Well i have been many times to Lanzarote and i was dissapointed this time at the amount of rip offs occurring on tourists while changing mony, shopping and finding the right price the whole set up is now a bit like a bazzar in the middle east no prices on goods and constant rip off prices on watches and electrical goods, i was qutoed 360 euros for a lacoste watch which he said i could have for special price 300 euros, i took id number of the watch found it online for £130 sterling free delivery i went back with printed copy of watch and told him, not happy threw me out of shop he was not the only one. Sara the indian money changer cigarette and booze man rips you off in exchange rates everytime if he thinks he can get away with it tried my wife for 18 euros she complained and he banged his calculater claiming it was faulty i saved two young lads from being ripped off by 40 euros on their deal he was not happy this is theft and it sullys the whole resort also short changed out of a 50 euro note twice what is going on is this how the resort has to operate in the current downturn ripping off the people who are the life blood of the island
many good places still offering great services unfortunately this drags you all down.

Brian tracey largs

There's many, mnay warning about buying electrical goods here. It's been going on for years. Easy answer is to avoid. Generally you'll not get a bargain here anyway from the few good electrical places.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but as rich says, the problems with electrical shops have been well known for many years - I'm surprised that as a regular visitor you weren't aware - and these days it really isn't cheaper buying here than buying on line at home - as you have confirmed. Why did you decide to buy an expensive watch here on holiday, when you had all year to buy it at home? I assume that if you had your heart set on it, you have now bought it at home? I would only ever buy electrical goods here from proper retailers, and in fact usually get them on line myself from Amazon.

I'm also surprised at your description of Sara, living here I usually buy Gordon's gin there because it is cheaper than the supermarkets, and I've never had any problem, even when offering a €50 note and a €1 coin for a €10.95 bottle. I thought it was one of the more trustworthy one of that type. However, the old maxim is true, caveat emptor.

It would be interesting to know if other regular visitors think that the situation has deteriorated.

I'm not sure if the situation has got worse as I generally avoid those shops - with two exceptions:
The booze and cigars are very cheap from the Indian shops, though I wouldn't use a Credit Card in one.
Visanta in PDC are very good and actually turned out to be cheaper for a recent purchase than buying online (I was quite surprised by that). I just happened to check their website and found that they were cheaper than anyone else.

I agree glitterball, as I said I'd only buy from proper retailers here, such as Visanta or Milar, and I certainly wouldn't buy an electrical item from a tourist shop, be it here, Blackpool or Corfu.

all fair points, to walker clearly giving the one euro to ensure you get 40 back means he knows you are on the ball it is tourists who are the target not residents, and you know the fact that shops no matter what type are allowed to operate in this manner is sad it does not happen in the many other european resorts i visit and their is european legislation against this sort of pratice i suppose canaries are immune duty free status i think not i did not buy the watch but i would have if it had been 10% more than online price supporting local business is good but not in this case.

bt