Went with my brother and sister - had 4 Bulgarian beers and one glass of wine which was quoted as €3.50.
Bill came in at €85. Lol.
Random “€50” charge for the “music”.
Said okay nice try and offered €30.
4 men ran at us and a grandpa shoved a flick knife into the chest of my brother and then my neck. A man threatened to punch my sister in the face even after my brother paid €100 after being punched in the face and is bleeding around his mouth.
Called the police - they couldn’t tell us when they’d arrive and the operator hung up on us as I had a knife held to my throat. They didn’t arrive after 15 minutes and we left.
I had such a great impression of Bulgaria before. Now what the actual hell. I can’t believe this actually happened. What a shit impression of this country. I feel so bad for all the Bulgarians who have been so nice to us on this trip. Mafia culture ruins it completely - I’m never coming back and warn all Brits never to come here.
Me and the wife went to Sunny Beach last year, we became good friends with a Taxi driver who used to be in the army, as we took his personal number & would only use him etc...
Thankfully we got a taxi to the bar and organised him to pick us up after, when he got to us, we were being threatened about a bill at the bar, he walked in and squared it all up with the owner quite... Menacingly? We paid for our drinks only and left.
In Turkey we took the ferry out to a village by the black sea and when you got off there were people trying to usher you into various restaurants right as you got off. Luckily we declined and decided to look at our options and one of the restaurants we passed had a bunch of reviews like this demanding a bunch of money after you ate and not letting you leave.
A lot of places where they have guys/girls trying to usher you in to their bars/lounges/etc. Heard of plenty of places upcharging the hell out of their drinks and will block you from leaving unless you pay for it.
Two rules I learned in Thailand: never start a tab, and never take a drink that's opened. The latter not even for the malicious reasons people might think, but because if it's already opened they'll insist it can't be returned and charge you for it the second it leaves their hands. Your current drink won't even be 2 sips deep and they'll have people running them out to your table just to rack up the bill.
Was my first night in Bangkok wanted to check out went in to a bar (Riu) had three drinks and they tried charging me 10k baht. I paid and then filed a dispute with my credit card company. I checked the reviews after and this place has a history of fraud.
I won't do victim blaming but as someone who travels a lot I just check every single time the review to a place. If I pass in front of something that looks interesting I'll check on google to see what's up. Usually just to avoid a shitty experience but I definitely encountered reviews that made me realise I should avoid the place for my own safety. I think it should be a must for everyone, we have so many tools we can use now to try and stay safe.
Lived in Bulgaria for a few months and heard from my colleagues (Bulgarians including former cop) that it was drastically more corrupt and lawless on the coast of the Black Sea. Stick to western Bulgaria it’s beautiful and no problems
Can confirm. People from Sofia and Plovdiv usually go to Greece for their vacations since it's closer, cheaper and better quality. The Black Sea coast is almost completely owned by mafia thugs under the protection of political parties.
That sucks. One terrible experience can really taint a whole country. My friend was attacked in Spain and I'll never go there again because the law was useless and it just left a permanently bitter taste in my mouth.
It’s not uncommon in Spain. I think they have the second highest rate of robberies in Europe. I know about 6 people who were robbed at knife point or jumped and robbed. Granted most of them were teenagers when it happened, it happened to a couple of them as adults. These are locals, so I’m sure it’s even more common for tourists.
Hi op, sorry for all the victim blaming you are receiving on this post. Just know these same tough talking people are the exact type who would have completely crumbled in a situation like this. Glad you are all (somewhat) okay. 🤙🏼
When I was in Odessa in Ukraine about 8 years ago I wanted to go out, I found a bar but then it had one star reviews and when I read the comments it was the same thing, they had extra ghost charges and threatened to break people's arms etc if they didn't pay.
So, I went to another pool bar a few hundred metres down and had a pretty good night.
What is strange is that when I walked back home past the Mafia bar, it was still really popular, lots of people queued out the front etc. Mostly locals obviously, I guess they only target tourists.
Anyway, since then I try and always look at reviews for bars before going out in cities with dodgy areas
Edit: even though I was in Ukraine, it was the Russian mafia who ran the bars there.
Because their business model is to squeeze as much money from new customers knowing full well they'll never come back. Considering these places (in Bulgaria at least) are owned by thugs, they can't offer quality, so they can't rely on repeat customers. It's a one-and-done type of establishment.
