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Taxi Nightmares

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xaria
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Taxi Nightmares

Post by xaria » Sun, 06 Feb 2011 9:31 pm

Today I boarded a Taxi from IMM to my place which by normal route would be only 2.5-2.8 km max. But this taxi driver had to take the "faster" way and take me via "Express way" when I didnt even mention to go via that route.
And when confronted on why he took that route, he says "I asked you which way you wanted to go and you said LEFT". Yes I mentioned Left but not PIE.

PHEW.... I called the cab company to feedback and Guess what I get to hear? That she cannot understand my accent............... Hello... where is the Customer Service???????

This is not the first time that I have been taken for a ride by the taxi drivers, and I cannot take this sit anymore. The Customer Rep, had a map to tell me that my place is way off from IMM but she had no idea on how much distance in Km that would be.... Seriously!!!!!!

FTW :mad: Singapore
The country with the worst CUSTOMER SERVICE


Yea yea I know all will say then go back to your home country... I will the moment I get an opportunity to leave this Shithole I will... But I had to vent :x

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Post by x9200 » Sun, 06 Feb 2011 10:47 pm

I agree on the quality of the customer service but for this particular case... where do you actually live?

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sundaymorningstaple
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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Sun, 06 Feb 2011 11:30 pm

That is your fault. When a taxi driver asks you how you want to go, unless you give him specific roads to take by name, he is going to take you via the fastest route. The fastest route is often the longer route due to lesser traffic or higher speed limits or both. Sometimes they will make suggestions and I tell them "You spend you whole day on these roads, so you will know the fastest way at a given time of the day so please take me the fastest way.

I normally tell the taxi driver to take me the fastest way. The average Singaporean will say take the shortest way. They will save a little bit of change while I may save as much as 20 or 30 minutes. If you just say "left" you give him the option to take any route he chooses as long as he turns left initially.

Sorry, but 'fraid I can't sympathize this time. If you think that they are out to shaft you, please remember that getting rid of you sooner on this small island, translates to another flag down with another fare sooner, rather than the distance charges which are a lot less than a new fare.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

xaria
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Post by xaria » Mon, 07 Feb 2011 3:34 pm

@x 9200
I stay in Bukit Batok west avenue 8

@SMS
The Express way is not always the fastest way. For a distance of 2.5 km it does not really make sense to go to expressway.

Agreed if one can save 20-30 min then one would not worry about the distance. But that would be the case for long distances. I take a cab often from my office which is at IBP( Jurong East, which is just another few meters from IMM) to home and the other way and not even once has any taxi driver taken me via the Expressway.
Because not only it is out of the way, it is never faster due to the traffic. Just because there happens to be a expressway nearby does not mean that I hop on it.

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Post by x9200 » Mon, 07 Feb 2011 3:54 pm

Then forgive me my ignorance but what was behind the idea of going left from IMM? If the shortest route then it should be right and all the way up starting on J-E-Central. A queue at the exit-right from IMM or to join J-E-C? I am not surprised the cab driver got confused.

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Post by sundaymorningstaple » Mon, 07 Feb 2011 6:31 pm

xaria wrote: The Express way is not always the fastest way. For a distance of 2.5 km it does not really make sense to go to expressway.
Where did I say it was? Do you drive here? I've owned 3 cars here and have been driving on these road off & on for almost 30 years. I've sold my cars now and limit myself to public transport because of the traffic woes and my former HBP. Unless you drive and have driven here for a couple of years, you don't know what makes sense here or not. Also, as x9200 said, what you told the driver was probably confusing as the devil and trying to figure out what a foreigners accent was actually saying didn't help him much either. Sorry, still cannot sympathize.
SOME PEOPLE TRY TO TURN BACK THEIR ODOMETERS. NOT ME. I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW WHY I LOOK THIS WAY. I'VE TRAVELED A LONG WAY, AND SOME OF THE ROADS WEREN'T PAVED. ~ Will Rogers

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Post by carteki » Mon, 07 Feb 2011 7:54 pm

xaria wrote:@SMS
The Express way is not always the fastest way. For a distance of 2.5 km it does not really make sense to go to expressway.
Not necessarily. From Tanjong Pagar to Suntec the expressway is significantly faster than going via Robertson road / Shenton way!

I've had taxi drivers do the same thing - took me from Novena to Mustafa via Bukit Timah road and was actually planning on driving the length of Serangoon road on a Sunday afternoon! Best just to grin and bear it in the cab and then get a receipt when leaving. I found the complaints form on the website very easy to use and you don't have to negotiate anyone and it is in the system and they have to investigate at that point.

http://www.gothere.sg has a very good map with the shortest routes and approximate taxi fare.

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Post by x9200 » Mon, 07 Feb 2011 8:04 pm

carteki wrote:http://www.gothere.sg has a very good map with the shortest routes and approximate taxi fare.
Clearly not for this particular case :)

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Post by dazzlebabe » Tue, 08 Feb 2011 9:52 am

I don't usually like to complain about taxi driver unless they put life in danger (like speeding with one hand on the wheel while dozing off or driving off before you even board or alight)

They drive 12 hours a day and have to deal with 36 or more personalities. They cannot adapt as easily as us to the different cultures and nationalities, so I cut them some slack if they don't understand me or go the "longer route" by mistake. What is $.60 or $2 to you?

It means a lot to them if you complain to the taxi company as they won't be able to get their "clean record" bonus of a few hundred dollars.

I love my taxi rides and I love chatting with the uncles in broken english and hand gestures. They teach me a lot about Singapore roads and humility. So cut them some slack.... can or cannot?
Just me

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Post by srman » Tue, 08 Feb 2011 5:37 pm

Am with dazzlebabe on this one...the extra 50c is not worth the grief. Best save your rant for when he cuts across 3 lanes at 80km without indicating...that's when am really pissed...and i tell them in no uncertain terms that my life is worth more than another flag fall....

