Do you remember DK Oyster in Mykonos, Greece, the restaurant that lures you in, fails to present a menu, and then hits you with a massive bill? Well, it seems like that is just business as usual.
DK Oyster Continues To Scam Guests In Mykonos
Another summer travel season, another raft of stories about Mykonos and the notorious restaurant called DK Oyster that loves to scam foreign visitors. I wrote about this restaurant last year. Nothing has changed.
Via TripAdvisor, we see several recent examples. An Italian group ordered:
- 3 orange juices
- 1 Aperol spritz
- “a medium portion of squids and shrimp”
The bill arrived for €711.41.
There was no breakdown on the menu, suggesting this place just makes up prices as it goes…
Another group ordered:
- 2 beers
- calamari
- bruschetta
The total? €357.
Or how about this review?
“At our arrival, they lured us in with the excusal of free sunbeds upon a minimum of 50€ consumption. We asked for the menu and the waiter replied “I’m the menu, what would you like to order?”. That already triggered an alarm, also because the waiter was avoiding to state clearly the price for two mojitos. I mean, how hard could it be? Of course, it was clear the owner wanted to scam us as he’s been doing with many, too many people.”
If you want some sad entertainment, you can review other horror stories here.
Do yourself a favor and avoid this restaurant. That’s all. Problem solved.
You’ve been warned!
But generally speaking, you need to examine a menu before you order food (and take a picture of it with your phone). These sorts of scams occur all around the world and while there are certain signs that should send you running (like a reluctance to provide a written menu), if you do decide to brave a particular restaurant you can position yourself for (less) disappointment by taking every precaution available.
Also realize that a credit card dispute will not likely end in your favor. TripAdvisor suggests many people have tried to dispute DK Oyster charges and failed: the chargeback process is not for buyer’s remorse.
image: DK Oyster
An honest local government would get involved in putting a stop to this. I wonder how many kickbacks are being passed out to allow this to continue?
In this case, I also suspect something like this.
Transparency Int’l Corruption Perceptions Index – measures corruption. See Wiki for yearly ranking table comparison.
See where Greece sits.
actually..since inception…world getting more dishonest.
America falling down.
That’s what happens when you root for CULT-ure.
They’ve actually been fined by the government, in fact.
They’ve actually been fined by the government.
Mykonos is off the list to visit. There’s corruption here, clearly. Otherwise this business would have been closed or at least forced to clearly state prices to their “hostages” by the local authorities. That really gives the island a bad rep.
I hate them so very much. Everyone else on that beach is kind and hospitable. They give Mykonos a horrible, horrible name.
Do your fellow travelers a favor. Take two minutes out of your day and flag these five star reviews as spam. These crooks were able to get most of the negative reviews removed and now have a positive rating!
https://goo.gl/maps/js1jvQETDCDJBvS9A
I’ll be there in a few days, I hope to make it nearby to warn any guests of entering. I KNOW they hate you do this so I’ll try to be inconspicuous, LOL
Please take video! I’ll feature it here.
These reviews are all from “influencers” who are trying to slander DK Oyster after we decline to provide them with free meals and drinks in exchange for exposure on their social media pages. They are behaving like cry babies and trying to destroy our business.
Why are there repeated stories about a failure to furnish menus upon request?
I can understand 80EUR cocktails or 400EUR crab legs if you are 100% transparent about it, but the whole idea of failing to be clear about prices in advance and then intimidating and threatening guests who are understandably surprised is not something I support.
Am I missing something?
How would you like to wear you ass as a hat? Stop stealing from and cheating tourists!
Respond to Matthew, Dimitrios. He asked you a reasonable question.
You are a lying piece of human garbage and I’m glad you were fined by the government last year. I’ve noticed that you work very hard to get the negative reviews removed from Google Maps and I’ll do my best to remedy that.
How does that relate to not publishing prices or creating bills that are clearly off the charts as to reality anywhere in the world? If you are doing this to exact revenge on “influencers” who try to get things “for free” it seems a better approach is to just say no to them and provide them with a proper bill. Personally I think you’re gaslighting to draw attention away from the fact that you are the worst kind of scum bag. The entire influencer thing is pretty much your imagined universe where you become the victim.
Yep, all 1800 one star reviews are from “influencers” who want free food. None of them could possibly be legitimate. Nailed it, Dimitrios. Why can’t you make an honest living? Why do you have to steal from people? Are you just not good enough? One day your luck will run out.
Mafioso, that’s what you are. A scumbag, nothing else.
If you ever get scammed like this, the correct thing to do is to make a big scene in the restaurant. Yell out to all of the other patrons that they are being scammed. Name a reasonable price that you will pay and insist on paying. Nothing more than that, and tell the restaurant to go get the police.
The restaurant will settle with you in a heartbeat, just to get you out of there.
I don’t think this restaurant will…but that is *generally* a good strategy.
Always start recording immediately and call the police. If any of the staff show threatening behavior on camera you can use them against them. Make a scene. Be loud.
Although in this case I suspect the police and local government gets a share of the money. Mafia, completely.
There are so many islands to choose from in Greece. Why bother with Mykonos? Nobody goes there anymore… It’s too crowded.
the only good reason to go to Mykonos is to catch a ferry to the other nearby islands
This is 100% on the tourist. Who would order anything anywhere without seeing the prices on the menu? Restaurant is a total scam but the only reason scammers exist is because there is a load of stupid people out there. No stupid people, end of scammers. I have been all over Greece and Italy where you pay for the “beach club” and get access to lounge chairs and umbrella. There are the ones that charge €20 and other charge €500. Their menus are always there for you to check. No menu, go next door. It is not the case this is the only restaurant in town.
It’s really not though. These guys even bring you things that you didn’t order, act like it’s complimentary, and then demand that you pay them. In addition, if you DO insist on seeing a menu they’ll bring you one with one set of prices but when you go to pay the bill the prices will be different. They know every trick in the book.
If they do bring a menu photo it.
Then add the prices and offer to pay that.
Better still, don’t go there.
The practice of taking a picture of the menu is a good one. We had one instance while traveling where we were presented with a bill that was much higher than I expected it to be. When I questioned it, they brought me a menu with prices displayed, but I am 100% certain those prices were much higher than the menu I had ordered from. Very clever of them. Not that I actually follow my own advice, and take those pictures. The scam never feels like a scam until it’s too late. (Except this place, apparently, where they won’t give you a menu or tell you the prices!!).
I love the ‘tip’ part, they don’t even call it a service charge!
So what is a tourist actually to do in a situation like this? What if you out refuse to pay?
You can win a credit card dispute. I disputed a charge against a major corporation with American Express, who denied it. I refused to pay the disputed amount and canceled the card. American Express then agreed with me. No further problems.
Mykonos horror stories are everywhere. Beer costs 25 Euros, 60E for a cocktail. Our cruise ship stopped there last year and we walked around the quay to a ferry that charged 25E for a day trip to Delos. It’s an abandoned, fascinating island with great historical significance. I think we paid a few Euros to enter the site and spent the day, with a printed guide, directing us around the tiny island. A great way to spend a day. Then back to the dock and a quick walk back to the ship, looking at the overpriced island of Mykonos, where the rich party and say screw the cost. The place is a ripoff. Delos was our escape.
Ordering from a menu with no prices? At a place like Mykonos? You’ve got to be kidding.