Give the guys a break. They’re only trying to make a living in a VERY competitive industry (70k+ taxis in Taipei City alone).
I obviously don’t condone them ripping people off, but I’ve never been done by them (ripped I mean) and they can be a source of some very interesting conversations, especially the ones that have been at it for 20-30 years.
Most of them drive for at least 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, and some are at it for 15-20 hours!
The taxi drivers I’ve encountered so far in Taiwan have been among the worst in the world. Terrible drivers, rude, and constantly trying to rip you off. Even when they know where you’re trying to go they almost always take the long way or try to drive in circles.
True. The standard rate for a cab from Taipei to the airport should only be NT$600.[/quote]
True. I pay that for a driver in a fancy black Cefiro with leather seats to pick me up at home and deliver. They also do airport pickup -I just tell them date and flight- door to door. Nice.
It’s 900 nts for a 9 person van. You can also hire van/driver commbo for 4000 nts a day.
[quote=“maunaloa”][quote=“tash”]:lol:
maunaloa, great post and seems like you had great fun at his expense which would have eased some of the frustration. Excellent![/quote]
Thanks, tash. In the 'wan, all that stands between the otherwise fit expat and cardiovascular hypertension is a sense of humor.[/quote]
Now this is advice we can take to the bank. 
:bravo: :discodance:
You must look like a sucker. I’ve not experienced that here more than once or twice in 20 years. Try minicab drivers in the UK if you want rude ripoff artistes.
True. The standard rate for a cab from Taipei to the airport should only be NT$600.[/quote]
True. I pay that for a driver in a fancy black Cefiro with leather seats to pick me up at home and deliver. They also do airport pickup -I just tell them date and flight- door to door. Nice.
It’s 900 nts for a 9 person van. You can also hire van/driver commbo for 4000 nts a day.[/quote]
The rates for ‘limosine service’ varies so please don’t lose the head if the amount is not 600NTD and I have never been quoted such a low price, the lowest I have been quoted is 800NTD from the airport. It depends on the size of the car, time of day, how many passengers, which direction (to and from the airport) and if you booked in advance. There are companies that just provide this type of pre-booked service, they are usually not the yellow cab but of course sometimes maybe. The actual rate usually quoted by yellow cabs is 800-1000 to go to airport from Taipei.
The rate from the airport to city is high as they are metered and have a surcharge (around 1400NTD and more). That’s unfortunate and makes Taipei look expensive but at least they are legal and professional and use the meter correctly.
In my experience taxi drivers in Taipei will try and opt for the slightly longer route if let but usually won’t go the totally circular route. They will usually offer the choice of route in Chinese. Most of the time I’m more worried about their high speed driving than anything else (you can tell them to slow down, they just do that so they can pick up the next fair more quickly). I used to talk to them but less now as I couldn’t be arsed with talking with taxi drivers in general in any country.
Personally I think the government should pay half a subsidy to do some other useful work instead of them driving around in empty cabs all day polluting the environment and filling up the roads, even though it is very convenient to find one.
Again I agree with HHII, especially on the speed.
One afternoon I was late for class, so I took a taxi. It was driven by a very cute-looking lady, coiffed in a Japanese style, wearing cute white lace gloves, a cute matching head scarf, and long straight black hair to her waist. She looked like one of those big eyed dolls.
Don’t let her sweet looks deceive you. The woman’s driving would put a Le Mans pro to shame. We made it from Xindian to NCCU in 3 minutes. That’s
3
minutes. No red lights. No speed dampers. No limits. It was scary. I was sinking my nails to the seat, hanging on for dear life. I bumped into the front seat when we stopped, paid and stumbled hazily out of the car.
I was still late for class as I needed a few minutes to get myself together. Never again will I tell any driver to “hurry up please, I’m late”. I asked for it.
When taxi drivers pick longer routes and can’t give me a good reason, or bluff about knowing where the destination is (having said they know when we started out but later sheepishly turning around and asking if we are nearly there), I now tell them to stop, I get out, and tell them I’m not paying and state the reason why. None have challenged me or denied doing whatever it was that provoked my stopping the charade. They simply drive off.
My experience with rickshaw drivers in India is worse than with taxi drivers in Taiwan… by far.
Yes, I guess you’re right about that. I guess I just forget about how much I hated taxi/rickshaw drivers in other countries once I’m in a new place. Taxi drivers in Bangkok - particularly near touristy places - are atrocious.
I think it’s a general rule that taxi drivers are always among the worst drivers on the road, and drivers in any country will try to rip people off at least occasionally.
Ya know, this hasn’t happened often in the several years I have been here. It especially doesn’t happen when I give my address in Chinese. Tonight I was in Banciao and needed to go to Tuchen. Got a fairly clean cut taxi. I didn’t think much about the fair meter and basically sat back to relax and enjoy the ride. About half way there, I look at the meter and there are no numbers. I start a litenny of shit. He keeps going in a good direction. Ultimately I had to have him stop. He did not want to unlock the door but as I kept pushing the button and complaining, he did. He also saw me write his taxi number on the palm of my hand. Ultimately he stopped and I caught another cab. I will report him but remember to keep your wits about you and watch to make sure the meter is running. If not, bail and yell loud and long. They know better and know that their license depends on doing it right.
Funny, I was in a cab a couple weeks ago and wasn’t paying attention; I was wrapped up in a coonversation with the person I was sharing the ride with. Anyway, about halfway through, I see the cabbie reach down to start the meter; he’d forgotten it and didn’t say anything, just started it from where we were at that moment. When we arrived, I put the fare he asked for at about $70 less than it should have been and mentioned it to him. He just said, yeah, he’d been having a long day and forgot to hit the button when we got in. Pretty insistent about not taking the extra money I offered him. Bad luck, E.
