Read this before you get into that taxi!
 

We all know to ask the fare to our destination before we get in, right? Another way to protect yourself witout seeming rude is to find that little registration card that is posted in all taxis with the taxi number number on it and make a big deal about it "Oh, your taxi number xxxxx? Wow, that's a great number, I'm going to remember that! In fact, let me write that down, I think I'll play those lotto numbers tonight!It will let the taxi driver know you can identify him if necessary.

Wow, that is really obnoxious, in-your-face and rude (IMHO)! Your taxi driver already knows that you know that he has a prominently displayed number that you can take down if necessary. Mary, do you actually go through this charade each time you get in a cab?

I'm all for protecting yourself, and jotting down the taxi registration number and/or the driver's name is a good idea. But not all taxi drivers are idiots. If I were driving a taxi and you said that to me, my response would be, "don't worry, lady, I'm not a serial killer. I'll get you where you're going and I'm not out to cheat you." I do think the obvious tone of the statement you made is rather rude -- as it signals the taxi driver that you don't trust him. Do you really think he's going to fall for that lotto line?

Maybe I'm stupid, but in most cities in the US, can you actually get a fare quote before the trip? IN NYC it's metered so you can't. It depends on how far it is and how long you wait in traffic. I know in France I've gotten fares quoted before the trip but never in the US unless it's a gypsy cab. And if I was a cab driver and someone said something dumb about my taxi # I'd double the fare Same with Montreal, it's always been time/distance metered.

I sometimes do jot down the taxi's number in NYC just to be safe. However, I don't feel any need to announce that to the cab driver, which I do feel would be rude. It's just for my own protection should I find out later that there was something fishy with the fare I was charged.

In Washington DC there's a flat fare depending on to which zone you're going and what time of day it iss, no meters. It was changed over a few years ago because of fraud.

Actually Bob Levy reported in his column yesterday (Washington Post) that a woman (unknowledgeable on the flat fares) paid a gypsy cab driver $120 dollars to take her to a DC hotel. It was late at night and this proves that she should have written down all that information.<BR><BR>You've given good advice - perhaps you don't need to be tooo vocal about it.

LN,<BR><BR>I'm sorry, but anyone who will pay $120 from (I assume) a DC airport to a hotel in DC must be blond(just kidding) or brain dead. <BR><BR>Like it was said, one born every minute.<BR><BR>Curious

Well, in terms of the gypsy cab that charged $120, there was no registration card or number to jot down. Passenger should have known better than to get into a cab that doesn't post that information.

In NYC, you can ask a driver to give you an &quot;approximate&quot; idea of what the fare is. Most of them can tell you within $2-3. For NYC, one of the best ways is to know how you want to go. Get in the cab and say &quot;I would like to go to Central Park, please use Eighth Avenue&quot;.<BR><BR>

I once had a job in western NY involved with hospitality to foreign visitors, who sometimes arrived in NYC with no idea of distances. They would get in the cab at the airport and ask to be taken to Rochester or Syracuse or Buffalo. The vast majority of times, the cabbies would set them straight and get them to the train or bus station. Once in a very great while, I would hear that the cabby would charge them something outrageous, and once (just once) a student got taken to Manhattan and told it was Buffalo. But I also heard plenty of stories about cabbies who bought the foreign student a bus ticket out of their own money, and once a cabby drove the student all the way to Syracuse and refused to take any money for the trip. <BR><BR>That said, I can just imagine what a cabby would do if a foreign visitor jumped into their cab and started spouting what MaryT suggested. Probably take them straight to OffTrack Betting, or possibly Bellevue.

How I wish I had had the foresight to jot down the number of the taxi that took me, a couple of years ago, from my hotel in NYC to the Port Authority Terminal. I was catching the bus to go to Newark Airport. The hotel concierge suggsted a limo or car service, but I figured I'd be fine to just flag a cab outside. There were lots of them. The cab driver was very pleasant, the fare was reasonable, he was a good driver - and he drove off with my suitcase, my passport, and my plane ticket, all of which were in the trunk. I stupidly paid him before he opened the trunk release. Try to find the taxi you just got out of in a sea of yellow cabs at a bus terminal! The Port Authority police could do nothing, of course, and the New York Taxi Commission told me that the driver has a legal obligation to turn in anything left in the cab within 24 hours. My stuff never turned up, so obviously the driver knew what he was doing. I wouldn't go so far as to make a big deal out of taking the number down, but I would definitely take it down. And I wouldn't ever again be so dumb as to pay the driver before I have all my property. It was a good learning experience, and an expensive one.

Meesthare, another lesson learned (I hope) was not to have those important documents stowed in luggage and in the trunk of a cab - keep them ON you at all times. (Please understand, I'm not saying this excuses the cab driver, or that you deserved to have your belongings stolen!) Also, I agree with the above posters - if you feel you need to make a note of the taxi number etc. do so discretely, making the announcement MaryT suggested is certainly rude and insulting.

I guess I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt. I know this doesn't make you feel any better or make your loss any less significant, meesthare, but I strongly suspect the taxi driver DID NOT know what he was doing. I would suspect he drove away not remembering about the luggage, thinking of getting in line for his next pick-up. And once he found the stuff, he risked a big reprimand if he turned it in. Easier to ditch the stuff and pretend it never happened as he assumed there would be no way to track him down. Again, I'm not excusing him for doing that, but just trying to figure out why he wouldn't have turned the stuff in.

