SG Complains

Touts, cabbies taking tourists for a meter-less ride

According to AsiaOne Motoring:

THREE men in crisp white shirts and black trousers lingered near the Clarke Quay taxi stand.

They had their eye on foreigners who were standing about, looking uncertainly at the snaking queue that had formed.

Then one of the trio approached a Caucasian in a business suit. ‘Taxi, sir? I can help you call one. No need to wait.’

His price: $20.50 to Kovan, a ride which would cost about $9. Deal done, he whipped out his walkie-talkie to page for a cab. When no one responded after two minutes, he turned to the Caucasian and said: ‘Sir, price too low. No one pick up. You up price to $30.50?’

Bargain struck, he paged for a cab again and a Comfort Mercedes-Benz cab arrived in five minutes. This was 9.30pm on Tuesday, a scene that The Sunday Times found was being repeated at tourist spots such as Boat Quay, HarbourFront, Orchard Towers and Jurong BirdPark at different times of the day.

At each site, at least five foreigners were lured into the touting trap by Mercedes-Benz cabbies and their humbler cousins during the 11/2 hours The Sunday Times team was there.

Besides the tout system, which was most blatant at Clarke Quay, the other ruse is for cabbies to sit in their taxis with the ‘on call’ sign switched on. They decline to pick up passengers but change their minds when a distinctly foreign-looking person asks for a ride.

Haggling starts.

A flat fee of $30 to $50 is negotiated. Some cabbies add ‘surcharges’ such as ‘area’ taxes. The meter, as far as these cabbies are concerned, does not exist.

The chief culprits are Mercedes-Benz limousine drivers, who ‘trick foreigners into thinking they have to pay more for their ride because it’s a nicer car’, as Comfort cabby Michael Tan, 57, put it.

But their smaller counterparts – the Hyundais and Toyotas – are also getting in on the act.

The taxi touting problem is riding on the crest of Singapore’s tourist numbers, which hit a record 952,280 in July this year.

Of the 50 foreigners The Sunday Times spoke to, almost all said they had been ripped off at least once by cabbies who refused to charge by the meter.

Two were driven to write to The Straits Times Forum Page in the past two weeks.

When New Zealander Kevin Pledger, 49, tried getting a cab at South Bank Road’s taxi stand last week, 10 Mercedes cabbies approached him, but none would charge by the meter.

‘To go to Dover, they wanted to charge me $25 or $10 plus the meter fee,’ said the technical manager who has been working in Singapore for 17 years.

‘That’s insane. It wouldn’t be more than $10 if we go by meter.’

Mr Pledger, who goes to Batam regularly on business, told The Sunday Times that he has also been harassed by touting cabbies at the HarbourFront taxi stand. They pounce on foreigners coming out of the ferry terminal, refusing to pick up passengers in the taxi line.

‘My expat friends and I all think that the problem has got worse in these two years,’ he said.

While expatriates are more savvy about the taxi system, tourists are led up the garden path.

Argentinian doctor Milagros Rodriguez, 28, who was in Singapore with three friends for a holiday, did not know Singapore cabs charge by the meter.

‘I thought touting cabbies is the normal practice here, just like in Thailand,’ said Ms Rodriguez who was spotted at Boat Quay. She was quoted a flat rate of $15 for a ride to the nearby Raffles Hotel, almost three times the usual rate.

Australian Ken Howard, 32, who has been in Singapore for two months, has given up flagging down cabs along the road.

He gladly pays the $4 booking fee when he needs a cab.

‘Why waste your time bargaining with the drivers when I can call for a cab and still pay less?’ said the IT manager.

While foreigners are being taken for a ride, the locals are upset that they are not even getting one.

Mr David Segar, a project officer who had been waiting more than 20 minutes for a cab at Boat Quay on Wednesday night, said: ‘It’s so frustrating when empty cabs refuse to pick up locals, but only stop for tourists who pay ridiculous prices.’

- This reminds me of the time when my friends and I waited for 2 hours in a taxi stand at UE Square at night 10pm only to see a yellow cab park right in front of us with the “On Call” sign and stepped out and stare at us!! HOLY XXXX!!! I had to go to him and stare at him…! The queue is getting long and no taxi for 1 hour and 30 minutes and I finally flare up and ask my friends to go to main road and flag a cab (another 30minutes lost)…instead of waiting in the TAXI QUEUE…

The system here have to change! Like what I had complain previously….

I had talked to some taxi drivers and they are feeling the pinched recently about all the recent hikes in oil and taxi rentals…they are complaining why they need certain upgrades in the taxi and the differences in taxi rental…some are only driving few hours a day and cannot afford to go home empty handed…

I had complained to the drivers about my situation and he suggested a “share a cab scheme” where 3 or 4 passengers shares a cab going to the same general direction and fixed a price for all 4 passengers…this save money for each passenger if divided by 4 person and save time for taxi drivers….

The problem is if the taxi drivers state a super high price for the trip…then this is totally out of the question….illegal even. This is not the way to do businesses.

I have some suggestions for taxi companies…

1. Abolish compulsory upgrades for taxi drivers to GPS, Road Finder, Computerized system that add to their operation cost in the rental
2. Remove call cab charges and put in feedback reward systems instead. If a taxi driver get 1 positive feedbacks get a bonus points that can be converted to cheaper taxi rental for the day or month.
3. Safety bonus of the month with petrol vouchers. No accidents for 3 months

If the call cab charges are removed, put a button for “press for cab” at all taxi stand and let the taxi nearby to get the signal that there are demand at that taxi stand.