Dealing with Difficult Taxi Drivers

[DC_20833]

I do not own a car here in Perú and have no plans to own one so I use the efficient and well trained taxi force here in Lima. No I haven't been drinking too much Pisco.

About a year ago I got really fed up with haggling over fares with drivers because I pay Peruvian prices for cabs not foreign so it takes a bit longer for me to get a cab so I employed what I call the New York method of fare negotiation which I simply get into the cab and tell the driver where I want to go and when I get there I have exact change and give him the Peruvian rate. It works 95% of the time when it doesn't I will pay what the driver wants if it is within 1 sole and that has always worked.

All went well until a few nights ago until I had a driver who wanted to charge me 10 soles to go locally within San Isidro which is 5 soles. I was in a bad mood so I didn't feel like getting ripped off so I tried the following: The taxi was not licensed so I told the driver OK your taxi is not licensed and I don't really want problems so if you want to make one you can have your 10 soles and SUNAT can take your taxi. He drove off and I didn't even have to pay 5 soles I was willing to pay.

I have found the legal taxis in Lima always charge the correct rate and it is the illegal ones who try to rip you off so I will continue to use this method. Any thoughts.....

[stuart]

It's a bit weird just getting in the cab. The best method is to simply state the price you're willing to pay to go to the location right off the bat, then refusing to negotiate. If a fight is put up, you take the taxi behind, or the one behind that, or as you walk away the first will just relent.

[rama0929]

It's a bit weird just getting in the cab. The best method is to simply state the price you're willing to pay to go to the location right off the bat, then refusing to negotiate. If a fight is put up, you take the taxi behind, or the one behind that, or as you walk away the first will just relent.

Yep. Pretty much the best way to deal with difficult taxi drivers. That said, I can see the OP's point; sometimes you just want to go without a hassle or haggling or getting ripped off.

[tupacperu]

It's a bit weird just getting in the cab. The best method is to simply state the price you're willing to pay to go to the location right off the bat, then refusing to negotiate. If a fight is put up, you take the taxi behind, or the one behind that, or as you walk away the first will just relent.

exactly!! get the price upfront.

[Icachico]

This is why I'm an advocate of taking the bus or combi vs. taxi when possible.
Fixed route, cheaper with no haggle fixed price, more comfortable & safer.

[DC_20833]

This is why I'm an advocate of taking the bus or combi vs. taxi when possible.
Fixed route, cheaper with no haggle fixed price, more comfortable & safer.

Yes, generally I use the buses too and I agree they are more comfortable provided you can get a seat. Safer? I have seen some buses that were pretty unsafe. I usually try to get the seat by the driver to avoid being pick pocketed and have seen non functioning seat belts. Given the way they drive I want a seat belt that works !!

[Icachico]

This is why I'm an advocate of taking the bus or combi vs. taxi when possible.
Fixed route, cheaper with no haggle fixed price, more comfortable & safer.

Yes, generally I use the buses too and I agree they are more comfortable provided you can get a seat. Safer? I have seen some buses that were pretty unsafe. I usually try to get the seat by the driver to avoid being pick pocketed and have seen non functioning seat belts. Given the way they drive I want a seat belt that works !!

Sure, petty theft can happen anywhere.
But I think you're more of susceptible of a mugging and robbery in a taxi than on a bus where there are usually plenty of eye witnesses.
I was referring more to the physicality of a bus vs. taxi in regards to safety.
Those buses are built like a tank.
If I have to be in a wreck, I'd rather be in a bus rather than one of those little taxi cab cars.
Then there is the nostalgia factor.
When I ride one of those old school buses, I reminisce about being a student or fantasize about being in the Partridge Family.

[chi chi]

I was referring more to the physicality of a bus vs. taxi in regards to safety.
Those buses are built like a tank.
If I have to be in a wreck, I'd rather be in a bus rather than one of those little taxi cab cars.
Then there is the nostalgia factor.
When I ride one of those old school buses, I reminisce about being a student or fantasize about being in the Partridge Family.

When taking the bus, I also try to take one of those old American schoolbuses. They are cool. You always see them in the movies.
When it comes to combis then the technical state of the combi isn´t the most worrying but the driving style of the driver. Especially late at night when they are racing against each other to be the first at the next busstop to pick up the last punters.

