Kalkan Turkey Forum - EnjoyKalkan.com
Kalkan Discussion => Holiday Reports and Reviews => Topic started by: steveb on July 11, 2013, 10:34:10 PM
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Hello everyone,
I found this forum while searching material and information on Kalkan. After many recommendations from my relatives, I decided to plan this summer holiday in Kalkan, Turkey. July came rather fast and the 3 of us (myself, my brother and sister) are now still in Kalkan.
After only 5 days, this is our story:
We were pleasantly surprised with the location, the villa we rented and the city itself. The weather is just perfect, the food is more than delicious but our contact with the locals leave a bitter taste already.
On our second day we had to stock on some supplies and our choice for the "store" was rather poor. We went to a grocery shop nearby and bought only some basic stuff which totaled a whooping 340 TL. At first, it was not surprising as we had no idea about the market in the area. It also didn't help that all products did not show any prices. What made it worse is that the next day we chose to go to another store in town where we bought the same stuff for only 75 TL. We cannot help but feel that we were shamelessly ripped off by the owner.
On the same day we went to a cafe in town and wanted to have a sandwich. When we asked about the price we were told it costs 3 euros even though the big poster inside stated 2 euros. That was no biggie though, stuff like this can happen but the next day when we took a boat trip on the sea we were surprised that we were paying 8 TL for a beer while locals where paying 6.
The biggest letdown has yet to arrive until the 5th day when we had an accident on the main road from Kisla to the city of Kalkan. A Turkish fellow was going backwards at full speed when we were entering the road and he hit us rather hard with no fault of ours whatsoever. The guy admitted his fault and we tried to contact the police since his english was almost non-existing and we speak no turkish whatsoever. At the end of the line someone said: No english and they just hung up the phone. We tried again but the answer was the same.
We then had to stay hours in the sun, in the middle of the road while dozen of turks stopped and had a chit chat with the guilty party. We then tried to contact our car rental company which amazingly had not one person that spoke english even though they provide bookings in english. After some hours we went into kalkan, at the advise of the emergency services, and filled some forms for the situation and were assured by the rental company which by now asked for some english speaking person to talk to us, that we are going to receive another car within the day.
There was no charge involved since we were not at fault and we were even promised to have the car filled with the gas we already paid ourselves in the first one. That was not the case though when the contact person arrived at our villa with the new car. The turkish guy would not speak english but he was insisting that we have to pay 300euros for being guilty for the accident. We could not solve it with him so we had to contact again the company and try to get someone on the line that spoke english and explain the situation. The contract stated both in english and turkish that we would have to pay 300euros if we were guilty but the company felt entitled to ask the money from us even though the guilty person has admitted his faul in the written form they were having.
What we found very disturbing was the attitude of the person that came with the car as he was laughing at us and making fun on us even though he could read in his own language that we have to pay only if we were the guilty party but he refused to leave our property after we said we won't be paying since we were not at fault.
What followed was a nightmare... we had to call again the police which amazingly, did not answer. We were being harassed by someone in our own villa and the police would just hang up the phone. We called the emergency services and even the embassy which advised us to go to a police station. Kalkan doesn't have one so we went to a jandarmerie one instead.
Once there we were lucky to find a kind person that spoke english. He talked to the car rental representative, read the contract and both declarations and said that clearly we should not be asked to pay anything since we were not guilty. After another 3 hours, lots of phone calls to the company and arguments from the military person and the car rental guy reading every line in the contract (in order to find a backdoor) we could come to an agreement. We weren't going to pay the 300euros but the gas we paid ourselves would be lost to the car rental company. Go figure now, we were at least happy that justice has been served and we were not ripped off once again, well except for the gas we paid.
We still have a few more days to stay here but our mood drastically went down. We feel disappointed, cheated and ripped off on so many counts that we will never comeback again here, even though the place is like a paradise on Earth.
Please excuse my English as am not a native speaker but I just felt like sharing this with other people which maybe, can learn something from our experiences.
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Sorry to sound harsh .. But with all the trolls
On this site at the moment .
I can't say I believe this story . In all my
Years visiting Kalkan nothing has ever been
Quoted to me in Euros ! And when ever I have
Seen accidents the police have dealt very swiftly.
