12 Tourist Scams in Chamonix

Phantom Chamonix chalet listings on Airbnb / VRBO / independent ski-rental sites use stolen photos of real luxury properties at €200–€500/night below market and demand wire transfers "to secure peak winter dates" — once paid, the scammer disappears, and on arrival you find the address doesn't exist or is occupied by the real owner. This is the single most-documented scam targeting Chamonix visitors.

You're booking Chamonix for the February school-holiday week three months out and find a stunning four-bedroom chalet in Les Praz with a Mont Blanc view at €580/night when comparable peak-week chalets are €1,100+. The host messages: "I have very high demand this week — please wire €4,060 deposit immediately to secure the booking, and we'll save the platform fee." It feels like a deal you can't lose.

You wire the money. The "host" disappears within 48 hours. When you fly into Geneva and drive to Les Praz, the chalet either doesn't exist at the listed address, leads to a real luxury chalet whose actual owner has never heard of you and is fully booked through someone else, or is the occupied home of a real Chamoniard family. The photos were lifted from a real listing somewhere else (Megève, Verbier, Méribel) — scammers screenshot luxury chalet sites and rebrand them as Chamonix because the Mont Blanc demand inflates winter prices into a target zone where below-market deals look credible. Peak winter season (mid-December through Easter week) is the high-fraud window because demand spikes 4–8× and the resulting "deals" pull the most victims. Variant indicators: brand-new host with no Chamonix-specific reviews, urgency ("two other groups asking today"), price 30–50% below market for peak weeks, suggestion to communicate via WhatsApp or to wire to an offshore IBAN "to avoid platform fees."

The defense is to never pay outside the platform's secure checkout. Book Chamonix accommodations only through established Chamonix-specialist agencies (Chamonix All Year, Chamonix Lodge, Chalet Chardons) or via Airbnb / VRBO official platform checkout — never wire transfer to a personal IBAN, never send PayPal "friends and family," and treat any "let's secure this off-platform" message as an immediate cancel-and-report signal. For peak winter weeks (Christmas, February school holidays, Easter), book 6–9 months ahead. Reverse-image-search property photos before booking (Google Lens or TinEye) — phantom listings recycle photos from real chalets in other Alps resorts. Verify the address on Google Street View. Pay with a credit card so chargeback protection layers on top of platform protection. Join the Cham Social Facebook group for peer-verified rental recommendations.

Unlicensed "mountain guides" advertise Mont Blanc summit attempts at €1,500+ on Instagram and obscure websites with fabricated IFMGA/UIAGM credentials — they take payment, lead clients onto the Goûter Route or Trois Monts route, and have abandoned exhausted climbers in snowstorms near the Tête Rousse and Goûter refuges with zero insurance coverage if an accident occurs.

You're planning a Mont Blanc summit attempt three months ahead and a guide on Instagram offers a 3-day package at €1,500 — the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix charges €2,400+ for the same itinerary. His profile shows summit photos, fake testimonials, and a UIAGM-looking logo. He asks for the full €1,500 by wire transfer to "secure the August date."

On day two of the climb, somewhere above the Refuge du Goûter at 3,835m, the weather turns. Your "guide" is visibly exhausted, can't read the conditions, and starts arguing with another climber. By nightfall you're alone in a whiteout near the Bosses Ridge with no rope skills, no emergency shelter, and a guide who has descended ahead "to get help" without you. This has happened repeatedly on the Goûter Route — French Mountain Police (PGHM) have rescued multiple parties abandoned by unlicensed guides above 3,000m in the past three winters. Real Mont Blanc guides hold IFMGA / UIAGM (International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations / Union Internationale des Associations de Guides de Montagne) certification, carry a credential card with photo and registration number, and are insured through the Compagnie des Guides or an equivalent professional body. Without that certification, you have no recourse for compensation, no rescue insurance, and no legal accountability if the guide's incompetence kills you. French courts have fined operators of unlicensed guiding over €26,000 in documented cases.

