⌛ Porters at Dumaguete Pier

The porters at the pier are fierce, trikes are not allowed all the way down to the ferries so porters will chase incoming trikes and quote insane prices to carry your stuff the 50-100 meters down to the ferry. Our quote was P500 first... then they went down to P300...but that includes rental of the luggage cart Sir...

I told them in very clear terms to drop my stuff and carried it down there myself.

A city that is so promising in the tourist industry can not afford having pricks like that ruin their reputation, I really hope that something will be done to improve and/or regulate these issues.

 

hi, in 2003 last time when I left dumaguete,a porter I should say a swindler took our luggage from the car and put it inside the airport only 20 metres and he ask P500 !!. I will never let them grab my suitcases again.

 

I hate those pricks...

I hope someone will put a stop to these thieves soon. We have had a couple of meetings with some of the guys at the Department of Tourism, once we have established a relationsship with these guys, this is definately one of the things I would bring up there. They should be able to help put a stop to this. It is leaves a bad taste in the mouth of tourists to get ripped off this way...

 

porters

We had a similar situation happen, but we were on the lookout for it.

At 6'4", 275 lbs, I told the "porter" I would carry my own luggage, and he backed off very quickly.

Like everything, you just have to be on the lookout.

See ya all soon.
2 blackbelts

 

I was lucky enough to be accompanied by my lady friend, who happened to be a native of Dumaguete. She did all of the negotiating, even asking me to stay on the boat until they had agreed on a price. I'm sure they were a bit frustrated when they eventually realized she was traveling with a "rich" American and missed out on the opportunity to overcharge. A deal's a deal, right?

I noticed the porters were a bit pushy, but the poor guys live and die by the meager money they make doing this. Still, I got the sense they would back off if you were firm enough about not wanting to use their services. I got plenty of practice shooing away street vendors, as much as I felt bad about it. I simply smiled and shook my head in response to them proudly holding up their wares for me to see...even if I had to do it several times before they relented.

 

not only foreigners/tourists are subject to this kind of outrageous behavior. as a local, i have also had my share of scheming porters who think they can get away with charging way too much. the only way to shut them up is by simply saying a forceful NO in an authoritative manner. on the other hand i have also encountered porters who are well meaning and polite and charge a reasonable P50 -- to them i always pay more than what they ask for. Kuya is right, its their bread & butter after all...

 

And just so you know, I use the word "rich" very loosely here. We're so accustomed to $7 movie tickets and other such inflated prices that a porter asking for $2 seems cheap to us. And they know this. You could label it extortion, but it's just a good business opportunity for them...so long as they provide a decent service.