The people of Kalkan have never been anything
But welcoming to me & many others.
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Steve, if this is genuine, I feel dreadfully sorry for you. You've had some bad luck and I hope you manage to enjoy what's left of your holiday.
It does seem strange though that this is your first post. If all this had happened to me, I'm sure that reporting this ad my first post on EK would be the last thing in my mind.
Like pattaya says, with all the trolls we've had on here at the moment, it's difficult to believe what's genuine or not!!!
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Hello again, I am not a troll and every little detail i put down in words is true, unfortunately.
Of course we will try to enjoy the remaining of our days here... It was my first post here because i felt like sharing what happened to us.
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If you have to pay, do so by credit card and keep all paperwork. On your return dispute the transaction under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The credit card company is liable to you for any breach of contract using its card for transactions over £100.
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I dont buy this story for one second.All local car hire companies in Kalkan have good English speakers.I have never been quoted in Euro's,so why were you steve,eh??? Me thinks a little lack of local knowledge!!......It sounds like you have never been to kalkan......If you had,you would not be calling Kalkan a city !!! It may have grown from the small fishing village it once was into a small town,but city ?
Where ever you are,dont bother coming to Kalkan.
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If you have to pay, do so by credit card and keep all paperwork. On your return dispute the transaction under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The credit card company is liable to you for any breach of contract using its card for transactions over £100.
Thank you for your kind suggestion but we are from the Netherlands. As far as I know, there is no section 75 for us.
Anyway, we're putting these events behind us and will try to make the most of our holiday. What we do know is that we must be very careful. We learned that much.
@Mayday1 You may of course not "buy" it but what would I gain from making such a story? Yes this is our first visit in Kalkan and I expected to be treated fairly despite being here for the first time.
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So why all these different user names, and quoting yourself is just ridiculous.
You may just as well log back in as Bazza1970 or create another user, maybe Eric Pickles or something? :P
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The best way to deal with you is to ignore you and your silly story.The genuine Kalkan lovers know exactly the type of place it is and how nice the people are and that is what counts
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Ignorance is bliss, they say... Alright, am sorry for coming here to share our experiences. I will take my leave now since the majority expects only the good stories.
Thank you for reading and wish you a pleasant stay in Kalkan.
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Gosh, I read this with my mouth hanging open in shock ??? ??? I am sorry, I do not believe a word of it, in all my years of coming to Kalkan, I have yet to find any local person/business that has been nothing but helpful - and even down to the Turkish family and children I have got to know, all lovely people. My Turkish is basic, to say the least, but somehow we all seem to communicate, without me being overbearing and rude. That is why I return year after year. Apart from Meis, I have never used/or been quoted in Euros, more warning bells on this poster. As also mentioned "the city of Kalkan" - boy, I know it has grown, but not that much :o :o :o Oh well, I suppose I am being dim, and risen to the bait, which was probably the whole idea of this poster >:D >:D >:D
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Fantastic consumer advice Mrgrimsdale. You could give Kevin Cotton from Bella magazine a run for his money!
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Fantastic consumer advice Mrgrimsdale. You could give Kevin Cotton from Bella magazine a run for his money!
That's funny. Isn't Mrgrimsdale called Kev?
What a coincidence! ;D
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What I'd like to suggest is that you come out into the open, admit that you've had your bit of fun and games on the forum, create a real user and contribute as a Kalkan lover and property owner.
I'm sure you have lots of useful contributions to make to this forum, which would benefit many old and new visitors to Kalkan. :)
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I am really very sorry but although I suspect what you ard inferring, I have to tell you that you are completely mistaken. I can assure you that we are both very genuine people and you are grossly mistaken. It is far too hot today to play games, especially as this is our last day!
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Why do these trolls (or rather this troll) think they can pull the wool over our eyes?
By definition, Kalkan lovers are intelligent, discerning people.
Hello!?!? We can see through these fake stories! Whoever you are, please just go back to writing your poorly written, badly punctuated, grammatically incorrect dumb-ass magazine articles, for people who are stupid enough to buy them.
Leave us alone. You've had your infantile fun.
In short... DO ONE.
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I would not deem to offer such a post a response. Extremely inappropriate, incorrect and off message for the thread subject which was a fellow member's difficulties following an RTA.
