Dubai Forums Dubai Discussions Dubai General Chat

I am sure every one of you have met with some or other incident where the taxi driver refused to give you a ride even though he was going empty .

I would like to share one of my experience with a cabby .I was onmy way back from college searching for a cab .And as you know Finding a CAB is not a easy task .I was refused a ride by hell lot of empty cab , till one cab actually stopped.

He were going fine , until he took a right turn where he was supposed to straight . We were like , " U should have gone straight" . He is like " No ,There is Lot of traffic there " . I was like " WTF ? Man I am paying the meter , why do you care about the traffic? " But I couldn't give it on his face because we had already come a long way and if we got down there , there was no way I could have made it out of there .

So I had to carry on. What should have taken me 30-40 AED , Landed me around 90 ! I paid Double why ? Because of the Mo-Fo taxi driver .

I seriously don't get this ?what do they want ? It wasn't long before I met another Humble traffic driver who answered my queries .

He said taxi drivers are given a daily target of 300-400 DHS , which they complete easily ( By looting Poor People like me ? ) ! Don't Know!

He pointed out 3 things .

-Taxi drivers don't like short distance passengers . They want a big cut in short time .Who give a Damn about the passenger grievances ?

-They Don't like traffic. If you intend to go on a route with high traffic,They may refuse your ride !. They don't like getting stuck , Nor do we ! But for hell's Sake , I am paying you for getting stuck.

-They love females passengers.Believe me or not !The give preference to females most of the time .( Horny Basta*ds ).

So at the end , Its poor Passengers grievances after all....

What are the authorities doing ? NOTHING

What do the authorities intend to do ? NOTHING

It's the same in almost every country.

By the way in case you didn't know yet, try to avoid getting a taxi around and before 12 noon and 4PM as during these times they are "closed". That's how the drivers call it, but actually it just means it's the end of their shift. They will not pick up passengers during this time.

Actually, most of the taxi companies make the drivers pay 350 - 400 Dhs per day 'meter money' to cover their accommodation and insurance. This means they have to drive for at least 4 hours a day with full fares before they start earning for themselves.

Dubai Taxi claim that all their drivers have a thorough knowledge of the city, however they are only given a rudimentary 2 day training course before being thrown out onto the streets in their cabs.

They also claim to regularly service the cars...I have been in several where the back end suspension and bearings are literally grinding their way out of the car!

If a taxi driver deliberately takes you on a circuitous route to boost the fare, tell him immediately that you are not paying that portion of the fare. It will come out of his wages and he will complain bitterly, but you have the right not to pay for a portion of the journey if it is a deliberate ploy to get money out of you. I have had to do it many times and also take the number of the cab and the drivers name. If he thinks you will report him, he is more likely to submit.



Knight

and if a taxi driver complains or is threatening in any way after following DK's advice, just phone the police and request attendance

thnaks for the info Dubai Knight !

I've read about an RTA campaign to nail down the skipper drivers a few months ago. But it looks like they did nothin. I've also read some sh!t about how it's expensive for taxi companies to put on more vehicles on the road cuz it seems that taxis are never enough in the city.

It's really obvious that the cab transportation business is monopolized. Let's hope that the metro will ease it a lil bit...

bedro wrote:I've read about an RTA campaign to nail down the skipper drivers a few months ago. But it looks like they did nothin. I've also read some sh!t about how it's expensive for taxi companies to put on more vehicles on the road cuz it seems that taxis are never enough in the city.

It's really obvious that the cab transportation business is monopolized. Let's hope that the metro will ease it a lil bit...

You can hope, but I doubt it. SInce when is the metro going to take you to the place you really want to go? Like where is the station at the Barasti Bar??



Knight

yeah. Not to mention where all those cars will park.

the metro is a dead duck.

the only ones to use it will be the labourers and maids.

arniegang wrote:the metro is a dead duck.

the only ones to use it will be the labourers and maids.

At least the labourers will have something to stare at...



Knight

yes the crowd is gonna be horrible !

just like sharjah local busses.....

I think the taxi drivers have a raw deal here in Dubai. Its a catch 22 situation.

Do you realise that if the taxi driver spends 2 hours driving from Sharjah to Dubai and you pay him about AED 35, he has actually lost double that? You will agree that the lost time amounts to lost opportunity and the targets itself are already tight.

I'd rather pay him a bit more and take the free road...

Actually in reference to the metro, labourers and maids will not be able to afford it as they have set premium prices to ease traffic from lower wage workers.

I've read that the estimated decrease in traffic after the arrival of the metro will be around 17%.

Go easy on taxi drivers, on average they only make 3000-5000 dirhams a month. Thats working 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week. You try it.

arniegang wrote:the metro is a dead duck.

the only ones to use it will be the labourers and maids.

Well, this is not the case in Europe. RTA will come up with something to discourage people from using their cars as the only means of transportation.

Had a cab driver ask me first where im going before they would unlock the door. When i told the dood, he said "too much traffic" and drove off. Was a bit mad, but found it funny since i choose to use cabs instead of my car.

Another chap tried to rip me off with some fancy cash moves...he almost met my dentist the same day...LOL

gGt to be wide awake and darn persistant about what you want. Give them hell!

So as i learned before on this forum its better for a tourist to rent a car.

So i proberly will.

But for example.. how much do you from The Airport to the Burj Al Arab which is approx. 30 KM.

about 50 AED?

Just the other day I took a cab from Bur Dubai to my residence. I handed the cabbie a 100/- bucks note. AS I waited for the change, the bugger had the audacity to tell me that what I had handed to him was indeed a fiver!!!. Its only when I agreed to break a few bones that he apologized and handed me the exact change.

Note that I hailed a taxi just outside a pub past midnight. The guy probably thought I was too sozzled to know the difference between 100/- and 5/-.

KHAL wrote:So as i learned before on this forum its better for a tourist to rent a car.

So i proberly will.

But for example.. how much do you from The Airport to the Burj Al Arab which is approx. 30 KM.

about 50 AED?

More!
The basic fee as soon as you get in the cab at the airport is 25 AED, there are 2 Salik gates at 4 AED a pop and then the cab fare. If its a busy time, the trip could take over 1 hour. If its quiet, then about 20 minutes. Thats between 30 AED and 50 AED.
Total: 81 AED.



Knight

the taxi service in dubai is a disgrace