Taxi Ripoffs

[Silver Star]

A foreign woman, a first time visitor was charged $400 from EZE to Recoleta! Keep your guard up!

Yikes! I have heard similar stories (Charged $500AR) like that, that's partly why I started a Lincoln Town Car service down here in Buenos Aires!

Fred.

www.silverstarcar.com

[El Queso]

Yeah, it must be the monopoly. I looked on the map and I am about 30% farther out than EZE is from the center of the city. We can both be reached from any point in the city roughly the same, each on a major highway.

I can get a remis out here that will drive in to town and pick someone up from Recoleta and drop them off at my house for 85 pesos - just had it done today in fact. I'm sure it's the same to just about anywhere else (as far as rough rate per kilometer) except for to and from the airport.

One of these days soon I will need to take a remis to the airport for a trip back to the States. I'm sure I will pay two different prices for each of leg of the trip - cheaper going and much more expensive returning.

[ComeOnDown]

Do all meters have this capability? It seems to me like it would be a good idea to always ask for it. If everybody did that I think it would make cab drivers more honest. (Although so far as I know I have never had a problem.

Bob

Most fleet taxis I. E. Radio Taxi Premium, Taxi BuenViaje, Radio Taxi Gold have a meter that can print out a receipt. However, you have to ask for it as it is not a usual practice for Porteños to get receipts for their cab rides so the drivers are not used to it.

I don't know about the privately owned taxis as I generally don't ride them. Maybe its just me but I have feeling that their meters and their sense of honesty is questionable since they are not answerable to anybody.

[Mr Vice]

I told all of them to get fucked! Hailed another. We decided on 70 pesos to Recoleta. A metered ride to EZE was 64 pesos. BTW, Ezezia Taxi is up to 98 pesos!

I guess they know they have a monopoly market and they are using their advantage. I was also forced to pay 98 ARS from EZE to Belgrano (but in all fairness I could have taken the bus, if I had not been such a creature of comfort)

[AllIWantIsLove]

For the first time ever, anywhere, when I was paying the taxi driver yesterday he pushed a button on the meter and it printed a small receipt, called "Ticket Pasajero". It identifies the driver / cab. So later if I discovered that he had given me counterfeit bills I could report him. Or if I discovered that I had left something in the cab maybe I'd have a shot of being able to get it back.

Do all meters have this capability? It seems to me like it would be a good idea to always ask for it. If everybody did that I think it would make cab drivers more honest. (Although so far as I know I have never had a problem.

Bob

[Aqualung]

But only if you tell me how to say it in Spanish.

Con una creencia sicópata de que son dueños de la calles. Hahahahahahaha

[Daddy Rulz]

I agree with everything you say but I especially loved that quote! May I use it?

But only if you tell me how to say it in Spanish.

[Aqualung]

(albeit with a sociopath belief that they own the roads)

I agree with everything you say but I especially loved that quote! May I use it?

[Daddy Rulz]

A couple months ago, a gabby taxista forgot to turn his meter on and I noticed at probably 6 pesos worth of ride. Coincidently, the rates had just gone up and he was saying he hadn't gone in yet to get the meter changed, too big a line up. I think the ultimate meter charge was around 12 pesos and he said that was good enough and fair for his lack of attention.

I gave him a 20.

MAG

The vast majority of taxi drivers (Tacheros) are honest hard working professional guys (albeit with a sociopath belief that they own the roads) who are well trained, helpful, and for the most part congenial. These precautions are for when you run into the 5% or so that are hard working scum bags.

[MiddleAgeGuy]

A couple months ago, a gabby taxista forgot to turn his meter on and I noticed at probably 6 pesos worth of ride. Coincidently, the rates had just gone up and he was saying he hadn't gone in yet to get the meter changed, too big a line up. I think the ultimate meter charge was around 12 pesos and he said that was good enough and fair for his lack of attention.

I gave him a 20.

MAG

[Jackson]

I agree with Dogg and DR, and I would emphasize that having change is the most important defense against rogue taxis. Simply put, if you're in any situation wherein there is any sort of fare dispute, just toss whatever you believe is the correct fare into the taxi's front seat and walk away.