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I shall leave it to my many friends on this forum to decide whether it is inappropriate, incorrect or off-message.
You are busted.
Now leave.
Please..
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Fantastic consumer advice Mrgrimsdale. You could give Kevin Cotton from Bella magazine a run for his money!
Lizilu this made me laugh out loud....I had to add to your thank you account. Bella magazine readers are missing you, Bazza can you jog on back there please....if they'll have you :)
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Thanks K4E, I'm just wondering who's adding to mrgrimsdales thank you count!! Maybe Bazza, Steveb and Abraham???? ??? ??? >:D
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Thanks K4E, I'm just wondering who's adding to mrgrimsdales thank you count!! Maybe Bazza, Steveb and Abraham???? ??? ??? >:D
.... and wasn't AbrahamY called Steve?
He's only got one post left now. I'm sure he had many more before? ;D
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...and jg64 ;D
mrgrimsdale had 0 thank you's up until today so perhaps you're right. I mean, really really?....could you be arsed going to all that effort ::)
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Ah ha, Kalkan4eva, a pat on the back ;D ;D ;D ;D Well said ;D ;D ;D ;D
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I feel sorry for someone who is so lonely and miserable that they have the time to spare to troll. Perhaps this person - and I think we all agree the recent posters are one and the same - has some personal issues that need some sort of therapy. Pity them and their sad life, and try not to feed their sadness. The rest of us love Kalkan and find this a hugely helpful and friendly forum. It's sad some people are so pathetic, poor souls.
For the rest of my fellow Kalkan lovers - I appreciate your posts and opinions and since joining the forum years ago have found it helpful, friendly, funny. Thanks for your posts and keep on Enjoying Kalkan :) :)
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OOOH the plot thickens. Not having been present at said accident and the aftermath, I'm not really qualified to pass judgement but as other members have said some of the content of the post seems a little unlikely. Having been to Kalkan for some years I am pleased to say that the people of Kalkan have treated us with the utmost respect and have always been helpful despite the odd language barrier. Whether this report is true or false let's get everything into perspective and just "Enjoy Kalkan" 8)
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Thanks K4E, I'm just wondering who's adding to mrgrimsdales thank you count!! Maybe Bazza, Steveb and Abraham???? ??? ??? >:D
Like I said...BUSTED!!! :)
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I'm curious to know how all of you regular posters know with such certainty that 'SteveB' is a troll with various names? Do you all know him?
As for quoting in euros, this is a mistake that I make regularly, especially when I return annually from Spain but even long after that. I often think in euros, then convert them to TL. And I've lived here for 11 years. I don't think that is a criteria sufficient to define a false message, but admittedly, there may be other things I am not aware of pertaining to this poster.
It is not so unusual in the summer for tourists to pay more than the normal price. Happened to some longtime residents and members of this forum in April in a prominent supermarket. Happened to us several times in Kartin before it closed. Yesterday I was told that the Kas Kaymakan had all sunbeds and umbrellas at Kaputas beach removed because people were being overcharged and not given receipts. True or false, I don't know, haven't been there recently. A Turkish friend told me this.
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Cosetta....Kalkan,a city?Car hire people who dont speak english?Jandarma who dont attend quickly? plus all the other inconsistencies in Bazza1970.......sorry Mr Grimsdale's....ooop's i mean StevieB's story.
We all have our opinion's about this person's posts.You may be correct,Cosetta,but most think,like me,that his story is not true
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I agree with Cosetta. A few simple questions may have found out the name of the cafe with a poster advertising prices in Euros or the car rental company. This is probably not possible now since whoever it was has been driven out of the forum after one post. No one likes a negative post on here but some people must have bad experiences. People do get ripped off and I'm sure the locals pay less than the tourists in certain circumstances. Like in any resort, or even at home, you still have to be aware.
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Fantastic consumer advice Mrgrimsdale. You could give Kevin Cotton from Bella magazine a run for his money!
:D brilliant
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Maybe Steveb would like to answer some of those questions like chickengeorge suggests?
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No-one has been driven away... at least, not a genuine forum contributor....despite this person using several aliases, it's the same person, and we know who he is, it's as simple as that.
