Counterfeit money from taxi driver

[perry]

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.

I tend to agree with you I have catched over 10000 taxi rides here in 10 years and have only had 10 bad experiences or less than 0.1% of all rides. The majority of taxi drivers are respectful , will go out of their way to let you off on your block, and round up fairs to your favour . Also many of them are a walking encyclopeadia of the city and will be happy to give you information if you ask them

 

[Ceviche]

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...

My experience with cab drivers in BA is EXACTLY the same. I use around 2-4 cabs a day. maybe for every 15 cabs I use in BA, 1 driver turns out to be dumb or a con. I will live with it. I would rate BA cab drivers amongst the best in the world after using cabs in over a 100 countries.

 

[semigoodlookin]

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

Maybe, but in London it wouldn't happen with any cabbie. So I only deserve a certain level of competence if I call for a cab instead of hail one on the street? It has nothing to do with whether taxi drivers are nice or not, I agree in most cases they are. Their job is not to be nice, it is to get people from A to B and know how to do that. Me having to give directions suggests they struggle with some aspects of their job. It's poor service if the customer has do part of the job, whether the service provider is nice and educated or not. In many cases they are also terrible drivers (Something that is true of taxi drivers in other cities, I admit).

 

[camel]

With Waze I don't care if the driver knows the way. Waze knows better.

 

[Ries]

London taxi drivers have the strictest rules of any on the planet. Not only is "The Knowledge", the test they must take, the hardest taxi test, (in fact, its one of the few taxi tests- many places have no test) but its considered to be one of the most difficult tests in any subject, globally.
So its kind of unfair to compare any other taxi drivers to London.
No other city comes close to its requirements.
NYC, for example, has a simple 25 question multiple choice quiz, about half of which you could get right without ever having been there.

Not sure what I "deserve", but one of the things I feel is pretty important anywhere, is that you realize what the actual situation on the ground is, wherever you are, and adapt to local customs.
Buenos Aires will never be London.

But its taxi drivers are well above average, globally, and problems are very very few.

 

[wineguy999]

London taxi drivers have the strictest rules of any on the planet. Not only is "The Knowledge", the test they must take, the hardest taxi test, (in fact, its one of the few taxi tests- many places have no test) but its considered to be one of the most difficult tests in any subject, globally.
So its kind of unfair to compare any other taxi drivers to London.
No other city comes close to its requirements.
NYC, for example, has a simple 25 question multiple choice quiz, about half of which you could get right without ever having been there.

Not sure what I "deserve", but one of the things I feel is pretty important anywhere, is that you realize what the actual situation on the ground is, wherever you are, and adapt to local customs.
Buenos Aires will never be London.

But its taxi drivers are well above average, globally, and problems are very very few.

I have to agree with Ries on this one...comparing all the taxi drivers in the world using London as the standard is unfair. It's like using Rolls Royce as the norm for automobile quality.

And my experience with BA taxistas is similar to others who have written in their support - I can recall less than ten who were undesirable, and for various reasons. Most were knowledgable, fun to talk with, and serious about their profession.

 

[Somewhereinba]

Sorry to say but they suck - Uber makes them look like degenerates. Old cars falling to peices, ripping you off, fake notes, drug addicts - I've had it all. My parents arrived and took at 5 minute taxi - accidentally gave the driver 500 pesos instead of 50 and took it without saying a word. Look how they behaved with Uber drivers using violence and bullying tactics. Have no time for them and use Uber where possible and have had nothing but good experiences, fair prices, driver history available, new cars etc. No comparison at all.

 

[semigoodlookin]

Sorry to say but they suck - Uber makes them look like degenerates. Old cars falling to peices, ripping you off, fake notes, drug addicts - I've had it all. My parents arrived and took at 5 minute taxi - accidentally gave the driver 500 pesos instead of 50 and took it without saying a word. Look how they behaved with Uber drivers using violence and bullying tactics. Have no time for them and use Uber where possible and have had nothing but good experiences, fair prices, driver history available, new cars etc. No comparison at all.

I agree, although I will say I think taxi fares here are very fairly priced and Uber is simply too cheap. When I take an Uber I often feel bad about how low the fare is. That said, Uber has shown how out of touch the taxi industry is and it would be wise for the industry to catch up. Driver history and a fixed price will have to become the norm at some point.

It does seem that most people value a good chat over the actual service being provided, so that's fine. However, I don't know many other services where simply being nice would be enough to suggest a good job is being done. I used London as an example because I lived there the longest, and am well aware it is the gold standard. Perhaps instead of saying oh well, London is London, the taxi industry here would be wise to at least attempt to copy the gold standard as much as it can. I also spent significant time in 27 other cities and B.A. is in the bottom five for driver quality. That's not including places I have vactioned where experiences have varied. Furthermore, I have not been in many places where the drivers are so eager to rip you off if they clock you as foreign or not knowing where you are.

I repeat, I am only concerned about if they know where they are going. I live across the road from Velez Stadium where there is a large Carrefour and a main route from B.A. to Provincia along Juna B. Justo. This stadium is probably the chief venue for large concerts in the city as well as its importance as a sporting location. 4 in 10 taxi drivers don't know how to get there. Asking for a less known location like a house address is painstaking and involves having to provide turn-by-turn navigation. Streets in Buenos Aires are long, there's really no excuse to not know how to get yourself at least onto the street. If you can't, whip out the satnav and let the machine do the talking, something taxi drivers seem reluctant to do and is another reason why Uber is popular.

 

[Somewhereinba]

I've had to use my phone to navigate for taxi drivers in BA. Also nearly got into a fist fight with a drug addict driver who tried to rip me off. Lets just say experiences can vary. Never had any such situation with Uber and have used it in ALL corners of the earth.

 

[Ries]

some people will complain about anything.
me, I take 2 to 4 collectivos a day. Taxis are kind of a luxury, especially since a collectivo is only 13 pesos or so- versus a pound and a half for a ride in London. I doubt London buses have diamond quilted vinyl curtains, etched mirrors, or filetedora paint jobs, though.