Patsy Stoned

What is the problem with the taxis?? I ordered a taxi 40 mins ago and when I phoned to find out where it was I was told that every taxi is busy????
There are hundreds of bloo** taxis Q'd at MOE which is 5 mins away!

Blue Cat

I just ordered one and told my guests, be prepared for a wait, turned up 6 minutes later

Patsy Stoned

Bastards!!! the taxis darling, not your guests
I am going to stick with my private car hire from now on...I know they are a 50dhs min. but it keeps my stress levels down lol

Blue Cat

lol!

scrubbedexpat141

I'm sick of being expected to direct them, when I've been here a month.

Also, what's with the attitude of stopping, letting me in and then saying, "no, I'm not going that way" or "sorry sir, the traffic is too busy on that route"

Meow

Lazy drivers. The law says that have to take you where you want to go, so just tell them to get on with it.

99% of the time when I order a cab from home it arrives within 10 minutes. The only time it takes longer is on a Thursday evening or when I'm in a hurry.

scrubbedexpat141

The one who said he wasn't going that way explained that he had 15 minutes until his shift ended. So I didn't have a go apart from to tell him not to stop if he won't take the fare.

The other one I had a go at and said he doesn't have a choice (as you've said), but he then smiled, got out, lit a fag and said it was his break...cheeky twat.

co durham boy

They're still bad now , i had to direct one from the airport to the Trade Center last Thursday , trying to take me over the floating bridge wasn't a good career move for him as i'v been driving and taking taxis round Dubai for over 15 years.

I just told him where to go in a polite but firm tone , told him i would be reducing the fare and then took his name and number and reported him to the R.T.A when i got to the hotel.

If they have an inkling that they think you're a tourist or new they're gonna try and rip you off , it used to be horrendous 3 years ago , taxis were like rocking horse shit in Dubai but now there's a lot more and less people and they're just as bad.

As another OP said sometimes it's worth just paying a premium for a private cab and be doe with the hassel.

Also Armpit hygiene is not on top of their agenda....most of them smell like a slaughtered Goat

scrubbedexpat141

Thoguht I'd wait for someone else to comment on hygeine. I don't like to get too personal but you're spot on. It's disgusting. Made worse when they spend 5 minutes developing phlegm to open the door and spit it out at traffic lights. Lush.

Every morning I get a cab to work. IN short, to go SZR it costs 14 / 14.50. To go the side road it costs 12.50 without fail. I have to tell them to take the first right and not go on SZR, otherwise every single one will go the long way. What they fail to realise is that for the shorter journey they get given 15 and that's that. For the longer journey I'll sit and wait for the change and ask for a receipt to purely be difficult.

The mentality is stupid. Having said that, I got a cabbie the other day who asked which way I wanted to go, when I asked the options he said they were the same distance but one had 3 lights and the other only 2, so he suggested that way. Then we got closer to home and he asked if I preferred to go about 0.5km further to avoid 4 sets of lights. Good driver.

MataHari

if you find a good driver, get his mob no and use him...that's what I do, especially during the weekends, call an hour in advance and he turns up, if he can't for some reason, he'll send a friend...

scrubbedexpat141

ashamed to say I didn't even think of that...great shout.

co durham boy

You never get used to it mate , i tip them well enough in any case , it's a shit job to be honest with shit pay but they do alright considering their salary goes a long way in Peshawr .

Madam Medusa

to be fair, i don't think it's always a case of trying to go the longest way in order to rip you off, i genuinely think they have set routes and don't know alternative short cuts...pretty much every time i get a cab i have to direct them to stop them from taking a long trip back along the beach road to do a u-turn, but i think that's cos they don't know/don't think about the other way they could go...

i do feel sorry for these guys...they work 12+ hour shifts for little pay and rubbish conditions...give them a bit of a break...

MM, xx

scrubbedexpat141

I see your point.

But if I did things wrong, didn't know what to do, turned down business, smelt terrible and couldn't tell you basic things to do with my job...i'd expect to be sacked rather than moan I wasn't getting enough cash....

Madam Medusa

come on, you're describing their employee of the month, lol...

MM, xx