Taxi Safety

In some places, a lot of placed?, many places? the hotel or possibly just the hotel staff has a profit sharing deal with certain taxi drivers or taxi companies. I have never heard of a "bad" experience but I always feel most comfortable and know that I am getting a competitive fare when I personally call the number of a reputable company. On the street I never get in a cab that does not have a company name and number on it; just to be cautious.

You got a hire car instead of a taxi. So what?

Look around at an airport where all the drivers are holding up signs with people's names. Half of them are driving unliveried/unmetered vehicles and are probably recommended in replies to numerous posts begging for 'recommended private driver to .....'

Becca,

As Ed mentioned, it was probably a hire car and therefore this was perfectly normal. Given the fact that the driver had to remove an infant car seat, it sounds like it may have been his personal vehicle. If you were paying a flat rate for the trip, a meter wasn't necessary.

We asked our hotel in Piraeus a couple of years ago to arrange for a taxi to pick us up at Athens airport. The guy who met us, with his own car, was a newly unemployed brother-in-law of someone at the front desk of the hotel. I reckon he was nicer than the average Athens taxi driver and he gave us a running commentary as he drove to Piraeus on what we were passing and what was happening in Greece then. I remember him well whereas had we taken a regular cab I'd have no recollection of the drive at all. Serendipity.

I remember when we went to Arras, France and took a taxi out to the Vimy Ridge Canadian War Memorial...when we wanted to go back to Arras, they called from the Canadian museum...and we got a guy with no meter or anything. He actually pulled a pile of brochures about the area from his trunk and gave them to us (unfortunately, we only were visiting Vimy, but had we been staying, it would have been helpful), drove by the American and German cemetaries, and charged 5 or 6 euro less then the metered taxi! And even tho we didn't understand much of the French, we got a bit of a tour guide built in...he was a travelling tourist bureau!

Thanks, everyone. We just never take taxis (I can probably count the number taxis I've taken on one hand...), so I'm completely unfamiliar with it, and the hired driver thing didn't occur to me. Glad I didn't need to be spooked. :) Especially after all those posters in London--anyone been lately that noticed the mini-cab ads? They made me laugh. Until my taxi experience. :)

The minicab ads in London are CREEPY. Creepy, creepy, creepy. And I understand the intent, but it does seem a little Big Brothery to monitor every cab ride!

You got a private transfer on a hired car with driver instead of a taxi. If they charge you the same,no biggies.
Had the same type of experience in Washington DC and also here in California. Unfortunately I wasn't as lucky as you, and in both cases they tried to overcharge me. Now I avoid asking the hotel to make arrangements for a taxi in the US. In most instances I just walk outside and get a regular taxi in front or at the closest taxi stand.

I spend a lot of time in Central and Eastern Europe where you would expect the problem to be worse and I can honestly say that the worst I have heard of is that the rider paid somewhat more than necessary.

Actually prefer the private service in NYC arranged by the hotel, and have used in Rome,Amsterdam,London, Athens, Barcelona, etc. In Rome a couple of years ago we used an airport shuttle service and had to wait at another hotel for at least 20 minutes for a large American family to get themselves out of the hotel, arranged in the shuttle van, and loudly discuss matters. We saved maybe 5 euros over taking the Smeraldo's service- never again.