New York’s good Samaritan taxi drivers reacted with fury yesterday at news that thousands of fellow medallion holders have scammed passengers out of millions.
The city’s honest cabbies – who have returned diamonds, violins, cell phones and even bundles of cash to grateful passengers – heaped scorn on the deceitful drivers who overcharged nearly 2 million customers by changing their meter to a more expensive rate.
“I feel very ashamed [of cheating drivers],” said Osman Chowdhury, who returned a bag full of diamond rings worth $500,000 to its owner in 2007.
“When you’re driving, people now look at you and think you’re going to do something bad,” he added. “The bad thing becomes the issue, and then the good things drivers do are forgotten.”
“I’m really angry. I’m not happy,” said Douglas Guldeniz, who made headlines in 2007 when he agreed to drive retired couple Bob and Betty Matas across the country to their new Arizona home.
“I really don’t understand those people – if they wanted the double fare, why not work the extra hours?”
Guldeniz said he’s worried riders will get the wrong impression of hacks, saying, “I don’t want all passengers to think taxi drivers are really hungry for money.”
A Taxi and Limousine Commission probe found that nearly 36,000 New York yellow cab drivers – roughly 75% – overcharged passengers by a massive $8.3 million in the last 26 months.
At least 3,000 of those hacks were repeat offenders – switching their meter to a higher out-of-town rate more than 100 times. The Department of Investigation is looking into the swindle and expects to bring criminal charges against some of the cabbies.
cboyle@nydailynews.com
cabbies are now taken for anything,what ever bad thing you wana say and ppls will believe it just like that. its sad no body remembers where we had been good to them but do remember for years if a bad incident happened.
However many drivers overcharged, ONLY .0025 percent of riders were overcharged in a year. Compared to nearly 300,000,000 rides a year that NYC yellow cabs drive, 900,000 overcharges (in one year) is just a drop in the barrel.
Visitors to New York City should be reassured, it is a very small chance they will be overcharged in a New York City yellow cab.
Who insisted on, programmed, and installed meters that allowed these deliberate overcharges and those by error?
To Charles T, you’re 100 % right! There was time in the 80′s early 90′s when some taxi meter was clicking faster. Some were made by crooked drivers, and many were caused by mechanical failure. In those years, the TLC mandated all meters with the crack-proof sealer, also the wire must run outside on the dashboard. After that, fast meter was a history until recently. With sophisticated GPS technology, they created the loop holes to show how much more drivers can make, so the TLC can claim, drivers earn much as 24 dollars per hour! And then when the money is tighter, let take it again from the hardworking cabbies! Regulators they created the problems, and they knew will happen, so than they can take a lot more money from the drivers! It is a game, a CIRCUS!
Uh…..not trying to be rude Charles, but the article said 75% of drivers where over charging……oh, my bad, “roughly” was the word used…..still though that doesn’t seem to jibe with what you are claiming. With that said, it doesn’t matter if it’s 1% or 100%. A thief is a thief. You still a penny or a million dollars you’re still a criminal. Let’s call a spade a spade. Unfortunately, most people today will do whatever they can to justify their actions.
If, as the NYDailyNews article said, at least 3,000 drivers were REPEAT offenders out of 36,000 drivers found to have overcharged, that means 33,000 drivers did it JUST ONCE. Just once cannot be termed willful overcharging, more like button mistake or some strange fluke. .0025 percent (one quarter of one percent) riders being overcharged in one year is an infinitesimal amount of riders.
Thus, 33,000 drivers overcharging just once, or twice even, must be DISREGARDED. The 3,000 repeat-offender drivers must be compared to the total number of drivers, did I read 56,000? That is, 5% of drivers were repeat offenders. Not “roughly 75%” as the article said.
As for meters, I remember reading a long time ago that a mechanic had done something to meters that if the driver hit the meter with a pencil, it would escalate or turn an extra flip. I don’t remember where that was. The mechanic who fixed the meters and the drivers who deliberately benefited from that were sentenced to jail time according to an article in some trade magazine. I wondered how on earth a driver could keep hitting the meter with a pencil and it flipped every time, and the rider would not NOTICE!!!!
It has been known for a long time that jamming the brakes needlessly every 30 seconds could result in a slightly higher fare, as told to me maybe 50 cents on a ride. While drivers made a tiny amount more, the cab renters were constantly changing brake pads, and despising the drivers.