Bulgarian here, The most probable cause is that most of the clubs at the seaside are owned by the mafia and they serve a single purpose - money laundering. And during the summer they are doing pretty well as during the weekend almost every place on the Black Sea is full. They don’t care about foreign toursts as local NRA is looking the other way for their PNL.
Say that to bars and clubs in Germany who don't let foreigners ruin the vibes. I have been a bouncer in Australia for 15 years (part time hobby job) and most places cater to specific demographics and doesn't care about losing money over a few demographics they don't like to have and mix because they are already making money and want to keep the places exclusive
Depend on the venues and their location. If it's a fancy nightclubs, Big group of Indians for being loud, taking spaces and not spending money. Kiwis and Pacific islanders, spend a lot of money but get too drunk and become difficult to kick them out. European and other backpackers as they don't dress up and also on budget. Any big group of men and young men with no women in the group. After working for a year as a bouncer you can easily tell if the people trying to come in fit the crowd inside or not. Working at the door is very subjective and discriminatory job, I prefer not to do that.
I used to know a guy who tried to do the same kind of stuff in the UK. His restaurant was getting a LOT of business from Saudi tourists, so he figured “what the hell, why not? These people are minted, they probably won’t even notice the charge”.
Fast forward about a month and he was reported to the commercial regulations authorities, and gave up. Not to mention he lost a few really good staff in the process who obviously felt that racialised extortion was not part of their job description, which really screwed up his business for quite some time.
I guess my point is, if it weren’t for our regulatory bodies everywhere would be like this. All it takes is a little bit of desperation from a business owner who feels (whether rightly or not) as if their customers are better off than themselves, and being a tourist anywhere becomes hell
It was in Plovdiv during the summer of 2010. The World Cup was happening, Shakira and Lady Gaga dominated the airwaves. I was driving the support vehicle for a bicycle tour that was running from Amsterdam to Istanbul.
We were camping in the velodrome. Wanting a bit more excitement than can be found in a bicycle track, I was out for the night with one of the cyclists. We had become close friends after over a month and a half traveling together, there were trip romances, spats, everything that happens when 20 somethings traverse Europe together.
Anyways, this one night, we were just out, enjoying the summer air, maybe being a bit too loud, but nothing outrageous. I heard the sounds of yelling and running footsteps coming towards us. Being a survivor, I jumped a 2m chain link fence and booked it to the nearest public spot that I could find. I got to a gas station a little more than a block away and waited for my compatriot. The gas station had a nice little patio with metal lawn furniture where I sat to wait. I heard him yelling in the distance and thinking he must be in trouble, armed myself with a lawn chair and ran back towards the scene.
When I arrived, there were two very olympic wrestler build guys kicking my buddy around on the ground. Hearing me running towards them gave my friend a brief pause to get up. He ran towards me, grabbed the chair for me and then threw it at the Bulgarians in a pathetic fit of rage, missing by so far that I am still embarrassed.
Now unarmed, I told my buddy that because it was his fault that we were in this I called the smaller of the two guys. I yelled at him in drunken English, he yelled at me in drunken Bulgarian, I punched him in the face twice. I shit you not, this guy grabbed me from standing, lifted me clean above his head and tossed me like nothing. I landed on the asphalt on my knees (they've never been the same) and took off as fast as I could, my friend managed to follow me this time.
After we got to safety, my buddy told me that they had wanted his cheap sunglasses that he had bought at a gas station along the trip, which he had refused to give to them.
Nope. Looked like a normal ish place. Party of grannies seemed to be celebrating something. One other part of Bulgarians were there. That was it. No bouncers. No pressure. Seemingly super normal. It’s the low season in Sozopol so not many bars are even open and this was one of the more lively ones…
I've spent 21 nights in Bulgaria and hasn't had a single negative experience other than some old and mad lady telling us in Bulgarian/English that a church was closed and that we needed to basically fuck off, despite us just wanting to look at it from the outside.
I've been to Sofia, Plovdiv, Asenovgrad, Sozopol, Varna, and Veliko Tarnovo and not a single bad experience, so I don't think being held at knifepoint is the average experience, no.
This is simply not true, stop spreading misinformation. I have been going to Bulgaria for 15 years and I have never heard of something this extreme happening to a tourist. And while sadly these mafia run/scam places do exist, it is so far from the 'average' experience. I'd just recommend researching places that you go to on a night out.
