Fare Cheaters

In my experience, most Hong Kong taxi drivers are decent, honest people, but as with any big city there will always be a small percentage that give the profession a black eye.

Such as the lowlife who tried to swindle foreign tourists by charging almost four times the proper amount for a ride from Tsim Sha Tsui to Lan Kwai Fong. Oriental Daily reported that three men and three women split their party over two cabs, but when they arrived on the Hong Kong side, the driver of the cab containing the women claimed he'd forgotten to turn on the meter and that the fare was estimated at HK$400 (about US$51).

You can get from Central to the airport for less money than that.

Clearly no fools, the ladies called their friends in the other taxi and learned that the fare was a little more than HK$100. Rightly they refused to pay the $400, after which the driver locked the doors to prevent the women from leaving. Then he began to drive slowly around Lan Kwai Fong. By then the men had left the other cab and caught up with the taxi; one of the group tried to pull the driver out through the side window. Meanwhile, the driver radioed his father, also a taxi driver, to come to his aid while he swerved slowly down the street, frightening pedestrians. Eventually the driver stopped and got out to confront the three men; shoving ensued.

View large image By the time the cops arrived to separate everyone, the driver's father showed up, cursing the police and incredibly, accusing the tourists of trying to cheat the fare.
Ignoring orders to calm down, he then yelled out to reporters on the scene: "My son transported them, but they refused to pay!" Next, he grabbed a wooden stick and a glass bottle and tried to approach the three men; when ordered by the cops to stop, he cursed the police and accused them of 'pandering to foreigners'.

Any normal father would have asked questions first, and when learning of the ripoff would have reamed out his son for being a thief, but not this guy, which tells me he's also a crook, a serial one in all likelihood. How cool would it have been if the father had said: "$400? For a 10-minute ride?", and then slapped his son upside the head while yelling: "Stupid!"

The good news is the true cheat was arrested for illegal confinement. The three men were released pending an assault investigation, which any judge in his right mind should kick as justified. And righteous.

But remember, your chances of encountering a swindling taxi driver in the Big Lychee are slim; if you should, get the taxi number and the driver's name from the ID plate on the dashboard, confirm it with the ID plate on the door next to you, and call either 999 for police assistance or the number of the taxi company.

Most Hong Kongers won't stand for such blatant dishonesty.

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