[JanD]

I don't know where you got the idea just to step into a taxi and pay what you think you should pay for a certain distance.
In Peru it is normal custom to negociate and have the price confirmed upfront.
A taxi driver can ask whatever he wants or seems to be reasonable to him.
Sometimes, f.i. when there is a lot of traffic, they charge (a bit) more.
On days like Christmas you also pay a bit more.
And of course, you ask and negociate and when a taxi driver asks far to much to start with, I won't even negociate, but ask with a big smile if he wants to become a millionaire and go to the next taxi.
I don't think it is very nice of you to threaten with SUNAT....
Just stick to the local rules, you're in Peru, not the USA....

And yes, I also prefer to take either a combi or the Metropolitano. It costs far less ( S/.1 to S/.1,50) and you get to your destination quite fast. And when it comes to petty crime: just take proper (not exagerated) care of your belongings.

And something else: don't forget to lock the door of the taxi and don't leave the windows open to wide.
My wife forgot and got robbed from her Iphone by three guys armed with knives when her taxi had to stop at a traffic light.
They tried to drag my wife out of the taxi while our daughter did everything to prevent this by holding firm on her mother and my wife fanatically fighting back.
Only thanks to a guy a couple of cars behind, who came out of his car and shot a couple of times in the air with his pistol, the guys ran away (only) with my wife's Iphone.
OK, this won't happen everywhere in Lima, but as a precaution it is better to lock the door.....

[rama0929]

And something else: don't forget to lock the door of the taxi and don't leave the windows open to wide.
My wife forgot and got robbed from her Iphone by three guys armed with knives when her taxi had to stop at a traffic light.
They tried to drag my wife out of the taxi while our daughter did everything to prevent this by holding firm on her mother and my wife fanatically fighting back.
Only thanks to a guy a couple of cars behind, who came out of his car and shot a couple of times in the air with his pistol, the guys ran away (only) with my wife's Iphone.
OK, this won't happen everywhere in Lima, but as a precaution it is better to lock the door.....

Where'd this happen?

[chi chi]

And something else: don't forget to lock the door of the taxi and don't leave the windows open to wide.
My wife forgot and got robbed from her Iphone by three guys armed with knives when her taxi had to stop at a traffic light.
They tried to drag my wife out of the taxi while our daughter did everything to prevent this by holding firm on her mother and my wife fanatically fighting back.
Only thanks to a guy a couple of cars behind, who came out of his car and shot a couple of times in the air with his pistol, the guys ran away (only) with my wife's Iphone.
OK, this won't happen everywhere in Lima, but as a precaution it is better to lock the door.....

Where'd this happen?

Sounds like it happened somewhere in Brussels.

[renodante]

SUNAT, the Nuclear Option.

[caliguy]

And something else: don't forget to lock the door of the taxi and don't leave the windows open to wide.
My wife forgot and got robbed from her Iphone by three guys armed with knives when her taxi had to stop at a traffic light.
They tried to drag my wife out of the taxi while our daughter did everything to prevent this by holding firm on her mother and my wife fanatically fighting back.
Only thanks to a guy a couple of cars behind, who came out of his car and shot a couple of times in the air with his pistol, the guys ran away (only) with my wife's Iphone.
OK, this won't happen everywhere in Lima, but as a precaution it is better to lock the door.....

Where'd this happen?

Sounds like it happened somewhere in Brussels.

[caliguy]

i prefer the large buses, as I have bumped my head too many times getting off and on the combis

[JanD]

Happened in Chorrillos, near Los Certes/Escuela Militar

[Icachico]

I don't know where you got the idea just to step into a taxi and pay what you think you should pay for a certain distance.
In Peru it is normal custom to negociate and have the price confirmed upfront.
A taxi driver can ask whatever he wants or seems to be reasonable to him.
Sometimes, f.i. when there is a lot of traffic, they charge (a bit) more.
On days like Christmas you also pay a bit more.
And of course, you ask and negociate and when a taxi driver asks far to much to start with, I won't even negociate, but ask with a big smile if he wants to become a millionaire and go to the next taxi.
I don't think it is very nice of you to threaten with SUNAT....
Just stick to the local rules, you're in Peru, not the USA....

