Did I just get scammed?
I am a tourist on my first full day in Paris, and I tried using the public transit system to go to Versailles. I just came from London, and it was phenomenal. All I had to do was tap my bank card/phone and it paid the price to ride. And if I spent more than a few £ in a day, it was capped. Phenomenal.
Paris is so different. I was told I needed to download one app (RATP) which then asked me to install another app (My Navigo Tickets), and then there were so many options to buy tickets. Like I could buy a week pass, but it's not starting on the day you buy it, but based on calendar week? That is silly. But then there's a five day pass that's like €78 that does start the day you buy it, but that's so many rides I'd have to take to be worth it.
(Actual scam story starts here)
I opted to do what I researched online is best, which is just buy individual tickets. So I bought a couple of metro tickets through the app, and went to the tram by my hotel the Citymapper app said was best for me to get where I'm going. I tap my phone and it just buzzes red. I'm confused, because I just bought tickets, it should work. I'm looking around for help, and I don't see anyone. The door shuts behind me, tram starts moving, and as soon as it does, some guy puts on an orange band that says RATP (I think) and starts approaching me. I think, "Oh great, someone can help me." I explain the situation, tell him I bought tickets, show him my tickets in the app, and he asks me to scan my phone on his device.
He doesn't really explain much, and I apologize for coming to this country without speaking French, but he says some things to me I don't understand. I tell him I don't speak French, and he in English just something like, "Wrong ticket." He then waves someone else over with another orange band, and she informs me I am in violation of the transit rules and have been caught attempting to evade fare and am being fined by the city €70. I tell her I bought tickets, but she saysShe makes me tap my phone and pay for it, and then she walks away after giving me a receipt.
I call for her again and ask her if I need to buy a ticket now, and she says, "No, that is your ticket."
What the fuck just happened? I went up to someone as a stupid tourist asking for help why my ticket won't work and I get fined €70? At one point the doors opened up for the next stop while I was being told I am getting fined, and I said, "I can get off right now and buy a ticket if that will fix things," and they told me I cannot leave because I am being fined. Should I have just left? Was this even official???
I legitimately don't know what just happened, why it happened, and it has completely ruined my first day in Paris. There's a bit of a stereotype in America that Parisians are rude and dislike Americans, but wow. This just felt like a targeted attack on a tourist trying to look for help.