Juta Tour Drivers Scam

[MissBlue]

Not a scam, just standard business dealings the world over - 'you bring me business, you get a percentage'. This is SOP especially in the tourism business, where business is still done on a handshake and deals can always be made. When i worked as a tour guide, if i brought X number of customers to a certain restaurant for dinner, my meal was comped. When my agency booked above a certain number of rooms at a hotel, my stay was comped. If I brought a group of X number of people to a certain club, I'd get a commission on those sales I brought in. An agent who books X number of trip packages, receives their own plane ticket free. A commission or 'finder's fee' is SOP; it's how business is done everywhere.

that being said, yes, this does sometimes result in ridiculous prices at some establishments who still think in a "penny wise, pound foolish" manner. And even if not 'completely outrageous' markups, these kinds of places will still typically charge higher prices than normal, no matter what.

but in any case, this is just the nature of the beast in tourism. Anytime you're taken to a 'convenience' shopping spot on the bus route, it's gonna be high prices - of COURSE shop owners know that nuff ppl fresh off the plane will pay that convenience price to have that Red Stripe right now! Those not willing to pay the prices they charge - well... then don't buy anything. It's not like that's the ONLY choice; a few more minutes and you have your choice of regular roadside shops in Negril to choose from. So i dunno, it's just not that big of a deal imho. When we make our pitstop, i just don't buy at the bus-route shops.

and yes, this is standard for Juta; this is not "one driver" who is perpetrating some kind of "illegal" or scammish operation, all the drivers do it, and no doubt they each have their favorite shops with whom they make deals. Over the past 20 years, every Juta bus i have ever taken, does indeed stop along the way at a regularly designated spot. (just like in Mexico, the potty pitstops on the bus route were always at those crappy, overpriced 'souvenir' outlets ... that's how it's done everywhere.)

And yes, of course it's always high prices at those shops; the law of any kind of business deal is 'what the customer will bear', and they know there will always be customers who will bear it. :shrug: this is just SOP.