Well, we got scammed. We didn’t even see it coming. I guess I’ve always been a trusting soul, but I thought my street smarts were better than this. I just love the Mexican people so much – in all my travels to Mexico, I’ve found them to be nothing but kind and helpful and accommodating. And I still believe that most of them are! But just like everywhere in the world, there are some shady opportunists lurking around corners.
We stopped in a small park on our day in Merida. We found a shady bench and were looking at maps on our phones to figure out our location and where we were going next. A friendly local on the bench across from us start chatting us up – asking where we were from, how we like Merida, complimenting my Spanish, etc. Well, flattery will get you everything, I guess! As he was casually getting up to leave, he told us about this really great coop Mayan store just down the street that we have to check out! “Why buy from tourist shops filled with trinkets made in China when you can buy an authentic Mayan souvenir from a hardworking local?” And it’s a good thing we just happened to be there that particular day because starting the next day the store would be closing down for 2 weeks for major renovations! Lucky us!
I had actually just bought a beautiful and unique silver necklace from the Uxmal de Taxco, which is run by a third-generation silversmith named Miguel. Miguel’s shop is filled with all kinds of silver delights priced very reasonably. I highly recommend visiting his shop if you are in the market for silver in Merida. We actually don’t shop a lot when we travel, so we weren’t really in the market to buy anything else. But the guy in the park was so nice and it was right down the block, and it was SO HOT, and we were hoping to catch a little air conditioning, so we decided to walk down and check it out.
Upon walking in we were greeted by a man who was nice enough but proceeded to follow us around everywhere like a vulture. He would stay just far enough behind us to pretend like he wasn’t following us, but he clearly was. That SHOULD have been my 1st red flag! The shop is very big and quite beautiful. There are multiple floors and a brightly painted staircase taking you up to other levels. It was filled with many beautiful items, I almost felt like I was in a museum. I saw some cute painted hand soap dispensers and decided I’d buy one because I felt obligated to buy something at that point. It didn’t have a price on it (nothing did, hello red flag #2), but I assumed it couldn’t be that much – maybe around 40 US dollars or so. Then the man lured my husband into another “special” room that had some really cool t-shirts with Dia de los Muertos designs. My husband is somewhat of a t-shirt collector and rarely every buys himself anything on trips, so he picked one out.
We took our items up to pay, the man took our credit card and ran it (not showing the total first, 3rd red flag) and handed us the receipt and we were completely shocked when we saw we just paid $180 American for a t-shirt and a soap dispenser! I realize that this was our fault. We could have immediately demanded a refund and left the items. We should have asked the prices of these things before buying them. We knew that the items were not cheap crap made in another country and they’d be more pricey than other stores but, come on! The truth is it never crossed my mind that these things would cost so much! The most I might have guessed is maybe $50 each. Spending $100 on two seemingly well-made souvenirs made locally would have still been a lot to me, but I would have found it somewhat reasonable. But $180?! There was no itemized receipt, so I have no idea what cost what. We left there feeling in shock, but we justified by thinking “Well at least we’re helping out the Mayans financially.”
Later on, I started reading about this store and others like it and that’s when I learned that this is a thing. It was all a scam. The guy in the park was planted there to lure us into the store. They always say some kind of lie about how the store is about to close down or something of that sort. This was very disheartening to learn! Now, I don’t even trust that all this money we spent is even going to any Mayan people. Obviously, a chunk of it is going to these guys they plant around the city to schmooze you and get you into the store. It’s just a big ring of scammers.
So please beware of this when you’re traveling to Merida! Don’t get fooled like we did! Do go visit Miguel at Uxmal de Taxco. He is the real deal! But stay far, far away from Mercado Principal y Taller de Arte Maya – Hunab Ku. Or at the very least, please make sure you demand prices up front!
