Counterfeit money from taxi driver

[DomoDomo]

Does this sound familiar? You hand the taxi driver a $500 peso note. He looks for change, says do you “do you have something smaller” and gives you back a fake $500. Or he takes the bill and returns a fake bill with a ripped corner. Saying he can’t take it because it is damaged. Pretty sure I picked up a couple bills this way.

 

[on the brink]

My wise old mother never let go of a large bill until they showed her the change.

 

[camberiu]

But hey, Uber is bad because it is unregulated and therefore unsafe, unlike the highly regulated cabs. /s

 

[toongeorges]

Does this sound familiar? You hand the taxi driver a $500 peso note. He looks for change, says do you “do you have something smaller” and gives you back a fake $500. Or he takes the bill and returns a fake bill with a ripped corner. Saying he can’t take it because it is damaged. Pretty sure I picked up a couple bills this way.

This practice existed when I first started coming to Buenos Aires 7 years ago and probably much before.

See https://baexpats.org/search/315842/?q=Taxi+fake+peso&o=date for older posts about taxi drivers and fake peso notes on the forum.

 

[Ries]

I have never had that happen to me.
However, at least a couple times a week, I have cab drivers round the fare down so they dont have to give you change.
If you add up all the cabs I have taken over the last ten years, I would say I have cheated the cab drivers out of several 500 peso notes.

No other city on earth I am aware of, do taxi drivers round down.
Twice last week, cashiers at chinos and kioskos rounded down too.
In the USA, try to imagine the clerk at a 7-11 or a gas station rounding down the total...

 

[semigoodlookin]

I have never had that happen to me.
However, at least a couple times a week, I have cab drivers round the fare down so they dont have to give you change.
If you add up all the cabs I have taken over the last ten years, I would say I have cheated the cab drivers out of several 500 peso notes.

No other city on earth I am aware of, do taxi drivers round down.
Twice last week, cashiers at chinos and kioskos rounded down too.
In the USA, try to imagine the clerk at a 7-11 or a gas station rounding down the total...

How are you cheating them out of the money? That suggests some sort of ploy from you and not them simply deciding to round down rather than make sure they have change. It does not happen in other cities because maybe the cabbies make sure they have change during the day. Either way, I always round up to the nearest 10 and tell them to keep the change. Same with Uber. Saves the confused looks, negotiations about who has change or the correct money. Taxi drivers in this country are generally a joke, but at the same time riding a taxi here is very cheap compared to other cities and so it is the classic situation of low salary poor work performance.

 

[Ries]

my point is simple- somebody whines that taxi drivers are evil thieves who will swindle you.
I respond with my actual experience- that they are the opposite- they actually will round down very often, taking less money than they should.

Most modern cab drivers in europe and the usa these days dont take cash. They only take epayments or credit cards, and therefore always get the right amount. Plus tips.

Personally, I usually do tip my taxi drivers.

But that doesnt change the fact that the paranoid feelings towards the vast majority of taxi drivers here are misplaced.

Certainly there are a few taxi drivers who will rip you off.
But very very few, and there are more taxi drivers here than almost any other city in the world.
And taxis here are very reasonable.
I would have to disagree completely about "poor work performance"- I talk to my taxistas, and most are not only extremely courteous, but intelligent and educated. I would rank their work performance quite highly, especially compared to the USA.

 

[on the brink]

Took a cab from the airport to Washington, DC, a $60 trip. Handed the driver a hundred dollar bill, and he acted indignant when I asked for the change. This, after he did not lift a finger to help with my luggage.

 

[semigoodlookin]

I would have to disagree completely about "poor work performance"- I talk to my taxistas, and most are not only extremely courteous, but intelligent and educated. I would rank their work performance quite highly, especially compared to the USA.

Some are polite and some aren't. However, almost none of them know where they are going and it is boring having to be a constant satnav for someone who should know the city. This is 80% of the time, especially when you leave the central barrios, which means 80% of the time I am doing at least some of their job for them. That is poor work performance. In other cities around the world, drivers know where they are going and how to get there.

 

[Silvie]

I think that is unlikely to happen if you get a Radio taxi like Premium or another company that you call.