Well... in just one night out with a cousin and a foreigner, I have partically solved and identified the ever notorious "taxi driving fleas" and their "harbourers" !It was like this, last Saturday I went to meet my cousin and an Irish friend at the Mandarin Oriental in the KLCC area and as usual, as it is on week-ends , traffic was heavy, so I decided to leave my car at the hotel car park ( and there was the anticipated "much" boozing too !!) and hop on a taxi with the two, to Bukit Bintang for dinner first. We waited in a queue for our taxi and soon the concierge waved one for us. The minute we got in , with a strange accent the driver told us "Thenn rangitt "....I was shocked and protested in bahasa and told him to put the damn meter on, he refused and gave me the dirtiest look, citing traffic-jam bullshit, et cetera et cetera, I immediately told my cousin and our Irish friend to get out of the taxi. We were still at the entrance of the hotel and the driver started swearing at me under his breath, in bahasa ! I naturally retorted and demanded the hotel staff manning the flow of taxis arriving, to reprimand this uncouth taxi driver for not following directives of our fair government, to which ,very sneakily the bell-hop wispered to me.... "no problem ,sir.......we get you another taxi, hokay sir ". By this time , I was already very hot under the collar !! Another few minutes went by, cos there were others too , happily boarding other taxis and getting screwed by the drivers, in the "taxi queue". Then it was our turn and sure enough came this taxi, and the minute I got in , I told the driver to put the meter on,...and to my horror he pointed to the dash-board and sheepishly muttered "No meter, sir !" but I take you to Bukit Bintang for "ten dollah... siiir " !!!!( he had hoped I was from the Bronx !) Just what the hell was going on, I wondered aloud !
This was just too much shit to take so early in the night and even as my cousin tried to pacify me by saying we were running late, I was adamant and got out and went straight to the concierge and explicitly told them, inter alia, they were in cahoots with these taxi drivers !
Sensing trouble, the nice and diplomatic bell-hop quickly herded me aside and smilingly, summoned another..... "special hotel taxi for you only ,sir !" as he snapped his fingers towards a new taxi waiting nearby, definately this time with a meter and also with a very pleasant driver to boot, who eventually took us to our destination, Starhill, for a fraction of the earlier quoted price ! ( guess these "hotel taxis" are kept hidden and on stand-by for people like me who kicked-up a fuss !)
Now you see if only the clean authorities were to go under-cover...sigh.... I'm sure they can nab these maggots who are actually tarnishing the good image of this here country of ours ! How can these hotels of high repute allow these taxis to ply their guests and in the process, rip them ? Every hotel in the "golden triangle" allow these operators to legally fleece their guests, and I say, these so-called high class hotels are to be blamed for this menace ! Isn't it the hotel's responsibilty to ensure all taxis picking up their guest are "certified legal" and government complied taxis ? These hotels practically harbour these "pirates" in their quest for ferrying and fleecing all these gullible and rich foreigners of their euros or dollars !
There you go, Mister Ministers of the relevant Ministries........ start cracking your whip and here laid before you is your expose' .......touche'.......!
7 comments:
Here we go again, about putting the blame on the Ministers and Govt Officers everytime we have a complain about something.
People with problems with taxis and other public transportation which is licensed by the Lembaga Perlesenan Kenderaan Kommersial or Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board, should go and make report with this authority, FIRST.
There is no clause anywhere in the Constitution, Act nor each Department's or Ministry's charter or terms of reference that they MUST provide personnel to do 'investigation', especially "under cover", ALL THE TIME!
Anyone has a problem, call the number toll free (usually printed at the back of most city bound buses) or sms the registration number of the 'criminal' vehicle.
RPK of Malaysia today summoned to Dang Wangi,
there’s a petition on line.
please visit and sign, thank you.
http://www.petitiononline.com/MdMdTaib/petition.html
Bro....
This is the practise. From KLCC to Bukit Bintang or from Bukit Bintang to KLCC, they will charge RM10. No meter. It happened to me once and i end up walking from KLCC to Bukit Bintang. By the time you mentioned Bukit Bintang or KLCC, they will straight away told you RM10 is the fare. The reason is, traffic jam. If you insist to go to BB or KLCC by taxi, then you have to wait, sometimes more than 30mins for a taxi that use meter. That's why i dont want to go to KLCC unless i take the LRT. BB is ok because we have monorail.
BTW, have you read the Malay Male? check it out Bro. hehehehe
Bro you have my sympathies...the infamous taxi drivers of Bolehland is known all over the world. But could it be the way taxi permits are issued? I mean the UMNO goons can get permits by the bundle while the ownercumdriver cannot even get one to operate his own taxi?
I remember some years back there was a big hoohah over Taxi Nazi and his taxi permits.
Yea the NEP has created a bunch of rent seekers.
me just slam their doors
everyone that DOES NOT use the meter gets their doors slammed!
I got one scolding in at Mid Valley everyone looked I walk away to another side... then got on one that use meter. I am happy when they use the meter and when the cab driver is a human and not a leech. The human cabbies are polite and talks to you and share stories to keep you company thru the trip. And I have a habit to give them more than is on the meter I tell them its cause they are good and honest for using the meter and nice to customers. So keep the change... nicer isint it!
hi,
talking about bukit bintang reminded me about my friend who visited klcc recently. got his bag snatched, lost his passport, cash, everything - broad daylight. another friend visited penang and go this handbag snatch at the beach. now i quite embarrassed to recommend malaysia as a holiday destination. i didn't know that many people here, but seem like everyone has a horror story to tell about visiting malaysia...so no place to put my face, must stop telling people i from malaysia!
Elsie,
You are right to say you are ashamed to be called Malaysia, but...we cannot loose sight of the hope for a better Malaysia, all this corruption, bad policing and administrative and executive decisions are made by morons and come election...it will be your chance to see a change.Now go and vote wisely...with your head and not your heart, please.
Cheers and welcome to my blog.
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