I don't know that this story will translate or be of any interest to anyone else, but I was pretty proud that my bargaining skills that I was worried might be a bit rusty held up during this trip. In the Peace Corps I went from fearing and avoiding bargaining with all of my being to really enjoying it. I learned that it should be an enjoyable experience for both parties and that if someone walks away unhappy, they have only themselves to blame. One American guy we met while traveling summed up exactly the wrong way to look at bargaining very well: "Well, by definition someone is the loser, right?" Wrong, my friend! Very rarely, however, bargaining can turn nasty and does become a bit of a face off. It's usually because you're bargaining for something you can't really walk away from; in this case, a bus ride.
We were in Jodhpur and wanted to go to Jaisalmer, so we went to the private bus stand to try and catch a bus. We were treating ourselves to a private bus because we were told it would take about half the time of a government run bus, and the government run buses are really cold at night (as you may remember from previous posts they have no heat and usually have panes of glass missing, and the temperature outside hovers around freezing at night), which we figured would not help my cold at all.
We showed up to the bus stand and were the only two white people. Fine. I'm used to that. Our hotel told us that the bus should cost 170 rupees, so we were a bit surprised when the gaggle of young men "working" at the bus station told us it would be 200 rupees. We said that we thought it was 170 rupees and they said nope, 200. We were brought to the ticket counter by these young men, who spoke in Hindi to the guy working the counter, and were then told by the ticket guy that the tickets were 200 rupees. Often the prices are printed somewhere, so I asked to see a list of the prices and all of a sudden no one spoke English well enough to understand me. E and I stepped aside to decide what to do next. We decided to ask an Indian guy who was sitting on the bus we wanted to go on how much he had paid for his ticket. When the gaggle of young men saw us doing this, they quickly shouted to him in Hindi and the guy on the bus slowly and unconvincingly replied to us, "200 rupees....?" I believe E actually threw her hands up in the air at the guy on the bus and said in frustration, "Come on, man!"
Well, it was quite clear at this point that we were being lied to about the price. And while this wouldn't bother some foreigners and they would say that it's silly to argue over a dollar, we are not those types of foreigners. The Peace Corps Volunteer in me will never die, I think, and E's budget made me look like a highfalutin millionaire who spent my money on silly things like food and accommodation. My blood was starting to boil, as I do not appreciate being blatantly ripped off. As we were standing there trying to figure out what to do, the guy on the bus quietly called us back over because he clearly felt bad. He told us the price was 140 rupees. 140?!?! Those bastards! If they had just accepted our 170 they still would have made money off of us and we would have been none the wiser! But instead they were so greedy that they wanted a full 60 extra rupees (about $1.50) from each of us rather than 30. Now I was really pissed, but also feeling really good about our new bargaining position. An informed one, that is.
So we went back up to the ticket guy and I gave him my meanest look and told him we would pay 140 each. He waggled his head no, but wouldn't look me in the eye as he said, "170." Oh, now you want my 170 rupees??? Well it's too late! I refused and said meanly while giving him my death look (E said it even scared her), "No, 140." He continued to waggle his head no and went on to ignore us. I was at a loss and realized I had no experience in a situation like this. I'm plenty used to people trying to rip me off, but once they realize that I know the real price they usually drop the act in order to make the sale. I had no idea what to do in a situation where someone was just refusing to sell us something at the real price. I was seeing red and could barely think straight I was so angry. I decided that we would just hand him the 140 rupees each as an ultimatum and he could take it or leave it.
Well, either he can't do math or he caved, because he took the money (after saying that one of our 100 rupee bills was unacceptable because it had a small rip in it) and wrote us up our ticket. Once we had our tickets I went off on him and the whole group of men. Not the smartest idea, and not culturally sensitive, but like I said, I couldn't think straight. I think I told them that they were all bad people and that karma is a you-know-what. Keepin' it classy in India. But boy was I fired up about our triumph over the man. Or men, in this case. Julia: 1, India: 0.
The bus ride was four or five hours long. We learned that just because we had upgraded to a private bus didn't change the fact that Indians are pukers. Within the first hour of the ride the woman in front of us was leaning out the window puking. Thank god our windows were closed. But now we also had to close the curtains. It was either that or look at the puke streaked windows for the rest of the journey. We looked across the bus in hopes of at least getting a view out of that side, only to see that a puker had already left their mark on that side, too. Gross. There wasn't a single bus I was on the whole time in India where someone didn't puke. Someone get this country some Dramamine!