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Post by Strong Eagle » Tue, 08 Feb 2011 6:21 pm

dazzlebabe wrote:I don't usually like to complain about taxi driver unless they put life in danger (like speeding with one hand on the wheel while dozing off or driving off before you even board or alight)

They drive 12 hours a day and have to deal with 36 or more personalities. They cannot adapt as easily as us to the different cultures and nationalities, so I cut them some slack if they don't understand me or go the "longer route" by mistake. What is $.60 or $2 to you?

It means a lot to them if you complain to the taxi company as they won't be able to get their "clean record" bonus of a few hundred dollars.

I love my taxi rides and I love chatting with the uncles in broken english and hand gestures. They teach me a lot about Singapore roads and humility. So cut them some slack.... can or cannot?
+1

Only exception is when they endanger someone on a motorcycle... like me. And, I will be testifying to the TP about a taxi that ran a red light, causing significant injuries to a motorcyclist who swerved to avoid the crash.

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Post by x9200 » Tue, 08 Feb 2011 7:43 pm

Well, only last week I had my first accident ever when a taxi driver turning left from the most left lane and for left turn only changed his mind and went straight. Unfortunately I was also turning left from the adjacent lane. Managed to minimize the impact and jump out of the falling bike landing on my feet. Everything ended up with just some severe bruises so I was really lucky.

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Re: Taxi Nightmares

Post by AstroGal » Tue, 15 Feb 2011 7:24 pm

xaria wrote:
FTW :mad: Singapore
The country with the worst CUSTOMER SERVICE


Yea yea I know all will say then go back to your home country... I will the moment I get an opportunity to leave this Shithole I will... But I had to vent :x
Seriously, with the amount you pay for taxis in Singapore I'd happily pay the money. In fact I tend to tip nice taxi drivers in Singapore.

I went from Jurong East to Orchard Road to meet a friend for lunch and it was less than $30. I mean I almost cried diamonds.

Taxi uncles (and the occasional Auntie) are awesome. They are either robots, whack jobs, ex-politicians or comedians.

They can't mind read and obviously not all of them are scamming con men, so if you're sure you know a shorter and better route just tell him.

'Hi, River Valley Rd please. Can you take the ABC rd exit and go through 123 road? Thanks.'

Try taking a taxi in Melbourne.
Taxi drivers 90% of the time smells like a mixture of sewage, Fenugreek and 5 week old armpits.
Tell him the most obvious destination (Flinders Street Station maybe?!) and he'll either shake his head and murmur gibberish, kick you out because the fare is too long or too short, pull out a directory book or spend 15 minutes sticking it into his gps if he has one!

Then you pay AU$50 for 4.5m (I'm obviously exaggerating but it costs FECK lot to get anywhere).

I get that you're paying money for a service and expect it, but sheesh that guy probably meets 5 billion people everyday going every direction you can't expect him to know every 'best' route.
-- AstroGal

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Re: Taxi Nightmares

Post by JR8 » Tue, 15 Feb 2011 7:40 pm

AstroGal wrote: I get that you're paying money for a service and expect it, but sheesh that guy probably meets 5 billion people everyday going every direction you can't expect him to know every 'best' route.
Why not, a taxi-driver in London is obliged to in order to get a license...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Knowle ... _Knowledge

'The Knowledge

The taxicab driver is required to be able to decide routes immediately in response to a passenger's request or traffic conditions, rather than stopping to look at a map, relying on satellite navigation or asking a controller by radio. Consequently, the 'Knowledge of London' Examination System,[4] informally known as 'The Knowledge', is the in-depth study of a number of pre-set London street routes and places of interest that taxicab drivers in that city must complete to obtain a licence to operate a black cab. It was initiated in 1865, and has changed little since. It is claimed that the training involved ensures that London taxi drivers are experts on London, and have an intimate knowledge of the city.

It is the world's most demanding training course for taxicab-drivers, and applicants will usually need at least twelve 'appearances' (attempts at the final test), after preparation averaging 34 months, to pass the examination.[5]
[edit]

Course details

The 320 main (standard) routes, or 'runs', through central London of the Knowledge are contained within the 'Blue Book' (officially known as the 'Guide to Learning the Knowledge of London'), produced by the Public Carriage Office which regulates licensed taxis in London. In all some 25,000 streets within a six mile radius of Charing Cross are covered along with the major arterial routes through the rest of London.

A taxicab-driver must learn these routes, as well as the 'points of interest' along those routes including streets, squares, clubs, hospitals, hotels, theatres, embassies, government and public buildings, railway stations, police stations, courts, diplomatic buildings, important places of worship, cemeteries, crematoria, parks and open spaces, sports and leisure centres, places of learning, restaurants and historic buildings.

The Knowledge includes such details as the order of theatres on Shaftesbury Avenue, or the names and order of the side streets and traffic signals passed on a route.

There are a number of Knowledge Schools that provide books, maps and classroom tuition which help Knowledge students to learn the 320 runs and points of interest.[6]

There are separate shorter courses, for suburban London, with 30 to 50 'runs' depending on the sector.[7]
'

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Post by AstroGal » Tue, 15 Feb 2011 7:44 pm

@ JR8,

Yeah but how much do they get paid?
They earn enough to be able to afford a decent life in the U.K.
High standard of taxi regulations also demand an equally humane pay.

Having such stringent laws in Singapore might be good for the consumer, but really the pittance the taxi drivers get paid in Singapore, I'd be surprised and quite dismayed if such a system is in place without their wages increased.

I met quite a few who pay half their daily earnings alone in just taxi rental. Its just sad.
-- AstroGal

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