After a very enjoyable few days here in Buenos Aires, made more so by the informed guidance of some local FTers, I'll be leaving BsAs tomorrow with a bitter taste in my mouth, having been taken for 60 pesos at El Establo, the parrilla recommended by many an FT BA regular and a former favorite of mine.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I got passed three bogus 20 peso notes by a waiter there, having asked for change of a hundred so I could adequately tip the b*stard. He came back with five 20s, the top and bottom of which were legit, the middle ones fakes (and not even good ones I would discover).

Completely my fault that I pocketed them, but I was distracted by a cell phone call that came exactly when the bill and change did, and when reaching for my phone I found two tens in my pocket that I had forgotten about and ended up becoming his tip. I was also also off my game as I have had a nasty head cold since Sunday and have been dosing myself with all manner of medication. I scooped up the twenties and went to catch a cab back to the hotel.

When I went to pay the driver, I flipped through the folded bills (the only things in that pocket) and immediately spotted the fakes - I swore to myself and told the cabbie to head back the restaurant.

Of course, I knew I was screwed but as I was leaving town tomorrow and I was full of red wine and cough medicine, I really wanted to shove the fakes down the guy's throat as a going-away present.

I went back into the restaurant and interrupted the guy while he was talking to some other diners. I let him know I didn't appreciate the gesture and where he could put the 60 pesos he stole from me. His previously very serviceable English had now disappeared.

I gave him a friendly shove and stuffed one of the notes down his shirt collar, swearing at him in English. By now the restaurant had stopped to watch the show, so to make sure everyone knew the plot, I threw the other two bills at the guy from a distance of a few feet, said what I think was, "here's your f'ing change" in Spanish, and called his mother a whore, just for effect, and left.

Had I been back home, I probably would have gotten a little more physical, but I need to be at a wedding in NYC this weekend so I don't have the time to spend in an Argentine jail and/or hospital. Some may not agree with my tactics, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let that slide.

So there you go. The guys at El Establo can always find time to clip a turista, no matter how busy they are... and by the way, if you see a curly-haired, blue-eyed punk waiting tables there, keep an eye on your wallet.

Very sorry to hear this. I almost went there for lunch today but did not.

sadly it seems the biggest stories of cd3 are not good ones. I will still be back again but I must say the crime on tourists seems to be on an upswing. At least I was drinking and made myself an easy target.

Of course, instead of shoving the waiter around and swearing at him (which I don't think I'd call "taking a stand"), the OP could have approached El Establo's manager and told him what happened, given them the opportunity to make it right. While I can understand the impulse to be physical, especially when tanked up on wine and pissed off, it might just be part of why we Americans have such a lousy reputation here (and other places). Seems like a better reaction if you don't get satisfaction approaching it civilly.

We ate at El Establo, for various meals, four times this week and had nothing but the best in the way of service and food each time.

We didn't receive any funny money in change that I know of but I doubt I could spot a counterfeit Argentinian peso.

Unless, like the OP stated, it was a very crude imitation.

I agree. I understand his frustration, but this episode could have ended much worst.
BTW, we have such bad waiters here in Naples ... they copy the credit card and sell it.

Viajero Perpetuo... I must say that Im very surprised to read you, of all people post the above.

I fail to understand why you take a stance between Ibero-America and North America for this situation. What this waiter did is wrong, here in Argentina, in China and in the USA... however, the OPs reaction is also wrong, no matter where it may have taken place.

Also, Im puzzled as to why you so strongly assume that had this happened in North America, the OP would have been "more lucky". First of all, this crook waiter has reasonable doubt in his favour, and second of all... in North America, for the OPs actions he would have run a high chance of getting arrested as getting even "slightly" physical will usually get you into trouble. If I take the ambulance chaser line, then the OP could have been charged with assault (even if the charges would later not stick).

I will be very honest with you... if we ever share a meal in EZE and a waiter pulls this on you and you react in the same way, when/if you get arrested I would have to say that you got what you deserved.

