How do you know if you're cab driver is cheating you?

Just curious, how much should a cab cost from Paris to Fremont St. on a Friday night? I have heard stories of cabs taking longer routes on unsuspecting tourist.

 

There are fare finder sites on the web. They should come fairly close to how much it should cost. There may be a lot of paid wait time because the Strip is usually jammed on Friday and Saturday nights.

 

A: the cab's wheels are turning?

 

Bahaha!

 

Right on. Take the shuttle. It might be 3 minutes longer but it will be be $20 cheaper-or more depending on how crooked the taxi driver is.
I stay AWAY from taxis-use rental cars, shuttles and buses. A taxi from one Strip property to another is acceptable-avoid any other ride like the plague unless you enjoy being a mark.

 

A ride from Paris to Fremont should run about $25 before tip, give or take $4-5. Best bet is to stay off the strip and take Paradise, IMO.

 

Easiest method is to just type it into Google Maps (or whatever) on your phone and look at the most direct route. That is what he is supposed to take and you can ask him to take that route. Ahead of time this site can give you the route and fare breakdown, looks like it should be about $20 to go downtown from Paris: http://www.taxifarefinder.com/main.php?city=LV&from=Paris+Las+Vegas&to=Golden+Nugget%2C+Fremont+Street%2C+Las+Vegas%2C+NV%2C+United+States&toCoord=36.170397,-115.14471400000002

We got ripped off last weekend taking a cab from MGM to Mirage. I asked him to take the strip because it was our first night in town (also shortest route I think) and he started to but then said he couldn't because of construction and took us on some long roundabout way using the highway and the fare came to around $20. I didn't say much because I felt sorry enough for the guy having to listen to my girlfriend ripping him a new one.

 

Just so the OP is clear, there aren't shuttles from the strip to downtown. Pretty sure melbedewy is talking about transport from the airport.

The best thing to do if you are concerned about cab drivers running the meter up on you is do some research on the easiest ways to get from point A to point B. KickinChicken's way of using Google Maps is a great way to go. While standing in line for the cab, find out the quickest way that Google says to go, then tell the driver you want to go via a certain route (Paradise, Industrial, Strip, etc.) If you don't have a smart phone, do some research at home before your trip. Once you get an idea of how the roads are, it's pretty simple from there on out.

And, if the driver does go a long route, make sure to question them why they are. I've "caught" drivers taking a long route before and have had the meter turned off or they say "pay what you think it's worth." Ideally, you report them to the cab authority, but I think we all know that no one wants to waste/take the time to report it.

 

I do the google maps thing on my phone prior to getting in the cab so I can give them the route I want to take if we are going somewhere new or off strip.

One time my girlfriend and I hopped a cab at NYNY and wanted to go to the Mirage via the expressway. When leaving NYNY to take the expressway to Mirage you must take a right. This chowderhead was in the left lane preparing to go south on the expressway. And his diversion attempt? Trying to show me videos of some hot chick on his phone. I busted him and he hemmed and hawed about construction.

 

Probably higher on Friday night, but this estimates $20, http://www.taxifarefinder.com/main.php?city=LV&from=Paris+Las+Vegas%2C+South+Las+Vegas+Boulevard%2C+Las+Vegas%2C+NV%2C+United+States&to=Golden+Nugget%2C+Fremont+Street%2C+Las+Vegas%2C+NV%2C+United+States&fromCoord=36.112541,-115.17066999999997&toCoord=36.170397,-115.14471400000002

 

Got a link for the Strip to Fremont St shuttle?

 

It's hard to know when you're being long-hauled. Being familiar with the location helps. I remember one night we were going from NYNY to Harrah's, I noticed the driver didn't start the meter right away, he headed toward Las Vegas Blvd, saw the traffic and headed toward I-15. I was a little worried and mentioned we don't normally take the interstate to get to Harrah's. He said the Brittany concert was causing a lot of traffic. As it turned out the fare was actually a buck or two cheaper than usual. He got a couple extra bucks on the tip. It's just something you learn. But keep in mind, if you're spending thousands on a trip don't get too uptight about being overcharged on a cab ride. If you keep coming to Vegas you will get bolder with the drivers.

