Question Are You Tired of the Taxi Ripoff?

[living4experiences]

I've just arrived in Cozumel and have been ripped off four times by taxi drivers! I thought I did enough due diligence to be informed about what I should be paying from point A to point B, but the taxi Mafia has little care about adhering to their rules. The first three drivers refused to provide me the rate card. The fare should have been 260 pesos from Casa Mexicana to Iberostar. The first two drivers quoted 350 pesos to which I countered with the correct fare. The price was lowered to 300 pesos. Once I mentioned I wanted to see the rate card, they all of a sudden didn't understand what I was talking about. I walked away and headed down the road on foot to catch another taxi. Driver number three said 300 pesos and also refused to provide the rate card. Now I was running out of time to get to my destination, so I paid the $300 pesos.

Coming back from iberostar, with no option, I was forced to pay the $300 pesos from Iberostar to Casa Mexicana. Once we arrived, I waited till my stuff was out of the van and then I asked the driver for his rate card, to which he did not know what I was talking about. I then typed the question into Google Translate and showed it to him. He looked dumbfounded and wouldn't answer, even seeing the question in his own language. I then went to the front of the van and took a picture of his license plate. He conveniently found a rate card. This rate card was in USD for cruise ship passengers only, for transportation from the International and Punta Langosta Piers. It occurred to me now that the drivers are charging regular tourists the cruise ship passenger rates all the time. This was not a zone rate card and it was not in Spanish or Pesos. When I asked to take a photo of the rate card, he refused. Now I'm angry and telling him that by law he needs to show it to me. He finally let me get a photo, but he didn't make it easy and wouldn't let me touch it. He says that Casa Mexicana is at Punta Langosta Pier. So somehow that means I'm a cruise ship passenger?

I would be interested to know what the community here does in these situations in Cozumel. Besides taking a picture of the license plate, what other photos should one gather in the event of filing a formal complaint? I'm not saying I would take time from my vacation to do so, but this might be enough of an intimidation to the driver that I'm not a customer that will be taken advantage of.

I'm thinking that Maybe I should just get in the cab, knowing the price, and pay it at the destination. If he has a problem with it, then that would be another issue.

 

[ggunn]

Write them a letter with your great suggestions. I am sure you will see immediate action taken.

Do I detect a note of sarcasm?

You know, I have been posting solid information about Cozumel on ScubaBoard for a few years now, and it always seems that some visitors who come to the island once a year for a vacation think they know tons more about the island than I do. I am done. I am signing off and going to leave it to folks like Gordon who know it all, so that they can do a better job than I do to help you. Good luck.

FWIW, never have I ever claimed to "know it all" or even to know more about the island than your exalted self.

Also FWIW, although I don't get to Cozumel more than once or twice a year, I have spent nearly two years cumulatively on the island; that's not as long as you have, true enough, but it's not nothing.

 

[sefuchs]

In true Scuba Board fashion we have posted 108 replies to topic that has already been discussed in many other posts. This horse is dead, for now...

We should get back to topics that are more important to this forum, like restaurants .

We could go back to the "Best" dive operator but @jonhall took our club away and ruined all the fun.

 

[Dan G]

Regarding the fair sheet. Is there a zone south of 23 Sur and west of 10 Sur? We tend to walk almost everywhere we go, so my taxi experience is limited.

 

[NDL_Diver]

Regarding the fair sheet. Is there a zone south of 23 Sur and west of 10 Sur? We tend to walk almost everywhere we go, so my taxi experience is limited.

That is out of city and beginning of South Zones (Sur zone 1, 2 ....)

 

[Dan G]

So from Blue Angel to El Moro which is in Zone 2 (??), it would be $95MX to get to downtown and then another $27MX for Zone 4 to Zone 2?

 

[NDL_Diver]

So from Blue Angel to El Moro which is in Zone 2 (??), it would be $95MX to get to downtown and then another $27MX for Zone 4 to Zone 2?

Yes, but downtown is centro (square) is zone 1. So from Blue Angel to El Moro which is in Zone 2, it would be $95MX to get to downtown and then another $27MX for Zone 1 to Zone 2?
We would give 150 that includes tip because we don't do coins. Paying in USD is going to be $12 US (122 MXN) since taxi are giving 10 to 1 exchange.

 

[living4experiences]

After 12 pages of posts, this has turned into a "how much does it cost" thread and veered off my core question. My trip is ending and we've had nothing but constant cheating on everything dealing with money, scooter rental for my friends, dining, taxis. I still never got a rate card from any driver, so I relied on El Graduado's information. The drivers are rude. They continue to say the rates have changed, but nobody can prove it. This has spoiled the experience here. The outright fleecing of tourists is so blatant, and it's the worst that I've ever seen. Mexico=ladrones. It will be a long time before we return, if ever.

 

[MidOH]

Bummer. Man, I'm sorry.

I don't mind paying high rates for quality. But getting ripped off is insulting. Fighting words to me. Because I feel like, they're thinking, "look at this idiot."

CZM drops lower on my list. Under Grenada now.

 

[DivingLane]

After 12 pages of posts, this has turned into a "how much does it cost" thread and veered off my core question. My trip is ending and we've had nothing but constant cheating on everything dealing with money, scooter rental for my friends, dining, taxis. I still never got a rate card from any driver, so I relied on El Graduado's information. The drivers are rude. They continue to say the rates have changed, but nobody can prove it. This has spoiled the experience here. The outright fleecing of tourists is so blatant, and it's the worst that I've ever seen. Mexico=ladrones. It will be a long time before we return, if ever.

Hopefully Mexico will survive this

 

[Zane]

Other than the taxi to & from the airport, I rent a scooter the entire stay And don't have to deal with finding a taxi

constant cheating on everything dealing with money, scooter rental for my friends, dining, taxis.

Can you share how you were cheated on dining and scooter rental? Name & shame please, so we can all learn from your experience!