip cost was arguably worth it.

I appreciate the encouragement from all of the comments.

About trip costs...

I'm going to share some information from a post I did about 7 years ago on the daily costs per person suggested by Rick Steves for a middle-of-the-road trip to Europe. At that time, the likely budget was $150-$180 per person, per day. That's for everything except airfare from and back to home, wherever that is.

My husband and I decided to raise the upper end a bit and target $150-$200 per person, per day. Over the years, before my husband decided to opt out of European travel (Boeing retiree that he is, he hates flying 😁), we managed to stay in that ballpark budget while having a wonderful time, staying in nice places, eating great food and enjoying all the tourist sights we could take in.

Our budget covered local transportation, including taxis, subways, planes, trains, ferries, buses and rental cars. It covered all the food we ate, the entry fees to things we wanted to see and any local guided tours we took. It covered all the hotels, B&B's and apartments we stayed in. And it covered boarding our dog, long-term parking, and similar expenses back home while we were gone -- items often not included in people's trip accounting.

I kept track of everything because I'm the one who paid for the trips. Combining our daily in-country costs the budget was $300-$400 per day. I wouldn't be surprised if daily costs are higher this summer.

Based on advice especially on the Forums, we quickly learned to think in terms of the local currency, rather than in US dollars. And we learned to think in terms of averages, rather than individual transactions. That made a huge difference in my acceptance of anything that seemed a little hinky.

Now I'm going to share a "jam" story that turned out better than we expected.

In 2013 we did a trip to the Netherlands and Belgium. We used a rental car for the first 3 weeks. When we returned it to the airport before going into Amsterdam for our last week, the over-zealous young man who looked it over wanted us to pay about €900 ($1170 in April 2013) for a scratched wheel and tire. We refused and also refused to sign anything accepting the charge. In the background I was kicking myself for not taking pictures of the wheels and tires along with the rest of the car when we picked it up. I did take pictures of the "damage." I also called our credit union for advice on what to do.

In the foreground, my husband who knows a little bit about cars told the kid that €900 was at least 4 times the cost for the wheel and tire and that if he had to pay for them, he wanted to take them home as a souvenir of the trip. Needless to say, the kid was flummoxed. He quickly recovered (he thought) and said that he had the Visa card number and would charge it anyway. Obviously, he was ignorant of the differences in credit cards back then and that we'd have to sign for it which we refused to do. So we left and went on to our apartment in Amsterdam.

It turned out that by refusing to sign or pay for anything, we'd done exactly what we were supposed to do. Our credit union emailed me the paperwork, we filled it out and sent it back, so they were able start the process before we even got home. Bottom line, we didn’t have to pay for the wheel and tire. We did have to pay for some repair to the wheel which was probably buffing it out. They probably just washed the tire. The cost was about €145 ($180).

Do your best to enjoy the rest of your trip. Gelato definitely helps.

My advice is simple. Get some sleep. By my math, it’s pretty late in Rome and there’s likely very little in this thread that will serve you more than a decent night’s sleep.

Littlechichend. You need to be asleep right now. It is very late in Rome! Rest as well as you can. No more forum tonite! Sweet dreams and better day ahead!

Lo's explanation of the costs averaging out is excellent. One day we loose 10€ but the next day we opt for a simple meal and save 10€. That's part of how I, and probably many others, manage to "let go."

I think you have shown a lot of introspection and have named your triggers, so now you can catch them. If your partner goes grumpy, ask what is wrong and get it out in the open. Glad you came here for ideas and encouragement. I think it's going to work out. Today's a new day.

You are ruining the travel days to come and you are not even sure you have been scammed. Doesn't make much sense to me.

OK. 10€ gone. I have had incidences with less than that. It is not so much the money as the fact that you think you made a mistake. The money will pass, but the self negativity is harder. You have to concioisly let it go. I have to do that. There are so many things that irk me about costs and payment in Europe. People have compared that 10€ to two gelatos or two coffees. Well right there that irks me. That is way too much for such things. Why is gelato so expensive anyway? 2.50€ plus per scoop. And coffee, a small cup.
But you have to get past those things and command yourself into self discipline to either accept or to pass an error into the back of your mind or pass the gelato by.
It is traveling.
In the sum of things you probably could have saved 10€ somewhere else in a 9-10k trip.
Also, avoid taxis altogether. That is a euro error waiting to happen.

