Conned by New York Taxi Drivers
July 9th, 2009 | PersonalOur maiden trip to New York got off to a bad start. As we exited the airport, a man who claimed to be a taxi driver intercepted as and led us to his car in the car park. Coming from Malaysia, Jasmine and I felt he sounded and looked like an illegitimate cab driver that we are all too accustomed in Kuala Lumpur International Airport. We were quoted a flat rate of U$55 from JFK to Lond Island, which sounded very fair. Half way in the journey he revised it to U$75, including tips. We were so tired after a 24-hour journey that we didn’t argue. Now, here is the “best” part…
When we arrived the hotel, I handed over U$75 to him. He turned around and asked, “What is this? Only U$30?”, he waved two $5 and a $20 bills at me. I was 100% certain that I handed the right amount to him but he insisted I was wrong. As a visitor, I didn’t want to create a scene so I handed him a $50 bill. When we caught up with Choon Ean, our videographer who arrived 12 hours earlier from Kuala Lumpur, she related the same experience. Using the same trick, the taxi driver cheated $100 out of her. We couldn’t believe this.
Apparently this is a common trick by some unscrupulous NY cab drivers. So be very careful when you hand money over to the cab driver. Make sure you count the bills one by one in front of him.
On the bright side, our New York couple, Kevin and Sarah look GORGEOUS! They are even sweeter people. We’ve checked out some locations today and it will be an AWESOME shoot on Saturday, I promise.
It’s time to get some sleep and restart our New York trip with a good night sleep & nice breakfast. Adios!
July 9th, 2009 at 10:18 am
Hmm..LEsson learnt the hard way Louis. Those USD converted to RM are hard earned monies.
Anyway, enjoy yourself there k Louis. Jasmine too. Cheers.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:23 am
Ouch! So NYC just like KL! that’s quite a sum of money.
Anyway, pray God bless your trip with fun, love, happiness and achievement
Have fun! Now I want to see the gorgeous couple from your photos!
July 9th, 2009 at 10:42 am
phew! great experience again bro.. thanks for sharing this one.. have a nice trip there!
July 9th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Damn, Louis, you guys definitely got cheated. Sorry to hear that. Hope the rest of your stay in NYC is pleasant. Have a great shoot. Can’t wait to see your shots.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Thanks for the info. No problem, everyone learns from Mistake.
July 9th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
hmm… speechless. i always thought american taxi drivers are honest people and much more civilize but the outcome is just as bad as some con man from asia. bad for their country. i hope obama read this post.
July 9th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
That is really bad. have to be careful with New Yorker cab driver.
July 9th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
And we all thought we will only get cheated in Malaysia (KL) for taxis…
July 9th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Aiyah! That’s terrible! So sorry to hear that you got off on the wrong foot. Hope the rest of the trip would be good.
July 9th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Just wait until next time when you go to Shanghai.
July 10th, 2009 at 11:55 am
oh wow, i never experienced that after being in and out of NYC for work via JFK the last 2 years. never even thought such thing could happen there. thanks for sharing your experience. i would be extra cautious in the future.
July 11th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Ouch, sucks getting lied, even in Malaysia, got once, the carpark attendant wanted to charge me RM1.60 for half an hour…and when I asked him, he said, he mistakenly heard and say it was RM0.80, I still payed the extra .40 cents cause I am not taking the risk of having my car vandalized.
Anyway, my friend who lives in NY mentioned somethin about you ask the price, and if you are happy, go on the cab, after that pay an extra 10% to the cab as “tip”, he says its better to pay more then giving the exact change cause if not the cab driver will likely start whining and asks more.
That’s why he walks instead of taking a cab in NY, heck he even prefers to take the subway
July 12th, 2009 at 8:26 am
have fun in NY despite the unpleasant start, it will only get better then!
July 12th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
omg! then Malaysian taxi drivers are not nearly as bad as we think.
..on a brighter note, i can’t wait to see Kevin and Sara’s photos!! i’m sure they’ll be nothing short of spectacular
December 7th, 2009 at 10:04 am
[...] time we landed in New York, we both took a cab towards Manhattan Island only to be greeted by what some people might call a New York cab experience. We didn’t get conned but the experience was somewhat disheartening. The cab driver did get [...]