Patrick,<BR>I do appreciate your believe in humanity, but you're totally off on this one. Cab drivers find stuff in their cars all the time, they do not get reprimended for turning it in, infact they may be looking at possible rewards and maybe even a nice bonus from the company if for some reason the stuff turns out important enough to make the news with the companies name plastered all over the report. On the other hand if they fail to turn it in and the person did write down the info, s/he could face arrest and jail. So no, it's not easier to just dump the stuff, if the cabbie is honest, s/he will turn it in with no consequences, only possible rewards.

Please, AAFrequentFlyer, in the future let me live in my little world of believing in the human race -- don't work to destroy it for me!! LOL! I was sincerely hoping that a cabbie who turned things in WOULD be reprimanded for not being more alert.

Meesthare, you left your handbag, your passport, your plane ticket, and your luggage in the taxi? I can't touch this one.<BR><BR>Mary, not all cab drivers are out to rip you off. Most are hard workers trying to make a living. Don't be so hard on them ok?

Patrick,<BR>Don't give up - Keep the faith!!! This world needs more people like you, and definately less people like Mary.

I wasn't QUITE as stupid as it sounds, although I was stupid enough. I had been in NYC for only a couple of days. I still had my handbag - actually a backpack - with my wallet, money, credit cards, etc. with me. I should have had the plane ticket and passport in it as well, but I had a small carry-on briefcase-type thing that I put in the trunk with my (small) suitcase just because it was easier to toss it in there than pull it into the back seat with me. As I was paying the driver, I fully expected him to spring the trunk release (are Patrick and I equally naive??). He didn't, and drove off fairly quickly. The airline replaced the plane ticket, I got the passport reported stolen and replaced, and all I lost was a couple of days' worth of laundry, a nice briefcase, my journal (hope they enjoyed reading that) and my dignity. GoTravel, I appreciate your restraint! Whatever you're thinking, believe me, I thought the same thing. Amazing how I could have been so dumb. Most of my friends weren't quite as polite about it as you were.

<BR>Having taken NYC cabs for the past 20-something years, I have never run into any of these problems..am I lucky or what??<BR>But I also know there are many people who forget their belongings and they do get returned. Personally, if you are taking a trip and have luggage, I cannot understand leaving it in a car, and expecting the driver to remember, if you can't. <BR>The only time I have had a problem with a cab driver was in London, the first trip there, several years ago. Taking the cab back to the hotel, I saw the hotel as we circled around the block a couple of times, while the driver kept up a steady stream of conversation. Finally, seeing our hotel go by for the third time, I said he could let us out there and we would walk, since he was having such a hard time getting there. He was ungracious about it and was not tipped. That-fortunately-is my only &quot;bad cabbie&quot; story.

Meesthare, for what it's worth, on my first trip to the city years ago, my best friend spent the better part of the trip lecturing me making sure I didn't get robbed (this was when New York was a tough city), not to leave stuff in taxis, not to hang your handbag on the back of a chair, etc. She was riding in a taxi to meet me, pulled her wallet out of her handbag, paid the driver, set her wallet on the back seat of the taxi, got out of the car, shut the door, and watched her wallet drive off in the taxi. Don't feel stupid, you certainly aren't the only one.

Forgot to add, same friend did the exact same thing about 4 years ago and the cab company returned the wallet with everything intact!

There's a reason why a few years back TLC decided that those annoying tapes be played in cabs. It looks like people don't listen to them - they still forget stuff in cabs. FYI, the cab company does nothing to find the client, they make the driver take care of it.<BR>Mary dear, one word for you: you'll get what you give - the universe and human nature works such. I for one, would love to hear the results of your tactics, that might make a very funny thread.

This is hysterical. MaryT another way to protect yourself is swinging your handbag at anyone with dark straight across the forehead eyebrows. Perhaps you are not a traveler if you are this suspicious? What about engaging your driver in friendly conversation, mapping out your route before you go? Most cab drivers I encounter want to get to the destination quicker than I do. They want the next fare.<BR><BR>PS for anyone worried about loosing something in a cab you don't need to jot down any numbers simply ask for the receipt.

It's a good idea to know the taxi number, and not only for fair fare purposes. Once in Vegas a taxi cab's window was broken and permanently opened, it was windy, and I couldn't even say a word to the driver - he was on the cell phone during the ride! I complained, and I was surprised the authorities sent me an apology and informed that they pulled this taxicab out of service till it gets fixed. I remembered the cab company's name and the number on the side of the taxi.

getting the receipt works in Manhattan anyway. The cab number is on the receipt. If you make a habbit of this you don't have to worry about left luggage. BY THE WAY I have left things in cabs and had them returned. But that is nothing next to YoYO MA leaving his priceless chello and getting it back a couple of years ago.<BR><BR>Yes you can't expect a cabbie to remember your things if you can't. Also remember that they rent those vehicles and don't have the same one every day.

Cello that is

Mary: as a former cabbie during my college days, I would like to ask you what you think a fair tip is?<BR>My sense is that you enter a cab believing you're about to be cheated, and but for your cleverness you would be so when it comes to a tip you probably give a minimum amount.<BR>If I'm wrong it is only because your ideas and actions telegraph a certain type of person.