If you, as a self proclaimed "quasi-resident" of this part of the world give this kind of advice to Gringo Tourists... quite frankly I will tell you I think this kind of advice is pathetic.

^ ^ ^

I don't want this to devolve into a big argument, but I think there's an awful big assumption going on - stereotyping of the worst sort - that somehow there's an implication that Argentines are out to take advantage of "Americans" and/or tourists in general, and the followup that they wouldn't be willing to resolve the situation. I haven't found that at all to be the case here. Nor, when it happens, is it unique to here - there are bad waiters in every country on the planet that has restaurants. Having spent 23 years managing restaurants in NYC, I can't count the number of waiters I had to fire for things of this sort and worse, most often aimed at... wow, foreign tourists... by American waiters. It's the nature of the service business, unfortunately, that it does attract some people who want to take advantage of others. To assume that somehow it's worse here is just showing a lack of knowledge of local culture. I've found, that while service is often laid back, which is just part of the nature of things here, that management will often bend over backwards to make sure that unhappy customers who voice their complaints are taken care of satisfactorily.

This is like when I travel 30 miles west to Oceanside, California, find myself in Angelo's drive-in line, order a burger fries and coke and get charged $6.50 instead of the going rate of $3.90 for locals who know to order Number One? Their CSR in the window suggested next time I just hold up the line until I read all of their outdoors menu. Right.

On our brief visit last week, we found everyone, without exception, in Argentina extremely helpful and yes, honest.

Viajero Perpetuo:

This story is *NOT* about natives of Argentina or Chile, it's about a bad guy, one waiter! You have some bad guys and girls all-over-the world!
I liked the people in Argentina and Chile a lot .... and I will be back very soon!
YYZC2 should have informed the manager.
BTW, there is some bad press about BA in some German magazines, like this: 3 tourists take a "taxi" from EZE to BA. Taxi is very old, drives very fast. Did not stop and did not pay the fee at the booth ... police car was following the "taxi" ... and so on ... you get the story ....

Here is the link, sorry in German:
http://www.spiegel.de/reise/aktuell/...497617,00.html

I have to agree. I think his reaction was quite extreme and think a civil approach first would have been in order. I don't know about Argentinian fakes but some in the US are very hard to spot if you are not looking closely at the bills. Perhaps the guy didn't even know they were fakes. I work part time in a bar and know that times when I am very busy, I don't take the time to look at the bills I have received. And yes, conterfeits have shown up in our restaurant.

Let me also add that if anyone came into the place I work and shoved any employee, they would find themselves in jail.

As for El Establo, I have nothing but good to say about the place. I ate there three times while I was in BsA and found both the food and service to be wonderful.

Not EVERYONE is helpful and honest in BsAs. Two of your hosts this weekend found out the hard way that when you slip up and feel comfortable someone is waiting to make you pay. But both of us are planning next year's Do already including another Friday dinner at El Establo.

You really just have to realize that yes it will happen if you let it and no it is not specific to here. It just happened a bunch here this weekend to a "small" sampling of FTers.

Crime in general. Not necc the OPs fake 20s.

Found this:

"...The Taxi Drivers in Buenos Aires are notorious for trying to give tourists fake peso bills. The solution- use only small bills to pay them (2 peso, 5 peso and 10 peso bills)..."

here: http://www.fonisol.com/buenosaires_site/buenosaires.htm

This is excellent advice which I also follow. When I get large denomination bills from an ATM, I only break them at a large supermarket (where the cashiers will carefully scrutinize them). I've only ever wound up with a few fake coins.

It's known that the professional forgers are concentrating on 50 and 100 peso notes, and for a foreigner they will be difficult to spot. There are also forgeries of US$100 bills. Interestingly the US Treasury estimates that there was US$50 billion in (US) currency in circulation in Argentina in 2006.

Taxi cabs, at least in BsAs seem to have a bad reputation for passing fake currency, not just to tourists (from anywhere outside Argentina), but also to locals. I've had several Porteno friends end up with fakes when it's been late at night and difficult to evaluate the currency.

John