The defense is to verify the IFMGA card before paying anything. Book Mont Blanc and any Chamonix high-mountain itinerary only through the Compagnie des Guides de Chamonix (chamonix-guides.com), Chamonix Mountain Guides (chamonix-mountain-guides.com), or another bureau with verified IFMGA-certified guides — and ask to see the guide's UIAGM/IFMGA credential card with photo and registration number before any payment changes hands. Verify the certification on the IFMGA registry (ifmga.info) — every legitimate guide is listed with photo and country. Real guides also produce proof of professional liability insurance (responsabilité civile professionnelle) on request. Refuse cash-only payment, refuse any "let's avoid the bureau fee" pitch, and walk away from anyone who can't produce both the card and the insurance certificate. PGHM (Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne) for mountain emergencies: +33 4 50 53 16 89.

Unqualified "ski instructors" advertise online at €40–€80/hour vs ESF's €60–€120 official rate — some take advance payment and ghost, others actually conduct lessons without French ski-instructor certification on challenging Brévent / Grands Montets / Argentière terrain with no insurance, and French courts have fined operators €26,000+ for employing them.

You're planning a Chamonix ski week and want private lessons. ESF Chamonix (École du Ski Français — the French national ski school, the wide presence on every French slope) charges €120/hour for a private instructor; you find a Facebook ad offering "experienced Chamonix ski instructor" at €60/hour. The profile shows summit photos, claims "20+ years experience," and asks for €240 (4 hours) by Revolut transfer to "lock the dates."

Two outcomes. In version one, the "instructor" never appears at the meeting point, your messages go unanswered, and the Revolut payment is irreversible. In version two, the instructor actually shows up — but he isn't certified by the French Brevet d'État (the legally required credential for paid ski instruction in France), takes you onto the steep red and black runs of Brévent or Les Grands Montets where his lack of teaching qualification puts you at injury risk, and carries no professional liability insurance (responsabilité civile professionnelle), so when you tear an ACL in a fall, neither he nor any insurer covers the medical evacuation, helicopter, or surgery costs. French law requires every paid ski instructor to hold a Brevet d'État (BE) or DEJEPS Ski certification; teaching without it is illegal under the Code du sport, and prosecutions have produced €26,000+ fines for operators. Real instructors with ESF, Evolution 2, or Oxygène Chamonix produce a "carte professionnelle" with a photo and a unique number registered with Direction Régionale de la Jeunesse et des Sports.

The defense is to book through verified ski schools with carte-professionnelle certified instructors. Book Chamonix ski lessons only through ESF Chamonix (esfchamonix.com), Evolution 2 Chamonix, Oxygène Chamonix, or another licensed school — verify the instructor's "carte professionnelle" with Brevet d'État or DEJEPS certification before lessons, and never pay cash to individuals advertising on Facebook or Instagram with no school affiliation. Established schools include insurance in the lesson rate; private freelancers with no school affiliation almost always don't. Ask for proof of liability insurance ("attestation de responsabilité civile professionnelle") in writing. Pay by credit card so chargebacks are possible if a no-show happens. After a no-show, file a Plainte with Police Nationale within 24 hours — the report number is required for any chargeback dispute.

Ski equipment theft from racks outside Planpraz, La Flégère, Les Grands Montets, Brévent, and the Aiguille du Midi Le 3842 restaurant lifts €500–€3,000 worth of high-end skis, boots, and poles in the lunch window — 90% of cases are "snatch and grab" where the thief identifies the target on a first pass and returns within minutes to take it.

You park your skis on the rack outside Le 3842 restaurant at the Aiguille du Midi summit station for a quick lunch. The skis are a high-end Volkl Mantra setup with Marker bindings, worth around €1,400 new. Boots and poles together add another €600. You go inside, eat for 45 minutes, come back out — the skis are gone.

