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After a few lines it will start sounding racist. It is not. The post will be long, but it is worth to click on 'read more'. (It is really worth it, for the last anecdote)
Disclaimer: I know a lot of greeks. I have a few greek friends. I have been in Greece often, can not remember how often, perhaps like 10 times. I had a room mate for 10 years who was greek, I played basket ball and one mate was greek, he invited our team to tournaments in Athens. That was actually the first time I was in Greece, around 1992.
Another disclaimer: all stories (except about the blinds and the windmill frauds) are stuff I have experienced myself. Yes that includes the 'pension fraud'.
Greece never was a poor country. It simply had a 'low exchange rate' from their Drachma to the DM/EUR.
In comparison to germans every greek is RICH! They OWN a flat in the city, Thessaloniki, Athens or whatever AND one or more houses at the sea, on an island or at the mountain site. Basically everyone who lives close to the sea has one or more boats. And and and ... (they got OWND, when they could not get their greedy mouthes filled enough)
The problem with the greek is very simple: they are cheaters/tricksters/fraudsters. It is kinda their national sport. They rip off tourists, EACH OTHER, the EU, whomever they can. The current situation is just a massive backfire of their idiotic philosophy of life.
How do you make a greek, you best friend? Catch him while he tries to cheat/trick on you! By that you get his respect!
If you agree to an insane price in his shop he registers you as an idiot, gives you a business card of his relatives restaurant, then calls him and describes that likely a few idiots to rip off come next days.
I guess there are plenty of people pointing out their insane tax regulations ( the richest greeks pay no taxes) ... so I skip that.
Fraud that I have out of german newspapers:
1) an island with 6000 inhabitants had about 3000 blind people. Health insurance payed extras for the 3000 (money for the guide dog, a helper in your household ... whatever). A few years ago they made an investigation. Surprise: no one was blind on that island.
2) they got a few hundred millions EUR from the EU to set up a wind park on an island. Actually, they did that. But they never connected it to the grid. Turns out, the contract with the EU did not require that. The greeks simply shrug and wonder why the EU does not pay no more.
3) illegal construction is everywhere, including fire clearing (burning century old oil groves). The background is: if you have the first level of the house built and it is inhabited, then regardless of missing building permit, fire cleansing (was a thunderstorm anyway) or bad construction, the authorities can not legally break it down anymore.
My experience.
4) If you fly to Channia on Crete, your plane lands like 20km outside of the city. Just in time there is a bus that brings you into the city, a normal landline bus. If you enter the bus they don't sell you a ticket. Trying to convince you that the bus is 'special' and you need to take a taxi/cab. Usually there is a luggage compartment below the bus, with your luggage. While you are arguing with the ticket seller, someone will throw out your luggage onto the road. No chance. When you get out to collect it, the bus departs and you have to take a cab.
Second time I knew the drill. Took my luggage inside, was anyway only a small and a big rucksack.
The ticket seller tried to throw me out by force! 'Unfortunately' a greek living in my hometown who was in the same plane told him, he knew me. So suddenly the ticket seller sold me a ticket for like 20cents our day money. On the other hand, it had not looked good if a 25 year old tourist punches a 60 year old ticket seller into the face.
5) After or during my basket ball tournament my team, like 12 people plus trainer plus some relatives of our greek team mate where for a long long long night dinner.
We ate like maniacs for 4 or 5 hours and drank wine for minimum 2 more hours. Needless to say: the dishes where excellent, we could not really stop. Usually we just ordered like '3 of those and 4 of that and 5 this' and simply shared it and took something different the next order. Trust me, the end bill was less than $20, perhaps only $15 for each of us. We drank ca. 6 hours the most expensive wine of the house. (Makes no difference for a 'fucking rich german' if a liter of wine costs 75cents or 110cents ... how much wine are you actually going to drink?)
Anyway. After some small arguments about wrong dishes here and there, which we simply accepted after pointing out: we did not order that (someone ate it, fine) they did the 6000 year old trick of serving the presumable drunk customers the cheapest wine they had (perhaps even cheaper than the example above, no idea.), I noticed first. and after pointing it out, all agreed that 'the new wine' was different. We called the waiter he claimed it would be the same, when we argued, he started to tell in greek to his colleagues how stupid the germans are, not noticing that 4 of us where greek, too. So he got a harsh, very harsh, retalation.
