Ian

I am in Italy this week and have noticed that the program "Striscia la Notizia" on Channel 5 is showing viewers how you can get ripped off by Roman taxi drivers (official registered white car drivers). They have filmed (using hidden micro cameras) the trip from Fiumicino airport to Hotel Congressi at EUR (modern area of Rome). They use Japanese tourists (who do in fact understand Italian I believe) pretending not to know the language well (smatterings of Italian and English) nor to understand the Euro. For exactly the same journey not only do they fiddle on the fare getting the passenger to pay 3 or 4 times the correct fare but they fiddle the change and even try to switch notes to confuse the passenger. Horrific stuff. After one trip when the passenger was well and truly ripped off the taxi driver even had the cheek to advise her to avoid the unofficial blue and black cabs but always to select the official white ones to avoid a "fregatura" (a rip-off)! All these episodes were filmed and this was only to EUR a short distance away. God knows what amounts they manage to rip off on longer journeys.<BR>FIRST of all BEWARE - check that the meter is switched on, check the currency he asks you to pay in (make sure he does not try to get you to pay Euro based on the Lire amount showing on the meter - which by pushing a button will switch the Lire to Euro), make very clear what you hand over to him, get a receipt (showing amount, departure and destination and # of the taxi) and ALWAYS get dropped off in front of the hotel so that if there is a dispute someone from the hotel can intervene.<BR>SECOND does anyone out there have some real horror stories to pass on so that your contributions when passed on to "Striscia la Notizia" may provide some small contribution to ending this disgusting practice.

christina

ciao ian!<BR><BR>not a real horror story but something nasty anyway. a half year ago i took a taxi (one of the very rare times i have to take one), together with an english friend. we talked in english together, destination was short. the taxidriver added 10'000 lire extra and made a quite high price. then i started to talk in italian that it's not possible for this short trip paying such a lot and i wonder why he added the 10'000 lire extra (as it was at 7.30 p.m. so it couldn't be the night tariff). he looked with big eyes and told me something about the luggage (we didn't had any) and then he changed the whole price and told me that his tax-o-meter is ruined...... well..... we paied the real price and i told him he should pay attention, not everyone talking in another language doesn't understand italian. he got a red face and drove away. <BR><BR>but i could tell you a real horrortrip what i had in nyc. or the one in rome. i guess it can happen everywhere and in europe it's the best time now. where a lot of people have to get used to the euro (not only tourists). <BR><BR>have a nice day, even if it's raining...<BR><BR>christina

Sjoerd

What's new? In every country I have been to so far (about 60 different countries on all continents), taxi drivers tried to rip me off. One lesson I have learned: Most taxi drivers will ask: "Is this your first trip to XYZ, Sir?", when they pick you up from the airport. My standard answer is always: "O, no, I have been here some 10 times already for work".

Santa Chiara

Bravo, Ian, for picking up on this story. The only advice I can give is to ask your hotel before you arrive what the going rate is, then you have an idea of what it should be from the airport (another reason to take the train, at least in Rome).

sam

Italy was the only place I was ever ripped off OPENLY by a taxi driver. (I'm sure that in some places, they've inflated prices without my knowing it). <BR><BR>In Naples, though - the driver just blatantly handed me back the incorrect change - by, I don't know - 2 or 3000 lire. I just looked at the money - looked at him - and held my hand out for the rest. He rolled his eyes, but gave it to me. <BR><BR>

c

NOT a horror story-<BR><BR>Lost in NYC, blisters on my feet, hail a cab and ask for my destination, he tells me I am only about 4 blocks away! But my feet hurt so much I tell him to take me there,I cannot walk another step..He drives me to the door, and when I go to pay him, he will not accept the money.

Buzz

I guess we're getting off the thread here, but in relation to "C's" message...I made my first trip to NYC last April and had been actively warned by friends to be careful of the cabbies.<BR><BR>We took cabs every day, several times a day, and while some of the cabbies were downright sullen, none tried to rip us off and most were more than helpful.<BR><BR>Once we got in and mentioned two different places we were heading. The driver advised us that it would be cheaper to go to point B first and then just walk to A.<BR><BR>A pleasant surprise.<BR><BR>Also have never had a bad experience in a London taxi.

