Marrakech Tourist Scams

I recently had the opportunity to spend some time in the city of Marrakech, Morocco.  While the overall trip was simply amazing, I experienced a few scams that travellers should be aware of.

Tannery Scam

This is a popular Marrakech tourist scam.  In Marrakech, there are a few tanneries on the outskirts of the Modena that apparently make money by tannery tours, and the touts make money by recruiting, sneakily, tourists to visit the tanneries.  This is a well known scam which happened to me, and to which I played along.

I was walking around the Modena with my daughter when we were approached by a kid, probably 13 or 14 years old. He told us that a group of Berbers were in town and that they were doing a performance of traditional song and dance.  Instantly I knew this was the old tannery scam, but with time on my hands, I decided to play along.  The kid let me through the streets to — what else — a tannery.  When we arrived at the tannery, this is where I decided to pull out.  I had read a lot about tanneries and had no interest in paying to visit one, so we left.  The tout begged and pleaded for us to visit the tannery but we declined and started to make our way back to Jemaa el Fna.  Eventually he left us alone.

Retailers Charging Wrong Prices and Giving Wrong Change

The Medina in Marrakech is filled with many retail shops, including small storefronts that sell snack items like potato chips, soda and candy.  Being a family of 5, we frequented these shops often and bought several piece of candy for the kids.  Each time without exception, we were over charged.  The store merchant would add everything up in his head and give me a total price.  However, unbeknownst to him, I was also adding up the total. Typically, they would add an extra 5 to 15 dirhams (MAD) to a 100 dirham purchase.  Furthermore, they would try to shortchange me by giving me less then the proper amount of change when I paid for the items.  Luckily I was vigilant and able to help to point out their errors.

Marrakech Hotel Scams

The hotel I stayed at, Riad Puchka, tried to scam me on two occasions.  Although I loved the hotel, this aspect of it was a major disappointment.  In the hotels defence, both scams were with a “new employee” and may not have been deliberate.  Both issues were promptly resolved when the owner got involved.

The first scam involved the hotel asking me to pay for my stay.  I was not sure if I already pre-paid for my stay, so I asked the hotel clerk.  They told me I had not pre-paid.  Since I couldn’t remember, I took the hotel clerk’s word and paid the total for my stay.  Later, I decided to check my own records on my computer (my Expedia confirmation) and this is when I discovered that I had in fact pre-paid for my stay.  Now I paid double!

I brought this to the attention of the hotel clerk who claimed he was new and did not know I had paid.  If this is true, I can understand the confusion.  However, while the clerk was explaining this to me, I asked to see his computer screen.  When viewing the screen, it clearly showed that I had paid.   While I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, when I questioned whether or not I had paid, he should have double checked and if not certain he should have conferred with a colleague. As a result, I am fairly confident this was a deliberate attempt to scam me.

The second scam was related to the Marrakech hotel tax. In case you are not aware, there is a hotel tax charged to visitors on a per person, per night basis.  The amount of tax is based on the class of hotel, so it is very difficult to know exactly how much tax you have to pay.  We were travelling as a party of 5, including 2 adults and 3 children.  The hotel tried to charge me tax for all 5 of us, even though I had read online that children were exempt from the tax.  The hotel employee (the same one who double charged me for my room) insisted the tax was applicable to all guests, including kids.  I turned to the internet to confirm that in fact children are exempt from the tax.  Once again, this new employee got it wrong and did not confirm with a co-worker or the owner.  I insisted on clearing this up with the owner, and he did give me a refund for the 3 children who should not have paid the tax.

Overall, I believe these were deliberate scams at worst, and careless employees and training at best.  I can understand hotel staff making mistakes and I accept that this will happen from time to time.  However, what bothers me about the employee was that he insisted he was right, when in fact he was wrong on both accounts.  Yes, the owner cleared things up, but these mistakes should have been prevented through better training or confirmation with co-workers.  Had I not been more diligent, I would have been out several hundreds of dollars.  To Riad Puchka, if your employee is not fully trained up, it would be wise to not leave him in charge of the hotel when all other staff have gone home for the evening.

Summary:  Avoiding Marrakech Tourist Scams

While Marrakech is an amazing city that I would visit again in a hear beat, tourists need to be vigilant when in Marrakech.  There are many scams, including ones that I did not encounter.  Being aware of these scams, knowing how much to pay, and counting your change could save you hundreds of dollars.