Don’t get a ripoff from buying street cart foods at New York City Manhattan Time Square
By: Bryant Jimin Son
Tags: Times Square, Scam, Manhattan, NYC, New York

Don’t let the street food vendors rip you off

New York City (NYC) is notoriously famous for its street cart foods, selling hot dogs, gyro, pizza, and pretty much everything else. Especially at Manhattan Time Square, you can easily spot these food carts around every block.

Food carts like one above are pretty much everyone around NYC

I love to try street foods, as that is truly one way to feel like a local. I tried one hot dog from a vendor and paid $3 in cash. I accidentally paid $4, and this guy called me and returned $1, explaining that I don’t have to pay $4 if I am paying in cash. So, not everyone is dishonest. However, you should be really careful not to fall into the scheme from the dishonest street card vendors.

In next day, I was waiting on a line trying to get some street foods, and this was right at the center of Manhattan Time Square. I was originally waiting in a line behind a cart that looks quite busy, but I gave up and moved onto the next cart just across it. And I just ordered one Italian hot dog and one gyro. When I asked the price, the seller shrugged off and concentrated on making the foods. Once he is done, he plugged in a Square payment processing device to his phone and asked for my credit card. I gave him mine, and he typed in few stuffs and swiped it. I got my foods, and he said that I will get my receipt through an email.

Food was so so

But on the way to my home, I got really curious and checked my Chase mobile app. What in the world… I got charged $76.21 at the food cart where I just bought a hot dog and a gyro.

$76.21 for the vendor? This makes no sense!

I quickly returned and asked to explain what is this. This guy just pretended as he did not know and made up some stuffs up like the gyro is costing like $20 and everyone knows that, etc etc. He only gave $25 back.

I kept thinking about it, and I could not get rid-off my mind thinking this is not right. Luckily, this is NYC Time Square after all. New York Police Department is right there, and there are cops every where. I found a police van nearby, said “hi,” and explained the whole situation. Soon, I was accompanied with two cops and made a beeline to the street car.

Don’t let a NYC vendor to rip you off

This street vendor acted cool, but he eventually returned the portion of the money that I paid extra. To me, it was not really about the money, but I got upset because I would not be only one he keeps deceiving if he gets his own way of doing things. I have no idea whether the cops decided to shutoff this guy’s business, which he deserves, but I felt much better after calling the cops and doing the justice. And I really appreciate the New York polices who helped with this incident.

New York City is truly a beautiful city that never sleeps, full of wonderful people and a vibe, but the incidents like this can occur. When you visit the New York City next time, make sure to be careful about the people who want to take the advantage of the visitors. As long as you do that, you should fall in love with the city. Enjoy!