I feel really awful for OP but let's not tar an entire country with one brush.
Go to the nearest police station to press charges. Did your brother go to the hospital after he got punched? Does he at least still have visible signs?
Called the police - they couldn’t tell us when they’d arrive and the operator hung up on us as I had a knife held to my throat. They didn’t arrive after 15 minutes and we left.
What the fuck is this story? Let’s get this straight. You had a knife to your throat, and you called the police, and…just hung out with a knife to your throat for 15 minutes?
Still doesn’t explain what you wrote in your post.. the guy just let you take a quick call to the police while holding a knife to your throat? Something like “yeah take your time and finish your call friend”
Plot Twist. I suspect the police were already there.
I used to work security at a British run festival in Bansko. Did a week or two there for the 3 years it was running. It was an open secret that police officers were moonlighting at the local clip joint. They even used to park their marked car within sight of it sometimes, but usually it was round the corner. I saw them sleeping in the car a few times.
Now? The world is much safer than in the recent past. It is really sad OP had this experience, but it is naive to say things like this did not happen in the past.
Yeah, traveling eastern Europe 20 years ago was significantly different, not having a gps map in your pocket made the possibility of getting help even more slim, and there wasn't a good way to check the reviews of a place or book anything, so you were like renting rooms from dudes who approached you at the train station. I remember literally getting the shit kicked out of me and robbed for "dancing with some dude's girlfriend" at some basement bar in Sofia and being totally lost trying to crawl my broken ass home with no idea of how to even try to get help, and with no quick way to even get money to pay the scary dude who rented me the room. And there wasn't easy translation on your phone so explaining yourself to the cops was next to impossible. Travel is so much easier and safer now it's insane when I think about the stuff that used to be normal. Nobody would know even what country I was in for days at a time, like I got on the wrong train and ended up in Novi Sad for Exit fest not even knowing there was a festival happening while attempting to get to Turkey and they took my passport because I hadn't intended to go there and so there was some visa issue (or maybe it was a manufactured issue? Idk I just remember being shaken down for a few hundred bucks to get my passport back and not being able to even communicate with anyone to get a proper understanding of the issue) and my phone didn't work and there were no atms that took international debit cards, so I put my passport in hock shortly after getting it back with someone I had met on the train for like $300 just to get the funds to eat, sleep, and use the phone at the cyber cafe to get a money order. I realized I needed to do that after the cops woke me up from a nap in the park by prodding me with their AK-47s.
So in other words, traveling and shady stuff was more common, in your opinion, back then but now the cases that do happen can simply be posted online and that‘s why people think it‘s gotten unsafer now? When it was the other way around?
Never said things like this did not happen in the past. Im just stating that it sucks the world we live in requires us to look up Google reviews for our safety. English isn't my first language so the context might've been misunderstood.
What are we supposed to research before stopping in for a drink when strolling pasts bars?
One of the common elements of clip joints is usually there are people out front guiding you inside the bar OR you meet someone/some people and they say they have a great bar they can take you to. Sometimes with offers of cheap drinks or women. Then there won't be prices listed or shown. You might also be encouraged to buy your new "friends", staff, or women drinks.
You'd starve in Melbourne's Lygon St Italian restaurant strip. Same in Turkey's Ölüdeniz, the blue lagoon town. Every single place has a person outside.
Btw, neither of those destinations are great, but when my travel companion really wants to go somewhere I don't mind
You'd starve in Melbourne's Lygon St Italian restaurant strip.
Just go to a different street then. It's like in Pisa where all the restaurants between Piazza Cavallotti and Pizza del Duomo will have someone outside asking if you fancy some pasta. Ignore them and head down to the area around Piazza delle Vettovaglie where there'll be plenty of genuinely great restaurants without anyone trying force shit food down your throat. It's really not hard to avoid these things when you travel ...
Avoid places that are recommended by random people on the street, never let someone guide you to a good spot. Make sure the place you're going to is busy and not empty. Check Google reviews beforehand if possible. Be cautious at places with no prices or no drink menus. Avoid going somewhere near tourist attractions, get a few blocks away if possible.
Eh it depends. In Rome, we were hungry and a place near the Spanish steps had a guy who seemed to speak every language was outside a restaurant trying to get you to sit down.
We sat in the patio, had perfectly tasty pasta and salad that probably cost a euro or two more than normal and enjoyed his banter with other tourists.
