|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
|
 Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 12:32 am Post subject: Re: 'Foreigner only' taxis passing me by to pick up Koreans! |
 |
|
| Died By Bear wrote: |
| Sure, but there are good reasons they do it. And this isn't an apology for them, it's reality. For one thing, they pretty much know that Koreans will pay them. Depending on a few factors, maybe the drivers felt you didn't look like the type of foreigner they wanted to have in their car. Who knows what you look like, maybe the guy just had four G.I.s rip him off. |
And how often does it happen that a miliary member stiffs a taxi driver on the fare? How often does it happen that a non-military foreigner stiffs a tax driver on the fare?
One point to consider: There are some taxis who can't pick you up off post, though, unless you're connected with the military and have called them to come get you. Those are the ones contracted by the military base. Their contract with the base limits them to picking people up on base and picking up just those connected with the military off-base. So, it's pretty common for an on-base cabbie to get a fare on the base whose destination is Itaeweon. That cabbie has to high-tail it back to base for his next fare unless he's very lucky and somene in the area he dropped the military person off has called for a cab from the base. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:04 am Post subject: |
|
|
If one doesn't want to deal with drunks and sundrys, one shouldn't be a taxi driver working the moonlight shift.
Since they are government subsidized, they should have a completely non-discriminatory policy.
On the other hand, if I was a taxi driver, driving a private taxi, as much as I would like to think I'd be honorable, I'd do what I could to maximize my profits and minimize my risks and potential for problems.
Note, this would also involve driving past irate ajummas, 30+ ladies of the night who are on their last treads, and puking drunk Korean college kids. Why pick up someone who looks like they might vomit in your cab? Why pick up someone who looks inebriated and potentially lost who is going to have you driving in circles trying to find wherever and force you to spend 10 minutes rousing them out of their drunken stupor.
I must ask- do you think a cabby should be able to refuse service to a person or persons who appear seriously intoxicated and are unaccompanied by someone sober?
What if the driver is female? Is it appropriate to ask a woman to pick up a drunk group of 3 men, regardless of ethnicity? This can also apply for passenger safety as well- A male cabby picking up a drunk solo female passenger? With all the stories we've heard about rapes of women, foreigners included?
I dunno, I have a mix of libertarian and strict regulatory thoughts on this one... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Trip
Joined: 28 Dec 2008
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:09 am Post subject: |
|
|
Protip: Get in. If the door is locked, lean in the front window. Have your camera ready. If refused service, snap a pic of the guy's license on his dashboard. If that won't work, get a pic of his plates. (I've had a guy try to roll up the window with my arm in it.)
Email the photo and a description of what happened to the Hi Seoul website or official tourism website. They will respond to clarify what happened (times, dates, location) and they will punish the driver. It's illegal to refuse service. The first 2 times it's a fine (100,000 or 200,000 or something) and the third time reported can mean losing the license for a month. There have been news articles about this in the past. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SMOE NSET
Joined: 25 Feb 2010
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:12 am Post subject: |
|
|
| They could be call taxis on their way to their fare. The ones I always take don't turn off their light until they start running the meter. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Dodge7
Joined: 21 Oct 2011
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Koreans (especially cabbies) are racist. Close thread. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ewlandon
Joined: 30 Jan 2011
Location: teacher
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
the last couple times I have gone out have been realllly bad. I think the cold weather makes them worse. ONce was in Jogno. I walked for about an hour till we got to the tunnel that goes to iteawon. We just wanted to go through the tunnel and no cab would stop for us, one cab offered to take us for 20,000 won (its a 3,000 trip) then drove off. We were unable to get a cab at all till 4 AM.
The last time was in Iteawon 2 weeks ago. Same thing as jogno. Tons of people waving down cabs (both white and korean) the cabs slow down talk for a second then drive off. This time I was super pissed off because of my previous experience. One cabbie stopped and asked were we are going. I told him and he did the hand wave "nono" thing I got in the cab and said he couldnt do that. I told my friends to get in but unfortunatly they wouldnt get in out of embarassment I guess. I was fully prepared to call the cops this time. The cab situation is out of control.
