True Life Stories
avoid being ripped off in Bulgaria!
.
Taxis .
.Back in 1984 I was a taxi driver in Plymouth, so I have a little bit of
.background experience, even
though it was a long time ago and only
.for a short period of time.
.
.In Plymouth there were a small core of drivers that would simply rip
.people off every time, there were
many, many tricks they used to
.get extra money including:
..Short changing people - you give them a £10
note and they keep an extra £1 or £2
.
.Setting the meter higher than the legal fare - although meters are highly
.accurate today in the UK today, back
in 1984 it was possible
.to alter the internal workings to make the meter run faster.
.
.Charging a premium rate after midnight (although the rate was higher
.in those days some drivers charged double).
.
.Driving a route that was longer on days when there
were not many fares to be had. .
.Recommending
Hotels that were quite a distance away simply
.because they earn a commission from the
Hotel (and the extra fare). .
.Same goes for the "Ladies of the Night" if the driver was getting
.commission and that was what the
person wanted. .
.Which reminds me:
.
.A 10 year old boy gets in a taxi with his father. .
.They are driving through Union Street in Plymouth at 10 in the evening.
.
.The little boy notices all the ladies standing on the street corners
.and asks his father "what are the ladies
on the side of the street called". .
.His father looks a bit uncomfortable and replies "those
are Ladies
.of the Night my son, they are waiting
for a taxi to take them home". .
.The Taxi driver says" Son thats not true, those Ladies are
prostitutes
.and they sell their bodies to men for sex". .
.The little boy thought for a moment and said
"If those Ladies have
.babies Dad, what are they called "
.
.The father replied " Taxi Drivers son"
.
.In Bulgaria I have been over charged by Taxi drivers so many times I have lost track.
. .Personally I turn a blind eye to
paying slightly more than the locals pay,
.after all, it's a hard
life for them and they do work long,
.hard hours for
what they earn. . .I believe a balance needs
to be struck between what is an unbelievably cheap
.fare on the one hand, and a
reasonable wage for the Drivers on the other. .
.However, these pages are dedicated to those rogue drivers who try to
.charge
many times the going rate. .
.Okay, we all know that Taxis in the Cities, the resorts, the airport and,
.to a lesser degree, the train stations.
are going to be dearer than
.taxis taken from the ranks. .
.A friend of mine landed at Varna Airport and went to a cab driver,
.how much
to Kavarna he asked, the man said
that he was unsure
.but it should be around 80 to 100 leva, but not to worry as his cab
.had a meter and the
rate was clearly displayed in the window. .
.They started out and my friend was about a third of the way there
.and
noticed the meter was on 120 leva, he pointed
this out to the cab
.driver, but the cab driver told him this is what it costs. .
.When they arrived at kavarna the fare on the meter was showing
.just over 340 leva.
..An argument took place and the
cab driver said he was going to call the
.Police if the fare was not paid. .
.My friend said that he only had 300 leva with him and that was all he was
.willing to pay.
. .The cab driver accepted
and left. .
.I am unsure of the true fare but I would be surprised if it was
more than 80 leva .(and for talking to the drivers
someone would do it for 50 leva).
. .I once
traveled from Sofia to Varna in a Taxi, I managed to get a driver
.who
agreed to do the trip for just 200 leva.
.(His car
ran on methane which is very cheap). .
.Many times I have sat in the back of Taxis only to find that they turn
their
.meters off as soon as they are
outside the City limits.
. .When asked why they suddenly
speak far less English than they did
.when you got into the Car.
.
.When you get to your destination the reason becomes clear,
.the driver
say's the meter must be broken and ask you for a fare
.at least twice the going rate. .
.Some times I have noticed that the meters seem to be running
.at a reasonable rate, only to notice that the taxi driver
seems to put
.his right hand under the seat..
.Its as if there is a button attached to the meter.
. .Then the meter starts
running a lot faster. .
.I have yet to pay anyone who tries to charge me more than the going rate.
.
.The drivers that are fair with me always get a tip.
.
.Those who try to over charge me get the normal fare.
.
.They do shout, they do threaten to get the Police but its never happened yet.
.
.There are many good honest Taxi Drivers in Bulgaria, find yourself a good one
.(if you use Taxis a lot) stick with him.
.