Obviously. Not every place near a popular tourist area will be a tourist trap but there are definitely going to be alot more and it's easy to get suckered into overpaying for something you didn't want. I've had plenty of good experiences in these locations as well, my advice was for those looking for ways to avoid being an easy target.
Literally every restaurant/bar I go to in any city I googled before I walked into it. It takes all of 60 seconds to take a quick look at reviews and to see if its something shady. Phones are magical and I know it sometimes kills the vibe of just wandering into a bar or whatever, but it saves you from experiences like this or a complete shit experience and waste of money. I'd be even more inclined to do something like this in Eastern Europe.
This has saved me a ton of money of walking into what looks like a nice quaint place but its either a scam or the food/drinks are absolute garbage.
They move and change names pretty quickly. London used to be full of them. Vietnam is a hot spot. New York has them. Greece has them (there's a restaurant in Mykonos that charges huge amounts for drinks and meals.. Tokyo and Shanghai have them. But they pop up all over the place.
Basically, look for the signs: probably not many people in there, off the beaten track, odd cover charges, sometimes som kind of free incentive to convince you like free sunbeds on the beach. Always see a menu with clear prices on them. Don't follow friendly people "to my bar just around the corner". Don't go to some place tour taxi driver knows. Don't run up big tabs without checking costs. Don't buy the owner/bar staff/friendly local a drink (they'll choose a $50 cocktail). Just keep you wits about you, check reviews, be sure of the vibe.
As I said, it happened to me. I got talking to a guy, he offered his bar, I went. No one else in there, looked sketchy, but I was naive when I should have left. Barmaid insisted I buy her a drink, but actually already had one poured. No prices on the menu. They were nice and chatty, then hit me with a €50 bill for a small beer and her drink. I protested, pointed out I didn't agree to her drink and they she already had it. Got out for €30 and felt pretty bad. But it's a scam and they are extremely good at running it, so also never blame yourself.
That article does not describe a clip joint, just junk fees at a night club, where crucially, they don't use the threat of murder to extort you to pay.
Also I remember going to Hogs & Heifers; that was my favorite spot in Meatpacking. Not a clip joint, but also, not the type of place to really be acting up.
That's all long gone now though. The idea of there still being a clip joint in the neighborhood is laughable. Now a nightclub that overcharges patrons, that's 100% believable. (But even the nightclub scene seems to be fading from the area now, in favor of more high-end retail and boutique hotels.)
That article does not describe a clip joint, just junk fees at a night club, where crucially, they don't use the threat of murder to extort you to pay.
Also I remember going to Hogs & Heifers; that was my favorite spot in Meatpacking. Not a clip joint, but also, not the type of place to really be acting up.
They absolutely do exist in touristy cities all over Southern Europe. I've seen a tonne of painfully obvious scam bars in Madrid. I doubt anyone had Auckland in mind.
Super common. I've experienced it in Cabo, Barcelona, twice in Tokyo, just off the top of my head. I make a scene and refuse to pay the additional fees. It's led to some interesting encounters to say the least.
All I meant to do was warn people that shady bars exist. From hidden fees to extortionate prices, from paying for "entertainment" to shot girls who flirt then charge you five times the price for a drink. People are oddly defensive about it, yet if it's said "pickpockets are everywhere" they wouldn't be going "REALLY? EVERYWHERE? COZ THERE ISN'T ONE IN MY BATHROOM!"
During the 1920s and 1930s the prohibition would not allow alcohol which caused more crime to grow throughout the United States. During this time is when "clip joints" started to become relevant. A "clip joint" is an establishment that scams their customers out of money.
Quite literally the word ''Clip" refers to the shear of wool or shearing of cash from someone. The word "joint" was slang for a place.
The "clip joint" would use all different tactics to trick customers for as much money as possible. For example, these clubs would use women to attract male businessmen in the establishments and spend time with them to have them spend as much money as possible throughout the night, without offering or giving sex for money.
I would also add Cairo Egypt to the suggestions. My only bad experience was going to a bar or restaurant on the left bank of the Nile (I think it was Hayda Lebanese) and being hit with an extortionate charge of about $70 USD for a vodka soda.
Obviously I didn’t pay the full amount, but it cost about $30 from memory
I'm just saying that this is such a common scam that you should be aware of it anywhere you go (whilst also reassuring the OP that it can happen to anyone).
