Taxi Driver In Bahrain Fighting My Clients !
 

Well I Have totally blown it with two of my investors, thanks to the "rage of the taxi drivers in haggling over a fare in Bahrain" I have been in Bahrain for only a few months and always have issues with taxi drivers regarding the price to pay, even though they have a meter, I have learnt that if I get a taxi from a hotel I pay more, I have learnt that every extra passenger I pay more, I have also learnt that when I say how much is it before we commence travelling they say " pay what you want" means crap for me at the end of my journey. But I took two clients one from India and one whom had travelled from England to a meal at a restaurant in Manama, we then took a Taxi which was parked outside the restaurant to their hotel, upon arriving the driver asked for twice what we was charged on a journey to the restaurant, I went to looked at his meter and he hid it with cloth from his bloody dashboard!! We all agreed that we would to settle the argument that commenced by paying him x 1.5 what we had been charged previously as he would not show his meter, we gave him the money, got out of the taxi, and the bahrain driver got out and decided to spit in the face of my Indian client and punch my English client...........shit the meeting had gone well and now I have a raging arab going off like a rabid dog on my clients!! The new lesson I have now learnt is even outside a restaurant, if a taxi has been sitting their than can charge you extra even though you did not ask him too!!!
So now I have two clients that then spoke about it for the rest of the evening and nothing else!! They have told me it is not the place for them as it was Eid and was expecting a festival of goodwill to all men!! They dont now answer my calls.
I wish I could charge that bloody driver for costing me a lot of money and sitting and not earning!! But what the hell, I was told by my Man Dir it would be a good education for me in the middle east, but they really need to sort out Taxis, as their is no other form of travelling unless I buy a car............christ I just thought "I could have done if the deal would have gone down"!:(

Re: Taxi Driver In Bahrain Fighting My Clients !
 

Taxi drivers trying to take advantage? What else is new?

I admit that getting into a fight with a taxi driver is quite remarkable, but what I don't understand is how you would let it go that far. You can go anywhere in Manama by taxi for less than BD5, and if the cheeky chappy tries to charge you BD10 then why make such a big deal out of it that it ends with a fight. It's not going to kill your monthly budget is it?

Anyway, sorry about the business deal going down the drain. That sucks. Doesn't your company have a driver they normally use? Almost everyone I know in Bahrain has the number of a taxi driver they call whenever they need someone they trust...

Re: Taxi Driver In Bahrain Fighting My Clients !
 

i'm Saudi citizen, my home is in a city called Dammam.. one hour driving crossing the causeway to Bahrain, for long since the causeway linked Eastern Provence of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain built in 1986 i use to spend most of my weekends in Bahrain.

of course with me as i'm having my own car i don't need taxi.. but just to put it in your mind that all taxi's in Bahrain are owned by their drivers, there is no company nor the government had any rules applied or control over the sh**t in there except Limousine's.. that's why the taxi drivers are playing with distance rates!! you have to bargain to the lowest and still be cheated.. so be aware of that bros.......... :)

Re: Taxi Driver In Bahrain Fighting My Clients !
 

TO NORSK, i totally agree with you, as previously stated I have been in Bahrain only since july, and never been in the GCC previously, unlike yourself whom has been here for 2 years, but their is always a learning curve for new expats. What I can assure you was that their was no offensive language or aggression from me, or my clients......but to put up with this aggression and to adopt it by saying as my colleagues do " it is the way it is within Bahrain" when their is no other way of travelling is totally unacceptable.
P.S. If I do have to pay 10bd for a 3bd journey, I still have to give the directions to where I want to go !! My uncle is a Black Cab driver in London, I would be to ashamed to tell him of my journey in a Bahrain taxi "put up and shut up" does not work for me!! BRING ON "THE KNOWLEDGE" Bahrain is a great place to live and to work and I love it, but it deserves a better transportation service, if it is to be only via Taxi so be it........but lets make sure you get what you pay for, and educate forthcoming expats to the way a journey works in Bahrain !!:)

Re: Taxi Driver In Bahrain Fighting My Clients !
 

Look at it this way...How much do you earn? How much does the taxi driver earn? The 7BHD difference that you are fighting about makes the biggest impact to who? It was Eid and he was working... you'd want more for working at Christmas in the UK wouldn't you?

A black cab driver in the UK earns 50k GBP / year and has a lovely house in Essex. You are dealing with people who live in shit holes and don't eat three meals a day. you really can't compare.

sorry you lost your deal... they probably wanted to go to Diggers not the resturant!

Re: Taxi Driver In Bahrain Fighting My Clients !
 

"Well I Have totally blown it with two of my investors, thanks to the rage of the taxi drivers in haggling over a fare in Bahrain"...it seems to me that it was actually the Brit who blew it by doing the haggling. When in Rome...

Re: Taxi Driver In Bahrain Fighting My Clients !
 

Perhaps a difference between say AD or DXB and Bahrain is that the taxi drivers here are Bahrainis and not Pakistanis so they dont tend to live in labour camps but big government supplied apartments or villas.

Agree that 7bd wasnt worth losing a deal over but they have only relatively recently brought in meters here so you shouldnt get ripped off unnecessarily. Its only 10bd fare from the saudi causeway to the airport on the other side of the island so you were definitely being ripped off.

Next time you are at the airport, take down the complaints number by the taxi rank and shop your driver if you got his cab number or next time use speedy cars as they play it by the rules

Re: Taxi Driver In Bahrain Fighting My Clients !
 

Haven't been in Bahrain in many years, but this sounds too familiar.
They are always trying to run you in circles and charge you 4x the proper fare... and their crap cars. Shameful, really.

Of course I agree with the others - if you're on business, you should have shut up and paid up. It would have been cheaper.

Re: Taxi Driver In Bahrain Fighting My Clients !
 

Agreed.

Why be such a cheapskate? Surely better just to pay what they are asking and avoid making a scene? An extra $10 or $20 is hardly going to bankrupt your business, is it?

Re: Taxi Driver In Bahrain Fighting My Clients !
 

the board is as sympathetic as ever!

Re: Taxi Driver In Bahrain Fighting My Clients !
 

Started a brawl amongst the taxi drivers at Jeddah airport recently. I normally look for a dropping off taxi to take me into town, rather than the more expensive ones waiting at the rank.

I was discussing the fare (no meters in Jeddah) and was surprised that the driver quickly agreed to my first low offer. However, he was looking over my shoulder and had spotted the rank cabbies bearing down on us. As I seated myself in the taxi, one guy sprawled himself across the bonnet, one got in the back seat and two others got both front doors open, with one reaching for the ignition key.

I made my excuses and left. Drifted a little way beyond the terminal, and more discreetly got a dropping taxi from there - lesson learned.

I remember great fun with the Bahraini taxi drivers during the 4 years I spent there. With some mates on a night out, arguing over the fare was good sport, whilst commenting on the driving skills of the Saudi week-end visitors. If agreement could not be reached, we would give the going rate and tell them to call the police if they were not happy. Usually worked.

However, for business, completely different situation. There were a few private hire companies that could be called - slightly more expensive than the going rate, but no arguments over the fare and better vehicles.