Two American tourists are suing a Greek beach bar after it charged them more than £500 for two drinks and a plate of crab legs.
Brenda Moulton and her 19-year-old daughter Kaylie were at Platys Gialos Beach in Mykonos when they claimed that DK oyster bar lured them in and, in their opinion, grossly overcharged.
“An employee of one of the restaurants in Platis Yialos jumped out in front of us and began to insistently say: “Sit down here! Sit here!” Ms. Moulton told a Greek newspaper θEMA.
The couple say they enjoyed a mojito each and one plate of crab legs for two before they were presented with a €520.80 bill – with a “compulsory” €80 added tip, bringing the total price to €600 (£511). ).
Ms Moulton said she refused to pay the bill, telling staff “two mojitos and two crab legs can’t cost €600”. She claims that after that, the restaurant employee began to threaten her, saying that she would not be able to fly back to the United States if she refused to pay.
“Then he told me verbatim: “I will call the police. They will keep you here and you will not return to your homeland. We can easily find where you live,” she said.
Under pressure, vacationers paid the bill and left the restaurant, but are said to have lingered outside for a while, warning other beachgoers of the “scam” they encountered.
In the end, Ms. Moulton says that “the store manager came out in a rage and approached us in a threatening mood.”
The couple are now suing DK Oyster Bar. Brenda Moulton’s lawyer, Marisanne Kikiri, says her customers have been threatened and treated unfairly by the restaurant.
Platis Gialos is famous for its expensive luxury hotels and restaurants – Chef Nusret “Salt Bae” Gokce has a restaurant there – and consumer reports of scams in the area are widespread.
One recent review of DK Oyster Bar states that “a pushy waiter will trick you into charging you a higher bill…and scare you into paying,” while another states, “The bill was over €400 for a couple of badly prepared drinks.”
In 2019, another American tourist was shocked after being charged €836 (£738) for squid and beer at the same restaurant.
In May, American tourist Cheryl Lampfer told daily mail she and her friends were charged $1,640 (£1,300) for two main courses, a salad and some bread, with restaurant staff tripling the portion sizes and claiming advertised prices for “meals” were per kilo.
She claims the group was taken away from other customers and intimidated into paying the bill with a card.
“All the men in the restaurant stood up and surrounded us, there were at least five of them, almost blocking us. It was a very, very scary situation, because we were six women surrounded by five men … I must add that they were all dressed in black, it was somehow like a bandit, ”she said.
There was even a website dedicated to warning tourists about the bar – at DKOysterScam.com, previously…
