DUBAI TAXI, 800-9090

I’ve heard a lot of complaints about riding Dubai Taxi and the drivers. For some reasons, sometimes, these writers overwrite and they talk in general. It will be unfair because I’m riding taxi so often that I encounter a bad driver in one out of 20; mostly the bad experiences are from new drivers, who don’t know the way.

Comments like the driver is rude; they drop you in a place where you will still have to walk; the driver pass the 6 Dirhams charge for you even if you didn’t call the hotline, neglecting the person who called for that taxi (when calling the hotline, the flagdown is Dhs6, waving your hand will cost you Dhs3); you called and the driver is on the way but picked up another passenger and you wait for more than 30 minutes or more; molesters, saying you Filipinos have good body (patan!); going “around the bush” so they make you pay more, to end their shift; slow in driving; opens the audio but the songs are totally if not an Indian a local song that I don’t understand, better get an English song pare; and finally doesn’t know the location and pretends he knows how to get there.

The last pissed us off totally. March 5, 2009 130 pm. Whie and I rode a taxi from Safa Park heading to Philippine Consulate in Al Qusais. He chose the route of Al Wasl, going to Sheik Zayed (instead of getting in Shiek the moment we closed the car doors), passed Wafi City, to Airport Terminal 1&2, under that tunnel going to Deira, circling Deira for no reason and going back under the tunnel to finally reach our location. That time when we are roaming Deira, the meter reads Dhs65. Whie knows the place so she asked the driver why we kept on circling. We got so angry because the driver obviously don’t know the place and keeps on denying, telling us we will go there in 2 minutes! We even called the hotline to let them know what is going on and instruct the driver where to go to! And complain! We reached the location owing us Dhs80. I paid only Dhs50 because that is the usual fare from Safa to Al Qusais (according to other drivers that I knew personally), the driver won’t take it, asking us a stupid question why? This guy, a stubborn driver, instead of apologizing to what he did, demands us to pay the exact fare. He has the higher tone of voice even! I will appreciate better if he asked with a lower tone of voice and apologize rather than to shout at the top of his lungs! Just to finish the hot conversation, we paid the whole. It was 3pm; the consulate closes at 4pm.

Here’s the evidence. Authorities, please there are a lot of people complaining about your drivers. Don’t let Dubai taxi drivers’ ruin your tourism industry, I heard news you’ll depend on tourism once scarcity in oil is felt.

A moment of silence please, I think I just made this post some time ago, dejavu?