I am sorry if I am unable to join on the sympathy band wagon, This "problem" is a zero on a scale of one to ten.
Calling this a scam is an unfair and unjustified characterization. Condemning Rome as a corrupt and untrustworthy on that basis place is simply wrong.
You have enjoyed premium air travel that was apparently too stressful and that has lead you to deprive yourself of sleep, condemn the people of Rome, fight with your travel partner and now allow yourself to be traumatized by a 10 € cab charge.
The advice I offered, and it is sincere, is to put things into perspective.
I could not begin to share with you all of the complications I have seen but try having no room to sleep in Shanghai on a Friday night, or taking a friend to a hospital to learn that they have one of the first cases of SARS, having a passport and computer stolen, being so sick that you could not leave your hotel room for days, shaking so badly that your fingers could not operate your cell phone, having your flight force land after an engine flamed out or due to a bird smashing the cockpit window, having a travel companions hair turn white literally overnight due to travel stress and culture shock.
I embrace the comments made by Dario. Get out from behind the keyboard and get into the streets of Rome and have some fun.
When you get to Florence, steer clear of the folks offering beads, carvings, sad stories and what have you. They are truly pro scammers. It's how they make a living.

Hi, you've invested a lot of money in this trip and even more psychologically. That's putting a lot of pressure on you.
It sounds like more pressure is coming from your travelling companion. I can understand how you feel. Before I stopped going on holiday with 'friends' I remember trips which took me weeks to research and organise, when I asked them for opinions they just said 'you choose/you decide ', only to complain when things didn't work out to their liking.....
However much you plan, research and pay, no trip will be perfect. When we travel we are well outside our 'comfort zone'.
Concentrate on the good things, that you are liking, enjoying, that are going well. Ignore the rest.
The 10€ probably upset you because it symbolised something. Think about it when you get back home. Put it on hold for now. Enjoy Rome.
You've decided to do this trip, spend that money, no point regretting it. You were brave to do this. Make the most of it. Experience
Enjoy. Don't let your travel companion spoil it.
Every moment counts. Wait until you get back home to decide if it was worth it.
(I've never been on a trip that wasn't worth it)
All the best

We have found on just about every trip there was a moment where we were, if not scammed, felt ripped off in some way. Now we say "in every trip expect a little hosing". As in we got hosed, which perhaps is Canadian slang but you get the meaning.

It's awful when you invest so much money and mental energy into something only for it to fail to meet expectations. Rick says be militantly optimistic. Your trip can be life changing, for the better. I hope for you that it becomes so.

Blockquote
"How can I handle this better?"

I've read you OP and subsequent responses. As someone who went to Europe for the first time as a teenager over 50 years ago, I'm trying to figure out what I can offer to make the rest of your trip better.

Others have made suggestions regarding perspective. I think that is the heart of the matter. We all dream about our trips and make little movies in our heads of what it will be like. Trips are never like those movies. Not so much better or worse, just different. The more you let go of what you expected and embrace the present, the more enjoyable your trip will be.

I suspect either you or your traveling companion or both were concerned about being "scammed" before you even started. If you did research here or elsewhere, I'm sure you came across plenty of warnings and negative comments. Before we went on a trip to Tuscany, I read up on driving in Italy. Even though we'd rented cars and driven in other European countries, I began to second guess our plans. Luckily I kept the comments in perspective and we kept our original plans. We had a wonderful time, had absolutely no problems driving and had experiences that would have been hard or impossible without a car.

Now, this relatively minor incident reinforced all your concerns and has the potential to color the rest of your trip. Maybe we've been scammed on our trips and never realized it. You did homework and as you indicated, took steps to avoid being scammed. I think this is probably a misunderstanding or at worst a one-off incident. Trust your instincts. Take reasonable precautions.

Finally, use lessons learned on this trip in preparing for the next, and I really hope there will be more trips to Europe. Reading between the lines, I get the feeling you think the more money you spend, the smoother the trip and the closer to your expectations the trip will be. Our experiences have proven that no to be the case. Just as we had made reservations for our Tuscany trip, our close friends invited us to join us on a Rhine River cruise they were taking 6 months after. We agreed to join them. Our Tuscany trip was an independent trip that we arranged ourselves. The river cruise was all inclusive, we had to do little more than cough up the money. The river cruise cost three times more than our Tuscany trip, though they were the same length. Our Tuscany trip was far more enjoyable.

If you paid by credit card or have a receipt, you should file a complaint. You also need to know the Taxi code name, generally the name of a city and a number displayed in the car and hopefully in the receipt.

This business of dishonest taxi drivers has to stop and it won’t stop until people start filing complaints and the City addresses it.

To file a complaint you can write here:
Roma Capitale
Dipartimento Mobilità e Trasporti
94 Via Capitan Bavastro
00154 Roma
Italy

From the same City website this is the form to use (English version)
https://www.comune.roma.it/web-resources/cms/documents/Modulo_reclamo_taxi_inglese.pdf

You must include a copy of your ID (passport) for the complaint to be accepted.

To the people who are well-traveled and can still appreciate what it was like to be new to this, thank you. We did have a better time today despite some issues. I got a chance to use some more Italian, only basic phrases to get by. The difference in how we're treated is night/day. We weren't being treated poorly before, just with that low level annoyance that locals have with tourists. The comments encouraged me and with everyone's suggestions will help turn things around.

