Hello,
I am very upset and want to know if this has been other's experience in Dubrovnik. When we arrived in Dubrovnik by ferry, we ended up taking a taxi to our Airbnb inside the old town because Uber driver wasn't found. Uber would have been 45 Kn to Buza gate but the taxi driver charged us 125 kn to Pile gate, much shorter distance. He told us Buza would cost a lot more as he was dropping us off. He also stopped the car in the middle of the street, and blocked traffic, forcing us to pay up when we were not ready. We ended up paying 130 kn being rushed. He never answered the question when I asked him how much it would be at the beginning only saying it is by the meter. Rick Steves doesn't have any warnings for taxi in his book and I feel grossly taken advantage of. I'm curious if anyone has experienced anything similar and what I should have done to prevent such in the future. Thank you.
Posted by
Edinburgh
2681 posts
did you look at the meter?
Posted by
Palm Desert, CA, USA
94 posts
On 2 separate occasions I have had to use a taxi instead of Uber or Lyft for various reasons. Each time I was going somewhere I had been before so I was familiar with what the prices should have been. One was a taxi to London Gatwick from our London Victoria area hotel and the other was a taxi to Las Vegas airport from downtown Vegas. On both occasions it cost me double the amount to take a taxi than it would have cost using Uber. Inherently, taxis are generally more expensive. Ride shares and taxis both charge extra during certain hours, if you have more luggage, etc. There are several sites that can give you an estimate on typical taxi fares such as Rome to Rio, not sure how accurate they are as prices can vary by times, holidays, etc.I have no experience with taking a taxi in Dubrovnik, but am assuming that they also would be a fair amount more than Uber. Hope the rest of your trip goes great.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
8056 posts
I am with the above poster, did you first ask about the cost? Typical to do any time you engage a Taxi, the guy has driven the route a thousand times or more, he should be able to give you a rough idea of cost. Secondly, always make sure the meter is started, if an amount appears at start (which is not uncommon) ask what additional charges there are. At the end, pay the amount on the meter.
we ended up taking a taxi to our Airbnb inside the old town because Uber driver wasn't found. Uber would have been 45 Kn
I would verify that you were not charged a fee then for wait time or you being a no show, or perhaps you cancelled through the app. I would also not use the Uber price as the "Fair" price for comparison to an "Official" Cab, Uber sets mostly their own prices and is operating at a loss. On line, most of the estimates for a taxi to old town are in the range of 90 kn.
Rick Steves doesn't have any warnings for taxi in his book and I feel grossly taken advantage of.
I thought being wary of taxis and potential rip-offs was universal advice, not needing to be repeated for each locale.
In the end, take a step back and a deep breath. You were hoping to get a ride for about $7 for a Taxi ride that typically costs $14, and you wound up being charged $19. That will not break you, not worth losing sleep over or remaining upset. Let it go, put it behind you, and don't let it ruin the rest of your trip.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16538 posts
On both occasions it cost me double the amount to take a taxi than it
would have cost using Uber. Inherently, taxis are generally more
expensive. Ride shares and taxis both charge extra during certain
hours, if you have more luggage, etc.
The almost universal difference between taxi and uber pricing was the likeliest reason you paid more. I know that would be the case in my own city. Doing the homework regarding local taxi pricing is also advised for virtually ANY country so I'm not surprised if it's not specifically highlighted in the book.
As Paul wisely advised, you either weren't taken advantage of or not by much so don't let it ruin your day or your lovely trip! :O)
Some general tips from RS here:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/theft-scams/taxi-scams
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7054 posts
I wouldn't compare Uber's fare to a taxi fare. Uber charges below true cost of the service to get market share - the customer gets a rock bottom price on the back of the driver whose total costs aren't covered. The true measure of being taken advantage of by a taxi depends on accuracy of the meter and if the taxi driver took the most efficient route.