Just thought I'd share our shopping experience in Turkey and hopefully save you from being taken in if you've never visited.
This is the first time we have ventured travelling outside of Western Europe or the US, so were completely unprepared as we wandered the streets in Bodrum window shopping. There is no such thing! We were hot, tired and beaten down after constantly saying "no thank you" to the shop owners on the street trying to persuade us to come into their shop, and finally gave in and had a look in one. As I wanted to get a souvenir shirt for my dad anyway, I thought they may have something. I won't bore you with all the details, but this shop owner was opening every single package of girl's clothing for my daughter to try on, trying to find shirts for my husband (who didn't want anything) and me as well. Not only did we get the t-shirt for my dad, but we walked out with 5 other shirts we weren't after. There were no prices on anything and the guy said he'd give us a price after we'd chosen everything. Well, the first total he gave us made my husband and I burst out laughing. Eventually he dropped it to half and to be honest even though we didn't need the stuff, we just wanted to get out, and besides that we'd been in there 45 minutes! Well, I've just pulled one of the shirts out of the wash (the first time it's been washed) and it has literally fallen to bits. I'm obviously annoyed with the shop owner, but equally with myself for being too nice and getting sucked in. Between getting hassled to stop in every restaurant, cafe and shop we passed (and ripped off in a fish restaurant, but that's another story), and all of us returning home with a tummy bug (hubby and I were puking on the plane home and in the taxi) it's all left a slightly sour taste in my mouth. We really did like lots about Turkey and may return, but will be returning much more savvy!
Puking usually leaves a sour taste in my mouth too 
All kidding aside for every bad tale i have heard or read about Turkey i have heard or read and experienced a hundred good ones .Don't let this experience put you off Turkey as most of the people there are brilliant and where your shirt fell apart after the first wash i have dress shirts i bought in Marmaris four years ago and they wash up as good as new every time .That is only one example of great stuff i have bought there .The Turkish word for no is HAYIR.
Peter
All kidding aside for every bad tale i have heard or read about Turkey i have heard or read and experienced a hundred good ones .Don't let this experience put you off Turkey as most of the people there are brilliant and where your shirt fell apart after the first wash i have dress shirts i bought in Marmaris four years ago and they wash up as good as new every time .That is only one example of great stuff i have bought there .The Turkish word for no is HAYIR.
Peter
karenbuk
It do sound like you had a bad experience, but to be fair you realy do need to say no if you don`t want to go into somebodys shop or buy from them, normally a no thanks and a smile tends to do it if that does not work just keep walking.
we are off to dalyan on the 16th and although it is a laid back resort i have heard that they hastle you there too, we tend to treat it as a bit of fun, and tend to not let it bother us although i do understand what you mean about bodrum, being so big and busy it can wear you down.
i just hope that you do return a wiser person as you say you now know what to expect.
andy
It do sound like you had a bad experience, but to be fair you realy do need to say no if you don`t want to go into somebodys shop or buy from them, normally a no thanks and a smile tends to do it if that does not work just keep walking.
we are off to dalyan on the 16th and although it is a laid back resort i have heard that they hastle you there too, we tend to treat it as a bit of fun, and tend to not let it bother us although i do understand what you mean about bodrum, being so big and busy it can wear you down.
i just hope that you do return a wiser person as you say you now know what to expect.
andy
Please don't think that this happens everywhere in Turkey. I don't think you find this in the smaller resorts, certainly in Turunc you don't. I also know that last year (not sure about this year), there were restrictions in place in Marmaris, and an establishment could be closed down for 3 days if they were hassling holidaymakers. I don't think anywhere in Turkey has anything on the Gambia, where local youths want to walk along with you and be your friend, and expect money for it! I'm ashamed to say we ended up giving someone the equivalent of 50p to carry our basket round the the supermarket(where we only bought about 4 items anyway), he just would not go away!
Live and learn, I say! Those things aside, we had a great time and will definitely be going back.
Alfie, I have heard that about that Gambia. A friend of mine went there with 2 of her friends and long story short, the 2 ladies are now married to Gambian men. All living in the UK of course!
Alfie, I have heard that about that Gambia. A friend of mine went there with 2 of her friends and long story short, the 2 ladies are now married to Gambian men. All living in the UK of course!
I agree....the hassle in the Gambia far surpasses that of Turkey anyday!
