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]

When I toss something in the recycle bin other than an aluminum can I feel like there is no way it's going to make a difference. But I do it anyway.

Good for you; I do that as well but I'm still not going to get into an argument with a cab driver over 50 cents.

 

[nanches]

You are, for some reason, the one person who has been undercharged. I've never heard of this from anyone else. Perhaps the driver was experiencing a neurological event.


Because the taxistas do not want you to see the chart.


Because people are idiots? Ric is one of the few people who can walk into the taxi syndicate office and get them to hand him a rate chart. As his website explains, rates are different at the taxi stands at the ferry and at Chedrauí.


You already asked this. It's because the taxistas do not want you to see the chart.


I've only lived on the island for 12 years. Compared to me, he certainly does know it all. When he was at my place for burgers my local best friend was hanging on his every word as he was talking about things my buddy never even heard about growing up here. I wouldn't be surprised if he lived on the island before you were born.



Really, really far.

You remind me of the medical student who misquoted my own textbook at me, even when the resident pulled him aside to make sure he knew what was going on (and that I'd be grading him). Unlike me, Ric can't make you repeat a required 3-month rotation. Instead, it sounds as if he's decided to stop bothering to put up with this sort of nonsense.

You’re really funny, and clearly know it all…
Speaking Spanish, knowing and respecting the culture, and its inhabitants, will get you very far in Mexico, as will engaging in conversations, asking about prices, treating taxi drivers and other service workers as human beings. And I’m definitely not the only person to get better prices than what el Graduado has posted. Honestly, I’d rather find out from the locals how things work than rely on a gabacho. But thanks for playing

 

[nanches]

I've only lived on the island for 12 years. Compared to me, he certainly does know it all. When he was at my place for burgers my local best friend was hanging on his every word as he was talking about things my buddy never even heard about growing up here. I wouldn't be surprised if he lived on the island before you were born.



Really, really far.

You seem to be confused about a number of things here.
In my response that you quoted, I was responding to rick00001967 and his arrogance, not to el Graduado. Are you saying that they are the same person? If it is, well, that’s weird. It they’re not, then you’re confused.
You seem to think you know so much: you think you even know how old I am, when, in fact, you know nothing about me. Talk about arrogance…
And, finally, I love how you just had to drop that you’re a doctor. Does that make you think your opinion matters more, here? That you’re somehow superior? Just more gringo/gabacho chauvinism. There’s so much of this on Scubaboard and especially on the Cozumel forum. It’s really disappointing.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Good for you; I do that as well but I'm still not going to get into an argument with a cab driver over 50 cents.

I suppose I have some threshold, too, at which the amount of the "error" is too small to bother. I'm not sure how that relates to your point that we who point out errors are too few to make a difference. If it's more than a tiny error, I'll bother to point it out, just as I would bother to recycle something when I know it probably won't make a difference.

 

[ggunn]

I suppose I have some threshold, too, at which the amount of the "error" is too small to bother. I'm not sure how that relates to your point that we who point out errors are too few to make a difference. If it's more than a tiny error, I'll bother to point it out, just as I would bother to recycle something when I know it probably won't make a difference.

Recycling programs are sanctioned by municipalities and encouraged nearly everywhere you go; they are known about by virtually everyone in a city and reinforced by signs, separate bins, etc. They have fairly high levels of participation.

Posting on this forum (see post #280) doesn't reach more than a very small fraction of the people who visit Cozumel. Even if everyone who reads this thread would go to the mat with the driver over every cab fare that is more than what seems correct, it would not change a thing.

Throwing a can into a recycling bin does not cause me any angst, but getting into adversarial situations when I am on vacation does, so I am not going to do it unless the amount of money involved itself causes me angst. There are people who will get upset over the principle involved even when the amount of money is insignificant; they post in here all the time but I am not one of them.

That's how my points relate.

 

[brsnow]

Recycling programs are sanctioned by municipalities and encouraged nearly everywhere you go; they are known about by virtually everyone in a city and reinforced by signs, separate bins, etc.

Posting on this forum (see post #280) doesn't reach more than a very small fraction of the people who visit Cozumel. Even if everyone who reads this thread would go to the mat with the driver over every cab fare that is more than what seems correct, it would not change a thing.

Throwing a can into a recycling bin does not cause me any angst, but getting into adversarial situations when I am on vacation does, so I am not going to do it unless the amount of money involved itself causes me angst. There are people who will get upset over the principle involved even when the amount of money is insignificant; they post in here all the time but I am not one of them.

That's how my points relate.

I agree, people in general are pretty angry these days. I am doing my best to not be one. Every time I pay and tip a taxi Cozumel, I hope I made their day a bit better.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Posting on this forum (see post #280) doesn't reach more than a very small fraction of the people who visit Cozumel. Even if everyone who reads this thread would go to the mat with the driver over every cab fare that is more than what seems correct, it would not change a thing.

Why limit the thinking to this forum? For all I know, people on other forums have thought the same. Again, like the recycling, if everybody believes their little contribution doesn't matter and so they do nothing, it's guaranteed that it will not matter. But if some number of people do a little something, even if they believe it won't make a difference, there is at least some possibility it will.

Throwing a can into a recycling bin does not cause me any angst, but getting into adversarial situations when I am on vacation does, so I am not going to do it unless the amount of money involved itself causes me angst.

I agree with you that it is not worth escalating the taxi thing to an "adversarial situation." I'd just point it out to the driver, just to let him know I know better.

 

[OregonDM]

Looks like the taxi union held a protest at the airport today Esquema Cozumel

 

[JFS]

Looks like the taxi union held a protest at the airport today Esquema Coz

Looks like the taxi union held a protest at the airport today Esquema Cozumel

The taxis were warned about this the last time they impeded traffic at the airport. They were told they would have their taxi licences pulled if they did it again. There was a taxi protest yesterday in Cancun which held up traffic as well. I was delayed over an hour in that along with our whale shark tour group. Looks like the mob rules again.... the taxis are gonna get more aggressive once the cruise ships open more private beach clubs up and use busses to shuttle passengers.

 

[gopbroek]

Looks like the taxi union held a protest at the airport today Esquema Cozumel

yes they did, the inbound flight from DFW arrived and depart on time (a little early). Gates were closed but i drove up a said i was meeting someone on the Dallas flight and they open the gate and let me pass