Taxi Mafia

[DandyDon]

"Hiway Patrol" - yeah, that's the show where I heard 10-4 as kid, but the only 10-code I heard.

If none of us had to pay for rides around Cozumel, then none of us would be talking about the taxistas and whether or not they are cheating us.

Ok that makes sense. I just didn't know it as an old saying, but again, maybe it's local or cultural. Eh, even if the system was based on free bus & van rides, I bet we could think of plenty to whine about. :laughing: Or, we might see posts about nice things to do for your free transport drivers, but that never comes up with the taxis does it?

But do you remember 21-30 BYE?

Nope, where was that...?

 

[cvchief]

Chief, your mistake is in looking for a justification for pricing outside of market forces.

Ah, my dear lad, thanks for the Econ 101. You failed to mention the monopoly aspect but I will let it pass.

The other glaring oversight is I am speaking on behalf of the buyers, particularly the visitors. I am a market force. (And the force is strong with me.)

Oddly, though Christy seems to be trying to part ways with me on this, I am doing the same thing she did.

She knew that tourists were being taken advantage of by taxis who charged other than the established rate. The established rates are not on the taxi union website and I know people who tried unsuccessfully to get the rates from taxi HQ and the Jefe de Taxinista. The market buyers were willing to pay more because they didn't know any better and taxi peeps held the rate close to maximize profit. Now Christi has shared information that will change market conditions.

In the same fashion, in the face of almost overwhelming opposition, stern ridicule, severe dismissal and general harumphing, I have persevered and discovered at least TWO people who have avoiding having to pay 10 to 1! Equipped with that knowledge and Cristi's rate chart, buyers of taxi service can change the balance in the market! Go all Adam Smith on them on them!



So either use the rate chart AND demand 11 or 12 to 1, or shove a handful of currency forward and let them pick. It's your choice!

 

[ggunn]

"Hiway Patrol" - yeah, that's the show where I heard 10-4 as kid, but the only 10-code I heard.

Nope, where was that...?

21-30 BYE was also from Highway Patrol, but I have no idea what Dan meant by it, if indeed it meant anything at all.

 

[cvchief]

Ok that makes sense.

Still sounds like that there ganja logic to me..... :hippy: Sorry, Sal...

 

[DandyDon]

In Ireland and The Netherlands, I had to use their money - and very often I'd just hold some out in my hand and ask if they can pick it out. I think they've both switch to Euros now, but it was different then: Punts and Guilders. :silly:

 

[DjDiverDan]

Chief, you and I appear to be talking past each other. Just to be clear, there are two completely separate and distinct issues here.

FIRST, on the matter of Taxi rates which are set by municipal ordinance -- i.e., the Rate Sheet published by Christi listing permissible fares, in Pesos, for given taxi rides on Cozumel. On THAT issue, there is very clearly a matter of government- sanctioned monopoly pricing, a monopoly pricing with which I strongly disagree, but I can't do anything about it. And, as part of that issue, there is the not uncommon practice among some taxi-drivers of attempting to overcharge American tourists - charging 100 Pesos for a ride when the approved rate scale calls for a fare of 60 or 80 Pesos. That practice I think is clearly dishonest, unlawful, and inexcusable. I do NOT approve of or offer any justification for that kind of overcharging.

SECOND, there is the entirely separate and distinct issue of the Pesos for Dollars exchange rate offered by taxi drivers to tourists which desire to pay in Dollars rather than Pesos. I see this particular issue as a horse of a different color. There is no legal obligation for taxi drivers (or any other business on Cozumel for that matter) to accept Dollars rather than Pesos, and it would be ridiculous to claim that taxi drivers have any monopoly pricing power on exchange rates. If taxi drivers offer to exchange currencies at a 10-1 exchange rate, or an 8-1 exchange rate, or a 5-1 exchange rate, for that matter, no one is under any compulsion to accept the offer. Every rider has the choice - the choice to exchange Dollars for Pesos at another location, like a Bank, a Cambio, or a hotel, the choice to negotiate the exchange rate, or the choice to get out and look for a different taxi which might offer a better exchange rate. On the rate of the exchange rate ONLY, I am firmly on the side of the taxi drivers. There is a working free market in the exchange of Dollars for Pesos, and all Americans willing to make the effort to obtain the information can figure out what's best and act accordingly. Mike appears to disagree with me on the ground that many Americans will not know any better and will be "taken" by a 10-1 exchange rate. But there is a price to be paid for the freedom that a free market offers, and that price is responsibility. If any American, or even many Americans, are so oblivious to the fact that they are in a foreign country where the Peso is the official currency, or so unconcerned that they don't bother to ask about the exchange rate when they get into a cab, then it is not my place to provide them protection from their own carelessness. Caveat Emptor is the cost of freedom.

 

[Pelagicsal]

Still sounds like that there ganja logic to me..... :hippy: Sorry, Sal...

