End Of Dishonest Taxi Drivers

[luke]

It is a matter of enforcement. 

In Davao taxi drivers go by the book. Duterte has a fear factor and it shows.

In Metro Manila enforcement is nil. Too many taxi drivers with dubious background. Some have no Idea of traffic rules, no ethics at all. As long as they pay the daily car rent nobody complaints.

 

If the taxi operators would be taken on with license cancellations you would see an immediate turnaround, but then you have to kick some big names ....

[putidako]

to be honest I think a lot of foreigners in the few provincial cities in the Philippines (about 10) where there are also meter taxis, fail to comprehend the huge gulf that exists between metro Manila, and everywhere else. It really is different, up there. AS Duterte is in the process of finding out for himself as his election campaign unfurls.

 

last week, for the first time in a while - a couple of years maybe - I had an a**h*le driver in Manila. I won't go into the details of exactly how he was an a**h*le, but he was a**h*le enough for there to be a bit of a scene and for me to evacuate the vehicle and get some other taxi, this time with a non-a**h*le driver.

 

but you need to know what an a**h*le driver actually is and when a driver's request becomes not a request but a demand and is unreasonable. Later that night I was in Malate and had to get to Greenbelt quite urgently to meet an old school friend I'd not seen for five years, who was only in Manila for one night on a business trip from Singapore. It's not far actually from where I wa in Malate and in the cool of the evening had I been alone I might have walked it. But I was with a girl and girls almost never want to walk anywhere if they can help it so taxi it had to be.  The traffic was especially horrendous the worst it had been on any evening all week. The driver politely asked for meter plus 50 which is only a little more than I would have tipped anyway (I tip much more in Manila than in provincial cities when like almost everyone else, I might not tip at all). For me that is non-a**h*le behavior and it was a reasonable request. It's what I would have likely asked too, if I were in his place.

[not so old china hand]

to be honest I think a lot of foreigners in the few provincial cities in the Philippines (about 10) where there are also meter taxis, fail to comprehend the huge gulf that exists between metro Manila, and everywhere else. It really is different, up there. AS Duterte is in the process of finding out for himself as his election campaign unfurls.

last week, for the first time in a while - a couple of years maybe - I had an a**h*le driver in Manila. I won't go into the details of exactly how he was an a**h*le, but he was a**h*le enough for there to be a bit of a scene and for me to evacuate the vehicle and get some other taxi, this time with a non-a**h*le driver.

but you need to know what an a**h*le driver actually is and when a driver's request becomes not a request but a demand and is unreasonable. Later that night I was in Malate and had to get to Greenbelt quite urgently to meet an old school friend I'd not seen for five years, who was only in Manila for one night on a business trip from Singapore. It's not far actually from where I wa in Malate and in the cool of the evening had I been alone I might have walked it. But I was with a girl and girls almost never want to walk anywhere if they can help it so taxi it had to be. The traffic was especially horrendous the worst it had been on any evening all week. The driver politely asked for meter plus 50 which is only a little more than I would have tipped anyway (I tip much more in Manila than in provincial cities when like almost everyone else, I might not tip at all). For me that is non-a**h*le behavior and it was a reasonable request. It's what I would have likely asked too, if I were in his place.

My experience in Manila is most taxi drivers hint or ask outright for a tip: but it is done with a good humoured smile and they show their appreciation when you do tip.

On the other hand in Beijing tips are not the norm and taxi drivers are a surly bunch, making it clear that you are imposing on their valuable time and your destination is clearly chosen to cause them maximum inconvenience.

I know which attitude l prefer....

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[putidako]

tips are not the norm in the Philippines either, but in Manila drivers do ask for a 'tip' which they might if you are a foreigner, or 50 pesos on top of the meter, which is not really a tip. That is just the price he is offering you. And it's nothing to do with you being a foreigner. The driver would have asked a Filipino couple in that situation I described above for 50 pesos on top of the meter too.

 

but you never or almost never get that in provincial cities. Just sometimes, like down the port in Cebu, or the night before Sinulog, you might get a driver refusing to use the meter at all - which for me is when a driver has crossed the line and is an a**h*le - or asking for extra money on top of the meter, which in Manila for me is not necessarily a driver being an a**h*le.

 

Manila drivers do try it on when you're a foreigner, but the important thing is that they switch on the meter. Once they've done that you are in the clear really. A driver might pick you up from the Mall of Asia and before he switches on the meter, and try it on by asking you for 300 for a 120 meter fare to Malate. You should just laugh, tell him to switch on the meter and that you'll tip him anyway. He might protest and claim 'traffic'. But you look around and observe that the traffic is not particularly bad. So you say feck off switch the meter on you're losing money already. When you get there and it's 120, give him 150 or 160. That's a bonus for him as few Filipinos would tip anything like as much as that, and neither of you have lost face. In Manila, tip more. Although you don't have to tip at all in provincial cities I still tip a little. 10-20 pesos maybe on a 120 ride. But in Manila, it is more like 30-40 pesos. Taxi driver is a hard hard job. And the bigger city it is, the harder it is. Manila drivers deserve to get tipped more.

[MikeB]

Maybe it's working. Two days ago I took a cab from Ermita to Terminal 3. Young guy, appeared to be early 20's or so. Fare was p154. In my confusion and haste I handed him three 100's. He held up the 3 bills and said "too much". I quickly grabbed one and said keep the change. They're not all bad.

[Paul_QLD]

This is my first trip here in three years, i have found the taxi's in manila far better this time around then the previous few trips I have done.

Only one so far has "forgot" to turn the meter on and charged us p100 for a p65 fare. I got a bit angry but we had uncle n auntie in the car that i had just met for the first time and my wife told me to forget it and pay the p100!

All the others, about 10, have used the meter. One had to be reminded as we drove off, but he didn't ask for a tip so I thought it a genuine mistake. He offered change from 100 on a 85 fare, but I said keep it.

We have also been using UBER a fair bit and thought maybe the cab drivers sense the competition hence why our experience is much better than 3 years ago???

[i am bob]

Here in Davao, I have had one driver who did not turn on the meter... what was normally around a P180 fare.  He looked at me and said "this is your lucky day - free ride" and he smiled.  I gave him a P200 tip for the free ride.

 

As for getting stuck in traffic?  All the meters are set to run on distance as well as by time.  So the time the driver is sitting there stuck in traffic?  He's still getting paid.  

 

Third point?  The business of taxi is to pick up a passenger and deliver them to the area within their licensed boundaries or as per deemed within reasonable distance by the local authorities.  So, if someone wanted to go from one side of Manila to the other?  There is no excuse to deny the fare.  Here in Davao?  An excellent way to lose your taxi license.  As it should be in any and every other location.