The thief was watching the rack from across the deck. He walked along the racks once, identified your Volkls as a high-value target on a first pass, came back five minutes after you went inside, picked them up like they were his, and walked off toward the lift back down to Chamonix. Some thieves separate ski pairs to make a single ski less identifiable as stolen — they grab one ski now and return for the other later, or pair stolen skis with mismatched boots to confuse identification. The peak ski-theft locations in Chamonix: the rack outside Planpraz mid-station restaurant, the racks at La Flégère, the Les Grands Montets base lodge, the Brévent summit restaurant, and Le 3842 at the Aiguille du Midi (where high-end alpine touring setups are concentrated). Lunch window 12:00–14:00 is the high-density theft hour because everyone is inside at the same time.

The defense is to physically lock your skis and split the pair. Use a 4mm+ steel ski lock with a cable to physically secure your skis to the rack, separate the pair across two different rack locations so a thief can't grab both quickly, and store skis on the less-crowded side of any restaurant — and for high-value setups (€1,000+), use the resort's paid ski-locker service (Skicase Chamonix, Snowizard) at €5–€15/day rather than the open rack. Confirm your travel insurance or rental insurance covers theft up to the replacement value of your equipment — most homeowner's policies extend internationally for "personal effects" with photo proof. Photograph your skis with serial numbers visible before the trip. After theft, file a Plainte with Police Nationale within 24 hours; the report number is mandatory for the insurance claim.

Even legitimate-looking Chamonix Booking.com / Airbnb properties hit guests on arrival with €400+ "cash damage deposit" demands never mentioned in the listing — never returned at checkout — and "ski-in/ski-out" listings that turn out to be a 15-minute walk from the nearest lift, with on-arrival bait-and-switch from the listed apartment to an inferior substitute.

You arrive at a Chamonix apartment booked on Booking.com for €240/night, drag your suitcase up the stairs at 8 PM after the Geneva airport drive, and the host is waiting in the entryway. "Welcome — before I give you the keys, I need a four-hundred-euro cash deposit for damage. We just have to be careful with the new furniture. You'll get it back at checkout." It wasn't on the listing. He won't accept card.

You hand over €400 cash because at 8 PM with luggage and a tired family there's no realistic alternative. At checkout six days later he inspects the apartment, "finds" a small mark on a sofa cushion, and tells you €350 is being kept for "professional cleaning." You leave with €50 of your €400 back. The deposit was never about damage — it was a cash-extraction maneuver disguised as a refundable hold, and Booking.com's payment-protection doesn't cover side-payments made directly to a host. The "ski-in/ski-out" variant: the listing photos show snow against a building, the description claims direct slope access, but on arrival the actual property is a 15-minute walk from the nearest lift (Brévent, Les Grands Montets, La Flégère all have walking distances disguised as "ski-in/ski-out" by liberal definitions). The bait-and-switch variant: host messages 24 hours before arrival saying "the original apartment had a plumbing emergency, here's a substitute" and switches you to a smaller or worse-located unit.

The defense is to block side-payments and verify the address before booking. Refuse any "cash damage deposit" not pre-disclosed on the booking platform — every legitimate Chamonix host either includes the deposit in the platform's secure hold or doesn't ask for one at all, and any cash demand on arrival should be reported to Booking.com or Airbnb on the spot via the in-app help channel before paying. Verify "ski-in/ski-out" claims by checking the address on Google Maps with the nearest lift station as the comparison point — anything more than a 3-minute walk is not ski-in/ski-out. Read recent (last-90-days) reviews specifically looking for words "deposit," "cash," "different apartment," "not as advertised" — the worst hosts have consistent flag patterns. Document all communications in writing through the platform messaging system. Pay by credit card so chargeback is possible.

Tabac shops near Gare de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc sell "prepaid 5G SIM cards" marketed as 14 days of calls and data for €34 — the SIMs stop working within hours because they were already deactivated or never properly activated, the carrier (Orange, SFR, Bouygues) confirms the card is invalid, and the shop owner refuses any refund.

