This summer, I went to visit my family in Guyana. When we were at Cheddi Jagan Airport checking in for our flight back to North America, the lady at the check-in counter told us our luggage was overweight and we had to pay an extra fee before getting our boarding passes. We had already used a luggage scale before arriving, and the weight was fine.
We tried paying with our credit cards, but she swiped them and claimed they didn’t work, even though we’d been using them everywhere during the trip without any issue. We ended up paying her in cash, but when we asked for a receipt, she said they don’t provide receipts. It seemed super shady, and I’m pretty sure we got scammed out of around $200 CAD. Has anyone else experienced this at this airport or somewhere else? How can I avoid this kind of thing in the future?
This happens sometimes in situations like yours. Be careful of people trying to message you privately offering to help. Those are often scams too. Always keep these discussions open in the forum so others can give advice. As for your situation, it’s good to report this to the airline and the airport if you can.
Sounds like you got scammed. Next time, demand they show you proof your luggage is overweight. Don’t hand over cash unless they can clearly show it’s justified.
Rowen said:
Sounds like you got scammed. Next time, demand they show you proof your luggage is overweight. Don’t hand over cash unless they can clearly show it’s justified.
Exactly. Always ask for a supervisor or someone higher up if they try to pull this. You should also report this to the airline. Jobs like hers are valuable, and dishonest people like that shouldn’t keep them. Someone honest would appreciate that position more.
You probably got scammed. Next time, ask to see the scale readings and any messages showing that your card was declined. They should have proof right there.