Karen
I totally understand how you must have felt, it is a shock to the system to find yourself constantly bombarded with requests to look, buy,eat, sample and remain polite and unruffled. This is how we felt on our first trip to tunisia, with a vow never to return. luckily for us our first trip to Turkey was such a fantastic experience, we didnt leave the hotel too much as husband couldnt walk very well following a motorbike accident at home. so the brief shot we had of turkey was nothing but kindness, we have been back many times and wander the markets and shops and enjoy the banter now. I would probably have a different view of tunisia now. so sad to hear you guys were ill on yr journey back, that must have been very unpleasant. have a look around this forum and maybe a smaller place such as turunc, which is beautiful or over fethiye way would suit you more. hope you are feeling better now
hugs la
I totally understand how you must have felt, it is a shock to the system to find yourself constantly bombarded with requests to look, buy,eat, sample and remain polite and unruffled. This is how we felt on our first trip to tunisia, with a vow never to return. luckily for us our first trip to Turkey was such a fantastic experience, we didnt leave the hotel too much as husband couldnt walk very well following a motorbike accident at home. so the brief shot we had of turkey was nothing but kindness, we have been back many times and wander the markets and shops and enjoy the banter now. I would probably have a different view of tunisia now. so sad to hear you guys were ill on yr journey back, that must have been very unpleasant. have a look around this forum and maybe a smaller place such as turunc, which is beautiful or over fethiye way would suit you more. hope you are feeling better now
hugs la
I should add that we went to Olu Deniz and had very little hassle at all. We wouild go into shops and have no problems looking around and even trying things on at our pace...no pressure at all. The restauranters would shout over friendly banter but in no way made you feel awkward. We had a small supermarket we used daily and one lad would always help us get what we want. We went up to Hisaronu and to Fethiye and again found everyone friendly. yes of course people will try to get you to spend your money with them but we found a polite 'no thank you' was sufficient.
We had a very similar experience in a leather shop in Kusadasi.
We promised our Son a nice leather jacket, and saw one we liked and entered the shop to buy it.
However, not satisfied with getting £70 out of us, the shop owner tried to sell us every leather coat in the shop,
and we just couldn't get away from the shop.
After saying NO at least a thousand times, I eventually got shirty with him,
and told him I didn't want, or need a leather coat, and neither did my Husband,
and we left the shop with bad feelings between us and the owner,
and he called us "English pigs".
That, and other hassle experiences put us off going back to Turkey,
but my neighbour goes to Oludeniz often, and told us that hassle from shopkeepers e.t.c.
is very minimal, so we have decided to give Turkey another try this year, and fly in 4 weeks.
We have both decided that if we have similar experiences as our first visit to Turkey,
we definitely won't return.
We bought just one other item on that holiday to Turkey, from a shop at the entrance to Ephasis.
I was browsing outside the shop, and no-one pounced on me, so I plucked up the courage and entered the shop.
A lovely Turkish man was lying in a hammock at the back of the shop, and said "If you need any help, just let me know".
I was so taken aback by his carefree attitude, and his trust in me, that I bought a beautiful Jade and Amber necklace, and
matching earrings, and thanked the Gentleman for allowing me to browse in peace.
He told me he has cottoned on that people don't like being hassled, and actually makes more money
by letting people browse in peace.
Pity the penny hasn't dropped with all of them!!!
We promised our Son a nice leather jacket, and saw one we liked and entered the shop to buy it.
However, not satisfied with getting £70 out of us, the shop owner tried to sell us every leather coat in the shop,
and we just couldn't get away from the shop.
After saying NO at least a thousand times, I eventually got shirty with him,
and told him I didn't want, or need a leather coat, and neither did my Husband,
and we left the shop with bad feelings between us and the owner,
and he called us "English pigs".
That, and other hassle experiences put us off going back to Turkey,
but my neighbour goes to Oludeniz often, and told us that hassle from shopkeepers e.t.c.
is very minimal, so we have decided to give Turkey another try this year, and fly in 4 weeks.
We have both decided that if we have similar experiences as our first visit to Turkey,
we definitely won't return.
We bought just one other item on that holiday to Turkey, from a shop at the entrance to Ephasis.
I was browsing outside the shop, and no-one pounced on me, so I plucked up the courage and entered the shop.
A lovely Turkish man was lying in a hammock at the back of the shop, and said "If you need any help, just let me know".
I was so taken aback by his carefree attitude, and his trust in me, that I bought a beautiful Jade and Amber necklace, and
matching earrings, and thanked the Gentleman for allowing me to browse in peace.
He told me he has cottoned on that people don't like being hassled, and actually makes more money
by letting people browse in peace.
Pity the penny hasn't dropped with all of them!!!
