Korean Job Discussion Forums

bbud656 · Joined: 15 Jun 2010

Been here a year and just had my first encounter with an attempted taxi con. Caught him swapping out my 10,000 note for 1,000 notes and claiming I was too drunk to pay him correctly. I happened to be not drunk, just really tired and said some unpleasant things to him in English and flashed him my friend's NPA business card. I was sure I didnt make a mistake because I only had roughly the amount of cash owed in my wallet and he didnt put up much of a fight when I called him on it. Those 10k and 1k notes look pretty similar in the dark so dont let dishonest cab drivers fool you. I take cabs like its GTA4 here and this is my first time dealing with this so I dont want to make it seem like its an epidemic, but be careful, especially if you are leaving a popular drinking district.

jamesd · Joined: 15 Aug 2011 Location: Korea

First time encounter? Possibly an honest mistake?

jvalmer · Joined: 06 Jun 2003

I find taxi drivers here are pretty honest, the exception being the airport taxis.

Seoulman69 · Joined: 14 Dec 2009

I've experienced the same as the OP. It was no honest mistake. The driver was a thief. Taxi drivers in Korea have a bad reputation

hubbahubba · Joined: 31 May 2008

As to the OP, sorry about that...it happens.
As for the rest, yes I find the vast majority of cab drivers to be honest. Well, let's restate that, in my experience 100% are honest. Here's to hoping Korea dumps all the extra 0's on their currency...what a waste of effort! All it does is confuse my students when speaking in English numbers.

bbud656 · Joined: 15 Jun 2010

My fare was 30k, he said I paid him 12k. I am super careful about getting my 1k and 10k confused because Im always afraid im going to accidentally drop ten bucks on a bottle of water at night. Besides counting the zeros, the notes are different sized for the blind. This guy would have put up a fight if I tried to leave the cab without paying. I knew he couldnt admit he tried to rip me off so he just kind of gave me a 'oh foreigners' sigh and drove off. Like I said, I take cabs here all the time and this is the first time its happened, but if you are alone, drunk, and coming back from a popular drinking area Id say your chances are higher.

northway · Joined: 05 Jul 2010

I like when I take cabs back to Gyeonggi and the drivers ask for an extra 10,000 at the end of the ride rather than negotiating it at the beginning.

DaHu · Joined: 09 Feb 2011

sirius black · Joined: 04 Jun 2010

Mostly good experiences as well but I have had the odd scammer as well in every city in Korea Ive traveled to. If they sense you're new or don't know the place some will try to scam you. Not being an apologists but taxi drivers the world over by and large are that way. Been in many different cities around this globe and in many countries i have to be careful with taxi drivers. NYC was famous for having theiving cabs. Haven't been there in a while but m aybe they still do.
In one town I was in the taxis would take the long way somewhere to beef up the fare. If I caught them going down a road opposite of where they should I'd call them on it, get out and call another cab in front of them. I'm not gonna continue paying someone blatantly trying to be dishonest.

furtakk · Joined: 02 Jun 2009

the only time i've been attempted to have been ripped off is from the airport. i always tell them to use the meter. if they don't i find the next taxi.

it's especially annoying from the busan airport. it's like a 6,000 won ride to the nearest ktx station and they all ask for 20K. the one dude who finally took me was so pissed the entire ride, but i still only paid 6K.

Seoulman69 · Joined: 14 Dec 2009

Here's what happened to me. I got in a taxi at Itaewon and went home. When i went to pay the taxi driver I gave him two 10,000won notes. He then claimed one of the notes was 1,000won. At first i trusted him and gave him another 10,000won note. When he claimed i had given him another 1,000won note I knew something was amiss. It took a long time of arguing and threatening to call the police before I got my money back.
I tried to report him to the police but the photo I took of his information was too blurry to confirm his identity.

It is worth noting that instead of the normal light inside this taxi the light was blue, thus making it more difficult to tell the colour of the note.

I've had alot of problems with taxi drivers and all my Korean friends have negative attitudes towards taxi drivers.

tc20 · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Location: korea

Most taxis are pretty good. I tend to judge a book by its cover. If the driver looks iffy or like a thug, they usually are. I'll avoid if possible.

johgraker · Joined: 08 Sep 2010 Location: KOREA

sometimes they dont start the counter and then just ask you whatever allways insist on the counter to be on!

hogwonguy1979 · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: the racoon den

hapkido1996 · Joined: 05 Jul 2011 Location: Anyang, Gyeong-gi

In 15 years, I've only had trouble out of taxi drivers a couple of times. This is not counting a few who assumed I was an idiot and offered to take me on a 10-minute ride for like W50,000 or something like that. There's a lot more taxi-driver dishonesty in Thailand and Mexico, in my experience. Korea's taxi drivers are fine, on the average.