Grasshopper

Greece! Every taxi driver seemed to be out to get an extra ounce of flesh. Right from the airport we were warned by a local who directed the driver for us and told him how much to charge! The fare for the trip seemed reasonable and I don't remember what exactly it was but we got back roughly half of what we gave him in change. Later, in the bar we tried to change that bill to something smaller for tipping and found out that it was a Romanian bill, not worth more than 50 cents. Welcome to Athens. <BR><BR>Every taxi driver tried to get double the fare one way or another. And the funny thing was the fares were so cheap we wished they had just doubled it and not tried to cheat us!<BR><BR>But the ultimate was the Taxi Cab and the Taverna Scam. Every time we asked to be taken to a restaurant that had been recommended, we were told by the driver that we didn't want to go to that restaurant, it was now closed, or it was lousey, or some other reason... let him take us to a restaurant by the sea; a restaurant where his mother and sister eat, a restaurant where we will have authentic Greek food! Each time we declined, warry of the approach. Finally, in a moment of exhaustion and eager to get out of central Athens we acquiesed... take us to the restaurant "by the sea". The sea turned out to be a taverna by the marina. Seemed good enough. The head waiter ran across the street and opened the taxi door "Welcome, Welcome! Come in!" We crossed the street and went down a few steps to a charming taverna on the water's edge (outdoors of course). At first we were given menus in Greek which were quickly taken away and the waiter say's "let me make a suggestion....some nice grilled shrimp and calamari, a Greek salad to share, and a grilled "some kind of fresh fish that we got to look at on a plate before it was cooked"..... Sounded great. Simple fare. Plus a bottle of white wine.<BR><BR>Bottom line, the meal cost $125! Every other similar meal we had was less than $40. (And the waiter told us the tip was NOT included) When we returned to the hotel and asked our bartender about it he threw up his hands and shook his head. "Don't tell me! You fell for the taxi and the taverna scam!"<BR><BR>In summary, it was a great meal, a lovely view, a pleasant meal and we've spent $125 for good meals plenty of times. It just was very annoying to be caught in the scam. Incidently, we still had to pay the taxi driver both directions!<BR><BR>I should point out that my brother-in-law tells the story of the Greek taxi driver who chased after him to give him his change.

Ruth

Every guide book warned us that we would be ripped off by taxi drivers in Warsaw, but we found the reverse was the case. We were staying some distance from the centre, and in every case we were driven by the most direct route, and charged exactly the fare on the meter. And that fare was about a quarter of what we might expect to pay in the UK for a similar distance!

kate

Prague<BR><BR>They just make it up as they go along. I travelled the ame journey eve fo 4 days and was charged anything from $3 - $15

kate

Sorry about the dodgy spelling. My computer doesn't like working on Fridays

Kathleen

First trip to Paris,taking a taxi from the Gare du Nord to our hotel on Ille St Louis, I said the name and address of the hotel, the driver pretended he did not understand...ok-so my French is not perfect!-I wrote down the number, he said he didn't understand!! Numbers still look the same in France as in the US...so when we got to the street, we made him cruise down the street while we read the numbers until he got to the hotel, that he knew all the time...but I do not consider this a "horror" story nor is it a "rude French" story-more like a typical Algerian cab driver story

Barb

Last Oct. in Rome, my first trip, we got a taxi from the train station to our hotel, which was on a side street just off the Pantheon. The driver made a big deal about finding the place, but seemed nice and even gave us a "free" map. He dropped us off about a block from our hotel warning us to watch out for gypsies. We should have been watching out for him. He charged us 45,000L. Our hotel advised that the charge is usually 20,000L at the most for that trip.

Emily

That taxi and taverna story in Greece is SO reminiscent of what happened to ME in Greece, though it was a hotel rip-off, not a restaurant.<BR><BR>My sister came to visit while I was living in Italy, and we went to Greece. I had made reservations at a hotel in Athens for the night, and we were going to Mykanos the next morning on the ferry. After 24 hours of travelling (long story), we take a taxi from the airport, and the driver insists on taking us to his friend's hotel that is "near the ferries" so that we won't have to travel far the next day. I had a sinking feeling but didn't say anything -- my sister is much older than me, and at the time I was 20 years old and not used to speaking up. <BR><BR>Well, first the taxi fare was about $45 dollars, which seemed normal by US standards, but later of course we found out it should have been about $5. And of course the hotel was a RAT HOLE. I have stayed in everyhting from the scary 24-hour-party hostel in Budapest where I refused to shower because the bathroom smelled to a suite at a Ritz-Carlton, and never have I seen this much filth. We decided to make the best of it and just sleep and wake up early and get outta there. I was unpacking my stuff, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a FOOT LONG BUG crawling up the wall. I screamed, I told my sister, pack your things we're leaving, went downstairs and demanded our money and checked out. We got some ice cream and found a 24-hour diner to wait out the night. By the time we got to our lovely, clean and inexpensive hotel in Mykanos, I had been awake 48 hours, she 72. But we felt a million times better and loved the rest of our trip!<BR><BR>An aside -- the worst ripoff on taxis occurs in my hometown of Washington, DC. For those who haven't had the nightmare of using our cabs, it is a system that is based on an outdated model (thank you Congress!) that makes fares in the business district cheap, but when you go anywhere else (even the residential districts downtown) ridiculously expensive. I pay, on a regular basis, $8.40 to go 10 blocks.<BR><BR>But that's a whole other thread.

