Warning to tourists over Rome 'gelato scam'
Italian holidaymakers are being warned to stay cautious amid a supposedly rife ‘gelato scam’, according to one disgruntled traveller, claiming she was charged almost £40 for two frozen treats.
Rome, home to the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, and Castel Sant'Angelo, is also famed for its legendary cuisine and iconic gelato.
While many savvy shoppers are likely to avoid tourist honeytraps, others, like Nicole Ann, a Florida-based woman, don’t mind indulging in tried-and-tested favourites such as Don Nino gelateria, a franchise operating multiple sites across the city.
According to a post shared on a ‘Rome Travel Tips’ Facebook page, she headed to a store on Via di Tor Millina, close to Piazza Navona, and reportedly asked for two ‘small cups’ of gelato.
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She claimed that the woman behind the counter gave her the ‘smallest size cup’ possible and filled it with three scoops of sweet stuff.
“Then she started adding toppings we didn’t ask for - like cannoli and macarons, implying it was free,” Nicole wrote.
After the server had completed the order, she informed the customer that she would have to pay €44 (£38) for the pots.
However, Nicole claimed that she didn’t hear €44, and thought that the Don Nino gelateria owner said it would be €14 for the two.
“I didn’t even realise until I looked back at the receipt. Tourist trap scam for sure,” she lamented.
“Honestly it wasn’t even good, the worst out of all the gelato I had in my 10 days, I couldn’t even finish it. There are a few locations around the city.”
The woman’s post was accompanied by what appeared to be one of the desserts that she ordered.
A receipt listing all of the items she’d been charged €44 for was also included in the post.
The gelato itself was listed alongside two ‘cono maxi’, which translates as a large cone, for €6 apiece.
€2 portions of ‘aggiunta panna’, meaning ‘added cream’; a double helping of macrons, priced at €3 each; and two pistachio-flavoured cannoli, which cost €5 each, were also listed.
Facebook users have been debating Nicole’s post, with one suggesting she ‘dispute it’ with her credit card company.
“This makes me so upset because I live in Rome and I really hate when they take advantage of tourists. It hurts the whole industry,” they wrote.
A second reported: “Any place that is geared towards tourists only can be a scam.
“If gelato is fluffy and coming up in big mounds it is already a scam. They whip it with air. Walk away from the tourist areas and only get gelato from a place that has it in low metal containers. The prices should be visible.”
Someone else commented: “As an Italian living in Italy, I'm ashamed. It's pure theft!”
“That's a scam but in touristic areas seems to be very common,” a fourth added.
Others have had similar experiences, with one TripAdvisor user writing that they were charged £34 for two waters and an ice cream didn’t realise 'til they were back at their hotel.
“Absolute scam,” they typed.
“If I could rate 0 stars I would, absolutely disgusting and a tourist trap. Charged me 38 euros for 2 ice creams in tubs,” someone else said. “Don’t do it."
Earlier this year, TikTok creator @cable2table claimed he, his wife, and daughter spent $9 on two cones from the same business.
However, when they returned for another helping, they were allegedly charged $20 at the same gelateria.
When asked why the sudden price jump, the staff allegedly told him that they ‘change the prices every day’.
After doing some research, the tourist discovered other people had also claimed to have been swindled by the frozen treat store.
“This is exactly what happened to me, and it’s happening to everybody else, and it should be totally made aware,” he added, encouraging viewers to share the video so that ‘nobody else’ would be ‘ripped off’.
In a follow-up video, he claimed he had been blocked across social media by the shop.
FOODbible has contacted Don Nino for comment.
Topics: Social Media, News
Ella Scott