Julia : 1, India : 1
Stay tuned for my next post about our adventures in Jaisalmer.
We were in Jodhpur and wanted to go to Jaisalmer, so we went to the private bus stand to try and catch a bus. We were treating ourselves to a private bus because we were told it would take about half the time of a government run bus, and the government run buses are really cold at night (as you may remember from previous posts they have no heat and usually have panes of glass missing, and the temperature outside hovers around freezing at night), which we figured would not help my cold at all.
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| Inside of a government run bus |
We showed up to the bus stand and were the only two white people. Fine. I'm used to that. Our hotel told us that the bus should cost 170 rupees, so we were a bit surprised when the gaggle of young men "working" at the bus station told us it would be 200 rupees. We said that we thought it was 170 rupees and they said nope, 200. We were brought to the ticket counter by these young men, who spoke in Hindi to the guy working the counter, and were then told by the ticket guy that the tickets were 200 rupees. Often the prices are printed somewhere, so I asked to see a list of the prices and all of a sudden no one spoke English well enough to understand me. E and I stepped aside to decide what to do next. We decided to ask an Indian guy who was sitting on the bus we wanted to go on how much he had paid for his ticket. When the gaggle of young men saw us doing this, they quickly shouted to him in Hindi and the guy on the bus slowly and unconvincingly replied to us, "200 rupees....?" I believe E actually threw her hands up in the air at the guy on the bus and said in frustration, "Come on, man!"
Well, it was quite clear at this point that we were being lied to about the price. And while this wouldn't bother some foreigners and they would say that it's silly to argue over a dollar, we are not those types of foreigners. The Peace Corps Volunteer in me will never die, I think, and E's budget made me look like a highfalutin millionaire who spent my money on silly things like food and accommodation. My blood was starting to boil, as I do not appreciate being blatantly ripped off. As we were standing there trying to figure out what to do, the guy on the bus quietly called us back over because he clearly felt bad. He told us the price was 140 rupees. 140?!?! Those bastards! If they had just accepted our 170 they still would have made money off of us and we would have been none the wiser! But instead they were so greedy that they wanted a full 60 extra rupees (about $1.50) from each of us rather than 30. Now I was really pissed, but also feeling really good about our new bargaining position. An informed one, that is.
So we went back up to the ticket guy and I gave him my meanest look and told him we would pay 140 each. He waggled his head no, but wouldn't look me in the eye as he said, "170." Oh, now you want my 170 rupees??? Well it's too late! I refused and said meanly while giving him my death look (E said it even scared her), "No, 140." He continued to waggle his head no and went on to ignore us. I was at a loss and realized I had no experience in a situation like this. I'm plenty used to people trying to rip me off, but once they realize that I know the real price they usually drop the act in order to make the sale. I had no idea what to do in a situation where someone was just refusing to sell us something at the real price. I was seeing red and could barely think straight I was so angry. I decided that we would just hand him the 140 rupees each as an ultimatum and he could take it or leave it.
Well, either he can't do math or he caved, because he took the money (after saying that one of our 100 rupee bills was unacceptable because it had a small rip in it) and wrote us up our ticket. Once we had our tickets I went off on him and the whole group of men. Not the smartest idea, and not culturally sensitive, but like I said, I couldn't think straight. I think I told them that they were all bad people and that karma is a you-know-what. Keepin' it classy in India. But boy was I fired up about our triumph over the man. Or men, in this case. Julia: 1, India: 0.
The bus ride was four or five hours long. We learned that just because we had upgraded to a private bus didn't change the fact that Indians are pukers. Within the first hour of the ride the woman in front of us was leaning out the window puking. Thank god our windows were closed. But now we also had to close the curtains. It was either that or look at the puke streaked windows for the rest of the journey. We looked across the bus in hopes of at least getting a view out of that side, only to see that a puker had already left their mark on that side, too. Gross. There wasn't a single bus I was on the whole time in India where someone didn't puke. Someone get this country some Dramamine!
Julia : 1, India : 1
Stay tuned for my next post about our adventures in Jaisalmer.
I'm still a stickler for Peace Corps Principle too. Way to fight the good fight!
ReplyDeleteI probably would have just let winning speak for itself... but then again maybe I would have done this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdnCwym0uPs
That was a well done story!. I will never get some images out of my mind, but still, well done....
ReplyDeleteYes JF, but we know I have very little self-control in those situations....lucky for Haiti they never had to see that side of me. :-)
ReplyDeleteJo - I know, I feel like I should post a disclaimer at the beginning or something. Thanks for the comments, though. :-)