Emily

That taxi and taverna story in Greece is SO reminiscent of what happened to ME in Greece, though it was a hotel rip-off, not a restaurant.<BR><BR>My sister came to visit while I was living in Italy, and we went to Greece. I had made reservations at a hotel in Athens for the night, and we were going to Mykanos the next morning on the ferry. After 24 hours of travelling (long story), we take a taxi from the airport, and the driver insists on taking us to his friend's hotel that is "near the ferries" so that we won't have to travel far the next day. I had a sinking feeling but didn't say anything -- my sister is much older than me, and at the time I was 20 years old and not used to speaking up. <BR><BR>Well, first the taxi fare was about $45 dollars, which seemed normal by US standards, but later of course we found out it should have been about $5. And of course the hotel was a RAT HOLE. I have stayed in everyhting from the scary 24-hour-party hostel in Budapest where I refused to shower because the bathroom smelled to a suite at a Ritz-Carlton, and never have I seen this much filth. We decided to make the best of it and just sleep and wake up early and get outta there. I was unpacking my stuff, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a FOOT LONG BUG crawling up the wall. I screamed, I told my sister, pack your things we're leaving, went downstairs and demanded our money and checked out. We got some ice cream and found a 24-hour diner to wait out the night. By the time we got to our lovely, clean and inexpensive hotel in Mykanos, I had been awake 48 hours, she 72. But we felt a million times better and loved the rest of our trip!<BR><BR>An aside -- the worst ripoff on taxis occurs in my hometown of Washington, DC. For those who haven't had the nightmare of using our cabs, it is a system that is based on an outdated model (thank you Congress!) that makes fares in the business district cheap, but when you go anywhere else (even the residential districts downtown) ridiculously expensive. I pay, on a regular basis, $8.40 to go 10 blocks.<BR><BR>But that's a whole other thread.

Ian

I really wanted to create an Italian only thread though I seem to have indulged some participants in a little geographical meandering. Can we limit ourselves to Italy per favore!<BR>Similar threads could of course be started under the specific country you have mentioned - sono troppo pignolo?

theodora

Well, my friend and I stayed with an Italian friend who lived not far from the downtown Rome core about 5min drive, and he had one of his Italian friends meet us at the airport and take the taxi to his place. Even though the taxi driver could clearly tell our escort was an Italian, he knew my friend and I were tourists and the ones paying. We didn't do our research on how much the taxi from the airport to downtown cost, so when the meter read 45,000 lire we accepted it, but then he doubled the taxi price to 91,000 lire saying that it is double the price with luggage! Our Italian escort never argued over it but complained to him, and when our hosts/friends found out how much we paid they were quite ashamed that we were ripped off in their country like that. I have learned to always do my research on the rates and how much it will cost to get from the airport to my hotel since then. Since then too, I have learned to ask how much from A to B before agreeing to use a particular taxi.

Grasshopper

Italian only? Well, excuuuuse me! Let's see.... once a taxi driver in Sorrento scolded my friend for setting her backpack on the hood of his Mercedes. And then there was the one who told me "just speak English!". <BR><BR>On the whole I have found Italian taxi drivers to be very good and have nice clean cars. Unlike.... but then, I'm not allowed to tell you that here.

peter

we had a taxi driver in athens try to drop us off very removed from the fronmt door of the hotel and charge us 3-4x the going rate. we insisted that he drop us at the fronf door. there we asked the doorman what the rate should be and informed him of what the dtriver wanted. hte doorman read him the riot act and told us what to apy and no tip. the taxi driver made a rude jesture to us and i promptly called him in greek several uncomplimentary things. the doorman chuckled and said i bet that asshole will not be back here for a while

Emily

I also have little experience with Italian cab drivers who cheat customers. They've always been very honest with me. Like I said, I've had many more problems elsewhere, particularly in the US.<BR><BR>I think that, in general, Italians get a bad rap for things that are just not true.<BR><BR>Only once did I encounter a bum deal, that was in Milazzo (Sicily), going between the train station and the ferries to the Aeolian Islands. It is a flat fee of 20,000 lire, no meters and no signs. Didn't matter who you were, that's what the price was. I didn't mind, though. It was an equal-opportunity ripoff.