Gweilo price alive and well in Macau ... the other week I was heading back to the Cotai ferry, one of the touts outside was calling out prices for tickets...
in English he said $150 ... in Chinese it was only $100!
(I forget if it was Cantonese or Mandarin)
Again, that's the language tax rather than the foreigner tax!
I have absolutely been quoted higher prices for services because I'm a gweilo. Recent example;
Called an air conditioning company to get my air cons cleaned, they quoted one price and wouldn't budge when I said that it was too expensive. I though it was too high, so backed out. My wife (local) called without revealing that she was my wife and they quoted $200 less.
This isn't the first time this has happened.
That's the tax for being picky (which i think is deserved unless you really are allergic to something).
I often choose the set menu and can't read Chinese. Just choose A, B, C or D. Its a nice surprise and it won't be bad whatever it is. the set menus are likely to be some of the most popular dishes rather than anything weird.
That is possible, since of course there are always dodgy drivers. But it is just the percent of drivers that do it that makes me wonder. It happens to me almost half the time I take a taxi (when alone).
It's usually taking longer route. I probably should tell them exactly where to go, but it is often stuff that I wouldn't ever assume they would do. Like driving from Causeway Bay (coming from through the Aberdeen Tunnel) all the way to the other end of Admiralty and then circling back to get to Wan Chai (the side that's closer to CWB). I wouldn't really think to tell them not to go through Admiralty to get to Wan Chai.... Or once I told a guy where I wanted to go in Cantonese then English then tried to show him the map on my phone (he refused to look although wasn't driving) but then "missed" the road and drove quite a few blocks before stopping and asking me where I wanted to go and then said he didn't understand me before (although not sure why he drove so long if he didn't know where I wanted to go). So...I don't even know.
You're right though; I should be more proactive about reporting. My response has been to just try to avoid taxis.
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Service in Hong Kong is phenomenal. Just wave your hands and someone comes. I like how they work in teams.