No te preocupes, chief... Should I wear a flower in my hair when next we meet? :blinking:

 

[Mike]

SECOND, there is the entirely separate and distinct issue of the Pesos for Dollars exchange rate offered by taxi drivers to tourists which desire to pay in Dollars rather than Pesos. I see this particular issue as a horse of a different color. There is no legal obligation for taxi drivers (or any other business on Cozumel for that matter) to accept Dollars rather than Pesos, and it would be ridiculous to claim that taxi drivers have any monopoly pricing power on exchange rates. If taxi drivers offer to exchange currencies at a 10-1 exchange rate, or an 8-1 exchange rate, or a 5-1 exchange rate, for that matter, no one is under any compulsion to accept the offer. Every rider has the choice - the choice to exchange Dollars for Pesos at another location, like a Bank, a Cambio, or a hotel, the choice to negotiate the exchange rate, or the choice to get out and look for a different taxi which might offer a better exchange rate. On the rate of the exchange rate ONLY, I am firmly on the side of the taxi drivers. There is a working free market in the exchange of Dollars for Pesos, and all Americans willing to make the effort to obtain the information can figure out what's best and act accordingly. Mike appears to disagree with me on the ground that many Americans will not know any better and will be "taken" by a 10-1 exchange rate. But there is a price to be paid for the freedom that a free market offers, and that price is responsibility. If any American, or even many Americans, are so oblivious to the fact that they are in a foreign country where the Peso is the official currency, or so unconcerned that they don't bother to ask about the exchange rate when they get into a cab, then it is not my place to provide them protection from their own carelessness. Caveat Emptor is the cost of freedom.

You seem to have a huge disconnection from reality in how a taxi ride works, and secondly your ethical standards apparently are based on a combination of what you can get away with, and survival of the fittest, with every transactions outcome being based on two people doing battle, where the winner takes the spoils and damn the loser for being weak and therefore deserving and justified to be taken advantage of. This is the way con men and thieves justify their actions and view their victims as deserving to be taken advantage of because they could be taken advantage of.

 

[cvchief]

Chief, you and I appear to be talking past each other. Just to be clear, there are two completely separate and distinct issues here.

FIRST, on the matter of Taxi rates which are set by municipal ordinance -- i.e., the Rate Sheet published by Christi listing permissible fares, in Pesos, for given taxi rides on Cozumel. On THAT issue, there is very clearly a matter of government- sanctioned monopoly pricing, a monopoly pricing with which I strongly disagree, but I can't do anything about it. And, as part of that issue, there is the not uncommon practice among some taxi-drivers of attempting to overcharge American tourists - charging 100 Pesos for a ride when the approved rate scale calls for a fare of 60 or 80 Pesos. That practice I think is clearly dishonest, unlawful, and inexcusable. I do NOT approve of or offer any justification for that kind of overcharging.

SECOND, there is the entirely separate and distinct issue of the Pesos for Dollars exchange rate offered by taxi drivers to tourists which desire to pay in Dollars rather than Pesos. I see this particular issue as a horse of a different color. There is no legal obligation for taxi drivers (or any other business on Cozumel for that matter) to accept Dollars rather than Pesos, and it would be ridiculous to claim that taxi drivers have any monopoly pricing power on exchange rates. If taxi drivers offer to exchange currencies at a 10-1 exchange rate, or an 8-1 exchange rate, or a 5-1 exchange rate, for that matter, no one is under any compulsion to accept the offer. Every rider has the choice - the choice to exchange Dollars for Pesos at another location, like a Bank, a Cambio, or a hotel, the choice to negotiate the exchange rate, or the choice to get out and look for a different taxi which might offer a better exchange rate. On the rate of the exchange rate ONLY, I am firmly on the side of the taxi drivers. There is a working free market in the exchange of Dollars for Pesos, and all Americans willing to make the effort to obtain the information can figure out what's best and act accordingly. Mike appears to disagree with me on the ground that many Americans will not know any better and will be "taken" by a 10-1 exchange rate. But there is a price to be paid for the freedom that a free market offers, and that price is responsibility. If any American, or even many Americans, are so oblivious to the fact that they are in a foreign country where the Peso is the official currency, or so unconcerned that they don't bother to ask about the exchange rate when they get into a cab, then it is not my place to provide them protection from their own carelessness. Caveat Emptor is the cost of freedom.

So,

1. If you are overcharged on the fare, shame on the taxi driver and you can't do anything about it. Which apparently happens because the market allows it....

2. If you are overcharged on the exchange, shame on you because it is legal and you can't do anything about it. Which apparently happens because the market allows it......

And I am wrong, because I say,

1. Don't get overcharged on the fare, and;

2. Don't get overcharged on the exchange.

and we should:

1. Tell people about the correct fare, but;

2. Hide the fact that 10 to 1 as an exchange rates stinks unless someone asks me.


Gotcha.


For the record, if I am apply this correctly,

Should I find that Mega is selling Sol for less that Chedraui, I should keep that to myself as it is a free market and we should support that store that can sell it for the most and let the dolts fend for themselves?

However if Mega is charging a peso extra in taxes, I can post that and tell everyone cuz it ain't legal?

Apparently I got this whole Scubaboard sharing and helping thing all wrong. I didn't realize it was "it is not my place to provide them protection from their own carelessness." (unless it is a violation of the law) We better go back and remove those posts about not renting mopeds, too, huh? No interfering in the free market and no influence on the free market, except Gov control.

Or are we just supposed to be dismissive of the people who use dollars in Cozumel? Those ignorant pedestrian consumers of the plebeian swill. I have a stack of Pesos ready to roll. I jack them out of the ATM 6000 at a time. I love the quirkiness of the different colors and size when I try to neaten my wad. Then I see those hayseeds from Jerkwater, USA with lame greenbacks. You know at that moment, as I rub the Pesos in my pocket, I think, "Yo también soy un Cozumeleño." I admit I always feel better when I can look down on someone else and their foibles.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Good grief.