Well, on Monday or Tuesday I saw this article in the papers warning cab drivers to behave themselves in the up and coming Commonwealth Games. They were warned not to over charge their passengers and to not take the scenic route etc. Now, this story is about my experience with taxi drivers in the past few days, a total of less than 10 cab rides.
OK... the first memorable one... this one was from the office to one of my client's office. Firstly, the driver kept on staring at me through the rear view mirror... and trust me, he did NOT look respectable. Secondly, he didn't know where my destination was (duh!!). So I told him the name of a hotel which was situated next to the office... now, this hotel isn't exactly upmarket... 3 stars at best. Then, he had the nerve to ask me if I was going there for a drink / business. I told him that I was going there to work. He then asked me how much I charged!! For gawd's sake... I was covered fron neck to toe and in my office clothes... nothing revealing... slacks and a shirt with cuff links. Sheesh.... then, he took the scenic route. When I realised that this was happening, I told him to take my preferred route but he said no, citing traffic jams as an excuse. So seeing that he was the "expert" I agreed. We got stuck in a horrendous traffic jam. In order to bypass the jam, he decided to take the back lanes which got me VERY nervous. He took me to one of the worst parts of town... VERY sleazy and there were this lane of hotels which charged by the hour. By this time, I had already lost my patience and seeing that he kept on staring at me, I was a little nervous. I insisted that he get back on to the main roads. After a little haggling, he agreed. Needless to say, I was NOT very impressed with this cab driver AND the fare cost me more than usual as well.
On the second memorable one, we got to my destination fine. Then, my fare came up to RM4.20... I handed him a RM10 note seeing that I didn't have change. I told him to give me RM5 back... leaving RM0.80 as a tip. We did have a fairly interesting conversation on the way there... about the economy and stuff like that. He did seem like a fairly intelligent person so why not right? Then, seeing that HE didn't have change, he gave me RM6 back and asked me for RM1. Seeing that I didn't have that much change on me, I handed over RM0.20, thus giving him his exact fair. He asked me for RM1 again and I said I didn't have change. He asked me to go out to one of the stores and get change. I asked him why I should... seeing that I gave him the right amount... I then proceeded to leave the car... and he proceeded to start swearing to me in Chinese.
On the third occasion, I walked to a cab stand outside my client's office. There were two cabs waiting in the bay... the drivers were talking amongst themselves and I asked them which one was on duty... they (a group) then asked me where I was going and I told them... they said that they would take me if I would pay them a flat rate of R10... double of what it would cost me. Naturally, I said no and I proceeded to get a passing cab. Now, you have to understand that this was during peak traffic hours.
Well, I managed to hail a cab... I got in and told him my destination and then the idiot had the nerve to tell me to get out. His cab number is HWA 4280 by the way... and he was an ugly Indian man... with bad B.O to boot!! I started telling him that it is his duty to take me to where I was going seeing that he did stop to pick me up. He said that he wasn't going my way (like I was asking him a favour... hitchhiking). I told him that it was his job to do it and he said no (by this time, the conversation was getting really heated). He was NOT the most polite person that I ever came across. Seeing that he was being a real jerk... I told him that I was going to report him and I then proceeded to repeat his cab number out loud... he told me to go ahead. I memorized him number and left the car.
Well, that is four bad experiences with cab drivers in this country... in the space of 5 days. That sucks!! What is this country coming to? Lesson learnt today people... beware of cab drivers in Malaysia. They aren't the most respectable bunch of people you can come across. I pity those tourists who get suckered in by them. They aren't all that bad mind you... I have had some really pleasant ones but four bad experiences in 5 days?? That is a little to much don't you think?? And for the record, I do have half a mind to report that idiot who kicked me out of his car... the only problem is, I don't know who to report him to. The cops here aren't very helpful and the cab company that he works for lacks a brain. Oh well... taking cabs here is like gambling... sometimes you get a good hand and sometimes you don't. Perhaps I was on a bad streak this week... hopefully my luck will change and soon!! I have heaps of client meetings next week!!