And yes, I also prefer to take either a combi or the Metropolitano. It costs far less ( S/.1 to S/.1,50)








and you get to your destination quite fast. And when it comes to petty crime: just take proper (not exagerated) care of your belongings.

And something else: don't forget to lock the door of the taxi and don't leave the windows open to wide.
My wife forgot and got robbed from her Iphone by three guys armed with knives when her taxi had to stop at a traffic light.
They tried to drag my wife out of the taxi while our daughter did everything to prevent this by holding firm on her mother and my wife fanatically fighting back.
Only thanks to a guy a couple of cars behind, who came out of his car and shot a couple of times in the air with his pistol, the guys ran away (only) with my wife's Iphone.
OK, this won't happen everywhere in Lima, but as a precaution it is better to lock the door.....

Scary stuff.
Who knows, they might have been trying to kidnap your wife and hold her for ransom.

[sbaustin]

Sometimes, f.i. when there is a lot of traffic, they charge (a bit) more.

This is really just an estafa to get more money out of you and you should refuse to pay more if there is traffic. In fact, I think the best response to this is to ask the taxi driver how many times they lower their price when there is less than normal traffic.

Getting into a taxi and just expecting it to work out without negotiating is only going to get you (OP) in trouble one day or minimally you'll end up just wasting a lot of your time dealing with a bad situation. Threatening a taxi driver with Sunat is kind of a joke. If the taxi driver decides to call your bluff and the police come (it won't be sunat), I really wonder if the police will be on your side or the taxi driver's side considering you are the one with the money or access to money. Just my two cents on it.

[JanD]

This is really just an estafa to get more money out of you and you should refuse to pay more if there is traffic. In fact, I think the best response to this is to ask the taxi driver how many times they lower their price when there is less than normal traffic

.

Yes of course, but you must see those things as a game of negociating in a relaxed way: I'm bargaining for one or two sols, sometimes it annoys my wife a bit
Give and take a bit, that's all
If "no agreement", still "good friends" and try the next cab.

[sbaustin]

Yes of course, but you must see those things as a game of negotiating in a relaxed way: I'm bargaining for one or two sols, sometimes it annoys my wife a bit
Give and take a bit, that's all
If "no agreement", still "good friends" and try the next cab.

I realized I probably responded to something different than what JanD meant. I've had taxi drivers mid route try to charge me more money due to traffic which is extremely annoying to me and was really what I was responding to. Sorry for the confusion. I generally don't get annoyed by negotiating with drivers prior as it is all part of the game.

[JanD]

I've had taxi drivers mid route try to charge me more money due to traffic which is extremely annoying to me and was really what I was responding to.

Sofar this did not happen to me. But that indeed would annoy me to.

[Kelly]

I've never had a driver try to change the rate mid-ride, but I have had them start complaining about the traffic, in an attempt to make me feel bad.

I learned that trick in the Bahamas, around the town square in Nassau where the ladies braid hair for tourist. They offer a low price, then half-way thru the job start talking about how it's taking much longer than they thought, your hair is longer/thicker.... Sorry, but you braid hair all day every day and you can't tell how long/thick someone's hair is (as if it mattered!)

My ex-landlady did the same - gave us low rent (which included elect and water), then a couple months in started complaining to us that we used too much lights and water, that the bills were too high. And then the dollar dropped... Sorry, we've got a contract. Raise it when we renegotiate.

It's the same old game played out in a million ways in a million cities around the world and it does absolutely no good to be annoyed by it - either choose to pay it or don't.

[Ericramirez]

I've never had a driver try to change the rate mid-ride, but I have had them start complaining about the traffic, in an attempt to make me feel bad.

I learned that trick in the Bahamas, around the town square in Nassau where the ladies braid hair for tourist. They offer a low price, then half-way thru the job start talking about how it's taking much longer than they thought, your hair is longer/thicker.... Sorry, but you braid hair all day every day and you can't tell how long/thick someone's hair is (as if it mattered!)

My ex-landlady did the same - gave us low rent (which included elect and water), then a couple months in started complaining to us that we used too much lights and water, that the bills were too high. And then the dollar dropped... Sorry, we've got a contract. Raise it when we renegotiate.

It's the same old game played out in a million ways in a million cities around the world and it does absolutely no good to be annoyed by it - either choose to pay it or don't.

Even I never faced such problem but I do have some complaints regarding rough driving