Taxi taking the long road - here is what I did.

[Scoobyqueen]

I recently spend some weeks in China.

[Senzhi]

In Shanghai, the taxi driver charged me 20 RMB from the Bund to the airport. I gave him a generous tip.

In Shantou, for the same distance (about 20-30 minutes drive), they charge me 100 RMB (locals only 50 RMB).

I've also been once physically attacked in an attempted robbery from a taxi driver here. Luckily, some security guys from the company where I had to be came to my assistance.

No need to say I avoid taking a taxi here.

I've also took once a taxi from a hotel in Rizhao to Qingdao airport. Normally a 2 hour drive. Agreed price: 500 RMB, as I was in a hurry to catch my flight. The driver cleverly avoided all motorways, apparently knew all the shortcuts (I guess I've seen all the small villages in between), was flying high speed (my first Chinese rally experience) ... and managed to drop me off at the airport in a little less than an hour and a half.

But I admit my heart came only to a rest once I was on the airplane.

[renzhe]

In Luoyang, we got warned by an elderly local couple that the taxi drivers rip tourists off (not only foreigners, also waidiren). Apparently, the scenic route is very popular there.

What we did when in towns my girlfriend wasn't familiar with was to ask how much the ride will cost in advance. Not arrange a fixed sum, but simply ask for an estimate. If the guy doesn't want to say, or names a ridiculous sum, look for a different taxi. This is a relatively safe way of keeping potential cheaters at bay. If he says it's 15-20 RMB, he can't ask for 50 later. He keeps his mianzi (you didn't automatically assume he would cheat you, you were just asking for a rough estimate), and you have a more peaceful ride.

And the taxi drivers in Wuxi are by far the craziest bunch. Red lights, lanes, fences, sidewalks, nothing will deter them from taking a shortcut. You also have to pay 1 kuai extra, some sort of petrol tax. At first I thought it was a foreigner tax, but apparently everybody pays that there.

[gougou]

No problems in Beijing ever, but when I was on a business trip to Dongbei a couple of weeks ago, nobody seemed to use meters. And the one guy that did (that was in Jinan just before actually) had his meter tuned somehow, it was running way too fast. After we had reached a hundred RMB after not too long a ride, I used my mobile to check online how much the fare should be and offered him just that (or a bit more, even) when we arrived. He wasn't happy at all and claimed that would be unacceptable. When I asked him to come inside with me and let the hotel staff clarify how much it should cost, the 100 RMB suddenly seemed much more acceptable...

Even if somebody is trying to cheat me, I wouldn't want to leave him completely empty-handed. They still don't have an easy life, after all, and if I'd have them take me to the city for nothing, it'd feel like I was cheating them.

[Senzhi]

Even if somebody is trying to cheat me, I wouldn't want to leave him completely empty-handed. They still don't have an easy life, after all, and if I'd have them take me to the city for nothing, it'd feel like I was cheating them.

Shantou taxis don't have working meters neither. However, if I see cheating, I will offer them the fair price once. If they try to discuss, negotiate or enforce, I leave without paying. Sooner or later people have to learn that the only long-lasting business is a fair business. If they have to learn it the hard way, so be it.

[hidden12345]

quote: I've also been once physically attacked in an attempted robbery from a taxi driver here. Luckily, some security guys from the company where I had to be came to my assistance.

No need to say I avoid taking a taxi here.

Wow, this sounds like an interesting story; Care to go into more detail, I myself would love to read about it.

I've never had any bad experiences with taxi drivers, but have had a couple "forget" to turn on their meters until halfway through the ride, and as a result, use their own calculation for a total fare. If they mouth off, call them by their name (listed on their nameplate), you can mention their company name as well just to let them know you're taking notes, and tell them bluntly, you pay the number on the meter.

If you're friendly with cabbies, 99% will be friendly back, have loads of info on hard to find things around town, and give you business cards looking for repeat business. The desire for repeat business is the soul of the rule of law, and 苗头 that China really is headed in beautiful direction.

[zozzen]

the trouble i faced was that the driver wanted my money but refused to go the place i wanted.

Last month when i was in Sichuan, I paid overwhelmingly good price for the driver to get into an affected area. The driver accepted willingly. I asked a few time to confirm if he really want to go and hope him to understand clearly that the price I paid was for his risk taking, not just for his driving skills. If he had big safety concerns, he shouldn't go, but he insisted he was ready.

After a day driving we arrived in the very rural area, he refused to go further, and kept saying 'it's dangerous...very dangerous. can we go back?' . There were actually a lot of cars and trucks coming from the place i wanted to go, but he still refused to go, until i said "fine, i won't pay you a penny".

[Senzhi]

Wow, this sounds like an interesting story; Care to go into more detail, I myself would love to read about it.

Taxi trip to a client. Client offered a taxi refund on providing receipt, but with a maximum fare, which was more than reasonable. Negotiated and agreed the fare with the taxi driver.

However, upon arrival, the taxi driver suddenly no longer agreed and pointed to the taxi meter, which showed an increase of a nice 300%. So much for fair business.

Of course I refused, and paid him the agreed fare. Trying to leave the taxi, he grabbed me and agressively tried to get my wallet as well as my hand luggage. We got into a fight, which attracted the attention of the security guards. Luckily they were aware of my arrival, and freed me out of the situation.

I was lucky. Not sure if I would have been that lucky if I would have been in the middle of nowhere.

But I no longer travel alone in a Shantou taxi.