A shopkeeper in Side who we met 14 years ago whilst he was working in a shop selling trips told us they only seem to hassle the British because we are so friendly and usually stop for a chat.As Side is more popular with Belgiums,Dutch and Germans if we dont want to be hassled we say,nine danke when approached!.

For Sale! fake all inclusive armbands guaranteed to stop hassle outside restaurants .

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Bluepeterno1

Bluepeter can i place an order. Sure i'll sell loads if i take them with me to Turkey.

bluepeterno1

AI armbands DO NOT work, they look at you & tell you, you still need to eat in their restaurant & drink in their bar as you shouldn't spend all your holiday in your AI hotel, some might say you are well entitled to do this as you have paid in advance for it, but they still insist you MUST also spend your money in the local resort too.
My personal opinion on this is that, "YOU pay you money YOU take your choice". Hasslers seem to resent that you might have a choice in this matter.
People who choose AI in Turkey are often knocked for it & told they are not "giving" to the local economy. Well they are "giving", their custom is creating jobs.

Hi

I do agree Kimevans with what you say about people who go A/I getting knocked for doing it.

We always go A/I were ever we go if its Turkey Benidorm Majorca etc and we do always get knocked for doing it.

But we do enjoy it and hand on my heart we have only ever had one bad A/I in all the years we have done it

We are flying at 10:00 tomorrow and taking our grandaughter for her first visit and she is as high as a kite lol. We won't be "hassled into going into anywhere we don't want to go.

We are going for the 20th time and are just as excited as we were the first time. Most of the time a gentle no thanks has done the trick for us but I have had a few words with a couple of the lads and find for some reason they never speak to us again lol.

The all inclusive wristbands do not work either, some of them still try to pull you in.

What ever you think, do what you believe to be best but above all, don't let it spoil your holiday.

Wherever you are going this season, have a good one.

Jim.

Have a great time Jim.
Kim

I was stating my opinion and not being rude ,and thats a fact. As i have said on here before the easiest thing in the world is to say no thank you.,in any language the turkish people you will understand you ,these people make there wages by trying to get customers into there shops /pubs /cafes whatever , i have never heard any turkish people being rude to tourists ,but i have heard plenty of tourists being rude to them mostly brits i may add ,It cannot be much fun for them to have to smile and kow tow to everybody .It has always been illegal to hassle in turkey and if it is such a problem then why is it only the same few who complain about it , the reason the turkish goverment are trying to stop it now is because of the prospect of joining europe ,as far as i am concerned it is part of going to turkey and without it ,it would be like going to blackpool.and that is my opinion Bluepeterno1

Bluepeterno1People on here are complaining about the overly agressive hassle that many sales people use in Turkey. This is not an opinion, its a fact. Even the Turkish authorities are aware of it as a problem.
People are well entitled to complain about this, please do not be so rude as to suggest we shouldn't go on holidays because we dare complain about what is a reconised problem.

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Bluepeter1 -

Whilst I usually agree with everything you say on these forums I have to disagree with you on this point:

As i have said on here before the easiest thing in the world is to say no thank you.,in any language the turkish people you will understand you ,these people make there wages by trying to get customers into there shops /pubs /cafes whatever , i have never heard any turkish people being rude to tourists ,but i have heard plenty of tourists being rude to them mostly brits i may add

Perhaps 2/10 times that we are hassled and we say "no thanks" we are insulted. Whilst im sure you are correct many brits are equally as offensive we are not the type to do that. We are always polite, we are guests in thier country, although there are some yobbish types that visit certain areas of Turkey (my mind gets cast back to October last year when a british yob started fighting outside cheers bar and insulting everyone) wasnt pleasent.

I've never heard a Brit insulting a Turkish hassle man - maybe that happens in the less salubrious resorts? Places such as Marmaris, which chavs usually find 'blinding'!

I have noticed that there is far less hassle in the more upmarket resorts. The staff seem more polite in places such as Kalkan, Gocek etc - and that's probably because restaurant owners know their market; and they know that the more discerning traveller doesn't want to be hassled.

Some people actually feel flattered by being hassled - and even consider these pests 'friends'.

I've heard that, often, many of these so-called 'friends' only behave chummy to them in order to get a big fat tip! They're fake too.

Strawberry

Here it is boro_red, you were having trouble finding it.