You arrive in Chamonix on a Saturday afternoon and realize your eSIM didn't activate. You walk into a tabac shop near the train station and ask for a prepaid French SIM. The owner pulls a sealed-looking package off a rack: "Orange, 5G, fourteen days, all the data — trente-quatre euros." You pay cash, he hands you the SIM, you walk out and pop it into your phone.

For about an hour it works. Then the data stops. Calls fail. You walk back to the tabac and the owner shrugs: "C'est pas mon problème, contactez Orange." You call Orange (3970) and the agent confirms the SIM was deactivated weeks ago — it was either pulled from a discarded customer return, sold past its activation window, or had a fraudulent registration that the carrier killed. Your €34 is gone, and the card never had any usable balance to begin with. Some variants sell expired-balance cards (the SIM activates briefly to prove it works, then runs out of credit within hours because the "14 days" was already consumed). The shops near tabac/PMU stalls around Gare de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc are the densest fraud zone because tourists arrive with urgent connectivity needs and don't have time to verify. Real Orange/SFR/Bouygues prepaid SIMs are sold at official carrier stores or at major points of sale (FNAC, supermarket) where the activation is verified at checkout.

The fix is to buy from official carrier stores or to use eSIM. Buy French prepaid SIMs only from official Orange, SFR, or Bouygues stores (not tabac shops near tourist arrival points), or pre-buy an eSIM via Airalo, Holafly, or your home carrier's roaming plan before you fly — and always ask the seller to activate and test the SIM in your phone before leaving the store. Geneva Airport has Orange and Salt counters in the arrivals hall that pre-activate SIMs at the point of sale. Keep all receipts and packaging. If a tabac SIM fails, call Orange 3970 from a working phone to confirm the deactivation status, then file a Plainte with Police Nationale within 24 hours and dispute via your card issuer if you paid by card.

Unlicensed "Geneva-Chamonix transfer" touts in Geneva Airport arrivals quote €100–€150 verbally then redefine the rate "per person not per vehicle" mid-route, add fake "fuel surcharge" and "border crossing" fees, or refuse to cross into France and abandon passengers at the Saint-Gingolph border — the legitimate range is €30–€40/person for shared shuttles, €150–€200 total for private vehicles.

You land at Geneva Airport on a Saturday and a man near baggage claim offers a "transfer to Chamonix, eighty euros, very fast." Your group of four follows him to a parking deck and climbs in. Twenty minutes into the drive, near Annemasse, he announces casually: "Yes — the eighty was per person. So, three hundred and twenty total." You're locked in a moving vehicle on the autoroute with no realistic way to stop the negotiation.

By the time you reach Chamonix the price has climbed to €420 with a "fuel surcharge" and "border crossing fee" tacked on at the last minute. He won't release the bags from the trunk until you pay cash. The variant scam: at the Saint-Gingolph border crossing, the driver claims his license doesn't cover France and demands an extra €100 to continue, or simply pulls into the rest area and tells you to find another way. The Geneva→Chamonix transfer market is real and worth significant money during ski season — the legitimate range is €30–€40/person for established shared shuttles (Mountain Drop-Offs, Alpybus, Chamonix Cabs), €150–€200 total for a pre-booked private vehicle through Alpine Fleet, Mountain Cabs, or similar bureaus. The arrivals-hall touts undercut the legitimate operators by ~30% on first quote, then make up the difference (and more) mid-route through redefined pricing, fake fees, or border abandonment.