In general, drivers are honest and should not constantly be picked apart. In overcharging, they are hugely over-shadowed by retail operators. A total price given for tires including, then suddenly installation, balancing is additional. Retail cashiers with “wrong change.” Retail cashiers with no prices marked on objects, stealing by price elevation. We encounter all the methods.
Cab riders have their own scams, holding out the $20 and saying I’ll take $9 back, and while you are fishing out the $9, they take it and keep the $20 too. My own fault, but I’ve been taken hundreds of times on that, you get tired. Or the cash given rolled up, only to find it is 5 ones instead of 4 ones and a $5. No one writes articles about cab riders stealing. Any driver reporting rider cheats is laughed at for wasting their time.
To The Asphalt Blogger.com. Is this some type of website? If so, who and where does it serve?
Feel free to check out my site Charles. It serves who ever wants to read whatever I put on it. Just my way of venting and sharing whatever is on my walnut sized brain!
And with respect to bad customers ripping off riders, write about it. No disrespect brother, but if you aren’t trying to be part of the solution, you are just furthering the problem. Be good to yourself.
Say meter rip-off?
In 1974, after the last successful unionized taxi strike in New York City, the taxi meter was raised to $2.65/mile (in today’s money * — nominally $.60) — said union being subsequently disbanded via a switch to leasing to so called “private contractors.” By early 2004 the New York meter had sunk to $1.75/mile (in 2010 dollars — nominally $1.50) — for cabbies who serve the only place on earth (or in history) where wealth is a plateau not a pinnacle, lower Manhattan.
Later on in 2004 the New York meter was raised to a tad more than $2.25/mile (nominally $2.00) — after average income in America had grown 166% since the last successful strike. Today inflation has shaved the meter back to $2.00/mile — 65 cents short of 1974′s rate. Oh, and under the lease system — unlike the previous 60/40 (or was it 50/50? — it’s been so long) commission system — the shortfall comes all out of the driver’s pocket…
…effectively cutting his income in half? Did someone say New York Taxi meter rip-off?
* http://www.minneapolisfed.org/index.cfm
Ok Ok it’s only 8 million dollars…it’s not like the cabbies killed anyone…what about all the people that die taking prescription medications while being overcharged billions of dollars a year….it costs what? 10 cents to make a pill and some single pills cost $150 dollars to buy…BULLSH*t if you ask me.
There has to be an independent audit of all this. I can’t believe these numbers are accurate. They should never have released this report to the news media as is without an independent audit-especially the NY Post who takes every chance they get to kick us in the groin!
Why doesn’t the Alliance demand an accounting from the TLC of precisely where the 5% card user loss per trip GOES. Precisely who gets how much.
And remember a cabbie is a time and distance biller. A cabbie has 12 hours to make his money. Fooling around with card processing, discussion about it, trying different cards all takes time. If a cabbie loses 30 minutes a day OR MORE processing cootie cards let’s say that is let’s say a $10 job if the cabbie can get one. This is a $70 a week loss out of cabbies’ pay. $280 a month, 1/2 the cost of a health care policy just GRABBED out of the cabbies’ hands. Yet the rest of the cab business retains and increases their take out of the cabbies’ hands. Anytime there is a squeeze, it is out of the cabbies’ leftover pay after the rest of the cab business takes theirs (Iwhich is never squeezed). TIME LOSS IS PAY LOSS FOR THE CABBIE.
A day or two ago, either the Post or Daily News SPLASHED FRONT PAGE expose on millions being stolen from the subway system by FARE BEATERS. Yet, they don’t seem to want to write up cabbie fare beaters.
Charlie, why U don’t joint the Alliance and ask the leaership to do what U r sugesting? r U really a cab driver? why don’t U ask to LOMTO & Taxi Safety the same questions?
Llisten I remember when Saddam handled all the cabs in Detroit. Cause that’s what ny is now if I can’t get a yellow cab.
Once upon a time there lived a great king who lived in a great house who had a great life who loved people. Also he loved his cabs. Call me Elizabeth Rhodes. I bought this place for Hussein!
Hey NY Post what about subway system FARE BEATERS? Anyways I thought when we forked out cash for a GPS that people would get past this “all cabbies are thieves crap” that hurts us honest hacks. IMO we’ve got to do whatever it takes to make people believe 100% that what’s on the meter IS the 100% REAL fare. If we don’t us hacks can kiss off have of our passengers.
This news is de-pressing. O well.