Seoul Cab Drivers Overcharging Foreigners
I was watching KBS1 last night and they had did an uncover report on how cab drivers in Seoul particularly at Incheon Airport were overcharging foreigners. The cab drivers had found techniques to rig their meters so that when a foreigner takes a cab they would hit a button that would speed up the meter to charge the foreigner more than a Korean customer who would better know how much the cab fare from the airport should cost.
KBS pointed out that a cab fare from the airport into Seoul should cost about 48,500 won while the cab driver they did the uncover report on cost 67,500 won. A cab fare that is 19,000 won more expensive converts to about $20 US dollars more in expense for foreigners. The report also had interviews with foreigners in Seoul who told other stories of how the cab drivers try to rip them off.
I have never taken a taxi from the airport, I always use the airport bus or the subway train that is now available as well. So I can’t really add any personal experiences about the airport taxi drivers, but the fact that they are ripping off foreigners does not surprise me. Also with Seoul taxi drivers I have never had any problems with as well. I’m sure there are crooked cab drivers there, but personally I have had no problems which I think suggests that only a really small minority are crooked.
The only places I have had regular issues with taxi drivers are in Uijongbu and Dongducheon where they love to play the game of not running the meter and than charging GIs an overpriced fare at the end of the ride. A tactic I used to combat this is to simply not pay the cab driver. If he doesn’t run the meter it is a free ride. The cab drivers scream and yell and one time a cab driver tried to get the police stationed in front of Camp Red Cloud to arrest me. I simply showed the policemen the meter which had zero on it and the policemen had no issues and let me go into the camp.
I even had one cab driver stop in the middle of the ride and stop the meter and then try to negotiate an overpriced fair with me and my buddy. If we didn’t agree we would have to get out of the cab in an area where he knew we would have to walk a long ways to find another cab. I just simply started writing down his information from the panel in the taxi. He asked me what I was doing and I told him I was going to contact his taxi company as well as file a complaint with the local authorities. The taxi driver started the meter again really quick and got us to our destination in no time.
The cab drivers in Uijongbu and Dongducheon is something I wish KBS or someone in the Korean media would do an expose on because they regularly screw over soldiers and really portray a bad image of Korea to the soldiers serving in the 2nd Infantry Division.
This is very interesting, because every time we take a cab home from Costco at Yeungdeungpo-gu Office, our fare is different every time. Normally, it should only cost 3500w, but at times we've had it cost 7-8000w as some cabbies like to take different routes. It's a surprise as to how much it will cost every time we head home!
And yet there are still people out there who wonder why we like to beat the crap out of Corean cabbies….
I once had a crooked AAFES cab driver who took me to wrong bldg from Dragon Hill to North Post. He tried to tell me that I gave him a wrong destination as if my Korean was very bad. I knew I gave him clear destination in Korean and also in English. He tried to charge me the twice the rate by going wrong way. So I just sat in the back seat and I start calling Arrirang dispatcher to report his fraud in Korean. When he realized that I speak Korean fluently to his supervisor on the phone about his fraud, he start to apolosizing and I just walked away to my bldg. I can not believe he tried to fraud me for extra $1 or $2. He must have been very desparate. Too bad, I usually tip the cabbies extra 1000 won or $1.
Because a Korean News Media says something – that doesn't make it a fact.
The news media had the undercover footage of the cab ride and they had another cab following the cab in question that had the meter running at the actual rate. Then they had interviews with foreigners that had been ripped off. It was a legit report.
Like I said before I have never taken a cab from the airport so I can't personally attest to it, but I have related my experiences with Uijongbu and Dongducheon cab drivers which makes such behavior by cab drivers from the airport quite likely.
Have no illutions Dave, they over charge. Especially in Uijongbu
You sound like a guy that does not have to take a taxi in Korea
yeah these cab drivers are wonderful. A couple of times, back before the subway was built to Camp Casey, I missed the last train back, so I tried to take a cab to beat curfew, these guys would charge me $30 when it was normally a $20 ride. Not to mention the cabs up here try to charge you $3 for a cab ride when it is normally $2
One of my favorite things to do was during those long rides when they try to rip me off and not run the meter, was halfway through and near the end, hit the run meter button and tell them hey, the meter says "$$$$" and here you go and pay them that amount.
Amazingly when I was riding with my girlfriend or with Katusa's the meter was always ran
Back when I was in 4/7 up in the western corridor their favorite tactic when I told them camp Stanton in Paju-si Kwangtan myon they would always try to go to cp stanley then charge you more for going back all the way to stanton. The korean gate guard back home would always help out when you finally got home.
[…] [GI Korea] Seoul Cab Drivers Overcharging Foreigners Published: Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:41:19 +0000 I was watching KBS1 last night and they had did an uncover report on how cab drivers in Seoul particularly at Incheon Airport were overcharging foreigners.Â* The cab drivers had found techniques to rig their meters so that when a foreigner takes a cab they would hit a button that would speed up the meter […] Read More… […]
[…] I posted a couple of months ago about the KBS report I saw on television about Incheon International Airport taxi drivers overcharging foreigners. Courtesy of the Marmot he has translated a Hankyoreh report of an investigation they have done as well into the corruption of the airport taxi drivers. […]
[…] newspaper article on the subject below, I couldn’t find it so I just googled it and found… http://rokdrop.com/2007/06/23/seoul-cab-drivers-overcharging-foreigners/ Incheon International airport allows(ed) the taxi mafia to rip-off foreigners repeatedly for many […]
[…] know what that company had done with the samples.Make of that what you will. (Hat tip to GI Korea)AND I AM SUPPOSED TO BE SURPRISED BECAUSE WHY?I was watching KBS1 last night and they had did an uncover report on how cab drivers in Seoul […]
[…] … http://www.familyadventurestravel.com/Tips_on_Foriegn_Travel.html – 26k – Cached – Similar PagesSeoul Cab Drivers Overcharging ForeignersJun 23, 2007 … The cab drivers in Uijongbu and Dongducheon is something I wish KBS or someone … […]
[…] … http://www.familyadventurestravel.com/Tips_on_Foriegn_Travel.html – 26k – Cached – Similar PagesSeoul Cab Drivers Overcharging ForeignersJun 23, 2007 … The cab drivers in Uijongbu and Dongducheon is something I wish KBS or someone … […]
I just had two awful experiences with this, perhaps it has gotten worse? I found this page because I searching to find out if I was defrauded. My fare from Incheon Int’l Airport to Yeonsu-Gu, Incheon was 42,400 Won. The cab driver refused to give me my change from a 50,000 Won note and kept saying “tip”. I was screaming at him to give me my change but I was also late for work so I gave up – I paid the bridge toll too. Taking my friend back to the airport a week later my fare from Yeonsu-Gu, Incheon to the airport was 34,400. This time the driver paid the bridge toll which was less going the other way for some reason. I gave him 40,000 knowing the bridge toll was only 3,700 and he kept demanding more money. I asked him for a receipt but he kept yelling at me while I pointed at the meter. When my friend had his bag in hand I just got out of the cab. I now hate cabbies here.
There are sleazy Korean cabbies who drive gypsy (unlicensed) cabs all over the Incheon airport and no one does anything about it.
It happened to us last night from Namsan Tower, Seoul. Overcharged us 5x more than the fare we paid to get there. No meters. No receipt. The excuse was late night charge which was unreasonable as it was only 9.46pm. And the worst , they didn’t even drop us in front of the hospital. I think Namsan Tower official staff have to do something with this as these drivers will definitely give a lot of bad images for foreign tourists.