I found the amount of hassling in Turkey a bit difficult to cope with at first but over the years have found it bothers me less and less. What doesn't help is ignoring the hasslers as if I were deaf. They just repeat whatever it is they're offering, but louder. It stops sooner if you just tell them "No thanks, I'm not interested." If you can do that in Turkish it works even better!

I'm pleased that I'm not the one who has to do the hassling just to earn a living. If you really want to be hassled try Egypt. The Turkish sort is child's play compared to that.

Stawberry,

Ive not been to any of the other places you mentioned, but could it be that there is less hassle because there are less businesses. We are all well aware that places like Marmaris have 10000 restraunts and shops on every street, which mean when times are quiet competition is heavy for customers. Are these other resorts simply not as populated with business which negates the need for hasslers?

We were hassled constantly by a owner/waiter of a restaurant in marmaris everytime we passed his restaurant and went into the restaurant next door,to the extent that he started turning very nasty where we had to cross the road everytime we went past.Towards the end of our holiday the nasty looks started from him as we were eating nearby. We were polite all the time when he stopped us but made us feel very intimidated,Hopefully the brothers bar has moved this year

>>Here it is boro_red, you were having trouble finding it.<<

Thanks Kim...

>>We were hassled constantly by a owner/waiter of a restaurant in marmaris everytime we passed his restaurant <

That's awful cockney girl,you should be allowed to spend your money where you want with out being harassed.
It's awful to feel intimidated like that.

It just goes to show what some of us have been saying that some Turkish people can/are rude to holiday makers and its not the other way round.

I know when we have been pestered we always say "No Thank you" in a polite way and i have lost court of the number of times we have had rude replies back from some owners/waiters.

We have recentley returned from marmaris, we stayed at club excelcior
we only went in the entertainment side once, drinks 8 lyra for 2 small effs,
waiters standing around waiting for you to finish your drink, making you feel very uncomfortoble. Did not go in again. went else where got lots of hassle of waiters, people selling boat trips, exc:
We went to marmaris 4 yrs ago did not get hassled so much then, i know they have got to make a living, but i feel they go way over the top. you should be able to enjoj your holiday with out having to cross over the road to avoid people hassling you. Also noticed prices have shot up from 4yrs
ago.
Even in the resterants, bars, watching you take every mouth full of drink,
not finishing you drink, asking if you want another. I love turkey have been 5 times but i must admit it does turn you of going, may be we went in the wrong places, but either way it does make you sit down a think.

I understand your point MrP but did you realise that in most Muslim countries it's viewed as being very rude to leave an empty plate or glass infront of a someone. They would rather have you sit there with nothing infront of you than leave you with empty plates bowls and glasses. It's a custom not a ploy to make you buy more. You'll find this is done in a Turkish home too.

Laurence

I personally hate the hassle. It's one of the reasons we keep going back to Lykia World. There is absolutely NO hassle at all but we have the choice of 3 buffet restaurants, 5 a la cartes and half a dozen bars and a night club every night. There's also a couple of jewellery and gift shops, a clothes shop, a leather shop and a carpet shop where you can browse to your hearts content and nobody approaches you apart from saying hello when you walk in. OK, you dont get the same bargains but its worth it.
Whenever we go out for an evening or an afternoon at the market its such a relief to return. I know lots of people disapprove of the all inclusive concept and will say we are not experiencing the "real" Turkey but I go on holiday to relax and it's hard to do that when you are hassled at every turn.

Hi Philmarcus,

I understand what you mean about larger resorts having more competion, but they also have more visitors, and so the custom should be spread just the same.

Perhaps Marmaris/Icmeler are losing their appeal and have less visitors to go round; thus creating more forceful hassling.

I do know for a fact that the really good restaurants never have to hassle. In fact, I know of a couple of places where they have frequently had to turn people away because they were chock-a-block.

Hassling, as far as I'm concerned, is nothing short of harrassment! It is wrong, rude and disrespectful to encroach on someone's private space - in order to try bullying them into spending THEIR money!

It's intimidating, and annoying. And for timid people - it's downright threatening!

There is nothing quaint, or friendly about these people. They are just out to intimidate you into parting with your cash.

And I can well imagine them hurrying you up to order another drink. That's nothing to do with Muslim manners (I don't leave dinner guests with an empty glass in my house, either - and I'm not Muslim).

Their persistance in forcing you to drink up quick and order the next one is to make you spend money. It has nothing whatsoever to do with manners. If manners were that important to them; they would NEVER hassle a woman!! They wouldn't even catch her glance!! Let alone try and grab them and pull them in physically.

Strawberry