What do you do when the cab driver lies?

[BRT]

A quick google search says that those rates are set by the taxi union in Cozumel. It's called Lic. Adolfo Lopez Mateos according to the Cozumel Sun. So if the driver is a member of that union, you could conceivably figure out how to complain to that union. I don't read or speak Mexican Spanish (or Castilian for that matter), so I wasn't able to figure out much more about it. Are you sure that compliance is compulsory for cab drivers?

I doubt Mexico has laws against Bait & Switch or most other business practices that we've deemed illegal inside the US.

I suspect Mexican law holds them to the listed rates more firmly than US law. In Mexico, quoted prices have to be "out the door" inclusive of taxes.

 

[BRT]

He/she was mistaken.

Not too many Mexicans holding a job that don't speak at least a little english.

 

[BRT]

He/she was mistaken.

Not too many Mexicans holding a job that don't speak at least a little english.

Reminds me of a Mexican guy who was a car dealer in Yakima. He had 2 lots, across the street from each other. He told me if someone became unhappy with prices or treatment on one lot they would show him.....and go buy from the other lot.

 

[tridacna]

No, the taxi union does not set the taxi fares. SINTRA (Secretary of Infrastructure and Transport) sets the rates. The taxi union can only ask for a rate increase (which they have) but SINTRA must approve it (which they have not, since 2016).

Many things in Mexico have price controls: gasoline, electricity, tortillas, etc. The prices of these commodities and services are set for the lowest common denominator (the Mexican poor) even though tourists and the Mexican upper-classes can also buy the same commodities or services at that low, government-controlled price.

However, there is a problem created when tourists overpay when the taxi drivers charge them more than the published rate (which is still very high for a poor family who needs the service to carry old people to the hospital or doctor, go for groceries, take the family to church when it is raining, etc.) The problem is that it makes the taxi drivers loath to work for the published rates for the folks that live in the poorer colonial. Long ago, this wasn’t a problem, nowadays, taxi drivers would rather wait in line at the piers or malecon to get a chance to pick up a tourist and make double, triple, or even ten-times the published fare than they would if they made a 26 or 27 peso trip in town for a resident. This situation got so bad, that SINTRA now makes the taxi union dedicate a small (very small) portion of the taxis to take a daily rotation serving only in town so the residents can at least have some kind of service, even if sporadic and hard to find.

The SINTRA car is a red car with SINTRA printed on it. It is constantly pulling taxis out of line because it was supposed to be that taxi’s day in town, but the drivers would rather ditch the town beat and go for the over-paying tourist. It just gets worse and worse every year, because so many tourists take the attitude “It’s only a seventy-cents or a dollar more, I can afford it and the taxi driver is poor.” OK, maybe it will make you feel good like you are giving to a charity when you over-tip and over-pay a taxi driver, or knowingly let him overcharge you, but it is really hurting a lot of other poor people you don’t see. You are helping deprive them of the taxi service they need.

OK. No more tips from now on and only pay the proper price. Would you mind sending us a copy of your business card with address and phone number so that we can give it to the taxi drivers and tell them that this is your idea.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I like to tip well, at a bar I get instant returns.

Yes, you get the bartender (or waiter or whatever) to pretend they are your new friend for a few minutes.

 

[El Graduado]

OK. No more tips from now on and only pay the proper price. Would you mind sending us a copy of your business card with address and phone number so that we can give it to the taxi drivers and tell them that this is your idea.

I am just telling Scuba Board members (the ones who don't understand how the Mexican Taxi system works) the ramifications of over-paying and over-tipping the taxi drivers. I am sure my explanation will roll off the backs of most who read it, just like water runs off of a duck's back. Most people do what makes them feel good; they don't seem to think much of the common good, especially when they don't see or suffer the consequences themselves.

 

[waterone]

Yes, you get the bartender (or waiter or whatever) to pretend they are your new friend for a few minutes.

No, usually they are friendly anyhow but often I get larger pours. Sometimes free drinks as well.... well maybe not so free!

 

[ggunn]

I am just telling Scuba Board members (the ones who don't understand how the Mexican Taxi system works) the ramifications of over-paying and over-tipping the taxi drivers. I am sure my explanation will roll off the backs of most who read it, just like water runs off of a duck's back. Most people do what makes them feel good; they don't seem to think much of the common good, especially when they don't see or suffer the consequences themselves.

Thanks. I have no problem paying the official rate for a taxi ride; I always pay in pesos and I very seldom tip. I'm just not going to get into an altercation over a pittance.

Are the rate cards shown in #47 still official? I find some of the text very hard to read; it would be great if someone could publish them in high resolution.

Of course, another issue is tourists paying cabs in dollars. A taxista's exchange rate will virtually never match the official one and the difference will always be in the cab driver's favor.

 

[El Graduado]

Thanks. I have no problem paying the official rate for a taxi ride; I always pay in pesos and I very seldom tip. I'm just not going to get into an altercation over a pittance.

Are the rate cards shown in #47 still official? I find some of the text very hard to read; it would be great if someone could publish them in high resolution.

Of course, another issue is tourists paying cabs in dollars. A taxista's exchange rate will virtually never match the official one and the difference will always be in the cab driver's favor.

The rates are still the same as the ones approved in 2016. I took those blurry images of the rate card on my cell phone a long while back. As I have been saying on this board, I have upgraded my website EverythingCozumel.com and replaced the old blurry images with my a new taxi rate page that now has all the rates and charts translated into English. Very easy to read.

 

[Lorenzoid]

No, usually they are friendly anyhow but often I get larger pours.

My sense is that the friendliness is fake--an act. Prompted by the tip. Honestly, I'd rather have a bartender who sees me as just another customer, serves me when he gets around to it, and gives me the same pour as everyone else. Now, if I happen to befriend a bartender--or a cab driver--that's a wonderful thing. Friendship is valuable, not material things. High rollers can't buy it with any amount of money, and most who try just come off as fools.