Every now and then I get a taxi with a rigged meter. In these situations I just sit quietly until we arrive at my destination, exit the taxi (never pay while in the taxi) and hand him approximately what I know the fare should have been (and perhaps less) and just walk away. Of course the driver will start his usual protestations, even exiting the vehicle to confront me, which is when I tell him that I know that the meter is rigged, but if he wants to pursue the issue further then I will be pleased to take up the issue with the police. At this point there is usually some exchange of colorful unpleasantries as he drives away.

Thanks,

Jackson

[Daddy Rulz]

That they turn on the meter, if they say "pay me what you think the trip is worth" give them 25 centavos. Just fucking demand that they turn on the meter or pull over, as simple as that.

Second since change is war in BsAs seperate your money, keep big bills, 100s in one pocket with like 2 two peso notes. When you go to a place you know will have change (Coto, Jumbo, big places not the corner kiosko) whatever the charge is pull out the wad with the 100's and 2 two peso bills, look stupid as a gringo should and just say "no tengo cambio". This will insure at the end of the night you have enough 10s and 20s to pay taxis.

[El Perro]

Lesson learned. Do NOT take taxis right outside boliches. The chances of running into a problem of one sort or another increases exponentially.

[Bazzerboy]

I was taken. Very slick taxi driver about 55 years old. Waiting outside Mahados in Rcoletta.

I got in. Meter wasn't on. Said he would charge me 25 pesos to Palermo. (I knew the story and it was more then the actual fair but let it go as my stomach wasn't feeling good)

When we got to Palermo I handed the guy a 50 pesos. He took it and I don't know how he did it but the guy was a wizard and changed the 50 into a 5 practicaly in front of me.

I was amazed and here is where the killer blow came (hindsight is a *****) I went to my wallet for the 50 that I knew I had and when it wasn't there I realised I had no change and gave him 100 pesos. He took it and began counting out my change in 5 and 10s up to 50 pesos. The original amount I thought I had given him. I got out and as soon as I did I knew something was up. I closed the door and stood there smiling at him. He sat there looking at me for about 20 seconds and I just stood there smiling. I knew that he had done the switch-er-oo but at that time didn't realize that he had short changed me as well.

He roll's down the window and asks me if everything is OK and tells me there is some good clubs around the corner before slowly putting the car in gear and dawdling away. I just stood there smiling.'

Fuck me the Guy was smooth and fuck me I was slow.

So I got taken for 95 pesos which I'm sure will come back in the form of a horse passing the post and he'll get a burst tyre some night.

A little jet lag and a little tipsey with a bit of a bad stomach and not paying attention one late night in be. A.

[Aqualung]

Keep in mind that about 70% (my estimation) of cab drivers aren't the owners so any trip they do with the metre off is stealing from their employer who can't check this at the end of the day with the metre unless the car is equipped with sensors beneath the seats that indicate the amount of kilometres someone has been sitting there. That pleasant, talkative chap that drives you to the airport from the car owner's point of view is a thieving fucker that is stealing from him.

The shorter the journey is the more the cabby earns. They make more on the "bajada de bandera" (pulling the flag down) than on the kilometre driven (plus the fact that they use less gas) So the "scenic route" you all worry about is not to the driver's benefit. It's just because he's an idiot that doesn't have a clue where he's going at least during normal working hours. Notice how the tortoise becomes a hare once he has a passenger. He wants to get rid of the fucker as quick as possible so as to pick up someone else!

Highway tolls are paid by the passenger unless specifically (and this means SPECIFICALLY) indicated otherwise. If you refuse to pay, most cab drivers' attitude is to jump in the cab and get back on the streets and make it up. They get robbed at gun point, all they made in the day stolen, their cars stolen. Even shot or stabbed so a gringo refusing to pay for the "peaje" is just part of their daily losses! Big deal two or three pesos more or less!

A few years ago, it had become quite dangerous to take a cab in Bs. As. Crooks were stealing cabs from their owners and driving them till they picked up a likely client and robbing him or taking him to an ATM machine to empty the account (the reason why banks justify the limits they have on withdrawals) but strict police controls and collaboration with the legitimate cab drivers put an end to this type of crime or at least lowered it drastically.

Today, the percentage of crooks driving cabs is low but, of course, shit happens.

But I do recommend rather than work a deal with a cab driver you either take a remise or some other fixed price means of transportation for long hauls or a radio cab for shorter trips around town!