Icmeler Online Holiday Forum & Reviews - Turkey

as this is post number fifty.i have been thinking of a topic that could start a debate.the only thing that i could come up with was.what is the one thing that really annoy,s you on holiday.as an easy going kind of guy not much can get to me.except for one thing.after just missing the taxi boat to icmeler.we are led to a boat with large fluffy cushions and our pick of sunbathing vantage points.after buying the obligatory coke/fanta/water we are now settled for a pleasant unhurried calming meander accross an azure flat calm sea.nothing to do but relax and watch the world go by.
wrong.i am just about to discover the meaning of life after reaching an inner calm in my surroundings.when the immortal words yes yes taxi boat taxi boat icmeler icmeler ( it must be in the contract that they say everything twice) burst through the calm.we now have to leave the tranquility of our designer boat for the turkish equivalent of the skylark.the only two seats left are between the thirty stone german and the danish man with black socks and sandals.he tankest moi for gaveing him the operchancity to praktace hois eenglish.four drunken dutch boys then start the worst singsong in living memory and all this while my bum was gradually cramping from lack of cushion's.we all have something that irks us what is yours.

Hi David

I think the thing that annoys me the most is being hassled by the lads outside the restaurants pleading with us to eat there. Trying to be polite and so as not to offend anyone, I usually say "Thank you but we've just eaten" or I take a menu and say we'll see.

My husband on the other hand is not as patient as me. It gets to a certain point and then he loses it completely. The worse thing is last year on our first night in Icmeler, we were stopped on more than one occasion and told we had promised to eat there the previous evening.

I know everyone has to make a living but I think sometimes if they don't hassle you, there is more of a chance that you will go in and eat there.

Last year was particularly bad. Hopefully this year will be better.

Anyone got any advice as to how to deal with this calmly and politely so as not to cause offence?

Gene, I'm sure you can share some words of wisdom

Sue

What gets to me us bit being able to browse the shop windows without being hassled to buy. This stop hubby and I browsing, but if I go alone I don't have the same problem. Perhaps I look frightening

I hate it when people get up at the crack of dawn, put towels on a row of sunbeds and then go out all morning expecting the sunbeds to be reseved until afternoon!! I know the Germans are blamed for this but English people can be just as bad, it is sooooooooo selfish and ignorant. My blood boils and I don't want to say anything because i am on hol and don't want to argue.
If I use a sunbed, I use it there and then and take my towel away to let some other person who has worked and saved for a hol just like me, use it.

I must admit that the hassle is probably the bit I dislike most of all. Having said that we ate in a lot of different places the first week and got to know the hasslers and then we got just a friendly hello, a quick chat and no real hassle.
So in my experience if you can battle through the first few days and keep calm they soon start to back off a bit, after all we all know they NEVER forget you, not even with new holiday makers arriving daily.
Even the kids with their bathroom scales remember you if you have a chat with them, one of them I bunged a lira to without having a go on his scales, he never bothered me again only to say hello and ask how I was and always with a cheery smile for me, he would call from the opposite side of the street and wave.

What annoys me the most is the hassling bit as well. Yes, even Turkish people get hassled. You will get much more of it in Marmaris marina.

It is very annoying and everyone including those who even does the hassling themselves agree that it may be disturbing.

What Turks do about it? Simple, we ignore it or if the area we are walking by is not very crowded and mistakenly made an eye contact with the hassler, we say thanks and keep walking. This is where most tourists make the mistake of answering the hasslers next question. If you want to have a chat thats something else, but if not, then walk straight through with a simple thank you. Dont need to say `No but maybe tomorrow`, or `we have just eaten` etc... you dont need to give an excuse, no thanks is polite enough. (reason: your excuse may lead to further conversation by hasslers next question)
Another case scenerio is of course, when the hasslers ask you the magic question: but Why Not? Your answer here is very important. You may pretend you didnt hear him and walk past or help us by giving the magic answer which is `because you hassle!` and walk past with no further conversation.

Why do they hassle? Because it works. It is up to you to stop them from hassling. If you dont eat at places that hassle you, then they will eventually stop.

Be a responsible tourist for a better holiday: At least give a warning to two restaurants about hassling during your holiday and ask fellow holiday makers to do the same when chatting around the pool or at a bar etc. and with the help of your support, we may get somewhere on this issue.

This year, busier streets will be monitored by a council/police camera to nail the hasslers so I am sure there will be some improvements in the area about hassling.

Important Note: You can always write a complaint addressed to the council about your complaints. Also, if any hassler holds your arm, shakes your hand but doesnt let go, simply do what you would do in your own country if such had happened to you there. (It is not normal nor acceptable to hold or touch customers in Turkey unless you know them.)

Cheers

Rami

quite frankly its not so bad as it was a few years ago,we know they have to earn a living,so dont be rude to them,just a polite no thanks usualy does the trick,if they think by keeping on you will give in,they are wrong, in my case I am more inclined to go back to the places that answer with ok see you again sometime,it is part of the holiday & its never spoilt it for me.

Although I love Icmeler and wouldn't go anywhere else, having to pay extra for air conditioning, safety deposit boxes and keeping your room on the day of departure annoys me a wee bit, especially as our first night normally means arriving in the wee small hours so it hardly constitutes a full night. It all adds quite a bit onto the original price of your holiday. There, that's me got that off my chest. Back to dreaming of my return to paradise now, extra costs or not





magoo

Important Note: You can always write a complaint addressed to the council about your complaints. Also, if any hassler holds your arm, shakes your hand but doesnt let go, simply do what you would do in your own country if such had happened to you there. (It is not normal nor acceptable to hold or touch customers in Turkey unless you know them.)