90 pct plus taxi rides in Taiwan were ok for me.
Thanks for sharing this.
Shouldn’t that rather be:
Rule of thumb 2: Only enter old taxis, unscrached, hopefully clean. A bunch of flowers is a plus?
That’s the rule I followed at least.
I’ve had that happen a few times. On several occasions I’ve also had a cabbie lose his way and have to ask directions (either from me or a passerby or another cabbie), resulting in a longer trip than necessary, but he has deliberately cut the fare down to compensate.
I’ve also been driven by some annoying morons (including horrific spitters, smokers, and binlang chewers), who ignored my specific directions and took the the wrong way or the long way (or both). But fortunately they’ve been few and far between.
[quote=“naijeru”][quote=“Icon”]
Rule of thumb 2: Only enter new taxis, unscrached, hopefully clean. A bunch of flowers is a plus.
[/quote]
Shouldn’t that rather be:
Rule of thumb 2: Only enter old taxis, unscrached, hopefully clean. A bunch of flowers is a plus?
That’s the rule I followed at least.[/quote]
Now, this is a tough one. If it is old, it means it has survived, and there is no way it can survive intact.
However, you may agree with me that a significant dent -not the normal wear and tear- on a taxi discourgaes the driver from being extra careful. He’s already got a dent, you know…
Yes, I guess you’re right about that. I guess I just forget about how much I hated taxi/rickshaw drivers in other countries once I’m in a new place. Taxi drivers in Bangkok - particularly near touristy places - are atrocious.
I think it’s a general rule that taxi drivers are always among the worst drivers on the road, and drivers in any country will try to rip people off at least occasionally.[/quote]
Have you been to Central America lately? No roads, no street lights, no street names or addresses… Most taxi drivers do so illegally -not enough licenses, or money to bribe an official and get a license- and hence cars are 1. unregulated 2. tin cans.
However, they are also the main victims of crime, so they organize themselves. If your car is stolen, you have a better chance of ever seeing it back by reporting it to the taxi drivers.
Nevertheless, it also means that if you get in an argument with a taxi driver, a simple radio code red call will bring 25 mean macho guys armed with machetes and guns and tire irons.
The simplest solution to deal with the occasional lying and thieving cab driver, if you’re not pressed for time, is to make him take you back to where you got in. If he calls the police, you can legitimately and legally say you obtained no benefit from him. That’s even more in your favour if he tries to get physical and you call the cops.
Another thing to do when a driver deliberately runs up the metre, and time is not important, is to sit in the cab at the destination until he calls the tourist bureau. Telling someone in English to tell the cab driver gives you both a potential witness, and a way to argue the price. Just as important, by sitting in the cab without paying yet (getting out would constitute theft, staying in doesn’t), the cab driver is losing money by not being able to collect another fare. If he can’t make money and he’s desperate, he’ll smarten up and charge you an appropriate fare.
Also carry a pen and paper, or at least on your cell phone, and jot down the cab driver’s number and the license plate. It’s on back of the front passenger seat, so it’s easily found. And make sure he knows you’ve done that, then go file a complaint.
Also, if you’re really ticked off at a corrupt driver, don’t slam the cab door as you get out, which could be seen as vandalism. Leave it open so the driver has to get out and close it himself.
Above all, don’t do anything inappropriate or illegal. It’s easier to say you haven’t done anything wrong when it’s true.
[quote=“Sleepyhead”]The simplest solution to deal with the occasional lying and thieving cab driver, if you’re not pressed for time, is to make him take you back to where you got in. If he calls the police, you can legitimately and legally say you obtained no benefit from him. That’s even more in your favour if he tries to get physical and you call the cops.
[/quote]
Careful with that kind of assumption. You may very well find that the police and eventually a judge (if it comes to that) don’t agree with your assessment of the facts. If the cab driver got you to the destination you asked and you decide that he’s trying to cheat you and tell him to go back to your point of departure the legal analysis will be that he provided you a service to get from point A to point B and then provided you a second service to get you back from point B to point A. The two services do not annul themselves. Whether he tried to cheat you and whether or not you stepped out of the taxi between the two trips are immaterial considerations when it comes to decide whether service has been provided or not.
The situation might be a little better if the driver did not get you to your destination. You could argue that it was clear the driver did not know where he was going and thus was not able to deliver on the promise of taking you to point B, etc. Still, this is an uphill battle.
The only thing the potential witness will be able to do is report the content of the phone conversation. He won’t be able to testify that the driver tried to screw with you. Pretty weak testimony.
[quote=“Sleepyhead”]
Also carry a pen and paper, or at least on your cell phone, and jot down the cab driver’s number and the license plate. It’s on back of the front passenger seat, so it’s easily found. And make sure he knows you’ve done that, then go file a complaint.
Also, if you’re really ticked off at a corrupt driver, don’t slam the cab door as you get out, which could be seen as vandalism. Leave it open so the driver has to get out and close it himself.
Above all, don’t do anything inappropriate or illegal. It’s easier to say you haven’t done anything wrong when it’s true.[/quote]
The rest of your advice, I agree with.
I would think twice, heck, I would think at least ten times, before getting really confrontational with a driver. As much as it sucks to get cheated, at which point it is worth getting into a battle, legal or otherwise, with the driver?