The fix is to pre-book a verified company before landing. Pre-book your Geneva→Chamonix transfer through an established company (Mountain Drop-Offs, Alpybus, Alpine Fleet, Chamonix Cabs, Mountain Cabs) with written confirmation of the total price including all fees, vehicle type, and pickup details — and treat any verbal quote from a tout in Geneva Airport arrivals as a fraud setup, not a deal. Confirm whether the price is per person or per vehicle in writing. Use the official Geneva Airport taxi rank (around CHF 350+ for private to Chamonix) only as a last resort. The TGV Lyria from Geneva Cornavin to Saint-Gervais-le-Fayet (€30–€50) plus the Mont-Blanc Express to Chamonix (€8.10) is a fully public-transport alternative for around €40/person. After fraud, file a Plainte with Police Nationale on the French side or Geneva Cantonal Police on the Swiss side within 24 hours.

A stranger near Place Balmat or along Rue du Docteur Paccard "finds" a fake-stamped gold ring at your feet and offers to sell it at a "discount" (€20–€80) — the ring is brass with a fake "18K" stamp, the scam targets wealthy tourists concentrated during peak ski weeks, and the actual play is the accomplice who lifts your wallet while you examine the ring.

You're walking along Rue du Docteur Paccard in Chamonix center after lunch when a man bends down in front of you, picks something up off the pavement, and turns with wide eyes: "Did you drop this?" He's holding what looks like a gold ring with a faint "18K" stamp inside the band.

You shake your head — it's not yours. He examines it, looks impressed, and says "Lucky day for you — too small for me anyway, I'll give it to you for fifty euros, much less than its value." The ring is worthless brass with a fake stamp pressed in by the same crew that drops a fresh batch on the pavement every morning. Two plays run from here: in version one, you decline and he insists you take it as a gift then demands a finder's fee of €20–€30; in version two, you buy it for €50 thinking it's discounted gold. In both versions, the actual lift is the accomplice — while your eyes and hands are on the ring, a second person has stepped close enough to lift a wallet from a back pocket or unzip your backpack. The scam is more documented in Paris and larger French cities, but it appears in Chamonix specifically during peak ski weeks (Christmas, February school holidays, Easter) when wealthy tourists are concentrated and ATM withdrawals are higher than usual. Hot spots: Place Balmat, Rue du Docteur Paccard, the Chamonix town pedestrian streets, and the area near the train station.

The whole scam dies if you don't break stride. Don't stop or examine anything a stranger "finds" on the pavement in Chamonix — keep walking, say "Ce n'est pas à moi" without slowing, and keep one hand on your bag or wallet because the ring is the distraction, not the scam. If a finder physically blocks you, step into the nearest open shop, café, or hotel lobby — the crew won't follow into a venue with cameras. Carry your wallet in a front trouser pocket or money belt, and your backpack on your front in any Chamonix tourist corridor. Real lost-and-found in Chamonix goes to the Mairie at 38 Place de l'Église; nobody legitimate insists you keep a found ring or asks for a finder's fee.

"Plainclothes police" near Chamonix ATMs, around Place Balmat, and at parking areas flash fake badges, claim "anti-counterfeiting operations" or "security checks," and lift €100–€500 cash plus card numbers — the variant uses one distractor to engage you while a partner pickpockets, and real French police never ask to see a tourist's wallet on the street.

It's late afternoon near a Chamonix ATM and two men in plain clothes intercept you. One flashes what looks like a police ID for half a second — you barely register the badge before he flips it shut — and announces in firm English that there's an anti-counterfeiting operation in this area and they need to inspect your wallet to verify your bills.

If you hand it over, he thumbs through the cash, holds bills up to the light, palms €100–€300 out of the cash compartment, and hands the wallet back. You discover the missing money five minutes later when both "officers" are already gone. The team variant: one "officer" engages you in conversation about a "security check" while a partner steps close behind and pickpockets a wallet or phone from a back pocket or jacket. Real French police (Gendarmerie Nationale in Chamonix, since the town is in a rural commune covered by gendarmerie not police nationale) never demand to see a tourist's wallet on the street; they only verify identity documents (passport, ID card), and any wallet inspection is conducted at a station, not curbside. The crews work the Chamonix ATMs along Rue du Docteur Paccard, Place Balmat, parking areas around the Aiguille du Midi cable car base, and the train station forecourt during peak season.