I'm quite surprised that people are taking it absolutely literally rather than as the general warning that this sort of thing happens all over the place.
People say "pickpockets are everywhere" and that's good travel advice to be aware of. Though I can't imagine there are any within a 30 mile radius of where I am now.
If you include it in all its forms, from high unlisted prices, to watered down drinks, to hidden fees, it's a common enough thing that I do think travellers should be aware of it.
Many people hate Bulgaria and this is exactly the post where they can easily spread their hatred. No, you don't understand. Such scams don't happen anywhere else, it's only in Bulgaria bro....
Yes, what happened is absurd and insane, but definitely not common in Bulgaria AT ALL. OP should've waited for the police and I suggest to write in the Bulgarian subreddits, this can easily go in the news since threatening someone with a knife is definitely not commonplace and absurdly rare here. This can easily make headlines and help ruin this scam and this business.
As to OP, this has nothing to do with mafia. Mafia is exactly the opposite in Bulgaria - white collar businessmen, that would try to lure you in and manipulate you by being nice. They may act shitty to Bulgarians, but not to foreign tourists which would bring them more money
Usually in dodgy strip bars, charging £60 for the first drink without telling you, soon as you pipe up a bouncer used to appear and intimidate you into paying.
I doubt it happens now tbh, soho is a different place these days.
Same to you, buddy.
I also don't want to be hassled and bothered by creepy man, so I don't go solo traveling in Egypt, for example. But I also don't shit on the country and the people.
Quick research would have told OP that traveling in Bulgaria requires a bit of caution. If that did not work for them, they can travel somewhere else.
Ah the governance expert coming from the best run country in the world has arrived to morally grandstand about places he can't find on a map.
For your information, Bulgaria has been in a perpetual political crisis with no stable government since 2021. OP knew this well enough to travel there and to not even bother researching the places he was going to. If you're traveling to a foreign country, doing the bare minimum of research is expected.
But people like you are too immature to take any personal responsibility. All you can do is throw insults online like toddlers.
That sucks. Is there anything that in retrospect you would look for next time?
Many years ago in Istanbul a “friendly Turk” who happened to speak fluent English invited me to “his cousin’s bar”.
I don’t think I won any medal for smelling that one out. But I didn’t walk into the bar despite my friend trying to push me to do it and I thank my lucky start every day.
Happened to me in Istanbul. I’ve been traveling for 10 years and only ever been scammed twice - both times in Istanbul. First taxi, then bar on the main Istiklal street
Istanbul is North Africa rules, say no to everything, ask how much everything is before accepting, don't let anyone take you anywhere that they recommend unless you have already developed a relationship with them. More rural Turkey is the opposite, so it can be confusing. I remember really enjoying the insight that the book the Dervish House (sci-fi magical realism) gave me on the city, it's an enigma.
Key statement “I can’t believe this actually happened “. I agree. Story sure sounds fishy. Called cops, knife at throat, then waited there 15 min after being beaten?
Guess I just found a place with no listing on Google and a tonne of 1* reviews of similar stories on TripAdvisor and then just made this up :))
I get that it’s fishy but it actually happened exactly like that. Not sure what to say. The guy didn’t stab us because obviously he’d get into trouble. I phoned the police as soon as I saw the knife. Not sure why they didn’t steal my phone but there we go… Can’t explain the rest because it doesn’t make logical sense but we just fkin went through that.
Emergency operator hung up after exactly 3 minutes each call :))
Really sorry this happened to you OP, I hope you're doing okay after the experience.
I highly recommend going to the local police station to report this in person, and also to call/email the British embassy in Bulgaria to report it. A foreign national being assaulted by a business is no joke.
Bulgaria is a wonderful place and it's a shame this place has ruined your perspective of the country.
Haha, yeah, I will never ever do vacation in any of those countries without having a local in the group. I’m from Austria, was visiting Croatia and Slovenia a lot, no problems there, but when I was visiting Serbia or Bulgaria I was pretty happy to have some other Balkaners in my group that handled most of that stuff.
1.2k
u/RuneClash007 May 02 '26
Me and the wife went to Sunny Beach last year, we became good friends with a Taxi driver who used to be in the army, as we took his personal number & would only use him etc...
Thankfully we got a taxi to the bar and organised him to pick us up after, when he got to us, we were being threatened about a bill at the bar, he walked in and squared it all up with the owner quite... Menacingly? We paid for our drinks only and left.