 

I usually don't give direction to cab drivers, if they go the proper way they get a nice tip. If they take the long way, no tip. With the tip it usually works out the same as if they long hauled you, so I won't let it ruin my trip.

 

No, he doesn't have a link because there is no such thing as a shuttle from fremont to the strip. His math is also way off.

 

Not to single you out, but it's never about the few $ extra. It's about being blatantly cheated. I'd compare it to going to a bar and having the bartender on purpose add a drink to your tab you never ordered to run up your bill.

I won't let it ruin my trip, but I'm sure as hell going to call them out on it and threaten to report them to the taxi commission (last time I did this he played it off like whatever until we got to PH. Was about to give him the $27 on the meter, no tip but he said $20 and we'll call it even).

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g45963-c5528/Las-Vegas:Nevada:The.Deuce.Bus.html

 

I always quickly check my GPS on my phone either as I'm walking through the airport or waiting on my bag to come out. That will tell me if there's any accidents or construction going on. Sure, an accident could happen between the time I check and the time I get in a cab, but construction won't just suddenly start up.

I've never been long-hauled, but believe me, if I ever do and I don't take the time to report it, then I'm surely not going to come on here and complain about my experience when the cost is still just a very small portion of what I'll spend during my trip.

I'm not saying that bartenders don't do this, but in most cases, it's an honest mistake, like fat fingering the key and a 2 popping up instead of a 1. Also, it's possible that somebody else put something on your bill and the bartender could honestly think they are part of your group. That's not the bartender ripping you off, but another customer in the bar.

The main problem with your statement is that you said you'll threaten to call the taxi authority. Cabbies know that a high percentage of their fares don't want to spend their valuable Vegas time filing a complaint with the taxi authority. Since most taxi drivers are just trying to make a living and do so honestly, then the dishonest ones feel that the odds of them picking up a passenger that actually does want to follow through on the threat are pretty low. Unless more people do start following through on the threat of calling the TA, the dishonest cabbies will feel they can do pretty much whatever they want.

Of course, part of the problem is that a lot of people don't know for sure if they're being long-hauled or not. For instance, last time I was in Vegas, I heard a couple talking about how they thought the driver intentionally went a way with bad traffic so they'd get stopped in traffic more and run up the fare without it being so obvious. While this is possible, it doesn't seem likely because they wouldn't be able to say for sure how much longer it would take (so they couldn't expect a certain increase in fare) and they also wouldn't be able to get to their next fare quickly. Usually people are long-hauled between properties when the cabbie feels it's a short route that's not worth his effort. For instance, I've taken the tram from TI to Mirage before and when I got off at Mirage and was walking towards the front door, I've seen people getting out of cabs that I know were in the cab line at Ti. Now, this is a hard one to long-haul, but lets say that somebody got in a cab at Bellagio to go to Paris. Instead of making a U-Turn and making it a short trip, the cabbie could drive around the block and get a higher fare out of it.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that unless people are aware that they're being long-hauled and willing to follow through on the threat to call the TA, then the dishonest cabbies have nothing to worry about.

 

Sorry I wasn't implying bartenders intentionally add items to your bill, just saying that if they did, it would be same as taxi drivers long hauling.

Agree most people who threaten to complain to the taxi authority won't, but I think just having knowledgable clients who know what long hauling is / know that it is illegal and can be reported to the taxi commission will help quite a bit.

 

Oh I know you were just using that as an example, but some people do feel that bartenders do it and it's intentional. Some may, but it's a very small percentage of them that do, just like it's a small percentage of cabbies that rip off their passengers.

We do agree though people won't follow through with the threat to call the TA and a lot of people don't even know they've been long-hauled. You have to have passengers that know they've been cheated and are willing to actually call the TA and go through the process or long-hauling won't stop. Assuming of course that it never changes to fares for zones instead. That would obviously be the most effective way to stop long-hauling, at least from the airport.

 

For the first time in years we took the bus from downtown to the Strip and back a couple of weeks ago using the SDX. Still a huge fan of renting a car but our bus experience was really very good and better than taking a cab. Granted, we rode on a Tuesday afternoon and evening so I will let bus experts weigh in on crowds during peak periods. Now I get why Dewey and others are big bus fans, it is so much better than years ago.