Point is: we had a bill of perhaps $300, in our days money. The amount they tried to cheat us over was less than $5. Whats the point?
The point is: to go home and tell your self, you gave it to that moronic stupid german tourists!
6) every greek family, I know, 'had' (had as it was 'discovered' a few years ago ^_^) one or two dead relatives for whom they still collected pension funds. You know, the greek lifestyle is so healthy it is the norm that relatives that survived the turks get 96 years old. Every greek family, I know is simply asking me: why are you germans so stupid? Just continue collecting the pension, what is the problem? Those old relatives usually own a car, with huge benefits on insurance, so you have at least two cars, one with an 'odd' and one with an 'even' registration number. So when due to smog issues driving is restricted to either even or odd numbers your family has at least one car that can drive.
7) two years ago we where sailing around the Cyclades. A german boat and two chartered greek boats. The german captain attempted a joke.
"We have a problem!"
"What is it? Do you need assistance?"
"No, it can't be helped!"
"What is it?" ... "The beer is empty!!"
Bad bad bad joke. Note: that was a normal 'fun call' on channel 16, no distress/mayday/SOS.
2 hours later a greek coast guard patrol came along. Insisting they had heard a 'we have a problem' call. After talking a bit they ordered the german boat to approach the next harbour, escorting it. (I spare the details)
They demanded that we stay in habour until we could produce a 'certificate of safety' for the german boat. On a Sunday!
Point is: no judge, police or anyone supported us and let us go. So we had to pay EUR 3000 for a safety certificate from a greek boats mechanic in that harbour, or the coast guard did not let us depart. (In germany such a certificate costs like 200 - 500, depending on circumstances ... and you only get one if you want to sell the boat, no one asks for something like that)
Ah, I had two or three more stories like this ... about the Odysseus like cheating framing greek, so here the 'nice story' about greeks:
Nice greek story, bold for those who just like(ed) to scroll down
Once climbing in Meteora, well not sure, was it when I was climbing there or when my friends where trekking? Happened to my friends, not myself. Anyway:
After a long day they reached kinda late a restaurant and wanted to eat. The waiter at the entrance said, 'sorry, closed party'. But knowing the germans would not find an open restaurant near by he said: 'let me check, perhaps you can have a table here at the door'. (That was already nice, wasn't it?)
Surprisingly, they could eat. Not a perfect place, but the room was more or less empty and the wedding party was around the corner of an L shaped room. So they ate.
When they wanted to pay, the waiter refused: "No no no! You are invited by the father if the bride!"
Same happened to me and a friend in Italy, but we had to pay ;)
Anyway. The problems of Greece, are a consequence of greek mentality. (And around the mediterranean, they are not alone with that attitude)
And again, I beg to notice: they don't just cheat tourists as a kind if sports (20 years ago about a sum of 1$ per incident, now about 10EUR) they do the same to each other, the health insurance, the pension funds, their authorities of construction, towards the EU and and and. All above is not racist but my own life experience, the experience of my friends or 'big news' in german newspapers.
You know what the greek saying is? "Son, clear our Yacht, we go to an island trip, visiting your uncle."
"Father, which yacht? The motor yacht got confiscated by the financial authorities because you did not file tax reports the recent 10 years!"
"Oh!? Never mind, call your brothers then and make the Schooner clear! Our Uncle is already starting the party on San Turine an the first guests from Igunmenitsa are landing!"
I bet you still can not use the regular bus from Channia Airport to Channia, Crete.
Ah, now I'm spoling it. But I can not resist. Greece has the best olive oil on the planet. The is no arguing about it, perhaps in a very very very smal amount there are some french oils that are even better. No one is buying greek oil anymore. Why? 20 - 30 years ago they could not get their greedy throats full enouh and started to mix it with imported oils. EVERY greek Oil farmer did that. Luckily unlike the spanish they had the dignity to mix other olive oil instead of mineral oils into their oil. In Spain thousands died by 'streched' olive oil.
As mentioned above, now they are burning thousand year old oil groves (on their private property) to build an 'illegal' house at that side. Actually, that was 10 - 20 years ago, I wonder if they still have oil groves. Don't get me into dynamite fisching. You can bet if you eat a fish meal in Greece the fish is from Thailand, Venezuela or Somalia.
You still get greek oil btw., but instead of paying the price its quallity is worth, it is the cheapest oil because they ruinned their name.