Our solution was to take a bus far away from a popular area and find a cab that way.
Next time I will try the photo of their liscence or i'll just straight up call the cops. ANyone know of a non emergency line? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hamburgs_MecGee
Joined: 28 Jan 2012
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:19 am Post subject: Re: 'Foreigner only' taxis passing me by to pick up Koreans! |
|
|
| Scorpion wrote: |
Are those Orange taxis in Seoul still only for foreigners? Last Friday night I was standing in Itaewon waiting for a taxi. It's often difficult enough because 'taxi stealing' seems to be the national sport here. On top of that taxis will frequently pass you by to pick up Koreans. And the Koreans show no shame in jumping into a taxi that just passed you by and which, by all reasoning, was yours. Now those orange taxis are doing it. Last Friday three different 'foreigner only' taxis passed by me and stopped for Koreans. On the third occasion I simply ran back and claimed it from the people climbing into it. Now, I'm not a big fan of the 'foreigner taxi' thing (for different reasons) and I can understand the drivers wanting to pick up Korean customers too. They need to make money. But driving a 'foreigner taxi' then passing foreigners by to pick up Koreans is just f@&ked up.
Anyone experience this? |
Cry me a river. Get a car as taxi's are for proles.
Keep your ear to the grindstone! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:39 am Post subject: |
|
|
| ewlandon wrote: |
| Next time I will try the photo of their liscence or i'll just straight up call the cops. ANyone know of a non emergency line? |
Next time you're in a taxi, look at the hack license that's supposed to be affixed to the dash in front of the front passenger seat. There are two telephone numbers to call if you have a problem with a taxi. The first number is for complaints in Korean, the second is for complaints in English. Sorry, I don't know what the numbers are. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nautilus
Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 4:26 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Died By Bear wrote: |
| Smithington wrote: |
Man taxi stealing drives me nuts. A couple weeks ago I was walking to a taxi outside a subway station. I was approaching the taxi door, clearly intent on getting into the taxi. A Korean woman comes running up from behind, grabs the door and jumps in. I stood there in disbelief. She practically had to push my hand away to grab the handle and open the door.
 |
Grow a pair and be aggressive next time. |
There's a lot of things that simply take you by surprise here. There's a vast amount of totally unexpected behaviour.
I suppose you'll be prepared for everything if you walk around on angry red alert all day long waiting for something to happen.
But if you're going to live like that you may as well just leave and go to another country. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Died By Bear
Joined: 13 Jul 2010
Location: On the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 4:43 am Post subject: Re: 'Foreigner only' taxis passing me by to pick up Koreans! |
|
|
| CentralCali wrote: |
| Died By Bear wrote: |
| Sure, but there are good reasons they do it. And this isn't an apology for them, it's reality. For one thing, they pretty much know that Koreans will pay them. Depending on a few factors, maybe the drivers felt you didn't look like the type of foreigner they wanted to have in their car. Who knows what you look like, maybe the guy just had four G.I.s rip him off. |
And how often does it happen that a miliary member stiffs a taxi driver on the fare? How often does it happen that a non-military foreigner stiffs a tax driver on the fare?
