Taxi Driver called the police!

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  1. #31

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    Quote Originally Posted by jinglebells:
    I'll take a deep breath and learn yoga if that's what it takes. Except the air is too polluted not sure if I'll like that.
    Sunday, I had some friends coming from Airport Express. We took a cab to Sheung Wan, and the guy was driving like Schuemacher

    Except with all the "one way" in Sheung Wan we spent 5min to reach my place, and the guy started to shout at me "do you know where you live??". When we arrived I started to give him some change (had a few coins) and the guy was (again) shouting NOT ENOUGH!! NOT ENOUGH!!

    My friends were laughing in the back

    Few minutes later we took another cab to go to LKF and the guy drove us till Admiralty with a huge loop to get a higher fare...

    Still, my experience with cabs here is rather positive, and I've even met one who spent the whole time we were crossing the harbor in the tunnel saying "how are you" in French German Spanish Italian.

    I think taxi drivers are really a good image of the people in the country..

  2. #32

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    Heh, heh.

    I remember one lady from the peak writing in to the SCMP about a taxi driver who drove with one hand and peed into a plastic bag with the other. He then slung the bag out of the window at the lights.

    I hope she didn't handle the change...


  3. #33

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    Quote Originally Posted by HKonelegger:
    I had a taxi driver last week who looked like he was running a bookies out of his cab. Three phone hooked up to the dashboard with a hands free that was working on all of them.

    This was apparently so he could have a hand free to text on one of two phones he had on the front passenger seat along with all the sporting papers.

    He also had a notepad and pen on the dashboard that he was taking down times, telephone numbers and amounts of money.

    Needless to say we nearly crashed into the back of a bus and cut up about 3 people as he was operating all of the above simultaneously at several points and steering with his knees!
    LOL

    He's not a bookie. He's running a "cheap taxi service". It's the ones where you can call them to book a taxi and they discount the fare by 20-30%. They cut costs by not having a switchboard operator, so he's the guy answering customers phones, finding a driver who's in area and passing on the # to callback the client.

    The way these guys multitask is amazing.

  4. #34
    Quote Originally Posted by Sigga:
    Heh, heh.

    I remember one lady from the peak writing in to the SCMP about a taxi driver who drove with one hand and peed into a plastic bag with the other. He then slung the bag out of the window at the lights.

    I hope she didn't handle the change...
    I hope he was at least aiming for the bin when he threw it out.

  5. #35

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    i took one of those multi phone taxi before. impressed by their innovativeness and hardwork. its not easy to arrange for such trips demand by clients.

    also if you have asked taxi driver to bring you to LKF, they wld go to the actual LKF road which is a one way street and has to come in from the top. next time ask them to drop you at queenstreet central (is that what it is called?) ...

    generally i think taxi drivers in hk are fairly professional.. at least most know their ways.


  6. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sigga:
    Legally the OP wasn't in the wrong. Are you saying he broke the law? He didn't.

    He offered legal tender and the cabbie refused it.
    No he didn't - he stated that he didn't have sufficient change.

    Cap 374D reg 45
    (2) A driver, when in charge of a taxi, shall-

    (a) not deceive or refuse to inform a passenger or intending passenger as to the proper fare and route to any place;
    (b) at all times when the taxi is available for hire or is hired, carry, for the purpose of giving change, not less than-
    (i) $90 in notes of a denomination of $10 or in coins of a denomination of $2 or more; and
    (ii) $10 in coins of a denomination of $1 or less;

  7. #37

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    Quote Originally Posted by jinglebells:
    This is so dumb, this morning I took a cab to Central and when I arrived the destination I realised I've only got $500 notes. The cab driver said it's HK law that we should not take cabs with $500 notes. What kind of stupid law is this? And even if this is true, why is there no sign in the cab?! Then he called the police! I told the police this is so ridiculous! It's not like I'm out to cheat or what! I took down the taxi number and name, how should I make a complaint to the taxi company about this driver's horrendous attitude, and also about their stupid law and about how they should make known this "law" at least with a sign in the cab if this is valid.
    i have not heard of the $500 law, in fact yesterday morning i was rushing to work and grabbed a taxi, my fare turned out to be around $114, handed over the $500 bill, this cab driver was nice enough to say, "i have no change, but you can pay next time"...i was very surprised by this unexpected reply...then again, i guess taxis in the outlying islands are friendlier...
    you should get the license plate number down and complain to the tranport dept. i think there's a specific number to call for TAXI COMPLAINTS.

  8. #38

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    As noted above, the taxi driver is only obliged to carry $100 in change. You are obliged to have enough money for the fare being aware of the law. Thus, if you only have a $500 notes then you are obliged to give it to the driver and he is not obliged to give you more than $100 in change.

    There is NOTHING for you to complain about if he does that.


  9. #39

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    Well, I hate to be pedantic, PDLM, but what the OP posted was:

    "when I arrived the destination I realised I've only got $500 notes. The cab driver said it's HK law that we should not take cabs with $500 notes. What kind of stupid law is this?"

    The cabbie didn't state he had insufficient change, though I presume that was the case.

    The cabbie lied, created a lot of trouble for no reason, and (in my view) carried a impractically small amount of change. The $100 is, of course, a minimum.


  10. #40

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    Sigga,

    you want to argue law with a taxi driver ?
    he has his own laymen's way of interpreting the 500$ rule.. i.e. the government asked him to have at least 100hkd so having 500hkd to take a taxi is wrong to him.


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