Overcharged by cabbies twice in a week

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Oct 18, 2007
Overcharged by cabbies twice in a week
ON OCT 6, I took a Comfort taxi from Marina Bay outside Superbowl Country Club to Tagore Avenue.
The driver told me that he would use the PIE and pass by Yio Chu Kang. The fare was $24.60, including peak hour surcharge.
But just last week, around the same time and at the same location, the journey in a Transcab taxi cost me less than $15, including peak hour surcharge.
I called Comfort to lodge a complaint. The following week, somebody called me to say that the driver had been given a warning. I was slightly appeased.
But to my dismay, on Oct 16 at 6.19pm, I boarded a Comfort cab - this time, I was going from Tagore Ave to Compassvale Crescent Block 295A.
The driver used a route unfamiliar to me, so I asked him whether he knew the way. He assured me that he knew the place and told me it was a short cut.
Upon reaching somewhere near the Layar LRT station, he asked me if I knew the way. How could he claim earlier that he knew where he was going? Eventually, after circling around the area for a while, he reached the destination.
The total fare was $10.80, including peak-hour surcharge. The same journey previously cost me only $8.
Yes, two cabs can get to the same place in the end but what consumers are looking for is a cheaper and faster journey to our destination.
Warning the drivers is one thing, but we have already been overcharged.
Chen Zhenzuan (Miss)
http://www.straitstimes.com/ST+Forum/Online+Story/STIStory_167944.html