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If you all know who the person is and you know they are just trolling under various different names why doesn't the moderator just delete the threads, instead of them descending into the sort of nonsense that all of you normally take offence at.
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Because there is just a chance that by showing this person we know his MO, we might make him realise he is wasting his time and persuade him to stop. Just removing threads doesn't work, unfortunately.
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On this current thread...........there are no posts now available from Mr Grimsdale,or StevieB...where have they gone.Maybe the moderator has taken your advice,ChickenGeorge
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?????? I can see them!
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EK and KTLN best two sites ever, EK forum best forum going, so much useful info and most of forum posters are simply brilliant , the odd droll troll will always be spotted eventually by the genuine forum posters who love Kalkan new and existing
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Hi Babs,
No,sorry they of course are still there.Its dumb old Mayday1 !! There are quite a few posts now on this thread and i was looking at page 2 of 2........Had i had the intelligence to simply press 1 of 2 then Hey Presto !! The others have not disappeared at all.
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The Troll business is getting out of hand. If everyone's not careful, it will cause squabbling between real posters. Can I suggest that everyone just carms down. They will eventually get bored and go and play somewhere else. ;)
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Don't trolls usually play under bridges? >:D
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Don't forget you can add them to your ignore list..click on to profile under your icon picture..then on the L/H side you will see buddy or ignore list.....type said users name into ignore section and posts will come up as ignored and you have to click on to read them..or like myself just pass them by.....simples :laugh:
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Good tip BL. You don't happen to work nights for compare the meerkat do you? ;D
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Well that's the best advice I've seen throughout this whole thread BL. I will do that immediately and then wont have to put up with all the drivel from these Bazza prototypes. There is a God after all. ;D ;D ::) :) :)
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Hi Everyone,
I am running a check across all user accounts as we speak, already a few things have been identified but there is nothing to suggest the original poster is not genuine.
Cheers :)
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MrGrimsdale, checks on our systems show you account IPs directly match a previously banned member account - Please could you contact the EK Team to discuss.
Thanks
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Well done EK. ;D ;D ;D
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For the avoidance of doubt and to call into question the 'discerning intelligence' as claimed possessed by one particular member, please can you also publicly confirm on the forum that I am neither SteveB or AbrahamY. You owe it to your forum members to be completely open, honest and up front about this. If one is being accused of having several personas, it behoves EK to be completely accurate and to explain to the members that it is not those whom others would so vociferously and rudely accuse one of impersonating/creating.
Thank you and I trust you will do the right thing in putting certain members straight. Members who have so rudely treated these poor new members (SteveB and AbrahamY) and put them off of continuing membership of the forum by accusing them of being trolls or, in the case of a couple of particularly immature members, accuse them of being me.
Thank you
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Oh please. Just give up now.
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More intelligent and discerning comment from MartynE. Your baseless waffle, waffle that is nothing to do with the love of enjoying Kalkan, makes one think just who is the troublemaker on this forum?? Too much time on your hands, I think.
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very well said Bazza 1970.............Not !!
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Me thinks Mrgrimsdale doth protest too much ::) ::) ::)
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sorry I will carry on hit wrong button. I give my customers the Enjoy Kalkan website to get information but whats happening!!! I have stopped giving the website details as I feel it is not what is used to be ???All this silly arguing
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Online Forums have a tendency to go this way occasionally unfortunately.
I still advise people to read this site, but add the proviso that you have to read it regularly for a while to work out who is helpful and constructive and those try to mislead, cause consternation and generally try to stir up trouble. Quite apart from the blatantly obvious sales pitches from some businesses pretending to be a valued customer (just like the iffy posts on Trip Advisor! - I wish they'd spell that correctly), or the opposite.
The world is like this unfortunately, and it happens on more sober platforms like LinkedIn, so it's not unique. You have to be a bit firm, ignore the idiots and enjoy the real people on here and there questions, help and adventures. Support those (like Antler) and just don't respond (ie ignore) the WUMs.
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All,
Can we all calm down enjoy the sunshine, enjoy Kalkan and relax a bit please.
Frankly these posts are getting very boring to everyone and as mentioned only dilutes the useful information on the site.
Im going to go through and start culling a few threads to keep the site information accurate, informative and useful to those looking forward to their holidays :)