The whole scam dies the moment you don't hand over the wallet. If anyone in plain clothes claims to be police in Chamonix, do not produce your wallet — show only a photocopy of your passport, ask to see the officer's "carte professionnelle" (legally required ID with photo and badge number), and insist on continuing any inspection at the nearest gendarmerie ("nous allons à la gendarmerie ensemble"). Real officers will agree without resistance; scammers will lose interest and walk off. Show ID through a clear wallet pocket if pressed but never hand the wallet itself over. Call 17 (police) or 112 (EU emergency) if the encounter escalates or they block your path — the Gendarmerie de Chamonix-Mont-Blanc is at 111 Route de la Mollard.

"Discounted Chamonix ski passes" sold via Facebook Marketplace, Telegram, and curbside touts near the Aiguille du Midi / Brévent / Les Grands Montets lift stations are altered legitimate passes (dates whited out), child passes sold for adult use, or full counterfeits — the lift gate's RFID reader catches them, you lose the €40–€80 you paid, and the on-the-spot fine is up to €999.

You arrive in Chamonix and a Facebook Marketplace listing shows a "6-day Chamonix Mont Blanc Unlimited pass" for €180 when the official price is €378 (Compagnie du Mont-Blanc rate, Christmas–March 2026). The seller meets you in the parking lot near the Aiguille du Midi cable car base, hands over the printed pass with a barcode, and takes €180 in cash. You walk to the lift gate. The reader beeps red: "Forfait non valide."

A Compagnie du Mont-Blanc agent intercepts you, takes the pass, and pulls you aside. The pass's RFID chip was already deactivated (it was a stolen multi-day pass that the original holder reported lost and got reissued, automatically killing the original chip), or the dates were physically altered with whiteout that the reader caught, or the printed pass is a complete counterfeit with a fake barcode. The agent issues an on-the-spot fine — France's Code des Transports allows fines up to €999 for fraudulent ski-pass use, with €120–€450 being the typical range — and you lose both the €180 you paid the seller and the access to the slope. Variants: "child" passes sold for adult use (the photo on the pass doesn't match), "senior" passes sold to under-65s, or seasonal passes with date alterations. Hot spots for sales: Facebook Marketplace, Telegram Chamonix groups, curbside touts near the Aiguille du Midi base, the Brévent télécabine, and Les Grands Montets cable car parking.

The fix is to buy only from official Compagnie du Mont-Blanc outlets. Buy Chamonix ski passes only at official Compagnie du Mont-Blanc ticket counters at each lift station or via the official website (compagniedumontblanc.com / montblancnaturalresort.com) — never buy from Facebook Marketplace, Telegram groups, curbside touts, or "discounted ski pass" advertisements, because the lift-gate RFID readers catch alterations and stolen passes immediately and the fine can hit €999. Pass-Liberté day passes and multi-day forfaits are sold at every lift base; the saving from a fraudulent secondhand pass is never worth the fine + lost access. Keep the official receipt as proof of legitimate purchase. Your hotel concierge can pre-arrange passes at official rates as well. After being scammed, file a Plainte with Police Nationale within 24 hours — the report is required for any chargeback if you paid by card.

Pickpockets work the Aiguille du Midi cable car (65 passengers crammed into a small cabin), the Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola, and the Brévent télécabine queues during peak season — they exploit the tight quarters and tourists' attention on the Mont Blanc views to lift wallets and phones, especially during boarding and at the cabin's mid-ride direction-change point.

It's a clear day and you're queueing for the Aiguille du Midi cable car at the Chamonix base station. The line snakes for forty minutes; the cabin holds up to 65 passengers and you're packed shoulder-to-shoulder for the 20-minute ride to the 3,842m summit station. Everyone's eyes are on the view through the windows as the cabin climbs over the Glacier des Bossons.