One point to consider: There are some taxis who can't pick you up off post, though, unless you're connected with the military and have called them to come get you. Those are the ones contracted by the military base. Their contract with the base limits them to picking people up on base and picking up just those connected with the military off-base. So, it's pretty common for an on-base cabbie to get a fare on the base whose destination is Itaeweon. That cabbie has to high-tail it back to base for his next fare unless he's very lucky and somene in the area he dropped the military person off has called for a cab from the base. |
Not very often, but you and I both know it does happen. Drunken teachers can be jackasses too, but at least they're a tiny bit older and some have been educated. But what another guy said is definitely true - most cabbies are racist. They'd rather have the Korean, really don't give a rats ass if another person cuts you off and takes your taxi. Not all, but a lot. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 4:57 am Post subject: Re: 'Foreigner only' taxis passing me by to pick up Koreans! |
|
|
| Died By Bear wrote: |
| CentralCali wrote: |
| Died By Bear wrote: |
| Sure, but there are good reasons they do it. And this isn't an apology for them, it's reality. For one thing, they pretty much know that Koreans will pay them. Depending on a few factors, maybe the drivers felt you didn't look like the type of foreigner they wanted to have in their car. Who knows what you look like, maybe the guy just had four G.I.s rip him off. |
And how often does it happen that a miliary member stiffs a taxi driver on the fare? How often does it happen that a non-military foreigner stiffs a tax driver on the fare?
One point to consider: There are some taxis who can't pick you up off post, though, unless you're connected with the military and have called them to come get you. Those are the ones contracted by the military base. Their contract with the base limits them to picking people up on base and picking up just those connected with the military off-base. So, it's pretty common for an on-base cabbie to get a fare on the base whose destination is Itaeweon. That cabbie has to high-tail it back to base for his next fare unless he's very lucky and somene in the area he dropped the military person off has called for a cab from the base. |
Not very often, but you and I both know it does happen. |
You know what else I know happens? Koreans stiffing the cabbie on the fare. Since there are are far more Koreans taking cabs and far more Koreans taking cabs where you're not going to find any US Soldiers, I think it's a fairly safe to say that it's more common for a Korean to stiff the cabby.
| Quote: |
| Drunken teachers can be jackasses too, but at least they're a tiny bit older and some have been educated. |
Plenty of US Soldiers are older than the "tiny bit older" teachers to whom you refer and plenty of soldiers are educated.
| Quote: |
| But what another guy said is definitely true - most cabbies are racist. They'd rather have the Korean, really don't give a rats ass if another person cuts you off and takes your taxi. Not all, but a lot. |
Honestly, I'd think the main reason that a cabbie would pass up a foreigner would be the simple assumption that the cabbie assumes he won't be able to communicate. It's still wrong, though. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
fermentation
Joined: 22 Jun 2009
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 5:34 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I spent 3 hours once at Hongdae trying to deal with taxi drivers ignoring me and pretty much everybody else, Korean and foreign. I really want to know the logic behind ignoring paying customers. They only seemed to be wanting to take passengers going a considerable distance. If one or two taxis did it, whatever, but every taxi I flagged down either ignored me, or gave me some crappy excuse. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 6:51 am Post subject: |
|
|
The idea that taxi cabs and drivers exist to provide a service to you, rather than to maximize profit to themselves is a naive idea and the sooner one recognizes the true nature of things is the sooner one can deal with things- If you are desperate for a "non-profitable" ride from a cab driver, make it worth his while, pay an excess rate.
It's like getting a spot in a club that's "full". Every drunk wants in. Make it worth the bouncer's while and he might arrange something.
But play the game the other way too- Get their ID. Take that picture. Do what Trip said and get in and pic their ID. They aren't there to please you and you aren't there to please them. Play the game and make them serve you.
I wish there was a better system in place so it didn't have to be so cutthroat. You should be able to walk out of Hongdae at 2AM and get a ride down the block to Shinchon without spending 45 out in the rain.
I think some good hullaballoo about the situation from foreigners might help, so I don't begrudge anyone making complaint.
Seriously though, if you made every NET a taxi driver and you made every taxi driver an NET, they'd end up with a lot more sympathy about why each does the things they do. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
furtakk
Joined: 02 Jun 2009
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 7:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
| It's a huge pain in the ass, but if you walk a bit a ways from the main 'cab' area of wherever you are, you should have much less of a headache. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jonpurdy
Joined: 08 Jan 2009
Location: Ulsan
|
| Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 8:06 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I've taken a lot of taxis in Korea. But the absolute worst place in the entire country to get a taxi, by far, is Itaewon on a Friday or Saturday night. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