This is the one and only thing that got me down when we went to Dalyan in June. Almost every single shop/restaurant/bar we went passed someone would be stood outside trying to get us in. I can appreciate they only want custom but it does get very tiring after saying no over and over again. The market day was the worse, a lady selling jewellery asked me where I got my necklace from that I was wearing and I made the mistake of stopping. Before I knew it she'd put bracelets on my wrist, toe rings, brooches and all the time I was being polite saying no thanks but she wouldn't take no for an answer. In the end it took my son to literally grab me by the arm and pull me away otherwise I probably would have ended up buying the whole stall lol.
We went to Bodrum in 2006 and went into a shop looking for a pink shirt, I told the shop keeper what I wanted and he said if I buy more shirts I'd get a better price.
I said I'd buy 3 shirts and we agreed on a price, he turned his shop upside down trying to find a pink shirt but couldn't find one so I said I didn't want to buy any if he didn't have a pink one.
He threw me out the shop saying I'd insulted him and his family!
I did manage to get 3 shirts a couple of shops down the road and they are still in as good condition as they were the day I bought them, saying that I did also buy 5 pairs of boxer shorts from Bodrum market which all fell apart at the seams after wearing them once. I think you just have to take things out of the packets before you buy them to check the quality of the goods.
I said I'd buy 3 shirts and we agreed on a price, he turned his shop upside down trying to find a pink shirt but couldn't find one so I said I didn't want to buy any if he didn't have a pink one.
He threw me out the shop saying I'd insulted him and his family!
I did manage to get 3 shirts a couple of shops down the road and they are still in as good condition as they were the day I bought them, saying that I did also buy 5 pairs of boxer shorts from Bodrum market which all fell apart at the seams after wearing them once. I think you just have to take things out of the packets before you buy them to check the quality of the goods.
We've just come back from Icemeler on our first time to Turkey.
We found the harassing intimidating at first, and If you got into conversation with them you've had it!!
I talked to a waiter about it one night, and he said they were offended if you didn't at least say something back to them, and acknowledge they were talking to you. (Fair point)
I explained that, from our point of view: after eating your meal, you try and have a gentle stroll to walk it off, and the last thing you need to to be hassled to look at menus with a full stomach - we just want some peace!
Since then, we found a polite 'No thankyou' spoken loudly enough (about 2-3 times) was enough.
The turks are very welcoming and always remember you and your family. Giving out extra bread, shots, tea, coffee for free etc..
They're much more talkative and friendly than say, the majority of Spanish (we found)
So if you don't fancy that restaurant or shop, a firm but polite 'no thankyou, goodbye' should do the trick and you'll have a great holiday!
Nik
We found the harassing intimidating at first, and If you got into conversation with them you've had it!!
I talked to a waiter about it one night, and he said they were offended if you didn't at least say something back to them, and acknowledge they were talking to you. (Fair point)
I explained that, from our point of view: after eating your meal, you try and have a gentle stroll to walk it off, and the last thing you need to to be hassled to look at menus with a full stomach - we just want some peace!
Since then, we found a polite 'No thankyou' spoken loudly enough (about 2-3 times) was enough.
The turks are very welcoming and always remember you and your family. Giving out extra bread, shots, tea, coffee for free etc..
They're much more talkative and friendly than say, the majority of Spanish (we found)
So if you don't fancy that restaurant or shop, a firm but polite 'no thankyou, goodbye' should do the trick and you'll have a great holiday!
Nik
We had a much better experience of Turkey when we were in Olu Deniz last week than we had on our first visit to the country about 8 years ago. On our first evening in Olu we decided to go for a walk to get a feel for the place and had braced ourselves for the full onslaught of the hassle we'd experienced in Gumbet. In Gumbet on our first night we found ourselves almost running up the street in the middle of the road to get away from the bar/restaurant and shop owners, not so this year in Olu.
It was such a relief to be able to amble down the street, taking in the sights without being accosted every few steps. I don't say, we weren't approached at all - we had the usual men out front trying to entice you in but a simple no thanks was all it needed. The more often they saw you, the less they asked lol. As for the shops they didn't start opening things up and trying things on you but I was followed around inside the shops a couple of times. Mostly though I was given peace to look. In one shop I bought a t-shirt each for my sons and was asked if there was anything my hubby or I fancied, when I said a pint he just laughed and didn't keep on.
All in all it was far better than it was years ago, thankfully.
It was such a relief to be able to amble down the street, taking in the sights without being accosted every few steps. I don't say, we weren't approached at all - we had the usual men out front trying to entice you in but a simple no thanks was all it needed. The more often they saw you, the less they asked lol. As for the shops they didn't start opening things up and trying things on you but I was followed around inside the shops a couple of times. Mostly though I was given peace to look. In one shop I bought a t-shirt each for my sons and was asked if there was anything my hubby or I fancied, when I said a pint he just laughed and didn't keep on.
All in all it was far better than it was years ago, thankfully.
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