In Reply to: in my experience.... posted by kristal on Saturday, 31. March 2007 at 14:57 Bali Time:
Kristal, thank you for all the input. I do appreciate the points that you make and see where you are coming from and I do agree that it would be offensive to make it obvious that I am checking up on someone when they are genuine. I am sure that when I go back in 3 week's time I will be able to find out the truth without being obviously offensive. I can't do that from Australia and up until now have accepted what I was told as a genuine plea for help. It is just that the last few emails have given me an uneasy feeling and having read the posts on this topic, I realise that there are people in Bali who take advantage of the generosity of visitors.
I would like to point out that I would be very offended if I was being taken for a sucker and someone who wasn't genuine was actually lying to me. That is all that I was trying to find out... if I am being taken for a sucker. I did not offer this person any help originally (apart from the $20 tip when we left). He wrote to me and asked for help and I am happy to help someone genuinely in need. I just hate to be scammed and have learned a lot from the other posts on this subject. It is obvious that there are a number of forumites who have been lied to and this is as insulting to us as you suggest it is to check up on people who ask for money.
But, I would also like to thank you for pointing out to things to all of us that we may not have thought of and should take into consideration when we give money to people in Bali. I think most of us give money and gifts with the best intentions but we need to be aware of the downside to it to.