I said I probably wouldn’t write much for a few days, but the combination of broadband internet in my hotel room and tonight’s taxi experience cried out for comment.
I arrived in Melbourne from Perth with my colleague about 7.15pm. We collected our luggage and queued for a taxi. I guessed it would be a $35 fare in quiet Sunday night traffic, and allowing for the airport fee.
Our hotel is the Crown Promenade in Southbank.
It was a little disturbing when the Indian-looking driver asked me if I knew how to get there! He said it was his second day on the job.
I didn’t think it was possible for a taxi driver NOT to find Southbank. It’s a long time since I’ve driven in Melbourne, and although I knew the general direction, I couldn’t tell him which exit to take.
He took the wrong one and finished up on the Princes Highway. I knew things were horribly wrong when I saw signs for Dandenong!
He had a navigation device, but didn’t seem to know how to use it. The driver could barely speak English and muttered away in Bengali or whatever to his brother on the radio.
It was only good luck that he got us to the hotel. We disputed the $60 fare and he argued with us! We got the hotel staff to confirm it should never be more than $50 (on a high-traffic day) and settled for that amount.
I really can’t believe that taxi drivers are allowed to operate without a good general knowledge of the city’s geography and major landmarks. This bloke should not have been on the road.
Well they operate all the call centres so why not the taxis? By the way, was his name Haneef by any chance? (He needs a job I hear).
Twitter: delmerw
says:
We had a new-to-the-US Russian guy driving us around Boston one night. He was a great guy and was trying real hard. Eventually we said, "this is it," paid the fare, got out, waited for him to drive off, and took the subway.