Miscommunication or? Tourist claims cabby made her pay $80 extra for trip

What was supposed to be a regular cab ride for a Vietnamese tourist turned into a heated exchange with a taxi driver, whom she claimed had tried to cheat her.

The woman, who goes by Baokieu230598 on TikTok, posted a three-minute video sharing her encounter with the cabby on April 5. 

Narrating the incident in Vietnamese, she said that it was her first time visiting Singapore, and she had flagged a taxi to get to her destination. 

At the end of the trip, her fare came up to $16. 

@baokieu230598 ❌Cảnh báo lừa đảo !!! ❌Chiêu trò đổi tiền !!! 🆘🆘🆘 🛑Mọi người cần chú ý!! Đến sing đừng đổi tiền với bất kì ai trừ khi ngta đưa tiền trước ❗️❗️🆘🆘#singapore #travel #Cheat #luadao #donotchangemoney #slivercab #taxi ♬ nhạc nền - Bảo Kiều TV

She first handed the cabby two $10 notes to pay for the ride. Noticing that she also had some $50 notes and a $100 note on hand, he then allegedly asked if he could change notes with her.

He then took the woman's $100 note, and handed her $4. 

She then said she waited for him to return the rest of her change, but he refused to do so, saying that he had already returned it to her while pointing to the two $50 notes that she has holding.

She tried to question the taxi driver, but it led to a heated argument due to the language barrier between the two. 

In the video, he can be heard saying: "You call the police, [I'm not] scared of you!" 

Frustrated, the woman alighted from the vehicle, and ended up paying $80 more for the ride.

The tourist said that she called Premier Taxi for help, but they hung up on her as they couldn't understand her. 

She also did not make a police report as she did not have her work permit on hand. 

In the comments section, netizens urged her to book a Grab ride the next time instead. 

There were several other comments in Vietnamese saying that such encounters are rare in Singapore.

AsiaOne has contacted Premier Taxi for more information.

While the Vietnamese tourist might have had a bad experience with a cabby, another woman was lucky enough to meet a private hire driver who showed her kindness when she needed it.

Just last month, a Thai-Japanese student in Singapore got into a pickle when she realised that she did not have the correct currency to pay for her Grab ride, as she only had ringgit on her. 

Sharing the incident in a TikTok video, 20-year-old Hana said that her Grab driver allowed her to pay for the fare in ringgit. 

She handed him two RM50 (S$15) notes for her $24 fare. 

Hana told AsiaOne that she had gone back to Malaysia two weeks ago, so she had ringgit on her table. 

"It's blue and [the value was RM50] so it looks similar [to Singapore's $50 notes]," Hana explained. 

"I accidentally brought [the ringgit out] thinking they were Singapore dollars," she said. 

And since she is an exchange student, Hana doesn't have a bank account in Singapore and hence she could not try other payment options such as PayNow or PayLah. 

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claudiatan@asiaone.com