Have you ever been ripped off while traveling?

Editor's note: Whether you travel at home or around the world, the last thing you want is to be ripped off. The recent scandal that several tourists were charged 38 yuan ($6) a shrimp at a seafood stall in Qingdao during the National Day holiday has stirred up heated online discussion. Have you ever encountered similar experiences? Readers share their stories to help you avoid falling victim to such scams.

Everynowhere （Swiss）

As a foreigner, you gotta be prepared to be asked extra high prices by the shop keeper - everyone knows that a foreigner who is new to China doesn't know the real prices, so it's easy to make some extra profits.

I learned this lesson myself. However, that's not so bad as those people who are asking for inflated prices are usually earning very little anyway and probably have a family to feed. So I don't really understand foreigners who complain about being ripped off (due to their own lack of knowledge about local prices), despite still paying less than half of what they'd pay at home.

Anyway, after a few weeks I knew most prices and could bargain enough to get a fair price.

A foreign tourist takes a picture of the West Lake in Hangzhou city, east Chinas Zhejiang province on May 14, 2013. [IC/Photo]