Thats interesting to know as one thing that really annoys me is when my personal space is invaded by some lech (be them English or Turkish etc) who touches my arm and won't let go, makes my skin crawl.

I told the man at The Mimosa a simple No Thanks last year and he kept on saying come see my menu, and grabbed my arm, my immediate reaction was to slap him but I didn't I turned and shouted so everyone heard, WHICH PART OF NO DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND.

Needless to say he never bothered us again, and we never ate there.

The most annoying thing for me on holiday is those people that get up at the crack of dawn and place a towel on the sunbeds. the sunbed then lies there all day with their towel. They may putan appearance in for about 10 minutes before going off again then finally returning at 6pm to remove their towels. If you are not going to use the sunbeds, please show some consideration for your fellow holiday makers and dont place your towel.

In the past I have simply removed the towel if not used for an hour or so and placed the towel neatly folded at the side. If they want the sunbed back i will give them it back if they ask.

One thing also really annoys me, is the prices some bars charge for soft drinks, more expensive than beer!!!!!

Stewart

ok so the hassle was bad last year,but you have to bear in mind that it was a very quiet season and as rami said a polite no thank you usually works.in saying that the funniest thing on my holiday last year was watching my seventy two year old mother in law trying to outdistance the touts in the marmaris bazzar.anyway back to the annoying things. can anyone tell me why the que i join at the airport is always the slowest moving.or why my seat is directly in front of the child with st.vitas dance.(this is a nervous disorder which means that you have to kick the seat in front of you for four and a half hours. glasgow to dalaman flying time four and a half hours.)or when your luggage is over weight you are the only one caught. happy holidays.

Very little annoys me when on my holidays, I positively try not to let things niggle me. After all, I’ve spent my hard earned to enjoy a couple of weeks away and I’m determined to enjoy every minute.
As for the hassling, try Egypt that’s hassling with intent!!

I must admit one thing that does start to bother me on the hassling front when a polite “no thanks” isn’t sufficient.
We are a family of 4 with 2 boys on our last trip four years back the boys would have been 9 and 7 yrs old. We would walk past restaurants spouting the usual “no thanks”, we’ve eaten”, “maybe later” etc etc etc. only to look back and find one of the boys had been “kidnapped” and taken into a restaurant. Obviously we were supposed to go back and collect him so we could be subject to more persuasion.
However being the terrible parents we are, we would just keep on walking . It’s surprising how far you have to walk before the restaurant would realise this and let him go.
I must say at this point, the boys are not bothered by this and know that we wouldn’t leave them to long. They just keep telling the guy whose taken them “My mum and dad wont come back you know, they never do!) And eventually he lets them go.


OH there is one other thing that really does annoy me !!!!
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That’s having to come home

Hassling is nowhere near as bad as it was say 15 years ago when they virtually dragged you in off the street. The last few times I've collected the little menus and cards that the give you and when I have a stock of them, every time someone says "take my menu" I hold out one and say "take one of mine". They soon get the message. Anyway, a little good natured hassle is part of the Turkish charm and the holiday wouldn't be the same without it. One thing that really annoys me is when they take you to the airport far too early and you're stuck in Dalaman for 4 hours. Lat time we booked a private transfer with *Rami, left well after the coach, got there before them, and no "rip off stop".


(((((((((((Edited by Rami: *Rami in the post refers to = ICR Travel http://www.icmeleronline.com. some people may not know rami and may miss out on the great services they could get ))))))) Thanks for that Zog.

I totally agree that the innocent hassle is part of Turkish charm. As long as it's light hearted. I have been hassled twice in Icmeler, where it has got to the point I've been a little wary. Different experiences like that are what make a holiday!

I quite enjoy a little friendly chat with some of the restaurant touts, we had a laugh. With some of the younger ones a pleasant "no thanks" was enough.

One thing that does wind me up is people throwing cigarette ends in the sand, it's disgusting, lazy and there's no need for it.

I agree about sitting in front of an excited kid who kicks the back of the seat for 4 hours but what annoys me most is that the parents dont even stop them from doing it.

Also an annoying thing is the person in front of you puts his seat right back after take off to have a sleep and you have to spend 4 hours looking at the top of the persons head

I agree about sitting in front of an excited kid who kicks the back of the seat for 4 hours but what annoys me most is that the parents dont even stop them from doing it.

I'm really sorry Sue It wasn't the kids, it was me ! I just can't help getting excited

Rog

On the funny side of things...here is what bugs me and my colleagues if you look at things from our side of course.

It happens to be a cloudy day so which ever of our valuable guests we run into ask us where the sun is...and want their money back!!

Another one is: the pool side happens not to get much sun after 3pm so here goes another complaint. Wish I could move all the buildings around


Cheers,

Rami

sue, i agree with you about the reclining sleeping beauties beat them try one of these.
1)balance your book or newspaper on their head.if they say anything tell them you are short sighted and need the space to read.
2)put your head on their headrest,and fake heavy breathing or loud snoring sleep.
3)a coughing /sneezing fit.(i find inhaling the pepper works wonders)
4)(my personal favourite)tell them you are claustrophobic and you can not be held responsible for your actions if they do not move their seat. i hope these tips will be of some assistance in dealing with the inconsiderate fellow flyer's. you all know who you are.

I might try those tips, last year my husband had some right loony in front of him, as he is tall he kept moving his legs around to get comfy, being very difficult when he is looking at her forehead she was so close, the loony in front stood up and went mad as it was disturbing her sleep, hes not the type to say anything in defence so I had a right go at her and told her if she wanted the space she should upgrade.