To others, I still appreciate you talking about your experiences. But, as I said, someone always has it worse. It doesn't mean that people can't start a discussion about their issue. I'm not sure how much more I can say about that without just repeating myself.

Good for you. You sound more positive. You are acclimating. I do think it feels unsettling to be in a foreign country. Different language, customs on and on. It’s something you can’t really explain or feel until your feet are on the ground. You need to at the same time…. To work thru travel fatigue and jet lag. A lot for ones brain to process! Then when something neg happens (and it will) we can feel more unsettled. I am not a newbie either…and yet it still is a process for me to work through. People all have their own take and experience on this. I believe you are better able now to take it all in with an improved state of mind. Both of you! Rome has such a “vibrant vibe” that you will experience!

I got a chance to use some more Italian, only basic phrases to get by. The difference in how we're treated is night/day.

I'm glad you are doing better. Our Italian is horrendous, but you are right, any attempt on our part is appreciated. It immediately differentiates you from those who expect and demand them to speak English.

We counted it as a minor triumph when we visited the COOP grocery store in Greve and were able to buy what we needed, including weighing and marking fruit, all without speaking a word of English. Also, we were approached by some US tourists in Florence who were looking for directions. Their first question was "do you speak English?". At least to tourists, we didn't stand out.

When my daughter-in-law was in France, she decided to practice the French she learned in high school and college. After conversing with a shop keeper for a few minutes, he held up his hand and said: "Stop. Just stop. I'll speak English." Ironically, his son spent a year in France in a Studies Abroad program and speaks French fluently. A native Parison once asks him: "Are you Canadian? You speak French so well you must be from a French speaking country, but I can't place your accent." He told him he was from "Southern France" (Macon, Georgia, not Macon France).

I think it is important to remember that everyone reacts to situations differently and one person’s molehill is another person’s mountain. Everyone has different triggers. The OP’s feelings are real to him/her/they and are valid.

Maybe it’s important to look at the reason for the trip as a way of moving forward and getting to the other side.

As an aside, last year in Costa Rica, I stayed at a really high end, expensive lodge, well known brand lodge. It was my first trip since Covid. As I was going to be there several nights, I ordered an expensive bottle of wine with the intent to drink it over the several nights. It was a lot cheaper than ordering by the glass. This was fine the first two nights. The third night, the server said that I had finished my bottle the night before and would need to order another. I advised that I had not finished the bottle and could they please check. After going back and looking, again I was told I had finished the bottle. I was unhappy. I was first essentially a liar and second, it was an expensive bottle and I expected to drink the whole thing. There was at least a glass left in it when I left it the night before. I expressed my unhappiness, the server went away and I was left to peruse the wine menu. Then the manager comes out and says he found the bottle and someone had put it back in the wrong spot. They were then tripping over themselves to make it right. But, the bad taste of being branded a liar was still there. This sort of thing should never have happened.

I mention this to just to say that everyone is entitled to feel the way they do, even if it isn’t how someone else would react.

Think of it this way: It’s 5€ each and he needed the money to feed his kids. Move on. There’s a million experiences waiting that will make you forget all about it.

This probably won’t make you feel any better, but most every one has been scammed by a taxi driver in the big cities of Europe. I personally have argued with taxi drivers in Rome and Paris. I find that many will push you to see how much you will take. I look at it as part of the European experience. Keep on traveling.

When we got to the drop-off (not really that close to the hotel, which
sucked with cobblestones and luggage)

You may not be aware that most of the area around P Navonna is pedestrianized so the cab driver likely got you as close to your hotel as he could. If you got upset about this and having to drag your luggage over cobblestones just be aware that this probably won’t be the only time you have to drag your bags over cobblestones.

You are in Rome.
Let it Go

most every one has been scammed by a taxi driver in the big cities of
Europe.

Not only Europe. In America too.

I've been scammed by taxi drivers in New York City, Washington DC, and even at home, returning from a business trip at the Oakland Airport.

In all cases I either fought back and refused to pay the excess, or complained to the taxi company (and got a refund). In Italy all taxi drivers are independent licensees owners of car and license (Italian law prohibits City to award licenses to companies). But you can (and should) complain to the City. There are dozens of articles about the shaky practices of taxi drivers (real or fake), especially in Rome. Some are caught by a special police task force and indicted. When caught they face major consequences. Last November a taxi driver in Rome was arrested and charged for extorsion and fraud for asking a foreign tourist at the Ciampino airport a fare above the flat fare established by the City. Obviously most tourists don't bother to complain or report these instances to the police, but for a public service licensed by the Government like a taxi driver, to request a fare above the due amount is considered extorsion by Italian law.