New Study Reveals Prague Stores Are Cheating Expat Customers

A new study has revealed some 20 per cent of expats in Prague are regularly cheated by local grocery stores when buying foodstuffs.

The study, undertaken by the Czech Journal of Behavioural and Experimental Economics, was published in the association’s journal, thus confirming the suspicions of a vast number of expatriates in the city. Some 259 local grocery stores were investigated, with the assistance of expat customers posing as new arrivals unfamiliar with the local currency.

Shopping during both the morning and evening periods in order to give staff the opportunity to steal by not giving the right change during a busy time, the customers found they were being cheated in 21 per cent of the shops visited, and instances of deliberately giving the wrong change were frequently reported.The average amount overcharged was more than 45 per cent of the item or items purchased, and shops already accused of overcharging via social media accounts continuing to cheat their expat customers on a regular basis.

Oddly, men were cheated more than women, and more scams took place in the mornings than in the evenings. Expat customers using shops in the city centre were three times more prone to being scammed than those shopping in the suburbs. Unfortunately, the study didn’t give any helpful information as to how to avoid becoming a victim of overcharging, nor how to report the issue to local police.