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What you Need to Know about Athens Cab Drivers

Two weeks ago; I was in Athens and had a bad experience with taxi drivers. Before getting in the car ask how much first and if the price sounds high walk away. Don’t be surprised if the next cab driver you ask quotes a high price too; plan on getting around by metro and walking instead.
There’s a scam going on in Athens. I made the mistake of not asking how much and when we arrived, I gave the guy 20 euros which probably was higher than it should have been. He tried to tell me I gave him five euros and held up a five-euro bill. If this happens get out of the car. The first time I got out I wrote down the license plate number and he noticed me glancing at it and sped off quickly. The second time I got into one I looked before getting in then wrote the license plate number on my note pad. I reported it to the police but did not want to spend the rest of the day pressing charges.

Posted by
23178 posts

This kind of an old scam. Changing from a high bill to lower bill has been around a long time and not just in Athens. It is easily defeated. Take a firm grip of your money and hold the bill in front of you say, "Twenty??" As if you are uncertain of the value. Then when we acknowledges it, you hand him the bill. Whether it is a ten or a fifty it makes no difference.

Posted by
50 posts

We were in Athens in June. We had to take two taxis from the airport because we had 5 people. Our taxi charged us the fixed rate, while the other taxi tried to charge them extra per bag. He & my brother-in-law were yelling at each other in the street. The guy ended up taking the fixed rate.

Posted by
2923 posts

That’s a good point you brought up Susanna, make sure the meter is turned on. I figured out I needed to show the face value of each euro I handed the driver the first time it happened and that is a definite must.