During the climb, someone presses against you "to get a better view" and you don't think anything of it. By the time you reach the summit deck and reach for your phone to take the iconic Mont Blanc shot, your jacket pocket is empty. The cabin tight-quarters press is the perfect cover for a lift — everyone is touching everyone, the cabin sways slightly, and tourists are entirely focused on the view through the windows. Some pickpockets ride the cable car as "tourists," lift wallets and phones during the ascent or descent, and disembark at the summit or mid-station to disappear into the crowd. The mid-ride pause at the Plan de l'Aiguille station (where the cabin briefly stops to switch cables) is the highest-density lift moment because passengers shift around in the small space. Same dynamics work the Panoramic Mont-Blanc gondola (across the Vallée Blanche) and the Brévent télécabine during peak hours. Theft also happens in the queue itself, where 20–40-minute waits in tight rope lines create the same lift conditions.

The defense is positional — keep valuables out of reach before you queue. Keep phone, wallet, and passport in a money belt or front zipped trouser pocket on Chamonix cable cars — never in jacket or back pockets — and during the cabin ride keep one hand resting over the pocket containing valuables, especially during boarding and at the Plan de l'Aiguille mid-ride stop. Wear a cross-body bag worn in front, not behind. Leave high-value items (passport, primary cards) in the hotel safe and carry only what you need for the day. Be especially alert in the queue itself — the 20–40-minute waits with tight crowd pressure are a known lift environment. After theft, file a Plainte with Police Nationale or the Gendarmerie de Chamonix within 24 hours.

Tourist-trap restaurants near Place Balmat, along Rue du Docteur Paccard, and at slope-adjacent Planpraz / Brévent restaurants present menus without printed prices, push €6–€8 bottled water when free tap is mandatory, add €4–€6 "terrace supplement" charges, and stack unordered bread and amuse-bouches as line items — a posted €25 menu lands at €55+ per person.

You sit at a sunny terrasse on Place Balmat with a view of the Mont Blanc massif. The waiter recites today's specials verbally — fondue savoyarde, raclette, tartiflette — without quoting prices. You order the fondue. Bread and a small charcuterie plate arrive unbidden. "Still or sparkling?" — Évian arrives. Two glasses of Apremont. The bill: €82 for one.

The fondue savoyarde was €28 (reasonable in Chamonix), but the verbal-special framing made you skip the printed menu where you'd have seen a €19.50 "Menu du Jour" available. The Évian was €7 (free "carafe d'eau" tap water is mandatory by law on request). The bread and charcuterie arrived as separate €4 and €6 line items you didn't order. The "terrace supplement" added €5. The card terminal pre-filled 18% gratuity French law doesn't require because service is "compris" by default. The slope-adjacent restaurants at Planpraz, La Flégère, Brévent, and Les Grands Montets have higher altitude pricing (€18–€25 burgers, €30+ tartiflette) that's partly justified by the operating challenge — but the tactics that pad bills with unordered items and verbal specials still apply. Reputable Chamonix spots one block off the main square (La Maison Carrier, Le Bistrot, Le Cap Horn, Munchies for casual) are transparent — the diagnostic is whether you're handed a printed menu with all prices visible before ordering.

The defense is to read carefully and ask explicit questions. Always ask for a printed menu with all prices before ordering, request "une carafe d'eau" (free tap water by law), ask the price of any verbally-quoted "daily special" before saying yes ("le prix du plat du jour, s'il vous plaît"), and decline pre-filled tip percentages on the card terminal — service is compris and tipping is voluntary in France. Eat one block off Place Balmat and prices drop 25–35%. Watch for "couvert," "service," and "supplément terrasse" lines on printed menus and check every line item before paying. If unordered items appear (bread, amuse-bouche), point them out before the bill arrives — legitimate Chamonix restaurants will not charge for items you didn't request. Read recent reviews on Google or TheFork before sitting down.